Free Range
freerange.directory · 50 states · 322,746 listings · 6,638 screened out
Walk down a main street and you can’t tell who owns what. The coffee shop might belong to the couple behind the counter, or to a franchise operator, or to a private equity fund three states away. The sign out front won’t say. Free Range exists to say.
It’s a map of independently owned businesses across all fifty states, 322,746 of them so far. Each listing is screened: no publicly traded chains, no franchises, no private equity. More than six thousand businesses that look independent, and aren’t, have been excluded.
You can search by place or by what you need, and find the independent option before habit puts you in front of the chain. There’s a job board too, if you’d rather your paycheck come from an independent shop. Browsing asks nothing of you; an account exists only to save favorites.
Use it
Look up your own neighborhood first. The map means more when you know the streets.
How it decides
Independent means owned by the people who run it. A business is excluded when it’s publicly traded, franchised, or held by a private equity firm. Listings are verified in layers: public records, state and SBA certification, owners attesting to their own status, and community confirmation. Any owner can claim their business at any time.
Jaci