How Much DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub Really Cost Your Restaurant
If you run a restaurant and use DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub, you already know they take a cut. What most owners do not realize is how big the DoorDash commission actually is once every fee is added up, and how quickly it turns a profitable order into a break-even one.
This post breaks down the real cost, with no spin. By the end you will know exactly what these platforms take, why your margin disappears, and what you can do to keep more of every dollar.
The headline number: 15 to 30 percent per order
Third-party delivery apps typically charge restaurants between 15 and 30 percent in commission on every order. The exact rate depends on the plan you are on and the services you use (delivery, marketing placement, and so on).
That range alone is worth pausing on. On a 25 percent commission, one in every four dollars a customer spends never reaches you. On food, where margins are already thin, that is often the entire profit on the order.
It is not just the commission
The commission is the part owners see. The fees that quietly stack on top are what make the real number worse:
- Marketing and placement fees. Want to show up higher in the app? That is an extra percentage on top of the base commission.
- Payment processing. Charged on the full order total, including the portion you never keep.
- Promotions. Run a "free delivery" or discount in the app and you often eat that cost.
Add it up and the effective rate on a heavily promoted order can climb well past 30 percent.
Do the math on your own restaurant
The fastest way to see the damage is to run your real numbers. Take your monthly delivery order count, multiply by your average order value, and multiply by your commission rate. That is roughly what you hand to the apps every month. (If you would rather not do it by hand, our commission calculator works it out from those three numbers.)
Most owners are surprised. A restaurant doing a few hundred delivery orders a month at a normal ticket size is frequently paying tens of thousands of dollars a year in commission alone.
Why this happens, and why it feels impossible to escape
Delivery apps are genuinely good at one thing: getting your restaurant in front of new, hungry customers who are ready to order right now. That is real value. The problem is that they keep charging you that finder's fee on every single order, including from customers who already know you and would happily order direct.
You are paying an acquisition price on repeat business. That is the leak.
The fix: keep the apps, change who you pay commission on
The smart play is not to rip the apps out overnight. It is to flip how you use them.
- Use the apps to find new customers. Let them do what they are good at.
- Move repeat orders to your own commission-free channel. When a customer comes back, they order through your own website or app, where you pay a low flat monthly fee instead of a percentage of every order.
Commission-free ordering platforms replace the per-order cut with a predictable flat rate. The money you make on delivery stays yours, and you own the customer relationship, the data, and the marketing.
We set this up for restaurants as part of our commission-free deliveries service, including the transition plan so you do not lose the new-customer flow the apps provide.
What to do next
- Run your numbers so you know the real figure.
- Decide how much of your repeat delivery business could move to a direct channel.
- Set up commission-free ordering and start keeping that margin.
If you want help with any of this, get a free consultation. We will show you exactly what you would keep.
