◆ Marketplace vs marketplace

Grubhub vs DoorDash for restaurants: the Zayos cost teardown

Published July 2026 · Updated October 4, 2026

Quick answer

DoorDash lists three marketplace rates: 15%, 25% or 30% commission on delivery and 6% on pickup, with card processing included. Grubhub lists a marketing commission of 5%, 15% or 20% depending on the plan, adds a delivery fee starting at 10% when Grubhub drives, and bills payment processing as an extra with no rate listed.

Every number on this page came off Grubhub’s and DoorDash’s own pricing pages on 4 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom. We sell a direct ordering platform, so read the last section with that in mind, and read the rest as arithmetic.

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Sources for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing; Grubhub for Restaurants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.

Why can’t I just compare the two percentages?

Because they are not the same kind of percentage. DoorDash sells one number that already contains delivery and card processing. Grubhub sells a marketing commission, then adds delivery as a second line and payment processing as a third. Comparing 15% to 5% is comparing a finished total to a first ingredient.

What exactly does DoorDash charge?

Three published plans: Basic at 15% on delivery, Plus at 25%, Premier at 30%. Pickup is 6% on all three. DoorDash says the commission covers credit card processing and states there are no activation fees, subscription fees, software fees or cancellation fees, so on marketplace orders the commission percentage is the whole charge. The tablet is $6 per week after the trial. Basic opens with a 0% intro rate for 7 days; Plus and Premier open with 30 days.

What exactly does Grubhub charge?

Grubhub lists three plans by marketing commission: Basic at 5%, Plus at 15% and All-access at 20%. When Grubhub drives the order there is a delivery fee starting at 10%, which puts a delivered order at 15%, 25% or 30% or more. Payment processing is extra and Grubhub does not list the rate on its pricing page. Grubhub does not list a separate pickup rate.

That difference is the single most useful thing to know before either sales call. DoorDash’s percentage is the whole marketplace charge; Grubhub’s is the first of three lines, and the third has no listed rate. Neither is dishonest. One is just easier to budget against.

Sources for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing; Grubhub for Restaurants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.

Do the arithmetic

What does one order actually cost me on each?

Fees kept by the app on a single delivered order, before food cost, packaging or labor. Grubhub columns use the listed 5% and 15% marketing commissions plus the delivery fee at its 10% starting point, before payment processing, which Grubhub bills as an extra and does not list a rate for.

Ticket	DoorDash Basic 15%	DoorDash Plus 25%	Grubhub Basic, they drive, from	Grubhub Plus, they drive, from	Grubhub Basic, you drive
$25 order 15% and 25% of $25. Grubhub Basic = $1.25 marketing + $2.50 delivery, before processing.	$3.75	$6.25	$3.75	$6.25	$1.25
$35 order 15% and 25% of $35. Grubhub Basic = $1.75 marketing + $3.50 delivery, before processing.	$5.25	$8.75	$5.25	$8.75	$1.75
$60 order 15% and 25% of $60. Grubhub Basic = $3.00 marketing + $6.00 delivery, before processing.	$9.00	$15.00	$9.00	$15.00	$3.00

The one line worth writing on a sticky note: on a $35 delivered order, Grubhub Basic costs at least $5.25 before payment processing and DoorDash Basic costs $5.25 with processing inside it, but if you put your own driver in the car the Grubhub Basic number falls to $1.75. Self delivery is the biggest single lever either platform gives you, and only one of them separates it out.

Sources for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing; Grubhub for Restaurants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.

Pick a side

Which one wins, for which restaurant?

You want one number with card processing inside it

Winner: DoorDash

DoorDash says its commission covers credit card processing. Grubhub lists payment processing as an extra and does not list the rate, so the Grubhub total is not known until you ask for it in writing.

You run your own delivery drivers

Winner: Grubhub

Grubhub separates the marketing commission from the delivery fee, which starts at 10%, so self-delivering drops one whole line. On a $35 order on the Grubhub Basic plan that moves the listed fee from $5.25 to $1.75, before payment processing. DoorDash bakes delivery into the commission percentage.

Most of your online volume is pickup

Winner: DoorDash

DoorDash publishes 6% on pickup across all three plans. Grubhub does not list a separate pickup rate on its pricing page, so you cannot model it before a sales call.

