Commission-free delivery can remove the ordering provider’s commission from a direct order, but it does not make delivery free. You may still pay a monthly software fee, card processing and a courier for each trip. Your guest may pay a delivery charge at checkout, but that charge only offsets your expense if you retain it.
The buying decision is whether the money left after those charges supports your food, labor and overhead costs—and whether the guest’s final price is reasonable. Start by separating the order channel from the delivery method. A direct order can be delivered by your own driver or by a third-party courier; those choices have different costs.
Separate the four fees on a delivery order
1. Marketplace discovery commission
A marketplace may charge a commission for orders placed through its platform. That charge is generally a restaurant expense, although the contract and menu prices determine how much of the cost reaches the guest. Discovery is the important distinction: the marketplace is a place where customers can find restaurants, while a direct ordering channel is your own route for taking orders.
Do not compare a marketplace percentage with a direct-order subscription alone. The marketplace quote may cover different services, and the direct order still needs payment processing and fulfillment. Ask for a written breakdown of what each charge covers, including any separate delivery or promotional costs.
2. Direct ordering platform fee
A direct ordering provider may charge a subscription, a commission, transaction fees or a combination. “Commission-free” should describe the qualifying plan, not every plan a provider sells. The restaurant typically pays the software charge; whether a guest sees a separate ordering or service fee depends on the setup and agreement.
For a broader look at direct-order charges beyond delivery, see the guide to a commission free online ordering system. For delivery, add the cost of getting each order to the door before deciding whether a plan fits.
3. Payment processing
Card processing is separate from the ordering provider’s commission. The restaurant may pay a percentage, a fixed amount per transaction or both, depending on the payment agreement. A fee charged to the guest may also affect the amount processed, so ask exactly which parts of the checkout total are included in the processing base.
Check who receives the funds and when the processor deducts its fees. A report showing gross order sales is not the same as the cash deposited after processing. If refunds or chargebacks occur, ask how those are handled and whether additional charges apply.
4. Courier dispatch or driver expense
Someone must make the trip. With a third-party courier, the restaurant may receive a dispatch charge for each delivery. With its own drivers, the restaurant must account for driver pay and other relevant operating costs. The guest may pay a delivery fee, but the restaurant needs to know whether it keeps that fee, passes it to the courier or shares it.
Tips are another line to trace. Ask who receives them and whether they pass through the restaurant’s payment account. Do not treat a tip as money available to cover the restaurant’s dispatch expense unless the actual arrangement supports that treatment.
Compare the delivery paths, not just the order channels
Before requesting quotes, decide which parts of the job you want to control. The order channel brings in and records the order. Fulfillment handles the trip. A low-cost channel can still produce an expensive delivery if the trip is long or order volume is uneven.
Restaurant drivers
Your own drivers give you direct control over scheduling and handoff. That can make sense when deliveries are concentrated in a predictable area or when staff can use slow periods for other work. It also means planning for periods when drivers are paid but orders are not arriving.
Build a shift-level estimate, not just a per-order wage estimate. Include driver pay, applicable payroll costs, any mileage or vehicle reimbursement, insurance costs relevant to the arrangement, and time spent waiting or returning. Ask how the cost changes if a driver completes fewer orders than expected. Confirm the requirements for your location and employment arrangement with an appropriate adviser.
Quoted third-party dispatch
A third-party dispatch service can handle the trip while the customer orders directly from the restaurant. That separates the direct ordering relationship from courier fulfillment. Request a written quote for the areas and hours you actually serve, rather than relying on a single advertised starting price.
Ask whether a quote changes by distance, time, order size, weather or courier availability. Find out what happens when a driver cannot be assigned, an address is wrong or an order must be redelivered. Also ask whether the delivery charge shown to the guest is yours to keep and whether it can differ from the courier’s actual charge.
Marketplace discovery and fulfillment
A marketplace may be useful when you want its discovery channel as well as delivery fulfillment. Compare its complete written offer with your direct setup: commission, any other restaurant charges, guest-facing fees and who handles the delivery. Do not assume the two channels generate the same number of orders or serve the same customers.
A restaurant can use more than one path. The useful question is what each path contributes after its own costs, not which one has the lowest headline percentage. Check whether staff can manage menus, orders and delivery exceptions across the chosen channels without creating extra work that erases the apparent savings.
Work through one delivery order
The following example is hypothetical. Except for the stated Fleksa Fix base price, the amounts are assumptions for arithmetic, not quotes or promises. Assume a guest orders $30 of food, pays a $6 delivery charge retained by the restaurant, and pays no tax or tip in this simplified example. Assume food ingredients cost $10, the courier charges the restaurant $6, and processing costs 3% of the $36 checkout total.
