What an online ordering system should cost a takeaway
The three ways ordering systems charge, what each one really costs over a year, and the fees that tend to appear after you have signed.
By Tekeats · Published 20 August 2026
There are only three ways an ordering system can charge you, and the difference between them is worth more than any feature comparison. A percentage of every order, a fixed fee, or nothing up front in exchange for something else. Work out which one you are being quoted and the rest of the decision gets much simpler.
The three charging models
A share of every order. This is how the marketplaces work, and how some ordering systems work too. It feels cheap because you only pay when you sell, and it gets expensive in exactly the way that matters: the busier you get, the more you pay, forever. There is no volume at which it stops.
A fixed fee per site. You pay the same amount whether you take fifty orders or five hundred. Busy months cost the same as quiet ones, which means every extra order is yours. The risk sits with you rather than the vendor, and it is priced accordingly: you pay something in a quiet month.
Free, with a catch. Sometimes the catch is fair (a free tier that stops short of what you need). Sometimes it is card processing at a rate you did not choose, or your customer data being worth more than the subscription. Ask what the business model is. There always is one.
What to add up before comparing anything
A monthly price is not a cost. Get these in writing before you sign:
- Setup or onboarding fee. Common, often several hundred pounds, and often negotiable or waived early on.
- Who builds the menu. If you are typing in two hundred dishes with all their options yourself, that is days of your life. Ask whether they do it.
- Card processing. Whose account, whose rates, and when does the money reach you. A system that holds your takings and pays out weekly is a cash flow decision, not just a fee.
- Apps, if you want them. Often a separate line, sometimes a much bigger one.
- Extra locations. Per site, or one price for all of them.
- The contract length. Twelve months is common. Rolling monthly means you can leave if it is not working.
- What happens to your customer list if you leave. Ask this one before you need the answer.
Doing the comparison properly
Take your actual monthly order count and average order value. Work out the annual cost under each model:
- Percentage model: orders per month, times average order value, times the rate, times twelve.
- Fixed model: monthly fee times twelve, plus setup, plus your own card processing.
Run it at today's volume and again at the volume you want in a year. That second number is the one people wish they had calculated. A percentage that looks reasonable at two hundred orders a month is a different conversation at six hundred. Our commission calculator will do the first sum with your own figures.
Where the money goes on a card payment
Whatever the system charges, a card payment carries its own cost. It is worth knowing who is taking what:
- The card networks and the customer's bank take the largest share, and nobody avoids that.
- Your payment provider adds their margin. This is the rate you negotiated, or the default rate if you never asked.
- Some ordering systems add their own cut on top, or route the payment through their account first and pay you later.
The question to ask is not "what is your card rate" but "whose account does the money arrive in". If it is yours, you keep the relationship and you can go and negotiate a better rate later. If it is theirs, you cannot.
What Tekeats charges
For the sake of a concrete number in a guide about numbers: plans start at £40 per site per month, ex VAT, on a rolling monthly basis. No commission and no per-order fee on any plan, at any volume. Card payments go through your own payment account at the rates you agreed with your provider, so we never touch the money. The £299 setup fee is waived for founding merchants, and we build your menu before you go live. The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
We do not handle VAT calculation, there is no loyalty scheme, and there is no till. If you need those, we are the wrong answer today and it is better that you know now.
The short version
Ask what the model is, get every fee in writing, and run the arithmetic at next year's volume rather than this year's. A percentage of every order is the most expensive thing you can agree to, and it is the one that never stops.
If you want to see it working on your own menu, book a demo. It is a short call and there is no card required.