As any franchisor will know, managing a franchise network takes a considerable amount of work. From onboarding new owners to monitoring performance and unit compliance, there’s a never-ending list of operations to oversee. And, as your franchise grows, the harder it is to keep on top of it all.
That’s why franchises are increasingly relying on technology to alleviate some of the pressure.
With the right franchise management software in your pocket, you can reduce the complexity of managing your franchisees while simultaneously boosting growth.
In this blog, we’ll explain what franchise management software is, as well as help you select the best vendor for your needs.
What is franchise management software?
Franchise management software (FMS) solutions act as one centralized hub for managing and communicating with your franchisees. From training new franchisees to publishing announcements and building collaborative communities, these solutions unite your network, standardize your processes, and boost compliance. All of which can stimulate growth across your organization.
Though vendors will of course vary, a comprehensive FMS solution should offer the following capabilities:
- Intranet platform
- E-learning courses and pathways
- Business process automation
- Communication tools
- Policy management
- Document and asset management
- Task management
- Granular roles and permissions
- Customizable themes and design
- Discussion rooms and forums
- Audit logs and audit management templates
- Reporting, statistics, and franchisee dashboards
- Security functionality
The 6 best franchise management software solutions in 2025
In the following section of this article, we’ll analyze 6 of the best franchise management solutions on the market in 2025.
To avoid bias, we’ve sourced information from vendor websites, as well as popular software comparison websites, such as Capterra and G2.
1. Claromentis
Claromentis is a feature-rich digital workplace and enablement solution, comprising powerful intranet, e-learning, and business process automation capabilities. As a highly flexible and customizable solution, Claromentis can adapt to almost any industry or use case - including franchise management.
Unlike many vendors on this list, Claromentis provides a completely integrated, end-to-end FMS. Meaning there’s no need to invest in additional software or over-complicate your tech stack.
Our tool delivers everything your franchise needs to streamline operations, foster stronger franchisee relationships, and boost network-wide growth.
Here are just a few of the possibilities:
- Design a brand-aligned, easily navigable franchise intranet platform.
- Personalize experiences for each franchisee with subsites, granular user permissions, LMS triggers, theme designs, and localization.
- Build engaging, SCORM-compliant e-learning courses for onboarding, training, and employee professional development.
- Centralize product, marketing, and service information in version-controlled document and asset management applications.
- Standardize and simplify any franchise process - such as invoices, audit inspections, and compliance procedures - with a no-code business process automation platform.
- Track franchisee performance via reporting, analytics and dashboards.
- Foster a collaborative franchisee community with discussion rooms, AI-powered news and blogs, and built-in communication tools.
- Create, distribute, and monitor policy acceptance (including FDDs and operation manuals) with an AI-powered policy manager.
- Assign tasks - such as generating performance reports and conducting annual safety checks - via a transparent project management tool.
Advantages
- Feature-rich platform containing everything a franchisor needs to manage and enable their network effectively.
- Clean, highly intuitive interface with drag-and-drop page and menu building functionality.
- Users can automate any process - without IT or development support - using the no-code BPA platform.
- Personalizable experiences for every franchisee.
- AI capabilities built-in.
- Bespoke customizations, plugins, and third-party integrations available.
- Accessible via desktop and mobile devices.
- Available on-premise and in the cloud.
- Secure by design.
- Stellar onboarding, training, and customer support services.
Disadvantages
- Some users cite third-party integration limitations.
- There can be some blips during software upgrades.
- Some customers say the mobile app experience can vary from the desktop experience.
2. BrandWide
BrandWide is a franchise management software for franchisors and franchisees. As well as providing cornerstone FMS capabilities, BrandWide also boasts built-in marketing, sales pipeline, and CRM features.
Advantages
- Diverse features for end-to-end franchise management.
- Purpose-built processes for invoices and royalty management.
- Like Claromentis, both franchisors and franchisees can access the platform.
- Vendor platform training available.
Disadvantages
- The platform lacks visual interest and customization options.
