Is Mr. Appliance or CertaPro Painters cheaper to open?

Mr. Appliance costs $147,750–$273,175 and CertaPro Painters costs $171,000–$246,000 to open (FDD Item 7). Mr. Appliance has the lower entry cost.

Which is safer, Mr. Appliance or CertaPro Painters?

SBA 7(a) charge-off rate is 20.9% for Mr. Appliance and 16.1% for CertaPro Painters. Lower is safer, so CertaPro Painters has the stronger loan-repayment record.

Which is the better franchise, Mr. Appliance or CertaPro Painters?

FranchiseVerdict grades Mr. Appliance B and CertaPro Painters B, from FDD Items 5–7, 19–21 and SBA loan performance. See the full side-by-side above.

Mr. Appliance vs CertaPro Painters

Franchise Comparison 2026

Both Mr. Appliance and CertaPro Painters are home services franchises. Mr. Appliance requires an investment of $148K – $273K while CertaPro Painters requires $171K – $246K. CertaPro Painters discloses average revenue of $2.1M; Mr. Appliance does not report Item 19 data. On SBA loan performance, CertaPro Painters has a lower charge-off rate (16.1%) compared to Mr. Appliance (20.9%). FranchiseVerdict rates Mr. Appliance B (Above average) and CertaPro Painters B (Above average).

Metric	Mr. Appliance	CertaPro Painters
Verdict Grade	BAbove averageAbove average	BAbove averageAbove average
Investment Range	$148K – $273K	$171K – $246K
Franchise Fee	$64K	$52K
Royalty Rate	5.0%	6.0%
Average Revenue (Item 19)	N/A	$2.1M
SBA Charge-Off Rate	20.9% (134 loans)	16.1% (263 loans)
Total Units	311	304
Unit Growth (YoY)	N/A	N/A
Year Began Franchising	1996	1992
FDD Year	2026	2026