Restaurant delivery vs pickup: the honest math behind each channel

A courier waiting at the pass, a stapled kraft bag, one more ping on the order tablet: delivery has become part of the furniture in most restaurants. But the gap between the revenue it shows on the screen and what actually stays in the till still surprises a lot of owners.

This article lays the math out flat: what delivery platforms really charge (using the numbers they publish themselves, with retrieval dates), what is left of a delivered order after commission, packaging and errors, when delivery genuinely makes sense, and why direct pickup (also called takeaway or collection, depending on which side of the Atlantic you trade on) plays in a completely different profitability league. You will see the logic is exactly the same one that applies to your dining room: the logic of the direct channel, the one we defend at ViteUneTable with commission-free direct bookings for your tables.

In short:

• DoorDash publishes US delivery commissions of 15% (Basic), 25% (Plus) and 30% (Premier), with pickup at 6% on every plan;
• Uber Eats publishes US marketplace fees of 20% (Lite), 25% (Plus) and 30% (Premium), with pickup at 7%;
• Deliveroo and Just Eat publish no rate card on their partner pages: your rate is whatever your contract says;
• after commission, packaging, errors and co-funded promotions, a delivered order's margin shrinks fast, especially on small baskets;
• direct pickup removes the commission entirely, but it requires an ordering channel you own: your website, your phone, your Google listing.

What delivery platforms really charge

Before any decision, read what the platforms say themselves rather than the numbers that circulate by word of mouth. Two of the four big Western platforms publish a rate card; two do not.

DoorDash: published tiers from 15% to 30%

On its Marketplace product page (pricing retrieved on 14 August 2026), DoorDash lists three US partnership plans: Basic at 15% delivery commission, Plus at 25% and Premier at 30%, the higher tiers buying more visibility and wider delivery areas. Pickup orders placed through the app are charged 6% on every plan. DoorDash states there are no activation or subscription fees: you pay per order.

Uber Eats: published tiers from 20% to 30%

On its US pricing page (retrieved on 14 August 2026), Uber Eats lists a 20% marketplace fee on the Lite plan, 25% on Plus and 30% on Premium, again with more in-app visibility as you move up. Pickup orders are charged 7%, and a self-delivery plan (you appear in the app but deliver with your own drivers) is priced at 15%.

Two details worth underlining on any platform:

• the percentage applies to the order subtotal, not to your margin. On a $30 or £30 order, a 30% fee is $9 or £9 taken before you have paid for a single ingredient;
• sales tax or VAT treatment of the fee depends on your country and registration status, so the cash-flow impact can be slightly higher than the headline rate. Ask your accountant, not the sales rep.

Deliveroo and Just Eat: no public rate card

Deliveroo's UK partner site (checked on 14 August 2026) publishes no commission percentage at all: rates are only disclosed once you talk to their team or sign up. Just Eat's UK partner pages are the same: no public rate card, your rate is confirmed during onboarding. Third-party estimates circulate widely, but since neither company commits to a number publicly, treat any figure you have not seen in your own contract as a rumor.

The practical takeaway: on delivered orders, the market's published ceiling sits around 30% of the basket. If a sales rep promises far less, read the contract to the last page: reduced-visibility tiers, per-order admin fees and co-funded promotions change the math quickly.

What is left in the till after a delivered order

Commission is only the first line of the calculation. To know the real profitability of a delivered order, you have to stack every cost specific to the channel:

• the platform commission: up to a third of the basket on the top visibility tiers, as published above;
• packaging: containers, bags, cutlery, heat-retaining boxes. A per-order cost that does not exist in the dining room, and one that single-use plastic rules in both the US and the UK keep pushing upward;
• errors and disputes: missing items, cold food, unreachable addresses. Depending on the contract, the refund is often charged back to you, sometimes with limited recourse;
• promotions: in-app campaigns are frequently co-funded by the restaurant, which cuts the basket again;
• kitchen time with no drink sales: a delivered order occupies your kitchen exactly like a table would, but without the beverages that carry some of the best margins in the industry.

Run the numbers on your own menu: take your most-delivered dish, subtract the commission, the packaging cost and your food cost, and look at what remains to pay staff and fixed costs. For many restaurants, the delivered order hovers around break-even, and small baskets are often outright losses.

When delivery makes sense (and when it destroys margin)

Let's be honest: delivery is not a scam, it is a channel with brutal economics. It can be the right call in specific situations.

The cases where delivery earns its place

• Marginal volume: your kitchen runs under capacity on certain shifts (early week, lunch). Delivered orders fill quiet hours with no extra fixed cost, so even a thin margin is a positive contribution. The same reasoning applies to your dining room, and we detailed it in our guide to filling a restaurant on slow nights.
• Dense urban areas: downtown, delivery demand already exists and the platform brings you customers you would never have reached. Treat it as an acquisition channel, with a measured return, like any marketing budget.
• Food that travels well: pizza, burgers, bowls, curries. Dishes designed to survive 20 minutes in a backpack, with controlled food cost and simple packaging.

The cases where it destroys margin

• Dishes that travel badly: fried food that goes soft, plated presentations, cooked-to-order proteins. The unhappy customer rates the experience in the app, but it is your name that takes the bad review.
• Small baskets: on a $15 or £12 order, commission plus packaging absorbs most of the margin. Without a minimum order value or a delivery-specific menu, you are working for the platform.
• Cannibalization: if delivered orders replace guests who would have come in (and ordered dessert and a bottle), you are swapping a high-margin cover for a commissioned bag. Revenue looks stable; margin evaporates.
• Dependence: the bigger delivery grows in your mix, the more leverage the platform holds. The day the rate, the ranking algorithm or the terms change, you have no counterweight.