- Users cannot create bespoke automations, limiting the functionality of the platform.
- While BrandWide does offer some comms features - such as news, libraries, and in-system messaging - there are no opportunities to build communities or encourage franchisee-franchisee communications.
- There’s a steep learning curve.
3. FranConnect
FranConnect is a franchise development, training, and management platform with some AI capabilities. The solution provides a wealth of analytics, with reports and dashboards for almost every function.
Advantages
- FranConnect offers visual dashboards for tracking unit opening and onboarding, monitoring broker performance, assessing compliance, and more.
- Some franchisee communication and collaboration features.
- AI capabilities included.
Disadvantages
- Though FranConnect does offer some workflow automations, users cannot build custom processes or e-forms.
- Some users say the platform lacks strong reporting capabilities, such as customization and data filtering.
- FranConnect can be difficult to use at first and requires a steep learning curve.
- Some users report technical difficulties and glitches.
4. FranchizeManager
FranchiZeManager is a franchise portal built predominantly for franchisors. Owners can glean an overview of franchisee KPIs and performance, track onboarding and training progress, and conduct some marketing and lead generation activities.
Advantages
- If you’re looking for a franchisor-only solution, FranchiZeManager could be the appropriate solution for you.
- Unlike some other FMS solutions, this platform provides dedicated tools for site and lease management.
- Franchisors can store and filter franchisee enquiries and leads in an integrated CRM.
Disadvantages
- Franchisees can only access a limited number of features. What’s more, there are no dedicated communication or community based tools.
- The interface is clunky and difficult to navigate.
- Users cannot customize the platform themselves.
- Franchisors do not have the ability to build custom automations or workflows.
- The LMS is very basic.
5. Franscape
This franchise software specializes in class-based franchises, with many of their customers residing in the children’s activities space. Unlike many of the tools in the FMS category, Franscape offers dedicated functionality for franchisors, franchisees, and customers.
Advantages
- Franscape provides dedicated class management capabilities - which may be a competitive advantage for certain franchise systems.
- The software also boasts convenient customer-facing features, such as medical record storage and self-service customer portals.
Disadvantages
- Franscape does not contain an integrated learning management system, meaning franchisors cannot train or upskill franchisees.
- The software doesn’t contain a BPA platform either, restricting users to the built-in automations only.
- Because Franscape specializes in class-based franchises, it may not be suitable for other franchise systems - such as multi-national food chains.
6. FranchiseSoft
FranchiseSoft contains many of the capabilities you would expect from a standard franchise management software solution, including onboarding, performance, training, and document management. Uniquely, they offer a dedicated field service management application.
Advantages
- FranchiseSoft provides a decent level of functionality across franchise development, onboarding, and support.
- The platform offers a range of methods for processing royalty payments and customer invoices.
Disadvantages
- The software does not contain a built-in business process automation platform.
- Customer reviews for FranchiseSoft are few and far between, making it difficult to gauge how well the platform actually performs.
Choosing the best software for franchise management
Franchise software comes in many different shapes and forms. Some vendors specialize in CRM, others exclusively cater for marketing campaign management. These days, there really is a market for any niche.
That being said, finding a solution that handles the complete franchise management cycle is rare.
Although many of the vendors in our list provide a broad range of FMS capabilities, none come close to Claromentis.
Our completely customizable, feature-rich solution gives you the building blocks needed to develop a high performing, growth-driven franchise portal. One that streamlines onboarding, standardizes processes, and fosters successful relationships.
But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what one of our franchise clients, NEAT Method, had to say about our solution:
“Claromentis is now an integral part of our franchise owners’ daily business routines. It allows us to have an internal hub full of documents, resources, and updates designed to make our franchisees more successful in their markets.” Ashley Hatcher, Chief Growth Officer
If you’d like to learn more about our franchise management system, book a demo with one of our experts today. We’ll walk you through each feature, answer any questions you may have, and give you access to a completely personalized playground for 30 days.
