◆ Zay-OS vs ChowNow

ChowNow starts at $249. The setup fee and delivery math close the gap.

ChowNow's tiers run $249-$449 per month plus a one-time $119-$499 setup fee, and delivery through ChowNow Flex costs $7.98 per order. Zay-OS is $499 flat with no setup fee — the diner pays the service fee ($0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery) — and Otter marketplace ingestion and an uncapped CRM are bundled. At 500 Flex deliveries/mo a ChowNow operator passes $4,300/mo all-in. Zay-OS stays at $499 flat.

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Quick answer

ChowNow runs $249-$449 per month (Launch / Grow / Elevate, month-to-month available) plus a $119-$499 setup fee, with delivery via ChowNow Flex at $7.98 per order. Zay-OS is $499 flat with no setup fee and shifts the per-order service fee to the diner ($0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery). At 500 Flex deliveries per month, ChowNow all-in lands around $4,339/mo; Zay-OS stays at $499 with Otter marketplace ingestion and an uncapped CRM included.

Side by side

The line-by-line difference.

ChowNow
Zay-OS
Headline monthly cost
Launch $249, Grow $349, Elevate $449 per location per month billed monthly (annual billing drops those to $229/$319/$409). Plus a one-time $119-$499 setup fee.
$499/month per location flat. Operator + Marketplace $599. Concierge $699/month per location (up to 5 virtual brands per kitchen). No setup fee.
Per-order economics
Card processing at 2.95% + $0.29 per transaction. Delivery through ChowNow Flex runs $7.98 per order — absorbed by the restaurant or passed to the diner.
No per-order fee paid by the operator. The diner pays a small flat service fee at checkout — $0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery, 10% catering. Restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue.
Mobile app
Included — a branded mobile app ships on every plan (Apple's $99/yr developer fee applies).
PWA + branded site included on every tier. Diners can install the site to their home screen with one tap; no app store dance, no Apple developer fee.
Marketplace ingestion (Uber Eats / DoorDash / Grubhub)
No — ChowNow bundles its own commission-free discovery network (Google, Apple, Yelp and more), but Uber Eats / DoorDash / Grubhub orders stay on their own separate tablets.
Yes, via Otter on Operator + Marketplace ($599/mo). Every channel routes to the same kitchen tablet.
Customer CRM + marketing
Email + SMS marketing automation is included, but contact-capped by tier: 500 contacts on Launch, 2,000 on Grow, 5,000 on Elevate.
Included on every tier with no contact caps. Name, email, phone, full order history, exportable. SMS + email + web push from your domain.
POS sync
20+ POS integrations included across plans.
Otter-deep — 25+ POS bundled into the $599 tier. Toast, Square, Clover, Lightspeed U, Revel, Aloha, Brink, HungerRush, Oracle Micros.
Contract
Month-to-month available; annual billing earns the discounted rate.
Month-to-month, every plan. Cancel any time, full data export.
You can run both in parallel during cutover

Already on ChowNow? Bring your domain and your diner list — we will migrate both.

ChowNow gives the restaurant full ownership of the customer list, exportable. Same with Zay-OS. The migration is a domain re-point and a CSV import — typically a week start to finish — and you can keep the ChowNow site live while the Zay-OS direct site is being branded and pushed.

Otter ingestion of your Uber Eats / DoorDash / Grubhub orders comes online in the same week. By the time you flip the DNS, every channel routes through the same kitchen tablet and your CRM is populated.

ChowNow keeps doing (during cutover)
  • ◆ Existing direct site stays live
  • ◆ Order history exports cleanly
  • ◆ Customer list exports as CSV
  • ◆ Month-to-month cancellation possible
Zay-OS picks up the pieces
  • ◆ Branded direct site on your domain
  • ◆ Otter ingests marketplaces on day 1
  • ◆ CSV import into the CRM, history intact
  • ◆ Same $499 flat fee, no setup fee
The all-in math

Per location, per month, at three delivery volumes.

Assumes ChowNow Grow at $349/mo (Elevate $449 at the top volume) using ChowNow Flex Delivery at its published $7.98/order rate. Zay-OS delivery service fee is $2.99, paid by the diner. One-time setup ($119-$499 on ChowNow, $0 on Zay-OS) not included. Your actual numbers may vary — run the grader.

