◆ Zay-OS vs DoorDash

DoorDash takes 25-35% of every order. Zay-OS takes 0%.

A single-location restaurant doing 3,000 orders/month at a $35 average ticket is paying DoorDash roughly $26,250 every month in commission. That is $48,000+ per year a Zay-OS operator keeps.

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Side by side

The line-by-line difference.

DoorDash
Zay-OS
Commission on food revenue
15% Marketplace / 25% Plus / 30% Premier (DoorDash standard rate card)
0%. Flat $499/mo per location. Diner pays a $2.99 per-order fee at checkout.
Who owns the customer
DoorDash. You never get the diner email, phone, or order history.
You. Every diner becomes a row in your CRM with name, email, phone, and full order history.
Branding at checkout
DoorDash brand. Your restaurant is a tile in a marketplace.
Your domain, your colors, your menu photography. Diners check out on yourrestaurant.com.
Coexists with DoorDash
N/A — this is the marketplace.
Yes. Otter ingests DoorDash orders into the same kitchen tablet as your direct orders. You do not have to drop DoorDash.
Kitchen tablet
DoorDash Order Manager tablet, separate from your other channels.
One tablet runs every channel — direct, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, phone-ins.
Marketing to past diners
DoorDash markets to them. You pay again to re-acquire the same customer.
SMS + email + web push from your domain. Reorder nudges cost cents, not 30%.
Sales-tax handling
Marketplace facilitator — DoorDash remits on marketplace orders.
DAVO sets aside sales tax daily on direct orders. All 50 states.
Discovery
Built-in marketplace traffic.
You keep DoorDash for discovery. Zay-OS adds SEO + GEO + Google Business so you also rank on Google and AI search.
You do not have to drop DoorDash

Keep DoorDash for discovery. Use Zay-OS for repeats.

Every Zay-OS operator we onboard keeps DoorDash running on day one. The marketplace stays for first-time-customer acquisition — DoorDash is good at putting your restaurant in front of new diners. What we change is what happens after that first order.

On the Operator + Marketplace tier, Otter ingests every DoorDash order into the same kitchen tablet as your Zay-OS direct orders. One ticket flow. One source of truth on your menu. Then your CRM + SMS + email starts converting those DoorDash diners into direct-ordering regulars who never touch the 30% commission again.

DoorDash keeps doing
  • ◆ First-time-diner discovery
  • ◆ DashPass placement
  • ◆ Driver dispatch on their orders
  • ◆ Their marketing reach
Zay-OS starts doing
  • ◆ Direct ordering on your domain
  • ◆ Owning every diner in your CRM
  • ◆ Reorder nudges that cost cents
  • ◆ SEO + AI search visibility
What it actually saves

Per location, per year, vs paying DoorDash.

Savings shown are for the share of orders that move from DoorDash commission to direct ordering on Zay-OS. Run the free grader on your numbers for exact math.

$48k+/yr
3,000 orders/mo
$35 ticket
~$26,250/mo lost to 25% commission
single location, indie
$120k+/yr
6,000 orders/mo
$35 ticket
~$52,500/mo lost to 25% commission
mid-volume
$300k+/yr
12,000 orders/mo
$35 ticket
~$126,000/mo lost to 30% commission
multi-brand / ghost kitchen
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Straight answers

DoorDash switch questions, answered.

Do I have to drop DoorDash to switch to Zay-OS?
No. DoorDash stays for discovery and first-time-customer acquisition. On the Operator + Marketplace tier ($599/mo), Otter ingests every DoorDash order into the same kitchen tablet as your Zay-OS direct orders. You steer repeat diners to direct ordering over time without losing the marketplace traffic.
How much commission does DoorDash actually take?
DoorDash publishes three tiers: Marketplace at 15%, Plus at 25%, and Premier at 30%, plus a 6% pickup commission and per-order delivery fees. Most independent restaurants land on Plus or Premier because Marketplace excludes them from DashPass placement. Effective take is typically 25-35% once delivery, processing, and promotion fees are layered in.
What does it cost to switch to Zay-OS?
Operator is $499/month per location. Operator + Marketplace (recommended if you keep DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub running) is $599/month. Concierge is $699/month flat for up to 5 locations. Setup is waived for restaurants onboarding before July 1, 2026. There is no contract — every plan is month-to-month.
Who pays the per-order fee on Zay-OS?
The diner pays a $2.99 per-order fee at checkout, or 10% when the subtotal is over $29.99 — whichever is greater. The restaurant keeps 100% of the food revenue. This is the fundamental break from DoorDash: there is no commission on your food.
How fast can I be live on Zay-OS?
Most restaurants take their first direct order within a week of signing. DoorDash ingestion via Otter is live within two to three weeks if you already have a DoorDash store, faster if you are already on Otter.
Do I get my DoorDash customer list when I switch?
No — DoorDash does not release the customer list to restaurants, and they never will. That is the structural reason direct ordering matters: every diner who checks out on Zay-OS is yours from the first order forward. Your CRM grows from zero, but it grows in your account, not theirs.
Keep reading
Zay-OS vs Uber Eats →
Same playbook on the other big marketplace.
Miami online ordering →
Built for Brickell, Wynwood, Coral Gables, Little Havana.
Full pricing →
$499 / $599 / $699 flat. Diner pays $2.99 per order.
Also: how it works · integrations

Stop renting your diners from DoorDash.

Keep DoorDash for discovery. Use Zay-OS for the diners you already earned. Run the free grader to see what direct ordering would have saved you last month.

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