Commission-free ordering vs DoorDash and Uber Eats.
What each costs a restaurant.
What DoorDash and Uber Eats charge per order, what ordering on your own website costs instead, and when the apps still make sense.
By Abdul Nada, founder of Backlineflow · Updated
Commission-free online ordering means customers order on your restaurant's own website instead of a delivery app, and you pay no percentage of each order. You still pay normal card processing. The order prints in your kitchen through your Clover, Square or Toast, and the customer's name and number stay with you.
What the apps charge, and what your own site charges.
| Where the order comes in | What the restaurant pays per order |
|---|---|
| DoorDash, delivery | 15% (Basic), 25% (Plus) or 30% (Premier) of the order subtotal |
| DoorDash, pickup | 6% on every plan |
| Uber Eats, delivery | 20% (Lite; 15% in New Jersey), 25% (Plus) or 30% (Premium) |
| Uber Eats, pickup | 7% with validated in-store pricing, 10% without (Lite in New Jersey: 5%) |
| Your own website | No commission. You pay normal card processing. |
From DoorDash merchant pricing and Uber Eats merchant pricing, checked October 2026. Third-party fees, not ours.
A worked example. On a $30 delivery order, DoorDash Plus’s 25% commission is $7.50. On your own website no commission comes off; you pay card processing on the $30.
DoorDash's commission includes card processing. On your own website you pay card processing yourself, so compare a commission with your card rate, not with zero.
The apps sell commission-free ordering too.
DoorDash’s Online Ordering puts a commission-free ordering page on your website, on every plan, with a payment processing fee. Uber Eats’ Webshop does the same for 2.5% plus $0.29 per order. Both are on their merchant pricing pages, checked October 2026.
So the choice isn’t only commission or no commission. With us, ordering is one part of a system we build and run for you: the website it lives on, your menu and hours kept the same on the site and on Google, orders printed through Clover, Square or Toast, and an AI receptionist that takes phone orders. One team, one flat monthly.
Keep the apps for reach. Move your regulars home.
When the apps still make sense
- Reaching new customers. People who have never heard of you browse the apps, and an order from one of them is an order you didn't have.
- Delivery you can't cover. The apps bring drivers and a delivery radius most restaurants can't staff on their own.
- Quiet nights. When the kitchen has room, an app order at a commission can still beat no order at all.
How to move your regulars to your own site
- Put a QR code on every bag and receipt that opens your own ordering page.
- Link ordering from your Google Business Profile, so a search for your name lands on your site, not an app.
- Keep the menu and hours the same everywhere, and never let an app be the cheaper place to order.
- Answer the phone. A call that rings out during the rush is an order that goes to an app, or nowhere.
Ordering we built, live today.
For everything we build for restaurants, cafés and bakeries, from the website to the AI receptionist, see the restaurant page.
Sweet Kitchen, a bakery in Montclair and Ridgewood, takes orders this way on a site we built.
sweetkitchenbakery.comBefore you ask.
Is commission-free ordering free?
No. No percentage comes off each order, but you still pay card processing on every order, and the website and the ordering cost something to build and run. With us that's a one-time build plus a flat monthly, the same however many orders come in.
Do DoorDash and Uber Eats offer commission-free ordering too?
Yes. DoorDash's Online Ordering is commission-free on every plan, with a payment processing fee, and Uber Eats' Webshop charges 2.5% plus $0.29 per order (both from their merchant pricing pages, checked October 2026). The difference with us is everything around it: the ordering sits on the website we build and run for you, next to your menu, booking and Google profile, and the AI receptionist takes phone orders too.
Can I keep DoorDash and Uber Eats?
Yes. Many restaurants keep the apps for new customers and delivery reach, and move their regulars to their own site. The apps charge 15% to 30% on a delivery order (DoorDash and Uber Eats merchant pricing, checked October 2026); your own site charges no commission.
Does it work with Clover, Square or Toast?
Yes. Orders from your website print in your kitchen through Clover, Square or Toast, like any other ticket. We keep your menu, hours and specials the same on the site, the ordering page and Google.
Can customers order by phone?
Yes. The AI receptionist answers every call on the first ring, even in the rush. It takes the order, texts a payment link during the call, and hands the caller to you with a one-line summary when a person is needed.
See what we'd build you.
Tell us how you run today. We come back with a demo of your own business, often the same day.