# Franchise Direct Scraper (`gio21/franchisedirect-scraper`) Actor Scrape Franchise Direct franchise opportunities: name, description, category, image, total investment range, franchise fee and minimum cash required. Search by keyword and optionally pull full financials. - **URL**: https://apify.com/gio21/franchisedirect-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Gio](https://apify.com/gio21) (community) - **Categories:** Business, Lead generation, E-commerce - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Franchise Direct Scraper Extract franchise opportunities from [Franchise Direct](https://www.franchisedirect.com), one of the largest franchise directories. Get the franchise name, description, category, total investment range, franchise fee and minimum cash required. Built for franchise brokers, aspiring franchisees, investment research and lead generation. ### Features - Browse the full franchise directory or **search by keyword** (e.g. "food", "cleaning", "fitness") - Financial details per franchise: total investment range, franchise fee, minimum cash required and net worth - Category and description for each franchise - Fast HTTP scraping, automatic pagination and de-duplication ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `searchQuery` | string | Keyword to filter franchises. Empty = whole directory. | | `includeFinancials` | boolean | Fetch each profile for investment, fee and cash required. Default `true`. | | `maxItems` | integer | Max franchises. `0` = no limit. Default `100`. | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | Apify Proxy recommended (default). | #### Example input ```json { "searchQuery": "food", "includeFinancials": true, "maxItems": 100 } ```` ### Output ```json { "name": "AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care", "category": "automotive", "description": "One of the most trusted automotive brands in the country.", "totalInvestmentRange": "$223,600 - 330,500", "franchiseFee": "$39,500", "minCashRequired": "$60,000", "imageUrl": "https://franchisedirect-...s3.amazonaws.com/...png", "url": "https://www.franchisedirect.com/automotive-franchises/aamco-transmissions-total-car-care/" } ``` ### Common use cases - Build franchise-opportunity databases by category and investment level - Match aspiring franchisees to brands within their budget - Franchise broker lead generation and market research - Compare franchise fees and investment ranges across brands ### Pricing Pay per result: a small fee to start the run plus a per-franchise fee. Errors and duplicates are never charged. ### FAQ **Can I filter by investment level?** Search returns all matches with their investment range; filter the results by budget after export. **Does every franchise have financials?** Most do. A few brands do not publish all figures; missing values are omitted. **Is this affiliated with Franchise Direct?** No. This is an independent tool for extracting publicly available data. Please respect Franchise Direct's terms of service. # Actor input Schema ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Keyword to filter franchises (e.g. "food", "cleaning", "fitness"). Leave empty to browse the whole directory. ## `includeFinancials` (type: `boolean`): Fetch each franchise's profile page to add total investment range, franchise fee and minimum cash required. Slower (one extra request per franchise) but much richer. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of franchises to return. Set 0 for no limit. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy used for requests. Apify Proxy (automatic) is recommended. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchQuery": "food", "includeFinancials": true, "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("gio21/franchisedirect-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("gio21/franchisedirect-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call gio21/franchisedirect-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=gio21/franchisedirect-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Franchise Direct Scraper", "description": "Scrape Franchise Direct franchise opportunities: name, description, category, image, total investment range, franchise fee and minimum cash required. Search by keyword and optionally pull full financials.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "LhdJpOXJeyE7LAMQc" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/gio21~franchisedirect-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-gio21-franchisedirect-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/gio21~franchisedirect-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-gio21-franchisedirect-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/gio21~franchisedirect-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-gio21-franchisedirect-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "searchQuery": { "title": "Search keyword", "type": "string", "description": "Keyword to filter franchises (e.g. \"food\", \"cleaning\", \"fitness\"). Leave empty to browse the whole directory." }, "includeFinancials": { "title": "Include financial details", "type": "boolean", "description": "Fetch each franchise's profile page to add total investment range, franchise fee and minimum cash required. Slower (one extra request per franchise) but much richer.", "default": true }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of franchises to return. Set 0 for no limit.", "default": 100 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy used for requests. Apify Proxy (automatic) is recommended.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```