ChowNow pricing: the plans, the setup fee and what a month really costs

ChowNow pricing is a monthly subscription plus a one-time setup fee plus a card fee on each order, and no commission on orders placed on your own ChowNow page [1] [2]. The sources we found disagree on the monthly number: one guide lists Hub at $119, Pro at $199 and Premier at $298 on an annual plan, with $119, $229 and $328 with no contract [1]; a comparison site reads ChowNow's public page as three plans at $229 to $449 [2]. The card rate in both is 2.95% + 29¢ [1] [2]. For one restaurant that is roughly $500 to $540 a month at 300 orders of $25, before any delivery fee.

If you only need a menu page and a pickup order form, you can build a free menu site with pickup ordering from a photo of your menu. Below: each plan as reported, the setup fee, a month worked out, the delivery fees, the contract terms, what to ask in a quote, and who ChowNow fits.

ChowNow pricing by plan

ChowNow does not print one fixed price list we could read in full, and the figures in circulation are not from the same date. This is what two sources report, side by side.

That is Sauce's table, from a rival's blog [1]. A comparison site reads the plans on ChowNow's own page as Launch, Grow and Elevate at $229 to $449 a month depending on plan and billing term, with a setup fee of $119 to $499 [2]. A review site lists $229, $319 and $409 billed annually [3]. Older material is cheaper still, about $99 to $149 a month plus a $199 to $399 setup fee, so ignore any page that does not carry a date [4].

What to take from the mess: expect to pay between about $120 and $450 a month, depending on the plan and whether you commit for a year or more. The plan decides which features you get (the website, the branded app, marketing tools); ask ChowNow for the feature list per plan, in writing, because we could not read it from their site.

The ChowNow setup fee

Sauce reports a one-time setup fee of $119 to $499, "depending on onboarding complexity" [1]. The comparison site gives the same $119 to $499 range [2]. ChowNow's own page was not readable for us, so treat it as reported, not confirmed. Two practical points:

• Ask what the setup fee buys: menu entry, a site, a Google ordering link, training.
• Ask whether it is waived on an annual plan. Salespeople sometimes waive it; the written quote is the only price that counts.

ChowNow payment processing fee

Both sources give 2.95% + 29¢ per online card order [1] [2]. On a $25 order that is 74¢ + 29¢ = $1.03, which is 4.1% of the order. The fixed 29¢ is why small orders cost a larger share: on a $12 coffee order the fee is 35¢ + 29¢ = 64¢, or 5.3%. On a $60 family order it is $1.77 + $0.29 = $2.06, or 3.4%.

This is a card fee, not a commission, and every online card system charges one; Square's is about 3.3% + 30¢ and Toast's online rate is reported near 3.5% + 15¢ (see our Toast vs Square guide). The difference between systems is the monthly fee on top, not the card rate.

What a month of ChowNow costs, worked out

An example, not your numbers: 300 online orders a month averaging $25, which is $7,500 in online sales. All orders are pickup on your own ChowNow page.

The card fees, $308.25, are the same in every column. They are not ChowNow's profit alone; processing is a cost you would pay on any card sale. The part ChowNow adds is the plan: $199 to $328 here, or 2.7% to 4.4% of that month's online sales.

Now the same month through a marketplace that takes 15% to 30% commission on delivery: $1,125 to $2,250 on $7,500, before card fees are even mentioned. That gap is why restaurants move repeat customers onto their own page. Our DoorDash commission guide has the plan-by-plan rates.

At a quieter 100 orders a month ($2,500 in sales) the same Pro plan costs $199 + $73.75 + $29 = $301.75, or 12.1% of sales. The plan fee is fixed, so low volume is where a subscription hurts most.

ChowNow delivery fees

Pickup on your own page has no delivery line. For delivery, Sauce reports two options [1]:

• Third-party drivers (DoorDash, Uber): $7.98 flat per order, up to 8 miles.
• Flex: $3.99 flat per order, with a range you set.

