Crave vs Papa Murphy's

Papa Murphy’s is the stronger software-sales opportunity right now, and it’s not close. The TAM dimension alone decides it: 1,014 total units versus 22. Even with a -3.6% unit decline, the absolute base of 965 franchised locations gives you a real pipeline. Crave’s 22-unit footprint means you’ll exhaust the entire addressable market after a handful of deals, and the -8.3% growth rate signals a brand contracting faster than you can sell into it. When you’re selling a multi-module platform—POS, marketing automation, scheduling, back-office—you need volume to justify the integration and support investment. Papa Murphy’s delivers that volume.

The tradeoff is budget pressure. Papa Murphy’s lower royalty rate (5% vs. 8%) and tighter investment band ($450K–$693K) suggest franchisees operate on thinner margins and may resist a premium software stack. Crave’s wide investment range topping $1M hints at operators with deeper pockets and more complex ops, but that’s a theoretical advantage you can’t monetize across only 22 units. Papa Murphy’s also has a fresher FDD (2026), which signals an active, current franchisor—better timing for a vendor trying to get in front of a system that’s still managing 1,000+ locations rather than a micro-brand in freefall.

Verdict: Papa Murphy’s wins on sheer TAM and timing, and the budget risk is manageable with a per-unit pricing model that fits the investment profile.