I've set up online ordering for two independent restaurants — one on Square, one on a branded system after a painful commission math session — and the decision matters more every year: the platforms you choose decide whether a customer ordering dinner pays you or pays an app. We refreshed this guide in 2023; since then one entry died a slow corporate death, commissions crept up, and first-party ordering became table stakes. Here's the 2026 state of play.
Quick answer: Square for Restaurants remains the best value for small restaurants (flat-rate processing, free ordering on lower tiers), Toast is the all-in-one standard for full-service operations, DoorDash's direct ordering adds marketplace reach cheaply, and ChowNow or GloriaFood serve commission-free branded ordering. Upserve — formerly on this list — was absorbed into Lightspeed Restaurant and no longer exists as its own platform.
The best online ordering systems at a glance (2026)
| System | Best for | Commission model | Pricing (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toast | Full-service, all-in-one POS | 0% on first-party (add-ons) | Free starter; modules extra |
| Square for Restaurants | Small restaurants, value | 0%; 2.6%+10¢ processing | Free to ~$165/mo tiers |
| DoorDash Direct | Marketplace reach + direct | 0-15% depending on plan | From ~$0/mo + fees |
| ChowNow | Commission-free branded ordering | Flat monthly | From ~$199/mo |
| GloriaFood | Free menu/ordering on your site | 0%; paid add-ons | Free; Pro ~$26+/mo |
| Foodiv | Cloud kitchens, QSR | Flat monthly | ~$30-120/mo |
| MENUdrive | Marketing-led growth | Flat monthly | ~$95-165/mo |
| Restolabs | Your own branded app | Flat monthly | ~$45-150/mo |
| RestroApp | Delivery-first startups | Revenue share/monthly | Quote |
| NetWaiter | Local marketing networks | Flat monthly | Quote |
| Zuppler | Dynamic menus, catering | Flat + fees | Quote |
Pricing shifts constantly in this category — treat these as September 2026 ballparks and confirm on each site.
1. Toast — best all-in-one for full-service restaurants
Toast stays the standard answer for full-service restaurants that want POS, online ordering, delivery dispatch, loyalty and payroll from one vendor. Its online ordering module plugs straight into the Toast POS, so tickets print where your kitchen already works, and the 0%-commission posture on first-party orders keeps the economics sane as volume grows. The trade-off is Toast's habit of unbundling: the starter hardware is cheap, but the features you actually want (loyalty, marketing, delivery) are priced modules — model your stack before signing.
Best for: sit-down restaurants that want one vendor for everything.
2. Square for Restaurants — best value for small restaurants
Square remains the value king, and its online ordering is included rather than upsold on the lower tiers: a branded ordering page, Instagram/Facebook ordering integration, and processing at Square's standard flat rates. What changed since our last update is less about features and more about maturity — the Restaurants tier now handles KDS screens, floor plans and shifts comfortably, closing most of the gap to Toast at a fraction of the complexity.
Best for: cafés, QSR and small restaurants that want capability without contract sales calls.
3. DoorDash Online Ordering — marketplace reach plus direct orders
DoorDash's merchant direct ordering solves the paradox every independent faces: you hate marketplace commissions, but that's where the customers are. DoorDash Direct gives you a commission-free branded ordering page while optionally keeping you visible in the marketplace — with plans that trade monthly fees against per-order percentages (Storefront-style plans historically ran 0-15% depending on tier). In 2026 the differentiator is the network effect: your direct-order customers get DashPass perks, which measurably lifts conversion.
Best for: restaurants that want marketplace traffic feeding their own direct channel.
4. ChowNow — commission-free branded ordering
ChowNow built its brand on the promise that stuck: flat monthly pricing, zero per-order commissions, ordering that lives on your website and Google listing under your brand. It pairs the platform with marketing support (photos, campaigns) that independents rarely staff for. The honest note: at roughly $199/month to start, ChowNow only pays for itself above a decent order volume — below that, Square or GloriaFood are leaner.
Best for: established independents with steady volume that want to own the customer relationship.
5. GloriaFood — best free option for an existing website
GloriaFood remains the category's free benchmark: a full ordering widget you embed in your existing website, mobile-friendly menu management, and orders arriving by app/email/print — free, with paid add-ons (own-domain apps, table reservations, delivery dispatch) from around $26/month. If you already have a website with traffic, it's the fastest path from zero to taking orders. Its free tier is genuinely free — supported by upsells, not crippled.
Best for: new and budget restaurants that already have a website.
6. Foodiv — built for cloud kitchens and QSR
Foodiv's ordering system targets the operations most platforms treat as an afterthought: cloud kitchens and quick-service. Multi-brand dashboards (one kitchen, several virtual restaurant brands, separate menus and order streams), QR table ordering, and POS-lite order management come standard. For delivery-first operators running more than one virtual brand, this focus is worth real money.
Best for: cloud kitchens, virtual brands, and counter-service ops.
7. MENUdrive — marketing-led growth
MENUdrive positions around turning ordering into a marketing engine — built-in SEO structure for your menu pages, email/SMS campaigns, couponing and loyalty — at flat monthly pricing (roughly $95-165/month by tier). For restaurants whose growth plan is "own the direct channel," the marketing stack being native rather than bolt-on justifies the flat fee.