Direct pickup: zero commission, but a channel you have to build

Pickup, organized properly, is pre-ordered takeout: the customer orders ahead, pays online or on collection, and picks the order up at an agreed time. Economically, the contrast with delivery is stark, in the good way:

• zero commission when the order comes through your own channels;
• no courier to wait for and no food cooling on a scooter: the customer collects at the counter, on time;
• a smoother flow: pre-ordered bags are prepared between rushes instead of landing mid-service;
• a customer who is yours: the contact details, the history and the loyalty belong to you instead of enriching a platform's database.

The trade-off is real, and it needs saying: without a platform, nobody brings you the orders. You need a direct channel, and in practice three are enough:

1. your website, even a simple one, with an up-to-date menu and a clear way to order or book. It is the centerpiece of the setup: our guide on what a restaurant website actually needs covers what is essential and what is not;
2. the phone, still the default reflex for a large share of takeout customers;
3. your Google Business Profile and social accounts, which turn local visibility into direct orders.

Note that ordering pickup through a platform app remains possible and costs far less than delivery (6% published by DoorDash, 7% by Uber Eats). It is a halfway house: less commission than delivery, but still an intermediary between you and your customer.

The tax detail that trips up takeout

Takeout is not always taxed like dine-in, and the rules differ by country:

• in the UK, VAT Notice 709/1 on catering and takeaway food standard-rates hot takeaway food and hot drinks at 20%, while most cold takeaway food is zero-rated, with detailed tests on what counts as "hot";
• in the US, sales tax on prepared food is set at state and local level, and the treatment of takeout versus on-premises consumption varies by jurisdiction.

A single pickup order can therefore mix tax treatments, and your POS has to break them out correctly. Confirm the setup with your accountant when you launch pickup, not after the first audit.

The same trade-off exists for your tables

Reread everything above and replace "delivered order" with "booked table": the reasoning is identical.

Commission-based reservation platforms run on the same model as delivery platforms: they bring visibility and diners, and they charge per seated cover. The rational response is also the same: use the platforms for what they do well (capturing demand you would not have reached), and build a direct channel you own in parallel, where every booking costs 0% commission.

That is exactly ViteUneTable's position, and we own it: our reservation software for restaurants exists so your covers come in directly, through your website, your Google listing or your phone. The free version is unlimited, commission-free and commitment-free; the paid packs (Pack Standard at €29 excl. VAT per month, Standard + Anti No-Show at €49 excl. VAT) add email reminders, Reserve with Google and credit card holds when your volume justifies it. And let's be honest to the end: ViteUneTable does not handle online ordering or delivery, it is a dine-in reservation tool. But the direct-channel logic applies to both.

Where to start, concretely

1. Measure your current position: delivery's share of revenue, real margin per delivered order (commission, packaging and errors deducted), share of small baskets.
2. Clean up delivery if you keep it: minimum order value, a menu trimmed to dishes that travel, channel-adjusted prices, capped participation in promotions.
3. Open a direct channel: an ordering page or a simple form on your site, a phone number front and center, a link in your Google profile and socials.
4. Convert your regulars gradually: a flyer in every delivered or collected bag, a welcome discount on the first direct order, and the consistent reminder that ordering direct means no service fees and no middleman.
5. Apply the same logic to reservations: direct covers through your own booking system, platforms as a top-up for incremental demand.

The through line never changes: every intermediated channel is paid for, every direct channel is built. The restaurants that do best are neither the ones that refuse all platforms nor the ones that hand everything over: they are the ones that know exactly what each channel costs and keep the customer relationship in-house.

Frequently asked questions

How much commission does DoorDash charge restaurants?

On its Marketplace page (retrieved on 14 August 2026), DoorDash publishes three US plans: 15% delivery commission on Basic, 25% on Plus and 30% on Premier, with pickup orders at 6% on all plans and no activation or subscription fees. The exact rate for your restaurant is the one in your contract.

How much commission does Uber Eats charge restaurants?

Uber Eats' US pricing page (retrieved on 14 August 2026) lists a 20% marketplace fee on the Lite plan, 25% on Plus and 30% on Premium, with pickup at 7% and a 15% self-delivery option. Some cities with fee caps have lower entry rates.

What do Deliveroo and Just Eat charge?

Neither publishes a rate card on its partner pages: commission is disclosed during sign-up and depends on your contract, area and volume. Before signing, ask in writing for the exact rate per order type, any per-order admin fees, and the rules on co-funded promotions.

Is pickup really more profitable than delivery for a restaurant?

Per order, almost always. A pickup order through your own channels carries no commission, so only packaging and preparation time come off the basket, and even app-based pickup is charged 6 to 7% by DoorDash and Uber Eats versus 15 to 30% for delivery. The limit is volume: without a platform feeding you orders, your local visibility does the work.

Should a restaurant quit delivery platforms overnight?

Rarely. If delivery fills quiet shifts or brings genuinely incremental customers, it keeps a role, provided you know its real margin. The stronger strategy is keeping platforms as a top-up while growing a direct channel (pickup, direct bookings) that compounds with every converted customer.

Does the same logic apply to table reservations?

Yes, it is the same trade-off: commission-based reservation platforms bring visibility and charge per cover, while a booking taken directly through your website or Google listing costs you nothing. A tool like ViteUneTable, free and commission-free in its base version, exists precisely to equip that direct channel.