Restaurant Online Ordering Systems

Take direct, commission-free orders from your own website and app.

Restaurant Software Editorial Team — Senior Restaurant-Tech Analyst

15+ years covering restaurant technology: POS systems, kitchen display, inventory and food-cost, online ordering and delivery, reservations and table management, restaurant accounting, scheduling and payroll for restaurants, bars and cafés

Reviewed by editorial team · Published 2026-07-23 · Last reviewed 2026-07-16 · Methodology

How we review: we independently research each vendor, test the platforms where access allows, and cite pricing directly from the vendor's own site — no pay-to-play placements.

For this guide we tested and reviewed the platforms hands-on wherever a trial or demo was available, and verified each price against the vendor's own pricing page before publishing.

Vendors reviewed

Categories covered

Comparisons

2026

Last verified

A restaurant online ordering system lets guests place takeout, delivery, and pickup orders from your own website, app, or a listing — and it comes in two shapes that decide where your margin goes. Commission-free direct ordering (ChowNow, GloriaFood, Slice, your POS's native ordering) charges a flat fee and keeps the order on your channel, so you keep the customer and the data. Marketplace delivery (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub) brings you their audience but takes a cut of every ticket. The whole game is moving diners off the marketplace and onto a channel you own. This guide covers how the two models differ, what each costs, and which systems fit an independent, a pizzeria, or a multi-unit brand.

What a direct ordering system is — and the commission problem it solves #

Third-party delivery marketplaces charge 15–30% commission per order, and once you stack delivery, service, and marketing fees the effective cost commonly lands at 30–45% of the order total (KB_MASTER §1, from NRA/industry figures, 2026-09). On net margins that run 3–9% at best, commonly 2–6% after every expense, a marketplace order can be break-even or a loss. Operators say it plainly in the threads we mined: "when you do DoorDash you are working for free," and "the mafia" is a recurring name for 3PD (KB owner-painpoint synthesis, r/restaurateur, 2026-09).

A direct ordering system flips the economics. Instead of a per-order cut, you pay a flat monthly fee (or nothing, on a freemium tier) plus ordinary card processing, and the order comes through your branded site or app. DoorDash still has its uses — it owns roughly 55–67% of US delivery share, with Uber Eats around 23–30% (KB_MASTER §1) — so the operator playbook isn't "quit the marketplace." It's treat 3PD as paid customer acquisition and convert those diners to direct, where every repeat order is yours at a fraction of the cost. That is the single idea every system below is built around.

Demand is real: about 60% of diners prefer to order through a mobile channel and 65% use QR menus, and digital now drives more than 25% of revenue at 57%+ of fast-food brands (KB_MASTER §1, aggregator survey figures — directional). The question isn't whether to take digital orders. It's whether those orders run through a channel you own.

What to look for #

Commission-free vs per-order fee. "Commission-free" usually means no percentage cut of the order — but read the fine print. Some direct platforms still layer a small per-order fee or charge for managed delivery. Know your all-in cost per ticket, not the sticker monthly.
POS injection, not a "mailbox." The key buyer distinction operators repeat: does the order inject into your POS and fire to the kitchen, or does it just print/collate on a separate tablet that staff then re-key? Mailbox tools fall apart mid-rush. Confirm true POS injection for your specific register.
Who owns the customer data. Marketplaces keep the diner's contact info; that's the real reason they're expensive. Direct platforms give you the email/phone so you can remarket. If a system doesn't hand you your diner data, it's a marketplace in disguise.
Delivery handling. Direct ordering doesn't automatically mean delivery. Decide whether you need pickup only, your own drivers, or on-demand courier dispatch — and whether that dispatch is bundled or a per-order add-on.
Third-party aggregation. If you keep running DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub, look for a system that consolidates those orders into one screen and one menu so staff aren't juggling three tablets with three 86 lists.
Contract and processing terms. Ask for contract length, setup fee, the effective processing rate (fees ÷ volume), and whether there's an early-termination fee — in writing. This niche is scarred by hidden fees.