Best for: independents investing in direct-order marketing.
8. What happened to Upserve — and its successor
Our previous list featured Upserve for bars and multi-concept operations. The corporate story since: Upserve was acquired by Lightspeed Commerce in 2020, the brand was absorbed into Lightspeed Restaurant through 2022-2023, and Lightspeed later divested the US Upserve product line. If you search for Upserve today you'll find its legacy page and a lot of migration content — the platform to evaluate now is Lightspeed Restaurant, which carries the lineage (and its analytics DNA) forward for bars, multi-concept groups and hospitality operations.
Best for (Lightspeed): bars and multi-concept hospitality groups needing POS depth.
9. Restolabs — your own branded app, without the dev budget
Restolabs builds restaurants their own branded mobile ordering apps (iOS and Android) on subscription — roughly $45-150/month by tier instead of five-figure app development. The app lives on your customers' phones, which is the strongest retention channel in the business; the catch is you're responsible for driving installs.
Best for: regulars-heavy restaurants ready to invest in their own app.
10. RestroApp — for delivery-first startups
RestroApp packages online ordering with delivery-management workflows for delivery-first businesses — dark kitchens and new delivery concepts — including driver assignment and order tracking. Engagement pricing is quote-based; the fit is operators whose entire business is the order stream rather than a dine-in add-on.
Best for: delivery-first startups and dark kitchens.
11. NetWaiter — local marketing network angle
NetWaiter has quietly run commission-free ordering for independents for years, with its differentiator being local marketing placement (their restaurant networks and directory integrations). Quote-based pricing and a US-focus make it a regional play — worth a demo if you're in its coverage and want commission-free with marketing teeth.
Best for: independents wanting ordering plus local marketing placement.
12. Zuppler — dynamic menus and catering
Zuppler covers the less-glamorous but high-ticket end: catering workflows, dynamic/time-based menus, and group ordering that corporate clients demand. Restaurants with meaningful catering revenue tend to keep Zuppler alongside whatever they use for daily orders.
Best for: restaurants with catering and corporate-order revenue.
How to choose in 60 seconds
1. New and tiny: GloriaFood (free) or Square (free tier) — today.
2. Growing independent, hate commissions: ChowNow or MENUdrive once volume justifies the flat fee.
3. Full-service, want one vendor: Toast.
4. Need marketplace traffic: DoorDash Direct alongside your direct system.
5. Cloud kitchen / virtual brands: Foodiv.
6. Catering-heavy: Zuppler.
7. Replacing Upserve: Lightspeed Restaurant.
Whatever you pick, the math that matters is: (monthly fee + processing + commissions) ÷ orders. Run your real numbers — at 500 orders a month, a 15% marketplace commission versus a $199 flat platform is a $5,000-monthly swing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best online ordering system for a small restaurant?
For most small restaurants in 2026: Square for Restaurants. The online ordering page is included on free/low tiers, processing is flat-rate and transparent, and the system grows with you into KDS and shift management. If you already have a website and want zero fees, GloriaFood's free widget is the fastest way to start taking orders the same day.
Do online ordering systems charge commissions?
Third-party marketplaces do (typically 15-30% per order); first-party systems mostly don't — Toast, Square, ChowNow, GloriaFood and the branded-app builders charge flat monthly fees plus card processing instead. The exception is hybrid plans (DoorDash Direct's tiers) that trade monthly fees against per-order percentages, so read the plan, not the brand.
Is DoorDash's direct ordering really commission-free?
On the right plan, yes — DoorDash's direct Storefront-style orders carry 0% commission on the branded ordering page, with you paying processing and optionally a monthly fee; marketplace-linked plans add per-order percentages in exchange for DashPass exposure. The two channels are worth running together: the marketplace brings new customers, and the direct channel is where you keep the margin on reorders.
What happened to Upserve?
Upserve was acquired by Lightspeed Commerce in 2020, absorbed into the Lightspeed Restaurant platform through 2022-2023, and its remaining US product line was later divested — it no longer operates as an independent platform. Restaurants on legacy Upserve systems were migrated to Lightspeed or moved to alternatives; new buyers should evaluate Lightspeed Restaurant directly.
Can I use an online ordering system without a POS?
Yes — GloriaFood, ChowNow, Foodiv and most branded-app platforms accept orders via tablet app, email, printer or web dashboard without any POS integration. You lose automatic menu sync and sales reporting unity, but for small operations "orders arrive on a tablet" is a perfectly good lifecycle stage. Add POS integration when ticket volume makes manual entry the bottleneck.
How much does a restaurant online ordering system cost per month?
Plan on $0-100/month to start (GloriaFood free, Square free-to-$60, Foodiv ~$30-60), $95-250/month for marketing-led or branded-app platforms (MENUdrive, ChowNow, Restolabs), plus card processing of roughly 2.6-3.5% + 10-30¢ per transaction on almost every system. The real cost driver is commissions: marketplace channels at 15-30% dwarf every monthly fee on this list.
Related reading
- How to choose the right food delivery app for your business
- The future of food delivery apps: trends to watch
- A guide to starting your home-based online restaurant
- How to enhance your online presence with SEO
I've run the commission math for more restaurant owners than I can remember — post your monthly order count in the comments and I'll tell you which plan actually costs less.
