Delivery App Commission Calculator
Thirty percent of every order is a lot to give away: but so is a driver standing around on a slow Tuesday. Compare the real weekly and annual cost of the big delivery platforms against running your own delivery, with your actual order value and volume. Everything updates live.
Your typical delivery ticket before fees.
Across all channels: apps plus in-house.
Check your plan tier: 15–30% is typical.
Check your plan tier: 15–30% is typical.
Often slightly lower than the other two.
Driver pay + insurance + vehicle, divided by orders per shift.
Commission is rent by another name
A 25% commission on a $32 order is $8.00: gone before food, labor, or packaging. For a restaurant running 30% food cost, that single fee is nearly as large as the entire ingredient cost of the order. Delivery can still be worth it: the orders are largely incremental, the marketing reach is real, and there's no dining room to staff. But "worth it" has to be a calculated answer, not a feeling: because the platforms are very good at making the fees feel like background noise.
Worked example: 80 delivery orders a week at a $32 average ticket = $2,560 in weekly delivery sales. At 25%, DoorDash and Uber Eats each cost $640/week ($33,280/year). Grubhub at 20% costs $512/week ($26,624/year). In-house at $6.50 per order costs $520/week ($27,040/year): roughly a wash with Grubhub at this volume. But drop to 30 orders a week and in-house jumps to an effective $6.50 on a smaller base while the apps scale down proportionally: the crossover point where in-house wins is usually around 50–70 orders per week, depending on your driver economics.
Weekly in-house cost = Orders × Cost per order
Annual cost = Weekly cost × 52
Practical tips for delivery strategy
Negotiate: commission tiers are not always take-it-or-leave-it, especially with order history to show. Consider app-only menu prices 10–15% higher where platform rules allow; the math above tells you exactly what the increase needs to cover. And don't ignore the hybrid: use apps for discovery and push repeat customers to direct ordering (your own site, phone) where you keep the full ticket and the customer data.
Frequently asked questions
What do delivery apps charge restaurants?
Marketplace commissions typically run 15–30% per order depending on the plan tier you choose: basic plans with lower commission give you less visibility, premium plans cost more but rank you higher. On top of commission there can be payment processing fees, marketing fees, and tablet rental. Read the full fee schedule, not just the headline rate.
Is in-house delivery cheaper than delivery apps?
It depends on volume. In-house delivery has fixed-ish costs, a driver, insurance, vehicle, spread across your orders. Below roughly 40–60 delivery orders a week, apps are usually cheaper because you pay only per order. Above that, a well-run in-house operation often wins, and you keep the customer relationship and data.
Do delivery apps cannibalize dine-in sales?
Some delivery orders replace dine-in visits, but studies suggest most are incremental: customers ordering delivery weren't coming in that night anyway. The risk is real for nearby regulars though. Track whether dine-in covers dip as delivery grows, and consider app-only menu pricing to protect dine-in margins.
Can I charge higher prices on delivery apps?
Most platforms allow different menu pricing for delivery, and many restaurants add 10–20% to offset commissions: check your platform's current rules first, as some plans restrict it. Be transparent: customers accept a delivery premium, but they resent discovering it. The calculator above shows exactly how much of the commission a price adjustment needs to cover.