~$2,743 vs $499
300 Flex deliveries/mo
$35 avg ticket, single location
ChowNow: $349 monthly + $2,394 Flex Delivery. Zay-OS: $499 flat. Delta: ~$2,244/mo saved.
~$4,339 vs $499
500 Flex deliveries/mo
$35 avg ticket, busy location
ChowNow: $349 monthly + $3,990 Flex Delivery. Zay-OS: $499 flat. Delta: ~$3,840/mo saved.
~$8,429 vs $499
1,000 Flex deliveries/mo
$35 avg ticket, multi-brand
ChowNow: $449 monthly + $7,980 Flex Delivery. Zay-OS: $499 flat. Delta: ~$7,930/mo saved.
Run the free grader on your numbers →

Sources: ChowNow published pricing — Launch $249, Grow $349, Elevate $449/mo billed monthly ($229/$319/$409 annual), $119-$499 setup, 2.95% + $0.29 per transaction, Flex Delivery $7.98/order — get.chownow.com/pricing, accessed July 2026. Zay-OS pricing: zay-os.com/pricing.

Straight answers

ChowNow comparison questions.

Is ChowNow cheaper than Zay-OS?
On sticker, sometimes. ChowNow runs $249 (Launch), $349 (Grow), or $449 (Elevate) per month billed monthly, plus a one-time $119-$499 setup fee. Zay-OS is $499/mo flat with no setup fee. The gap closes fast once you count what is bundled: ChowNow caps marketing contacts by tier (500 / 2,000 / 5,000) and charges $7.98 per Flex Delivery order, while Zay-OS bundles an uncapped CRM, Otter marketplace ingestion (on the $599 tier), and DAVO sales tax — and the diner pays the $0.99/$2.99 service fee, not you.
Does ChowNow really charge the restaurant per order?
ChowNow does not take a percentage commission on food revenue. Per its published pricing (accessed July 2026), the per-transaction costs are card processing at 2.95% + $0.29 and, if you use ChowNow Flex Delivery, $7.98 per delivery order. Zay-OS structures the economics so the diner pays the service fee ($0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery, 10% catering) and the restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue.
Does ChowNow ingest marketplace orders into one tablet?
No. ChowNow bundles its own commission-free discovery network (Google, Apple, Yelp and more), which is real distribution — but your Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub orders still come into their own separate tablets and you still juggle the menu in three places. Zay-OS Operator + Marketplace ($599/mo) uses Otter to ingest every marketplace order into the same kitchen tablet as your direct orders.
What is included in the $499 Zay-OS Operator tier vs ChowNow Launch at $249?
Operator at $499/mo includes the branded direct ordering site, customer CRM with SMS + email + web push and no contact caps, kitchen tablet, Florida SEO + GEO + Google Business setup, DAVO daily sales-tax bundling, and the operator console — with no setup fee. ChowNow Launch at $249/mo covers the direct site, branded app, and ordering with marketing capped at 500 contacts, plus the $119-$499 setup fee; the caps lift as you move up to Grow and Elevate.
Who pays the per-order fee on Zay-OS?
The diner pays a small flat service fee at checkout — $0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery (10% on catering). The restaurant keeps 100% of the food revenue. We publish this on the /pricing page so neither operator nor diner is surprised.
Should multi-location operators pick ChowNow or Zay-OS?
For 2-5 locations, Zay-OS Concierge at $699/month per location (up to 5 virtual brands per kitchen) is the tier built for multi-unit operators, and includes quarterly menu copy refresh and monthly marketing review. ChowNow scales per location at $249-$449/mo plus a setup fee per location, with contact caps and $7.98 Flex Delivery fees compounding across units. Run grader.zay-os.com on your actual numbers — the multi-location math is where the flat fee separates hardest.
Keep reading
Zay-OS vs Owner.com →
The other major flat-fee direct-ordering category.
Zay-OS vs Slice →
Slice is pizzeria-only — Zay-OS works for every cuisine.
Zay-OS vs DoorDash →
Marketplace commission math, per volume tier.
Also: how it works · integrations · restaurant online ordering · pricing

Flat fee. No setup fee. No delivery-fee drag.

If ChowNow's setup fee and $7.98-per-delivery Flex math are eating your margin, the cleanest fix is a flat fee with the service fee on the diner's side. Run the grader to see the all-in math on your actual volume.

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