The short version
- On their Canadian merchant pages, Uber Eats lists delivery commissions of 20% to 30% and DoorDash 20% to 29%, depending on the plan.
- The apps bring reach. Your own ordering keeps more of each sale and keeps the customer relationship with you.
- Tools like Square Online and Toast offer commission-free ordering from your own site. You still pay card processing.
- Most restaurants do best with a mix: apps for discovery, your own site for regulars, and your own link set as preferred on Google.
Online ordering for restaurants comes down to a simple trade-off: Uber Eats and DoorDash bring you new customers, but take a big percentage of every order, while ordering from your own website costs far less per order but only works if people know to use it.
Here's the short answer for most Ontario restaurants: use the apps to reach people who don't know you yet. Give regulars an easy way to order directly from your website, where you keep more of each sale. And make sure Google shows your own ordering link, not just the apps.
What Uber Eats and DoorDash actually charge
Both apps publish their Canadian plans on their merchant sites. These are the rates they list, as of when we wrote this. Check the current pages before you sign up, because plans change.
| Plan | Delivery commission | Pickup commission |
|---|---|---|
| Uber Eats Lite | 20% | 10% |
| Uber Eats Plus | 25% | 10% |
| Uber Eats Premium | 30% | 10% |
| DoorDash Basic | 20% | 10% |
| DoorDash Plus | 25% (27% on DashPass orders) | 8% |
| DoorDash Premier | 29% | 8% |
Sources: Uber Eats Canada merchant pricing and DoorDash Canada partnership plans.
A few details in the fine print are worth knowing:
- Pickup rates depend on matching prices. Uber Eats' 10% pickup fee needs your app prices to match your in-store prices, otherwise it's 15%. DoorDash's pickup rates have a similar condition.
- Higher plans come with perks. On Uber Eats, Plus and Premium generally mean lower delivery fees for customers, and both apps tie ad credits or rebates to their top plan.
- Self-delivery is cheaper. Uber Eats lists a 15% fee if your own drivers deliver.
- Extras cost extra. Promotions and sponsored listings come with their own marketing fees on both apps.
To put it in plain numbers: on a $50 delivery order, a 25% commission is $12.50 before food costs, labour or rent. On thin restaurant margins, that adds up quickly.
What the apps are good at
We're not anti-app. They do some things your website can't.
- Reach. People open the app hungry and browse. A new place in Milton or Georgetown can get orders from people who'd never have found it otherwise.
- Drivers. You don't need to hire, insure or schedule delivery staff.
- Quick start. You can be live in days, with menus, payments and tracking already built.
The downsides
- The fees. A quarter of every delivery order is a lot to give up, especially on your regulars who would have ordered anyway.
- The customer isn't really yours. People order through the app's account, get the app's receipts and see your competitors on the same screen. You get the data the app chooses to share in its dashboard, not a customer list you can email next week.
- Less control. Your placement, the delivery fees customers see and how your food arrives are partly out of your hands, but customers blame you either way.
Ordering from your own website
Your own online ordering means people order and pay on your website (or a page linked from it), and the order goes straight to you. There's no commission to an app. You still pay card processing, and you either handle delivery yourself, offer pickup only, or pay for delivery per order.
Common options
- Square Online. If you already use Square at the counter, Square Online can sync online and in-person orders, items and inventory with your Square POS. It supports pickup, delivery with your own staff, and QR codes for ordering at the table.
- Toast. If you run Toast POS, Toast's online ordering sends orders straight into your existing Toast setup, with no commissions, and handles pickup and delivery alongside in-house service.
- The apps' own direct tools. Uber Eats offers a commission-free webshop with a 2.9% order processing fee, and DoorDash offers commission-free online ordering through your own channels, with payment processing fees. Worth a look if you already use one of them.
- Shopify or WooCommerce. These are built for retail more than restaurants, but they work well for things like meal prep, bakery pre-orders, catering trays or packaged goods. Shopify supports local pickup for online orders. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison covers the trade-offs.
The best fit usually depends on your POS. If your ordering talks to the system your kitchen already uses, orders don't have to be typed in twice, and that's where mistakes happen.
Your website has to do its part
Direct ordering only works if the website around it is good. That means a menu people can read on a phone (not a PDF), prices that match, clear hours, and an "Order online" button that's easy to spot on every page.
A slow or confusing site sends people straight back to the app. Our restaurant website design is built around this.
The mixed approach most restaurants end up with
For most places, the answer isn't either-or. It's using each channel for what it's good at.
- Stay on one or two apps for discovery. Pick the plan that matches how much you rely on them. Not everyone needs the top tier.
- Set up direct ordering on your website for pickup at least, and delivery if you can handle it.
- Move regulars over. A card in every bag, a sign at the counter and a note on your receipts saying "order direct on our website" all help.
- Watch the pickup rules. If you want the lower pickup rates on the apps, your app menu prices need to match your in-store prices.
- Make Google point to you. This one is easy to miss, and it's next.
How the "Order online" button on Google works
When someone finds your restaurant on Google Search or Maps, your Business Profile can show an "Order online" button. In Canada, the ordering options there usually come from third-party providers, like the delivery apps you're signed up with.
That means a customer who searched for you by name can end up ordering through an app, and you pay commission on a customer who was already looking for you.
Google gives you some control here:
- Add your own ordering link to your profile, so your website appears as an option.
- Mark a preferred provider for pickup and for delivery, so your own link gets priority.
- Ask providers to remove their links. Google says once you ask, providers must remove third-party links within five business days.
In the US, Google also lets restaurants take orders right inside the profile with "Order with Google". In Canada, it works through the "Order online" button and the links behind it.
Getting this right is part of our Google Business Profile management. If your profile isn't showing up at all, see why your Google Business Profile isn't showing up.
A quick checklist
- Know your current app plan and what you're really paying per order
- Pick a direct ordering tool that works with your POS
- Menu on your website as real text, not a PDF, with current prices
- An "Order online" button on every page of your site
- Your own ordering link added to Google and set as preferred
- Something in every bag asking people to order direct next time
Want more orders coming to you directly?
We'll look at your website, your Google profile and how you take orders now, and tell you what we'd change to send more of them your way.See our restaurant website design →