Grubhub alternatives for restaurants: what each costs and who it fits
The main Grubhub alternatives for a restaurant are other delivery marketplaces (DoorDash, Uber Eats), a flat-fee ordering service of your own (ChowNow, Menufy and similar), and a free pickup page that charges only the card fee. Grubhub charges 5%, 15% or 20% commission by plan, a delivery fee from 10% when its drivers deliver, and card processing of 3.05% + 30¢ [1]. On a $30 delivered order that is $5.72 on Basic and $10.22 on All-access. A marketplace swap changes the logo, not the maths; the real saving comes from moving regulars to a link you own.
If you want pickup orders with no monthly plan, you can build a free menu site with pickup ordering from a photo of your menu. Below: the three groups, one $30 order on each, a month at 300 orders, what you lose by leaving, how to choose, and a 30-day test.
What Grubhub costs, so you have the baseline
From our Grubhub commission guide: 5% on Basic, 15% on Plus, 20% on All-access; a delivery fee starting at 10% when Grubhub's drivers carry the order; card processing of 3.05% + 30¢ on prepaid orders; no sign-up or monthly fee [1]. Basic, with the 10% delivery fee, is about 15% all in. All-access with delivery is about 30%.
The alternatives in three groups
| Group | Examples | You pay | It brings you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other marketplaces | DoorDash, Uber Eats | 15% to 30% on delivery; DoorDash 6% pickup, Uber Eats 7% to 10% pickup [2] [3] | New diners, drivers |
| Flat-fee ordering of your own | ChowNow, Menufy, Toast (with its POS) | A monthly plan plus card fees | Orders from people who know you |
| Free pickup page | Your own menu site | Card fee only | Pickup orders, your customer list |
Other marketplaces: DoorDash and Uber Eats
DoorDash runs 15%, 25% and 30% on delivery and 6% on pickup [2]. Uber Eats runs 20%, 25% and 30% on delivery and 7% to 10% on pickup [3]. Grubhub's Basic plan is the cheapest entry of the three for delivery you do yourself, because its 5% marketing fee is lower than either. Moving from Grubhub to DoorDash or Uber Eats rarely lowers the cost of an order. Adding one can bring orders the first app never reached, in a city where it is stronger. See DoorDash alternatives, Uber Eats alternatives and Grubhub vs DoorDash for the line-by-line.
Flat-fee ordering of your own
ChowNow is reported at $119 to $298 a month on an annual contract, a $119 to $499 setup fee and 2.95% + 29¢ per card, with no commission on orders from your page [4]. Menufy is reported at $149 a month annual or $179 month to month, a $1.75 per-order fee that you can pass to the diner, and card processing near 2.75% + 30¢ [5]. Toast online ordering is an add-on to Toast's POS: about $75 a month and 3.5% + 15¢ on online cards [6]. Detail in ChowNow pricing, Menufy pricing and Toast online ordering.
These services do not find you new diners. They give you a page and an app, and you send people to them. Grubhub also sells a commission-free ordering site for restaurants; one competitor argues it keeps you dependent on the platform [7]. Read the contract before you rely on it.
A free pickup page
The cheapest option is a menu site with a pickup order form and no monthly plan. You pay the card fee only. At a typical 2.9% + 30¢, that is $1.17 on a $30 order. Setup is a photo of your menu and an hour. The limit is that it does not do delivery and does not bring new diners. Our commission-free online ordering and free online ordering system guides cover the choices.
One $30 delivered order on each
| Where the order comes from | Fees on $30 | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Grubhub Basic, Grubhub delivers (15% + card) | $4.50 + $1.22 = $5.72 | $24.28 |
| Grubhub All-access, Grubhub delivers (30% + card) | $9.00 + $1.22 = $10.22 | $19.78 |
| DoorDash Plus, delivered | 25% = $7.50 | $22.50 |
| Uber Eats Plus, delivered | 25% = $7.50 | $22.50 |
| ChowNow, own page | $1.18 card (plan extra) | $28.82 |
| Free pickup page | About $1.17 card | $28.83 |
The card line on Grubhub is 3.05% of $30 ($0.915) plus 30¢, about $1.22. Marketplace plans differ in what the percentage includes, so read the plan page for the exact terms.