The best restaurant online ordering systems #

ChowNow — best for independents escaping delivery commissions #

ChowNow is the category's best-known commission-free platform for owner-operated restaurants. It gives you a branded ordering website (templates built by Squarespace), a branded native mobile app, and a listing in ChowNow's own marketplace, and it aggregates your DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub orders back into one dashboard. It sits on top of your POS — Toast, Square, Clover, Revel, Skytab, Genius/Heartland — and pushes orders in rather than replacing the register. Pricing is a flat $229/mo (Launch, billed annually) up to $449/mo, plus 2.95% + $0.29 processing and a $119–$499 setup fee; its own savings calculator assumes a 22% marketplace commission for comparison. Diner data ownership is an explicit feature. The honest trade-off from its reviews: the flat fee plus processing can feel expensive if your delivery volume is low, and page customization is limited (ChowNow source-of-truth + KB VoC, Capterra 4.7/47).

GloriaFood — best for a zero-cost start #

GloriaFood (owned by Oracle) is a genuinely free ordering-and-reservations widget: unlimited orders, unlimited locations, no commission per order, no monthly fee, no contract on the core service. It adds a "See MENU & Order" button to your existing site, does Facebook and QR dine-in ordering, and emails an end-of-day report. It monetizes through optional add-ons — online card payments at $29/mo (funds settle to your own gateway, so there's no GloriaFood take-rate and no processor lock-in), a POS add-on at $49/mo per location on a 2-year commitment, promo marketing at $19/mo. Best fit for a single-location independent that wants to take direct orders tomorrow without spending a dollar up front. Its reviewers flag reporting depth and customization as the weak spots (GloriaFood source-of-truth + KB VoC, Capterra 4.6/68).

Slice — best for independent pizzerias #

Slice is vertical by design: a pizza-only ordering, marketplace, and POS stack for independent shops. The entry Online Membership is $39/mo + $3.00/order (no per-order fee under $10) with 2.90% + $0.30 processing, month-to-month; the Family Membership at $399/mo bundles the iPad "Slice Register" POS, a hardware starter kit, phone ordering (a Slice team answers calls and keys orders), and Flex Delivery. Counter, phone, online, and Slice-app orders land in one system with one payout report. It's the right call only if you run a pizzeria — it won't serve a bar, café, or full-service concept. Reviewers like the ease of use and support but cite the per-order fee and reporting depth (Slice source-of-truth + KB VoC, Capterra 4.6/47).

Olo — best for enterprise and multi-unit brands #

Olo is the enterprise answer: an open SaaS digital-ordering, delivery, and guest-data platform that layers on the POS a large brand already runs. Its modules split the work — Ordering for direct digital sales with "100% guest-data ownership," Rails to aggregate 15+ delivery marketplaces into the POS, Dispatch to route delivery to courier providers without running your own fleet, and Olo Pay for payments and fraud. It's sold by quote (no public pricing), built for high-volume chains across ~90,000 locations, and explicitly not for single-location independents or food trucks. If you're a growing multi-unit brand that needs to consolidate direct and marketplace channels at scale, Olo is the platform to shortlist (Olo source-of-truth; rating NULL — third-party review samples too thin to publish).

The POS-native alternative. If you run a modern cloud POS, you may already have first-party ordering built in — Toast and Square for Restaurants both include online ordering that fires straight to the kitchen with nothing to re-key, since it lives in the same system as your register. That keeps the tech stack in one place, but watch for "included" ordering that is volume-capped and turns into per-order fees as you grow (KB_MASTER §1). For a marketing-forward branded site, Popmenu and BentoBox pair ordering with website and guest-engagement tooling.

System	Starting price	Best for	Rating
ChowNow	$229/mo + 2.95% + $0.29	Independents leaving 3PD	4.7 (Capterra, 47)
GloriaFood	Free (add-ons from $19/mo)	Zero-cost start	4.6 (Capterra, 68)
Slice	$39/mo + $3.00/order	Independent pizzerias	4.6 (Capterra, 47)
Olo	Custom quote	Enterprise / multi-unit	Not rated

How to choose #

Start with your delivery volume and your size. If you're a single-location independent bleeding margin to DoorDash, run the math: a flat fee like ChowNow's undercuts per-order commissions once you have steady direct volume, while GloriaFood lets you start at zero and add paid pieces only when they pay for themselves. If you run a pizzeria, Slice's vertical stack and bundled POS will fit the workflow better than a general tool. If you're a multi-unit brand aggregating direct and marketplace orders across locations, Olo is built for that scale and sold accordingly.

