Restaurant Online Ordering Systems Compared

Moving orders off a delivery app and onto your own site is a math problem before it’s a technology one. The platforms below all let guests order from you directly, but they charge in different ways: a monthly fee, a cut of each order, a fee the guest pays, or a mix. This comparison lays out those costs side by side so you can shortlist without a sales call.

We build direct ordering for restaurants through our restaurant online ordering service, so weigh that. Every fee and feature below was checked against each vendor’s own pricing and product pages in October 2026.

Short answer: if you already run Square or Toast for your POS, start with their built-in online ordering, because orders land in the system you already use. Square publishes a $0 plan with online card fees of 3.3% + 30¢. Toast advertises no commissions on online orders but doesn’t publish plan prices on its pricing page. Owner.com bundles website, ordering and app for $249 a month plus 5% per order, or $499 flat, and guests pay a 5% fee on both. DoorDash’s own online ordering is commission-free, but its Marketplace takes 15–30% on delivery orders. Olo doesn’t publish prices, and ChowNow’s site wouldn’t load for us, so get both in writing.

Online Ordering Fees at a Glance

As of October 2026, from each vendor’s own pricing page:

Sources: Square restaurant pricing, Toast pricing, Toast Online Ordering, Owner.com pricing, DoorDash Online Ordering, DoorDash pricing, Olo Ordering.

What to Look for Before Comparing Platforms

Before you compare names, write down what your restaurant needs. These five questions decide most of it:

• Your current POS. Ordering that is built into your POS sends orders straight to the kitchen. A separate platform needs an integration, or someone retypes orders.
• Your pricing model. A monthly fee suits steady volume. A per-order fee suits lower or uneven volume. Work out both at your real numbers.
• Who pays which fee. Some platforms add a fee to the guest’s bill. That doesn’t cost you directly, but it changes what your regulars pay to order from you.
• Delivery. Decide whether you’ll offer pickup only, use your own drivers, or pay for on-demand couriers per order.
• Contract and data. Ask for the contract length, the cancellation terms, and whether you can export your guest list if you leave.

Platform 1: Square Online

Best for: restaurants already on Square POS, and low-volume restaurants starting out.

Cost structure (as of October 2026):

• Square Free: $0 a month per location, online card payments at 3.3% + 30¢ (source)
• Square Plus: $49 a month per location, online card payments at 2.9% + 30¢ (source)
• Square Premium: $149 a month per location, same 2.9% + 30¢ online rate (source)

Key features:

• A branded online ordering page, plus pickup and local delivery, on every plan including Free (source)
• Commission-free delivery and pickup orders that sync with Square POS (source)
• Local delivery with your own staff or third-party couriers, with ordering windows and order minimums (source)
• Order with Google, so guests can order from your page through Google Search and Maps (source)
• QR code ordering, listed among the top features of Square’s “Best value” online store tier rather than its entry tier (source)

Limitations:

• The Square KDS kitchen display app isn’t available on Square Free. It costs $30 a month per device on Plus and $20 on Premium (source).
• Monthly fees apply per location on Plus and Premium (source).
• Delivery is yours to arrange: your own drivers or couriers you pay for.

Who it’s right for: a restaurant on Square POS that wants direct orders with no monthly fee. Plus and Premium both come with a 30-day free trial if you outgrow Free (source).

Platform 2: Toast Online Ordering

Best for: restaurants already using Toast POS.

Cost structure (as of October 2026):

• Toast’s pricing page says plans start at $0 a month, but it doesn’t list plan prices in its page content (source)
• Upfront costs are hardware and implementation. A Pay-as-You-Go option lowers them in exchange for an all-in-one platform rate (source)
• Online ordering is advertised as “No commissions. No hidden fees.” (source)

Key features:

• POS integration with real-time menus and order routing to the kitchen (source)
• Pickup, delivery, curbside and drive-thru fulfilment options (source)
• Order with Google integration (source)
• An Online Ordering Pro tier that hosts ordering on your own domain and adds Google and Facebook pixel tracking (source)
• Toast Delivery Services: on-demand Uber and DoorDash drivers for a flat fee per order, with the option to pass part of that fee to guests (source)

Limitations:

• Toast’s services only run on hardware Toast approves, so you can’t bring your own devices (source).
• Published pricing applies to new customers and single locations only (source).
• You’ll need a quote to see your real monthly cost.

Who it’s right for: restaurants already on Toast that want online orders in the same system as dine-in.

Toast Mobile Order & Pay for dine-in

Toast Mobile Order & Pay lets guests order and pay from their own phones at the table, with items sent straight to the kitchen and menus you can update in real time (source). If QR ordering at the table matters to you, ask each vendor to demo it with your own menu.

Platform 3: ChowNow

ChowNow is an online ordering platform for restaurants, but its website wouldn’t load for us when we checked in October 2026. So we can’t confirm its current plans, fees or features, and we’ve left the numbers out rather than guess. Before you sign, ask ChowNow for these in writing:

• The monthly fee for each plan, and any setup fee
• The card processing rate per order
• Whether any fee is added to the guest’s bill
• Which POS systems it integrates with
• Contract length and cancellation terms
• Whether dine-in QR ordering and a branded app are included

Platform 4: Owner.com

Best for: restaurants that want website, ordering, app and marketing from one vendor.

