How to sign up your restaurant on Uber Eats: the steps, the papers, the fees and the first week
How to sign up a restaurant on Uber Eats: use Uber's merchant site: fill in a form with your business name, location, licence and estimated order volume, wait for an Uber rep to contact you, agree a plan and pricing, set up your menu in Uber Eats Manager, and go live once Uber reviews it [1] [2]. Signing up has no listed fee in the US [3], but a one-time activation or tablet charge can appear on your first statements, so ask for it in writing before you go live [4].
Below: what to have ready, each step in order, the plan to pick (the 2026 rates went up), what to check before you go live and how to avoid paying the app's rate on regulars. If you want a page of your own to send them to, build a free menu site with pickup ordering from a photo of your menu.
1. What to have ready
Uber's own pages are thin on the exact list, and the third-party guides we found mostly date from earlier years, so treat this as the common set and confirm it on the form [1] [2]:
| You need | Why |
|---|---|
| Legal business name and address | Uber verifies the business before it activates |
| Your business licence and any local food permits | Uber says all businesses must meet local licensing rules before onboarding [1] |
| Owner's identification | For the person who signs the agreement [2] |
| Estimated orders a week | The form asks for expected volume [2] |
| Bank details | Payouts are weekly, with a statement for each week you were paid [4] |
| Your menu with prices and photos | Set up and reviewed before you go live [2] |
2. How to sign up a restaurant on Uber Eats, step by step
- Submit the sign-up form on Uber's merchant site (business details, location, licence, estimated volume) [1] [2].
- Choose how orders will be delivered. The options are an Uber Eats courier, your own staff (self-delivery), or pickup only [2]. You can offer more than one. Self-delivery has its own, lower rate (below).
- Take the onboarding call. Uber contacts you with onboarding information, often a tablet with the ordering software and a session that walks you through the process; pricing is discussed with the rep [2]. This is where you pick your plan.
- Sign the agreement. Read the commission line for each kind of order, the pickup rule and any offer. Ask in writing what the rep means by any "setup" or "activation" charge.
- Download Uber Eats Manager and build the menu there (menu tab at the manager address on Uber's merchant site) [2] [5].
- Wait for the menu review. When it is reviewed, you get a message saying the restaurant is live [2].
- Go live, then check the listing on a phone as a diner would: name, hours, photo, prices, delivery area.
Steps and screen names change. Where Uber's own sign-up screen says something different, it wins.
3. Which plan to pick
Uber raised its rates on March 11, 2026. These are the US rates from Uber's pricing page, with the full workings in Uber Eats commission for restaurants [3] [6]:
| Plan | Delivery | Pickup | On a $25 delivered order you keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | 20% | 7% (10% if app prices don't match in-store) | $20.00 |
| Plus | 25% (30% on Uber One orders) | 7% or 10% | $18.75 |
| Premium | 30% | 7% or 10% | $17.50 |
| Self-delivery (your driver) | 15% | 7% | $21.25 minus your driver |
Start on Lite unless you have a reason not to. A higher plan buys more visibility and a lower delivery fee for diners, but it must bring enough extra orders to cover the extra points on every order: Plus needs about 12% more orders than Lite, Premium about 27% more, in the example in our commission guide where food costs 32% of the price.
Is there a free trial? Uber has advertised 0% commission for the first 30 days on Plus and Premium [3]. It varies by city and month and usually needs a new store. Judge the plan on its second month. Premium also waives its fees in any month with fewer than 20 orders during the first six months, if you keep cancellations low and stay online at least 95% of your hours [3].
City caps. Some places have lower Lite rates: New York City, Portland, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and others [3]. After you sign, check that your first statement shows your city's rate.
4. The menu: where new listings lose orders
- Match your names and prices. If your app prices differ from in-store, your pickup orders move from 7% to 10% [3]. If you do raise delivery prices, decide on purpose, with the figures in does DoorDash mark up prices, which apply to every app.
- Photos for the top sellers first. A menu of names and prices only looks unfinished next to a rival with photos. Premium includes a menu photo package [3]; on other plans, take them yourself in daylight.