Also assume 300 direct delivery orders in a month and a $199 monthly Fix subscription for one location. That allocation spreads the subscription evenly across those orders. It is an accounting aid, not an extra fee charged to each guest.
| Line | Per order | 300 orders per month |
|---|---|---|
| Food sales paid by guests | $30.00 | $9,000 |
| Delivery charges paid by guests and retained by restaurant | $6.00 | $1,800 |
| Guest checkout total, before tax and tip | $36.00 | $10,800 |
| Food ingredient cost | −$10.00 | −$3,000 |
| Courier dispatch cost | −$6.00 | −$1,800 |
| Processing: assumed 3% of checkout total | −$1.08 | −$324 |
| Fix subscription allocation | Approximately −$0.66 | −$199 |
| Contribution after listed costs | Approximately $18.26 | $5,477 |
The calculation is $36 minus $10 in ingredients, $6 in dispatch and $1.08 in processing. That leaves $18.92 before the subscription. Subtract $199 divided by 300, or about $0.66 per order, and the contribution is about $18.26. The monthly calculation uses the unrounded subscription amount: $10,800 minus $3,000, $1,800, $324 and $199 equals $5,477.
This is not profit. It excludes kitchen and packing labor, packaging, rent, utilities, marketing, hardware, add-ons and applicable taxes. The example also excludes tips, refunds and chargebacks. Add your actual costs before using the result to set prices or make a commitment.
The $6 guest delivery charge matches the assumed $6 dispatch expense, but the guest still pays it. The restaurant also pays processing on that charge under this example’s assumption. If the restaurant absorbed dispatch and charged the guest only $30, processing at the same assumed rate would be $0.90. Contribution before subscription would fall to $13.10: $30 minus $10, $6 and $0.90.
Trip cost is the number to pressure-test. If dispatch rises to $8 while the guest charge remains $6, the original example’s contribution falls by $2 to about $16.26 after the allocated subscription. If the guest fee instead rises to $8 and the assumed processing rate applies to the full $38 checkout, processing becomes $1.14. Contribution is then about $18.20 after the allocation. The restaurant nearly covers the higher trip cost, but the guest pays $2 more.
Volume changes the subscription allocation too. At 150 orders, $199 is about $1.33 per order; at 300, it is about $0.66. The monthly subscription stays $199 in this example, while dispatch and processing rise with each order. Do not count an assumed increase in sales as a saving: use your own order volume and quotes.
Choose a model and check the numbers before signing
As checked in November 2026, Fleksa Fix is $199 per month per location and has 0% Fleksa commission on direct online orders. Processing, delivery or dispatch, hardware or add-ons, and applicable sales tax are extra. Check the current Fleksa plans before buying; do not assume every Fleksa plan has zero commission. Fleksa provides restaurant software, not a marketplace or courier fleet.
For the 300-order example, $6 of assumed delivery spend per order totals $1,800. Add the $199 base subscription and the restaurant has $1,999 in dispatch and base software costs before processing, tax and extras. The $1,800 collected from guests offsets dispatch only because this example assumes the restaurant retains it. It does not make the fee disappear from the guest’s bill.
Use these checks to turn that example into your own buying worksheet:
- Use a real order mix. Estimate monthly delivery orders, typical food totals and the range of delivery distances. Run a slower month as well as a busy one.
- Get each charge in writing. Separate the software subscription and any provider commission from processing, dispatch, setup, hardware, add-ons and applicable tax. Ask whether the terms change after an introductory period.
- Trace guest money. List the food price, delivery fee, other checkout charges, tax and tip. Confirm who receives each amount and which amounts processing fees apply to.
- Check the difficult trips. Ask for courier pricing and procedures for long distances, peak periods, failed delivery, cancellation and redelivery. Compare those with the cost of staffing your own drivers.
- Check the workflow. Confirm how orders reach the kitchen, how delivery status is communicated and what staff must do when a courier is unavailable. Review relevant integrations and ask which connections are available for your setup.
Choose the arrangement that leaves a workable contribution at a guest total your customers can accept. A higher delivery charge may protect the restaurant’s margin but make checkout more expensive. Absorbing more of the trip cost lowers the guest total but leaves less to cover labor and overhead. Neither choice can be settled by the commission rate alone.
Next, review the Fleksa plans and request a demonstration using your order volume, delivery zones, current processing terms and a written dispatch quote. Ask the team to walk through one normal order and one failed-delivery scenario before you decide.
Frequently asked questions
Does commission-free delivery mean the courier is free?
No. A qualifying direct ordering plan can remove the provider commission, but a courier or restaurant driver still needs to be paid. A guest delivery charge may offset that cost if the restaurant retains it.
Who pays the delivery charge on a direct order?
The guest may pay a charge at checkout, while the restaurant may owe a separate dispatch charge. The agreement determines who receives the guest fee and whether it covers the full trip cost.
Is Fleksa commission-free on every plan?
No. The 0% Fleksa commission applies to direct online orders on the Fix plan. Processing, delivery or dispatch and other applicable costs remain separate; check current plan terms before signing.