A month at 300 orders
300 delivered orders at $30 is $9,000 of sales. The plan rows are the monthly total of fees; the direct rows assume every order came through your own link, which is the best case.
| Setup | Monthly fees | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|
| Grubhub Basic with delivery | $1,715 | 19% |
| Grubhub All-access with delivery | $3,065 | 34% |
| DoorDash Plus | $2,250 | 25% |
| Menufy, fee absorbed | $1,012 | 11% |
| Menufy, fee passed on | $487 | 5% |
| ChowNow Pro | $552 | 6% |
| Free pickup page | About $351 | 4% |
Menufy's totals come from our Menufy pricing guide: $149 plan, $337.50 card, and $525 of per-order fees if you absorb them. The free page is 2.9% of $9,000 ($261) plus 300 × 30¢ ($90). You will not move all 300; the point is the gap per order.
What you lose by leaving Grubhub
- New diners. Some of your orders come from people who found you in the app. Turn Grubhub off and they go.
- Drivers. Own ordering is pickup, or delivery you run yourself.
- Visibility in your city. In some cities Grubhub is the app people open; in others it is DoorDash.
The usual advice in the vendor sources is to keep one marketplace for reach and push repeat customers to your own link [7]. That is also what the numbers above favour.
How to choose in four questions
- Do you have drivers? No: marketplace delivery is what you are paying for. Yes: Basic's low rate or your own page fits.
- How many orders come from regulars? Count by source for two weeks. The more regulars, the more your own page saves.
- Is your volume above 100 online orders a month? Under it, a flat plan costs more per order than it saves.
- Which app is strong in your city? Ask diners which they open. Keep that one.
A 30-day test before you change anything
- Put your own ordering link on your Google profile, website and a counter sign.
- Tag orders by source for 30 days.
- Fill the month table with your counts and your plan.
- If a marketplace gives you fewer orders than it costs, drop down a plan before you drop it.
Common mistakes when leaving a marketplace
- Quitting Grubhub before your own link has orders. Build the direct side first, then reduce the marketplace plan.
- Moving to a higher plan for visibility without counting the extra orders. Our Grubhub guide works out how many extra orders All-access needs to pay for itself.
- Comparing a flat fee with a percentage on one order. A $119 plan looks dear against a $5 commission. Compare a month of orders, not one.
- Paying for features you will not use. Apps, loyalty and email tools only matter if someone runs them each week.
Paying Grubhub less without leaving
You can pay Grubhub less without a new tool. Drop to Basic if you have your own drivers. Put your own ordering link first on your Google profile, website and counter sign, so regulars skip the app. Our guide on app prices versus in-store prices covers why some restaurants charge more on the apps and what to check in the terms before you do.
If you do decide to cut a marketplace, give it a date. Announce a change to regulars a week ahead on your menu page and counter sign, keep the app listing live until the direct link has taken a full week of orders, then step down a plan first and only then turn the listing off. A restaurant that drops everything at once finds out which orders were really its own the hard way.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Grubhub alternative?
A free pickup page, which charges only the card fee. For delivery, the lowest commission is Grubhub Basic or DoorDash Basic at 15% on delivery.
Is DoorDash cheaper than Grubhub?
Not by much: DoorDash is 15%, 25% and 30% on delivery [2]; Grubhub is 5%, 15% and 20% plus a delivery fee from 10% [1].
Can I use more than one app?
Yes, but each splits your orders without lowering the cost per order.
Does ChowNow bring me new customers?
No. It handles orders from people who come to your page.
Do I need a POS for online ordering?
Not for a pickup page. Toast ordering needs the Toast POS [6].
Can I build my own ordering page free?
Yes. Build a free menu site with pickup ordering from a photo of your menu, and see all our guides.
Sources
- Our Grubhub commission guide (5%, 15%, 20%; delivery from 10%; 3.05% + 30¢), with its sources.
- Our DoorDash commission guide, with its sources.
- Our Uber Eats commission guide, with its sources.
- Our ChowNow pricing guide, with its sources.
- Our Menufy pricing guide, with its sources.
- Our Toast online ordering guide, with its sources.
- Vendor lists as shown in search results Nov 11, 2026: 11 Grubhub alternatives, Jotform; Best Grubhub Alternative, UpMenu. Each sells a rival product.
Prices change. Confirm on each company's page and in a written quote.