- Required options. Size, doneness, sauce: make them required so a diner can't send a half-order to the kitchen.
- Leave off dishes that don't travel. A bad arrival becomes a refund that can come out of your payout [3].
- Honest prep time. Set it for a busy night, not a quiet one.
Keep one master copy of the menu and update it everywhere at once: how to edit your restaurant menu online.
5. Fees on top of commission
- Activation and tablet. Uber's US pricing page doesn't list them. Uber's help pages say activation and tablet fees can appear as miscellaneous charges on a statement [4]. One third-party guide describes a one-time activation fee covering a welcome kit, tablet and photo shoot that varies by city [2]. Ask your rep to confirm in writing whether any applies to your store.
- Ads and offers. Optional on every plan, charged on top of the commission [3]. Don't switch them on in week one.
- Refunds and missing items. Taken from your payout when a diner reports a problem. Photograph sealed bags at handoff to dispute.
- Packaging. A bag that survives 20 minutes costs more than a dine-in plate.
6. Before you click go live: a ten-minute check
- Does the commission on your statement's first line match the plan you chose?
- Do the opening hours match your Google listing?
- Is the delivery radius small enough that food arrives hot?
- Does every item show the right price and options?
- Is the pin on the map at your door, not the street?
- Did you place a test order and follow it from tablet to bag?
7. The first week, and how to keep regulars off the app
A new listing has no reviews and starts low in the list. Don't chase rank with discounts yet; watch the basics: accepted orders, prep time, cancellations and what each order leaves you after commission.
Then protect your margin. The app is worth the commission for a diner who has never heard of you and a poor deal for one who already knows you. Put a card in each bag: "Order direct next time: pickup, no app fees", with a QR code. Link your own ordering page on your Google listing so people searching your name see it. And keep the pickup rule in mind: the cheapest app order for you is a pickup at 7%, and the cheapest of all is a pickup you take yourself. The routes, with their prices, are in commission-free online ordering for restaurants and how Google's Order button works.
Not sure whether to be on Uber Eats at all or on DoorDash too? DoorDash vs Uber Eats for restaurants has the fees side by side and a test to run.
Common mistakes
- Taking Premium on the call. Reps sell the higher plans; the extra 10 points cost you on every order.
- Not asking about activation fees until they show up on a statement.
- Marking up app prices without knowing it costs you the 7% pickup rate.
- Judging the plan during the free month.
- Listing in the wrong delivery area, then paying for cold-food refunds.
Questions
How much does it cost to sign up a restaurant on Uber Eats?
Uber's US pricing page lists no sign-up fee, only a commission on each order [3]. Activation or tablet charges can appear on statements [4], so ask your rep to confirm in writing.
How long does it take to get on Uber Eats?
It depends on how fast the onboarding call, menu review and tablet happen. Uber doesn't publish a fixed time on the pages we read; plan for days, not hours, and don't schedule a launch promotion until the restaurant is live [2].
Do I need a tablet?
Many restaurants get one in onboarding; a point-of-sale link is the alternative [2]. Ask which your plan includes and whether it is charged.
What documents do I need?
Business name and address, licence and permits, the owner's ID, an order estimate, bank details and a menu [1] [2].
Can I use my own drivers?
Yes. Self-delivery is listed at 15% and stays in the app [3].
Is there a cheaper way to get delivery orders?
Orders from your own site cost less: Uber's Webshop is listed at 2.5% + $0.29 [3], and a page where diners pay at pickup costs nothing online. See all our guides.
Sources
- Uber Eats for restaurants: delivery and pickup, Uber, read Nov 9, 2026 (sign-up form, licensing rules; as listed in search).
- How to sign up on Uber Eats for your restaurant, Otter, read Nov 9, 2026 (a third-party guide: form fields, onboarding call, tablet, menu review; may be dated).
- Uber Eats pricing for merchants (US), Uber, read Nov 2, 2026.
- View past payments and breakdowns, Uber Help, read Nov 2, 2026 (as listed in search).
- Uber Eats Manager log in, Uber, read Nov 9, 2026 (as listed in search).
- Uber Eats increases marketplace fees, Restaurant Dive, March 10, 2026.