Franchise opportunities compared
Hardees Restaurants vs Sonic Drive-In
Reviewed figures from each brand's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), side by side. Each figure carries its FDD year and page. This is not a ranking or recommendation, and the two FDDs may cover different years and location groups.
Before you compare
- Both sets of figures come from 2026 FDDs.
- Hardees Restaurants discloses more than one business format, so the investment range spans formats; the full report breaks them out.
- Item 19 figures cover the location groups each FDD names (Hardees Restaurants: 2, Sonic Drive-In: 8). Different groups are not directly comparable.
| Disclosure | HRHardees Restaurants | SDSonic Drive-In |
|---|---|---|
| Financial commitment | ||
| Estimated initial investment (Item 7) | $57,000 – $1,385,000 2026 FDD · Item 7 | $1,485,200 TOTAL ESTIMATED INITIAL INVESTMENT (excluding free- standing real estate costs) (15) — 1485200 2026 FDD · Item 7 · PDF p. 38 |
| Standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) | $25,000 2026 FDD · Item 5 · PDF p. 28 | Not available No single standard fee identified |
| Royalty (Item 6) | $3.00 i) — 3% ment and Franchised Agreement, we will reduce each of the royalty fee and APO by 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 38 | $1.00 lows: Duration of Effective Royalty Fee Effective Royalty Fee Opening through Year 1 — 1% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 34 |
| Brand / advertising fund (Item 6) | $4.25 d by the Franchise Agreement. Hardee’s National Advertising Fund — “HNAF”) Currently, — 4.25% 2026 FDD · Item 6 · PDF p. 31 | Not available No reviewed brand or advertising fund fee |
| System scale & health | ||
| Total outlets (Item 20) | 396 Outlets at end of 2026 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 77 | 6,824 Outlets at end of 2025 2026 FDD · Item 20 · PDF p. 74 |
| Net outlet change (Item 20) | −12 Calculated: 408 at end of 2024 → 396 at end of 2026 | −218 Calculated: 7,042 at end of 2023 → 6,824 at end of 2025 |
| Outlet exits (Item 20) | Not available No complete exit records for a year | Not available No complete exit records for a year |
| Franchising since (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Franchisor founded (Item 1) | Not available Not in reviewed records | Not available Not in reviewed records |
| Performance (Item 19) | ||
| Financial performance (Item 19), by location group | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — USfreestandingHardee’s 88 restaurants other Company-owned · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 75 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — USfreestandingHardee’s 50.1 percent other Franchised · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 75 | Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — 2nd Quartile 47 percent other 2nd Quartile · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 71 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — All Restaurants 1,338 restaurants other All Restaurants · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 72 Locations counted not stated in the reviewed record — 1st Quartile 294 restaurants other 1st Quartile · 2026 FDD · Item 19 · PDF p. 71 +5 more groups in the full report |
Item 19 groups are shown separately and never combined. Revenue or sales figures are not profit. Net outlet change and turnover are Franopolis calculations from the disclosed counts; turnover is a count-based rate, not a measure of owner earnings.