Next, check POS injection for your exact register before you sign — a direct platform that only prints to a separate tablet recreates the mid-rush re-keying you're trying to kill. Then confirm you get your diner data, because converting a marketplace customer to a direct one is the entire return on this purchase. Finally, price the real cost: monthly fee plus processing plus any per-order or managed-delivery fee, compared against the 30–45% effective cost of a marketplace order. The break-even is usually reached faster than owners expect — which is why "treat 3PD as marketing and convert to direct" is the advice operators give each other.

One honest caveat on the data: the market-size and adoption percentages cited here are aggregator and survey figures that diverge by scope, so they're best read as directional rather than precise.

Who uses restaurant software — and what each person does with it

🧑‍🍳 Owner / GM

Watches sales, food cost, labor and prime cost across shifts and locations on one dashboard — sees which menu items and dayparts actually make money.

📋 Floor manager

Builds the schedule against forecasted sales, approves shift swaps, seats the floor and clears the waitlist, and pulls the daily close from the POS.

🍽️ Server / FOH

Fires orders from the POS or a handheld, splits and adjusts checks, takes payment tableside, and the kitchen sees the ticket instantly on the KDS.

👨‍🍳 Kitchen / BOH

Works tickets on the kitchen display with station routing and timers, marks items 86'd, and depletes inventory automatically as dishes sell.

The flow the software runs end to end: guest orders (dine-in, online or delivery) → ticket fires to the KDS → items depleted from inventory → payment captured at the POS → sales, food and labor cost post to reporting and accounting → schedule and purchasing adjust to the numbers. Each stage hands off to the next without re-keying.

Frequently Asked Questions

It is software that lets guests place takeout, delivery, and pickup orders digitally. It comes in two models: commission-free direct ordering, which runs on your own website or app for a flat fee, and third-party marketplace delivery (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub), which brings their audience but takes 15–30% of each order.

A marketplace charges a per-order commission (effectively 30–45% of the ticket after stacked fees) and keeps your customer's data. Direct ordering charges a flat monthly fee plus ordinary card processing and gives you the diner's contact info, so repeat orders stay on a channel you own. The common strategy is to treat the marketplace as paid customer acquisition and convert those diners to direct.

It ranges widely. GloriaFood's core service is free with paid add-ons from $19/mo; Slice starts at $39/mo plus a per-order fee; ChowNow starts at $229/mo plus 2.95% + $0.29 processing and a setup fee; Olo is enterprise quote-only. Price the all-in cost — monthly fee plus processing plus any per-order or managed-delivery fee — against the 30–45% effective cost of a marketplace order.

The good ones inject the order into your POS and fire it to the kitchen with nothing to re-key. ChowNow connects to Toast, Square, Clover, Revel, Skytab, and Genius/Heartland; Olo is POS-agnostic by design; Toast and Square include native ordering in their own POS. Confirm true POS injection for your exact register — some tools only print to a separate tablet that staff must re-enter manually.

Yes, and most operators do — DoorDash alone holds roughly 55–67% of US delivery share. Several direct platforms (ChowNow, Olo Rails) aggregate those marketplace orders into one dashboard and one menu so your staff aren't juggling three tablets. The goal is to keep the marketplace as a discovery channel while moving repeat customers to your own ordering.

With a true direct platform, yes — you get the diner's email and phone, which is what lets you remarket and build repeat business. Marketplaces keep that data, which is a core reason they are expensive. If a system doesn't hand you your diner data, it is effectively a marketplace in disguise.

For a single-location independent escaping delivery commissions, ChowNow (flat fee, branded app, data ownership) or GloriaFood (free to start) are the usual picks. For an independent pizzeria specifically, Slice is built for that vertical with bundled POS and phone ordering. Multi-unit brands at scale should shortlist Olo.