What the delivery apps charge
In short
DoorDash's merchant plans take 15, 25 or 30 percent of each delivery order, depending on how far the plan reaches, and 6 percent of each pickup order on every plan. A percentage grows with the order, so the busiest weeks cost the most.
DoorDash's pricing page lists three plans. Basic takes 15 percent of delivery orders and reaches customers nearby, Plus takes 25 percent and reaches customers farther away, and Premier takes 30 percent for the widest delivery range. Each starts with a short introductory period at 0 percent, and pickup orders are 6 percent on all three.
DoorDash also sells an ordering product for a business's own website, and says direct orders through it are commission-free, with the business covering standard payment processing as it would on any card sale. So DoorDash itself now sells direct ordering alongside its marketplace.
| Delivery orders | Pickup orders | Delivery reach | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 15% | 6% | Customers nearby |
| Plus | 25% | 6% | Customers farther away |
| Premier | 30% | 6% | The widest range |
Swipe sideways to see every column
What your own ordering costs
In short
Your own ordering system costs a build price once, then hosting and card processing on your own accounts, with no commission. The trade is that it brings you no new customers by itself: it serves the people who already know your name.
Ours runs as an app from $15,300: a menu that knows each item's options and limits, pickup slots that close when they fill, and a board in the kitchen with the day's orders in pickup order. The step that adds online payment and customer accounts starts at $34,000. On a site we build, ordering is priced in the written plan with the pages.
Card fees go to the payment company on your own account, the same as a sale at the counter. On the Plus plan, by contrast, a quarter of every delivery sale stays with the app, which is why the orders worth moving are the regular ones.
Using both without paying commission on your regulars
In short
Keep the apps for the customers they find you, and give regulars a reason to order direct, such as pickup times they choose and no fees added at checkout. Each order that moves from the app to your own page keeps its commission in the business.
Put your own ordering link where regulars already look: the first screen of your site, your Google Business Profile, the bag and the receipt. Pickup is the natural place to start, since pickup customers already come to your door.
Keep the menu the same in both places and let the kitchen see every order on one board, whichever door it came through. Two menus that drift apart, and two tablets on the counter, are what make running both feel like work.
What this means for a small business
In short
If most of your online orders come from people who already know you, your own ordering pays back faster than if they come from strangers browsing an app. Count which is which before you build.
Pull a month of app orders and count the names that appear more than once. Those customers are paying the app's fees to reach a kitchen they already know, and they are the ones a direct link and a smooth pickup page can win back.
For a restaurant or a bakery in the Los Angeles area, we can stand at the counter during a busy hour to see where phone orders and app orders collide, then write the plan around what the kitchen actually needs.