Last reviewed: 2026-05-07
TL;DR. Third-party delivery platforms charge restaurants 15–30% commission per order plus marketing fees, payment processing, and delivery surcharges — often 25–35% total. Direct online ordering through your own system costs 0% commission plus 2.4–2.9% card processing — typically 3% all-in. On a $30 average ticket × 100 orders/day, that's a $7,500/month difference. Below: every fee, every platform, sourced.
Where most restaurants land, what they get, and who each tier actually fits.
0% commission + 2.4–2.9% processing
Every restaurant should run direct ordering as the primary channel. Third-party is a marketing channel, not a default.
2.6% + 30¢ per online order
Restaurants on Square or Toast that don't want to switch POS but accept the per-order fee.
15–30% commission per order
Use third-party as a marketing channel for new-customer acquisition only. Drive repeat orders to direct.
The complete cost breakdown — software, processing, hardware, setup, and the line items vendors don't lead with.
| Cost item | Range | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| DoorDash basic plan commission | 15% per delivery order | Lowest-cost DoorDash tier — limited delivery radius, lower visibility in search results. |
| DoorDash Plus / Premier commission | 25–30% per delivery order | Wider delivery radius, higher visibility, "DashPass" eligibility. Most restaurants pay this tier in practice. |
| Uber Eats commission | 15–30% per order | Lite (15%), Plus (25%), Premium (30%). Also takes payment processing fees and may charge for sponsored placements. |
| Grubhub / Lieferando commission | ~13% delivery + ~10% marketing fees typical | Grubhub splits commission into "delivery" and "marketing" — most restaurants opt into both, putting effective rate at ~25–30%. Lieferando in DACH similar. |
| Square Online ordering | 2.6% + 30¢ per online order | Card processing fee on top of monthly Square Online subscription. On 100 orders/day at $30 ticket: ~$1,170/month. |
| Toast online ordering | Per-order fee + 2.49% + $0.15 processing | Bundled with Toast subscription. Per-order fee varies by tier. Often the second-cheapest after direct. |
| Direct online ordering (Fleksa) | 0% commission + your processor's rate (2.4–2.9%) | Bundled in Fleksa Essentials ($99/mo) and Bundle ($199/mo). Choose your own processor. |
| Hidden third-party fees | $0.50–$3.00 per order in surcharges | Service fees, small-order fees, payment processing, marketing tier upgrades. Often invisible until the monthly statement. |
Sourced from each vendor's published pricing where available, otherwise from sales-quoted norms. Prices change — confirm before signing. Last reviewed 2026-05-07.
| Vendor | Monthly software | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fleksa direct ordering | 0% commission + your processor (2.4–2.9%) | Bundled in Fleksa Essentials/Bundle. Unlimited orders. You own the customer. |
| Toast online ordering | Per-order fee + 2.49% + $0.15 | Bundled with Toast subscription. Customer relationship belongs to you, not Toast. |
| Square Online | 2.6% + 30¢ per online order | On top of Square Online monthly subscription. Locked to Square Payments. |
| DoorDash (typical) | 25–30% per order + marketing fees | Most restaurants land on Plus/Premier tiers in practice. They own the customer relationship. |
| Uber Eats (typical) | 25–30% per order | Lite tier exists at 15% but with severely limited visibility. |
| Grubhub (typical, US) | ~25–30% effective (delivery + marketing) | Marketing fee is technically optional but practically required for visibility. |
Line items that rarely appear in the marketing material but show up on the first invoice. Ask about each before signing.
Fleksa direct online ordering is 0% commission, included in Essentials ($99/mo) and Bundle ($199/mo). Card processing is your processor's rate (typically 2.4–2.9% + $0.10–$0.30) — we don't lock you in. Unlimited orders. The customer relationship is yours; data is yours; remarketing is yours. We integrate with DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Lieferando so you can run third-party as a marketing channel while building direct as the default.
DoorDash has three tiers: Basic at 15% commission with limited delivery radius and visibility, Plus at 25%, and Premier at 30%. Most restaurants pay the Plus or Premier tier in practice because Basic visibility is too low to drive volume. Add ~$0.30–$1.00 per order in service fees and any sponsored-listing marketing spend.
Uber Eats also has three tiers: Lite at 15% (very limited visibility), Plus at 25%, and Premium at 30%. Most restaurants land on Plus. Marketing-tier upgrades and sponsored placements add 5–10% effective on top.
Grubhub splits commission into delivery (~10–13%) and marketing (~10%). Most restaurants opt into both, putting effective commission at ~20–30%. The marketing fee is technically optional but practically required because organic visibility without it is very low.
Commission-free means 0% commission per order — you only pay card processing (typically 2.4–2.9% + $0.10–$0.30). Most "commission-free" providers (Fleksa, Owner.com, ChowNow) charge a monthly software fee instead. The math: any restaurant doing more than ~$5k/month in online orders saves money on commission-free vs third-party.
Direct ordering setup with Fleksa: free, self-serve, live the same day. Third-party platforms charge no setup fee but you pay through commission. POS-bundled ordering (Square, Toast) typically free to set up but priced into the monthly subscription.
You don't need to "switch" — run both. Use third-party for new-customer acquisition (their strength) and direct for everything else. After a third-party order, send a thank-you SMS or include a flyer with the order linking to your direct system. Most restaurants migrate 30–60% of repeat-order volume to direct within 6 months by doing this.
If 30% of revenue is online and all of that runs through third-party at 28% effective commission: $1M × 30% × 28% = $84,000/year in fees. If you migrate 50% of that volume to direct online ordering at 3% all-in: $1M × 30% × 50% × (28%–3%) = $37,500/year saved.
Because the platforms own the customer relationship. Diners search DoorDash, not your restaurant. Leaving means losing access to that demand pool. The right strategy is: stay on third-party for the discovery, redirect repeat orders to direct via post-order outreach. Hybrid wins.
On per-order economics, direct ordering through Fleksa, Owner.com, or ChowNow at 0% commission + processor rate is cheapest above ~$5k/mo in online volume. Below that volume, the monthly software fee may exceed third-party commission savings — but few restaurants actually run below that threshold.
Yes. Orders from DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Lieferando flow into the same kitchen display and POS as direct orders. The platform integrations are first-class — you don't need to leave third-party to add direct, you run both with one operations stack.