Wisconsin Franchise Search — DFI Active Registrations

Wisconsin Franchise Search exports the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) list of active franchise registrations: franchisor legal or trade name, status and registration expiration date, with an optional name filter. It costs USD 13.55 per 1,000 records on the FREE tier (USD 0.013552 per record), and you pay only for records saved to your dataset.

It is built for franchise attorneys, compliance teams, franchise brokers and market researchers who need to know which franchisors are currently registered to offer franchises in Wisconsin, without paging through the state portal by hand.

What does the Wisconsin franchise search return?

It returns one row per franchisor registration shown on the DFI active-registrations page.

Field	What it holds
name	Franchisor legal or trade name as DFI lists it (1-800-GOT-JUNK? LLC)
status	Active; every row comes from the active-registrations list
expirationDate	Registration expiration date as DFI prints it (5/22/2027)
registrationId	Always null: DFI's active list publishes no registration or filing ID
registrationUrl	Always null: the list links to no per-registration page
sourceUrl	The official DFI page the row came from
sourceType	activeRegistrations
searchName	The name filter you used, or null
scrapedAt	UTC collection time

A franchisor can appear twice when DFI lists two registrations with different expiration dates; on 2026-10-21, 1 800 FLOWERS.COM FRANCHISE CO INC appeared with 10/23/2026 and 10/20/2027. Rows are deduplicated on name, expiration date and ID, so true duplicates are dropped.

How do I search Wisconsin franchise registrations by name?

Put part of the franchisor name in searchName. The match is case-insensitive and partial, so junk matches 1-800-GOT-JUNK? LLC. Leave it blank to export the active list from the top.

{
  "searchName": "Plumber",
  "maxItems": 20,
  "maxPages": 10,
  "maxConcurrency": 1
}

• searchName: legal or trade name fragment, up to 200 characters.
• maxItems: 1 to 500 records saved and billed (default 50; the Console example uses 10).
• maxPages: 1 to 100 pages of the DFI list to read (default 10). The list is alphabetical; if a name late in the alphabet is missing, raise maxPages.
• maxConcurrency: 1 or 2 browser pages; keep 1 for this state portal.

The run stops as soon as it reaches maxItems or the last page. A run that read the first page of the list without a name filter finished in about 9 to 20 seconds in September and October 2026.

Is a franchise registered in Wisconsin?

If the franchisor appears in this Actor's output with a future expirationDate, DFI lists it as an active registration. If it does not appear after you have read enough pages, it is not on DFI's active list at that moment; that can mean it never registered, its registration expired, or it relies on an exemption, so confirm with DFI before you rely on the absence. The Actor reads only the active list; it does not return expired, pending or exempt filings, and it does not download franchise disclosure documents.

When should I use this Actor, and when not?

Use it when you need to:

• check which franchisors hold an active Wisconsin registration and when it expires;
• monitor renewals by scheduling the same search weekly or monthly;
• build a list of franchisors active in Wisconsin for outreach or market research.

Do not use it for:

• franchise fees, investment ranges or unit counts: use Vetted Biz Franchise Scraper — Franchise Cost & Fee Data or Franchise Direct Scraper;
• Minnesota registrations: use Minnesota Franchise Registrations Scraper;
• registration numbers or filing documents, which the current version does not return.

Output example

Two records from a 2026-10-21 cloud run with a blank name filter:

[
  {
    "name": "1-800-GOT-JUNK? LLC",
    "status": "Active",
    "expirationDate": "5/22/2027",
    "registrationId": null,
    "registrationUrl": null,
    "sourceUrl": "https://apps.dfi.wi.gov/apps/FranchiseEFiling/activeFilings.aspx",
    "sourceType": "activeRegistrations",
    "searchName": null,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-21T04:55:45.612Z"
  },
  {
    "name": "1 Percent Lists Franchises, LLC",
    "status": "Active",
    "expirationDate": "4/21/2027",
    "registrationId": null,
    "registrationUrl": null,
    "sourceUrl": "https://apps.dfi.wi.gov/apps/FranchiseEFiling/activeFilings.aspx",
    "sourceType": "activeRegistrations",
    "searchName": null,
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-21T04:55:45.421Z"
  }
]

The run's OUTPUT record holds the status, record count, charged events, warnings and the normalized input.

How much does a Wisconsin franchise search cost?

Pay per event, with Apify platform usage included. A record event is charged only after the record is saved.

Event	FREE	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD / PLATINUM / DIAMOND
Actor start (per started GB of allocated memory)	USD 0.006251	USD 0.006094	USD 0.005938	USD 0.005
Franchise registration record	USD 0.013552	USD 0.013213	USD 0.012874	USD 0.010841

The Actor runs a browser at 1,024 MB by default, so a normal run has one start event (two at 2,048 MB).

• Console example, 10 records (FREE): 0.006251 + 10 × 0.013552 = about USD 0.14.
• API call without maxItems, 50 records (FREE): 0.006251 + 50 × 0.013552 = about USD 0.68.
• 500 records (FREE): 0.006251 + 500 × 0.013552 = about USD 6.78.

maxItems is also the billing cap, and the run stops cleanly when your maxTotalChargeUsd limit is reached, keeping the records already saved.

Use it from an AI assistant

The Actor works from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client through Apify's MCP server. Add https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=muhammadafzal/wisconsin-franchise-search-scraper to your client.

Example prompt: "Is 1-800-GOT-JUNK registered to sell franchises in Wisconsin, and when does its registration expire?"

Run it from the API

JavaScript (apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('muhammadafzal/wisconsin-franchise-search-scraper').call({
  searchName: 'Junk',
  maxItems: 20,
  maxPages: 10,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python (apify-client 3.x):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(token='YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')
run = client.actor('muhammadafzal/wisconsin-franchise-search-scraper').call(run_input={
    'searchName': '',
    'maxItems': 100,
    'maxPages': 20,
})
items = client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).list_items().items

FAQ

Is Wisconsin a franchise registration state?

Yes. Wisconsin's DFI keeps a public list of franchisors with active registrations, which is the list this Actor reads.

Does it return the Wisconsin franchise registration number?

No. DFI's active-registrations list shows only the name and expiration date, so registrationId and registrationUrl are null on every record.

Can I see expired or pending registrations?

No. The Actor reads DFI's active-registrations list only. DFI's name search, which also lists expired filings, blocks automated requests, so the Actor does not use it.

Why does one franchisor appear twice?

DFI can list two registrations for the same franchisor with different expiration dates. Both rows are kept because they are different registrations.

How fresh is the data?

Each run reads the live DFI page, so the data is as current as DFI's list at run time. scrapedAt records when.

What happens if the DFI portal is down or blocks the run?

If no page can be read, the run fails with a clear message and no records are charged. If the filter matches nothing, the run ends with a warning and zero records.

Related Actors

• Vetted Biz Franchise Scraper — Franchise Cost & Fee Data: franchise fees, investment ranges and unit counts.
• Minnesota Franchise Registrations Scraper: Minnesota franchise filings.
• Franchise Direct Scraper: franchise list and investment data.
• Franchise Resale Scraper: resale listings and prices.

Responsible use

The Actor reads public DFI pages only. It does not log in, submit filings or download disclosure documents, and it is not legal advice. Confirm registration status with Wisconsin DFI before a legal or compliance decision. This Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by the State of Wisconsin or DFI.

Last verified: 2026-10-27