Restaurant online ordering vs Uber Eats fees: does it pay?

Most restaurant owners I talk to know delivery apps are expensive. Fewer have worked out what that cut costs them in a month, or how many orders it would take for their own online ordering to cover its price.

The short answer: on a $30 order, Uber Eats' standard US plans keep $6 to $9. Your own ordering system keeps about $1.17 of it for the card fee. At my price of $59 a month for an ordering app, around 10 direct orders a month pays for it, and everything after that stays in the till.

I build online ordering for restaurants, including Akbar, an Indian restaurant in Yokohama that takes delivery and takeout orders on its own website. Below I've used clearly labelled example figures and the platforms' own published rates, so you can swap in your numbers.

How much does Uber Eats really take from a restaurant?

Uber Eats publishes its US merchant plans. The marketplace fee is a percentage of each delivery order, and the higher plans buy you more visibility in the app.

Source: Uber Eats merchant pricing page (US), checked November 2026. The 7% pickup fee needs your in-app prices to match your in-store prices; otherwise it is 10%.

Rates differ by country. Uber Eats Japan's merchant page lists 35% when its couriers deliver, 15% for self-delivery and 12% for pickup. So check the pricing page for your own market before you plug in a number.

A worked example: 200 orders a month, both ways

Here is an example restaurant. These are illustrative figures, not a client's: say 200 orders a month at $30 each, on the Uber Eats Plus plan at 25%.

Example figures. The direct column uses my App plan at $59 a month and Stripe's standard US card fee.

That is a difference of $1,207 a month. But it assumes all 200 orders move, and that you can get the food to people without Uber's couriers. Neither is realistic for most restaurants, so the more useful question is the break-even point.

How many direct orders does it take to break even?

On a $30 order, every order that moves from Uber Eats to you saves the commission minus the card fee. On a 25% plan that is $7.50 − $1.17 = $6.33 per order.

Divide the monthly price by that and you get the number of direct orders a month that covers it. These are my real plan prices from the pricing page: Website $49 a month, App $59, App + website $79, each with a one-time $199 setup.

Direct orders a month needed to cover the monthly price, rounded up. Example order size of $30.

The $199 setup is paid once. On the 25% plan it takes another 32 orders to earn back, so in the first month about 41 direct orders covers both. After that it is the monthly number only.

What if only your regulars switch?

That is the plan I'd actually suggest. Keep the delivery apps, and move only the people who already know you and order every week.

In the same example, say 50 of the 200 monthly orders come from regulars, and they switch. That saves 50 × $6.33 = $316.50 a month, or $257.50 after the $59 app. Over a year, after the setup fee too, that is about $2,890 kept. The other 150 orders keep coming through Uber Eats, from people who might never have found you otherwise.

If you want to try your own figures, the pricing page has a small calculator: order size, your app's commission and how many regular orders you get a week.

When does direct ordering not pay for itself?

It is not right for every restaurant, and I'd rather say so here than after you've paid a setup fee.

• Delivery apps bring you new customers. Part of that commission pays for being listed where hungry people are already looking. Your own app doesn't replace that, which is why I tell owners to keep both.
• Someone has to deliver. Uber's fee includes the courier. Direct orders work for pickup, or for delivery if you have your own drivers, and those drivers cost money. If you'd need to hire one just for this, put their cost into the sums.
• Pickup orders save less. On Uber Eats US, a pickup order is 7%. Moving a $30 pickup order saves about $0.93 after the card fee, so the big savings are on delivery.
• Very low volume. If you get a handful of app orders a month, the commission you pay may be smaller than any monthly fee.
• Customers need a reason. Nobody downloads another app for nothing. If you won't put a QR card in bags or offer a perk, few regulars will move.

How do you get regulars to order direct?

The cheapest customers to move are the ones already eating your food. These are the steps that work, and they're what I build into the app.

1. Put a QR card in every delivery bag

Someone who found you on Uber Eats has already chosen you once. A card in the bag and one on the counter tells them they can order from you directly next time.

2. Give a reason on the first direct order

A perk on the first app order, or a standing discount. Urban Tadka, another restaurant I built for, gives 15% off for ordering direct, which is still far less than a 30% commission.

3. Reward coming back

A stamp with every order and a free item at the end gives regulars a reason to keep ordering from you rather than the delivery app.

4. Fill quiet nights yourself

A push deal on a slow Tuesday reaches every regular's phone in seconds. You send it yourself, to customers who are yours, not the delivery app's.

For a real example, Akbar takes delivery and takeout orders on its own site, with card payment or cash on delivery, and staff see new orders live on a dashboard. It does about $9,500 a month in online sales, up from nothing before. If you're starting with a website rather than an app, my restaurant website checklist covers what the ordering pages need.

Questions people ask

Is commission-free online ordering really free?

There is no commission, but there is still a card fee and a monthly price. With my app, card payments go into your own Stripe account and Stripe charges its standard 2.9% + 30¢ in the US. I don't take anything per order.

Should I leave Uber Eats or DoorDash?

Usually not. They're good at finding you new customers. Use your own ordering for the regulars, so their weekly orders stop losing a cut.

Do I need my own Apple and Google developer accounts?

No. I can publish your app on my accounts at no cost to you. If you want it in your own name, Apple charges $99 a year and Google $25 once, paid to them directly, and the app can move to your accounts later.

What is the cheapest way to start?

The Website plan, at $49 a month plus $199 setup: a fast website with your menu and an ordering button. You can add the app later, and you get a free preview before paying anything.

If the numbers work for your restaurant, here is my 0% commission ordering app, with a free preview of yours.