Cost structure (as of October 2026):

• Flexible: $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee per order (source)
• Flat Rate: $499 a month with no restaurant fee per order. Owner.com says this suits restaurants doing $5k+ a month in online sales (source)
• On both plans, guests pay a 5% order support fee (source)

Key features:

• Website, online ordering and a branded mobile app on both plans (source)
• Loyalty and rewards, automated email and text campaigns, and catering ordering (source)
• Setup and migration handled by a dedicated specialist (source)
• Month-to-month billing with no long-term contract or cancellation fee (source)

Limitations:

• The 5% guest fee applies on both plans, so your regulars pay more to order direct than the menu price.
• Owner.com says plainly that partnering with it means “giving up some control” over how your site looks (source).
• The pricing page doesn’t list a card processing rate, so ask.

Who it’s right for: restaurants starting their digital setup from scratch that want one bundled system. If you’d rather own a restaurant website and plug ordering into it, a POS-native option may suit you better.

Platform 5: Olo

Best for: multi-location brands and regional groups.

Cost structure: Olo doesn’t publish prices. Its ordering page asks you to request a demo (source).

Key features:

• Serve, a customizable white-label ordering front end, or your own custom front end (source)
• 400+ integration partners, including POS and payment systems (source)
• Pickup, delivery and curbside, with order throttling and capacity rules (source)
• Centralized menu management across all digital channels (source)

Limitations:

• No public pricing, so budgeting starts with a sales conversation.
• The feature set is built around brands with several locations, which a single site may not need.

Who it’s right for: groups that need one ordering setup across many locations.

Platform 6: Online Ordering by DoorDash

DoorDash also sells direct ordering for your own website, Google profile and social pages, separate from its Marketplace app (source).

Cost structure (as of October 2026):

• 0% commission on direct orders. Standard payment processing fees apply, and customers pay delivery fees (source)
• Available on all DoorDash plans (source)

Limitations:

• The processing rate isn’t stated on the page, so ask for it.
• Guests pay the delivery fee, which they’ll compare with what they’d pay on the app.
• Your menu syncs with your DoorDash Marketplace listing (source). Handy, but your direct channel stays tied to the same vendor.

The Head-to-Head: Which Platform for Which Restaurant

The Actual Economics: First-Year Comparison

Here is our own worked example, using the published rates above. Assume 200 online orders a month at $42 each, so $8,400 a month in sales:

• DoorDash Marketplace Plus, all delivery (25%): $2,100 a month, or $25,200 a year
• Square Free (3.3% + 30¢): $277.20 + $60 = $337.20 a month, or $4,046.40 a year
• Square Plus ($49 + 2.9% + 30¢): $49 + $243.60 + $60 = $352.60 a month, or $4,231.20 a year
• Owner.com Flexible ($249 + 5%): $249 + $420 = $669 a month, or $8,028 a year
• Owner.com Flat ($499): $499 a month, or $5,988 a year

Three things change the picture:

• Delivery isn’t included in the direct options. DoorDash says its Marketplace commission covers listing, Dasher delivery, support and card processing (source). Direct orders need your own drivers or a per-order courier fee.
• Plans have break-even points. Square Plus only beats Free on processing alone above about $12,250 a month in online card sales ($49 ÷ 0.4%). Owner.com Flat beats Flexible above $5,000 a month in online orders ($250 ÷ 5%).
• Guest fees sit outside your costs. On Owner.com, guests would pay about $420 a month in order support fees on these orders.

What Happens After You Launch

The platform matters less than the promotion. A direct ordering link nobody sees won’t take orders. These steps put it in front of the guests who already know you:

• Put the ordering link in your Instagram bio
• Add an insert to every bag, including delivery-app orders
• Email your existing list to announce it
• Add the ordering link to your Google Business Profile
• Mention it to dine-in guests at the till

The platform is the infrastructure. The promotion fills it. Targeting local search intent sends people who are ready to order straight to your page, and restaurant email marketing brings them back for the next one.

Related Posts

• Restaurant online ordering system: how a direct ordering setup works
• Online ordering without the 30% commission: what direct ordering costs to run
• The real math behind delivery app commissions: working out your true app cost
• Your biggest competitor might be your DoorDash listing: moving app guests to direct

FAQ

How does Owner.com compare to other commission-free online ordering platforms?

Owner.com bundles website, ordering, branded app and marketing for $249 a month plus 5% per order, or $499 flat. Guests pay a 5% order support fee on both plans. Square Free and DoorDash Online Ordering have no monthly fee, and neither page lists a guest fee other than delivery.

ChowNow vs Owner.com: which is better for direct online ordering?

We couldn’t load ChowNow’s own site in October 2026, so we can’t compare its current prices fairly. Ask ChowNow for its plan prices, processing rate and any guest fee in writing, then set them against Owner.com’s published $249 + 5% or $499 flat.

Toast vs Square: which is better for online ordering?

Pick the one that matches your POS. Square publishes its prices: $0, $49 or $149 a month per location. Toast advertises commission-free online ordering but quotes plan prices individually, and its services only run on Toast-approved hardware.

How much does online ordering cost a restaurant?

As of October 2026, it ranges from $0 a month plus card fees (Square Free, DoorDash Online Ordering) to $499 a month (Owner.com Flat). Olo and Toast price by quote. Add delivery costs if you deliver yourself.

Is DoorDash’s online ordering commission-free?

Yes. DoorDash says direct orders through its Online Ordering carry 0% commission, with standard processing fees and customer-paid delivery. Its Marketplace app still charges 15%, 25% or 30% on delivery orders depending on plan, and 6% on pickup.

What is a first-party ordering system?

It’s ordering that runs on your own website, app or Google profile instead of a marketplace app. You set the prices, the guest orders from you, and you keep the guest’s details. Every option on this page except DoorDash Marketplace is first-party ordering.

The right platform is the one that fits what you already run. Our restaurant online ordering service connects direct ordering to your website and POS so guests can order from you without an app in the way. Get in touch to talk it through.