Sauce suggests splitting the cost with the diner, for example $3.99 to the diner and $3.99 to you on a $7.98 order [1]. That is a choice, not a rule: you can pass the whole fee on, or absorb it on big orders. A $3.99 fee on a $25 order is 16% of the order, which is why many restaurants make delivery a minimum-order or higher-price channel and push pickup.

Contract terms

As reported by Sauce [1]:

• Month-to-month, annual and two-year terms exist; annual and two-year contracts turn into month-to-month when the first term ends.
• On Hub you can cancel any time with written notice and no penalty.
• On Premier, a $199 cancellation fee applies if you cancel before the first order, offset by anything you prepaid.
• ChowNow can end the agreement on 30 days' written notice, or at once for a material breach.

Read the agreement for yourself: cancellation, who owns the customer list, and what happens to your domain are the three lines that matter if you leave.

Extras that can add to ChowNow pricing

• Branded mobile app: a $99 a year Apple developer fee is reported [1].
• Order printer: $250 to $420 if you want tickets printed in the kitchen [1].
• Marketing services: email, SEO and paid ad management are offered as optional services; no prices are listed [1].
• Loyalty, CRM and promotional placements: premium add-ons with no listed price [1].

Add what you would really buy. Most small places skip the app and the marketing and keep the plan, the printer and the card fees.

Another flat-plan option: Menufy pricing, with its per-order fee worked at three sizes.

Questions to put in the ChowNow quote

1. Which plan has the features I will use, listed, and what is the monthly price on a month-to-month term?
2. What is the setup fee, what does it include, and is it waived on an annual term?
3. Is the card rate 2.95% + 29¢ for every order, and is there any other fee per order?
4. What are delivery fees by method, and who pays them by default?
5. How do I cancel, and is there a fee at any stage?
6. Who owns the customer emails and the domain if I leave?
7. Do prices change at renewal?

Put the answers in an email. A price you can only get on a call is a price you cannot compare.

Who ChowNow fits

It can fit when

• You do a steady volume of online orders, roughly 200 a month or more, so the plan is a small share of sales.
• You want a managed ordering page, an app and marketing help without building anything.
• You have been paying a marketplace 15% to 30% on repeat customers and want them on your own page.

It is likely too much when

• You take under about 100 online orders a month; the plan is then a double-digit share of sales.
• You want a free menu page and pickup form. Our free restaurant website guide shows how.
• You already pay for a POS with ordering built in; compare with Toast online ordering or Square's first.

Cheaper ways to take orders without commission

ChowNow is one of several routes. Commission-free online ordering lists them all with their monthly costs, the best online ordering systems for restaurants compares them, and ChowNow alternatives goes through what else to look at. If you are weighing the whole site-and-ordering bundle, see Popmenu pricing and Owner.com alternatives too.

Questions

How much does ChowNow cost per month?

Sources report about $119 to $449 a month depending on plan and term, with the most recent comparison reading $229 to $449 [1] [2]. Get the current number in writing.

Does ChowNow charge commission?

Not on orders placed on your own ChowNow page; it charges a subscription and a card fee [1] [2]. Marketplace listings are separate.

Is there a ChowNow setup fee?

Reported at $119 to $499, one time [1] [2].

What is the ChowNow card processing rate?

2.95% + 29¢ per online order as reported [1] [2].

Can I cancel ChowNow any time?

Month-to-month plans can be cancelled with notice; annual and two-year terms convert to monthly when they end, and one plan has a cancellation fee before the first order [1].

Is ChowNow worth it for a small restaurant?

It pays when you have enough online orders that $200 to $330 a month is a small share of them. Under about 100 a month, a free pickup page or a POS with ordering included costs less. See all our guides.

See also ChowNow vs Toast and ChowNow vs DoorDash.

Sources

1. ChowNow Pricing and Fees, Sauce, read Nov 10, 2026 (a rival).
2. ChowNow alternative and fees, UpMenu, as summarised in search results Nov 10, 2026 (a rival).
3. ChowNow, SelectHub, as shown in search results Nov 10, 2026.
4. ChowNow national sell sheet, ChowNow, undated and old; shown only to explain older prices.