Is Mr. Appliance or Surface Experts cheaper to open?

Mr. Appliance costs $147,750–$273,175 and Surface Experts costs $155,893–$273,200 to open (FDD Item 7). Mr. Appliance has the lower entry cost.

Which is safer, Mr. Appliance or Surface Experts?

SBA 7(a) charge-off rate is 20.9% for Mr. Appliance and 2.5% for Surface Experts. Lower is safer, so Surface Experts has the stronger loan-repayment record.

Which is the better franchise, Mr. Appliance or Surface Experts?

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

Mr. Appliance vs Surface Experts

Franchise Comparison 2026

Both Mr. Appliance and Surface Experts are home services franchises. Mr. Appliance requires an investment of $148K – $273K while Surface Experts requires $156K – $273K. On SBA loan performance, Surface Experts has a lower charge-off rate (2.5%) compared to Mr. Appliance (20.9%). FranchiseVerdict rates Mr. Appliance B (Above average) and Surface Experts A (Strongest tier).

Metric	Mr. Appliance	Surface Experts
Verdict Grade	BAbove averageAbove average	AStrongest tierStrongest tier
Investment Range	$148K – $273K	$156K – $273K
Franchise Fee	$64K	$75K
Royalty Rate	5.0%	8.0%
Average Revenue (Item 19)	N/A	N/AOutlet subset
SBA Charge-Off Rate	20.9% (134 loans)	2.5% (40 loans)
Total Units	311	103
Unit Growth (YoY)	N/A	N/A
Year Began Franchising	1996	2018
FDD Year	2026	2026