You are brand new and want the app to carry some risk

Winner: DoorDash

Premier is the only guarantee either company publishes: fewer than 20 orders in a month and DoorDash refunds that month’s commission. Read the plan terms before you count on it.

You want the cheapest possible headline number

Winner: Grubhub, with a caveat

The Grubhub Basic marketing commission of 5% is the lowest listed rate of the two. It excludes the delivery fee, which starts at 10%, and it excludes payment processing. Add the delivery fee and Grubhub Basic lands at 15% or more on a delivered order, level with DoorDash Basic at 15% before Grubhub’s processing is counted.

Sources for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing; Grubhub for Restaurants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.

Side by side

The full comparison table.

What you are comparing

Grubhub

DoorDash

Published rate card?

Yes. Grubhub lists a marketing commission of 5% (Basic), 15% (Plus) or 20% (All-access), plus a delivery fee starting at 10% when Grubhub drivers deliver.

Yes. Basic 15%, Plus 25%, Premier 30% on delivery. Same three numbers for every restaurant.

Delivery commission

Marketing commission plus a separate delivery fee starting at 10% when Grubhub drives the order, so 15%, 25% or 30% or more, before payment processing.

15% / 25% / 30% depending on plan. Delivery is inside that number.

Pickup commission

No separate pickup rate is listed on the Grubhub pricing page.

6% on pickup, published as the same rate across all three plans.

Card processing

Extra. Grubhub does not list the rate on its pricing page.

Not billed separately. DoorDash says the commission covers credit card processing.

Hardware

Tablet terms are not listed on the pricing page.

DoorDash Tablet at $6 per week after the trial.

Risk carried by the app

No refund guarantee is listed.

Premier only: "Accept at least 20 orders per month or we’ll refund your commission costs for that month."

Sources for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing; Grubhub for Restaurants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.

Where does Zayos fit in this comparison?

Nowhere, on the question this page answers. Zayos is not a marketplace and it will not bring you a customer who has never heard of you. Grubhub and DoorDash will. That is what the percentage buys, and for a new restaurant it is often worth paying.

Zayos is the other channel: ordering on your own site, on your own domain, where nobody takes a percentage of the food. Plans are $399, $499 and $599 per month per location, month to month, no setup fee. The only per order charge is a service fee the diner pays at checkout, $0.99 on pickup, $0.99 on delivery, $0 on dine in, 10% on catering. The restaurant keeps 100% of the food revenue, and 100% of tips on pickup and dine in. On delivery the tip goes to the driver.

The honest use of all three: keep the apps for discovery, then move the repeat customers to the channel that does not charge per order. Restaurants are live on Zayos and taking direct orders today, including Naya Grill in Pompano Beach. Farooj Abo Alabed, also live on Zayos, is on pace for $40k+ a year in commission not paid to a marketplace: its direct food sales after discounts from 10 Aug to 3 Oct 2026 (55 days), annualized at a 35% blended marketplace cost. We are a Fort Lauderdale company and our restaurants are across Florida, from Pompano Beach and Miami up through Tampa, St. Petersburg and Kissimmee.

More detail: Zayos pricing, how onboarding runs, and what Zayos actually is.

Questions owners actually ask about these two.

Is Grubhub or DoorDash cheaper for my restaurant?

On a delivered order where the app drives, the two listed rates meet. DoorDash Basic is 15% with card processing inside it, and Grubhub Basic is a 5% marketing commission plus a delivery fee starting at 10%. On a $35 order DoorDash Basic costs $5.25 and Grubhub Basic costs at least $5.25 before payment processing, which Grubhub bills as an extra. Flip it if you deliver the order yourself: Grubhub drops the delivery fee, which takes that same $35 order down to $1.75 on the Grubhub Basic plan, before processing.

Why does Grubhub say 5% when everyone tells me marketplaces cost 30%?

Because 5% is the Basic marketing commission only. Grubhub’s pricing page lists a marketing commission of 5%, 15% or 20% depending on the plan, a delivery fee starting at 10% when Grubhub drivers deliver, and payment processing as an extra with no rate listed. Stack the ones that apply to you before comparing to DoorDash’s single number.

Does DoorDash charge a payment processing fee on top of the commission?

Not on marketplace orders. DoorDash says the commission covers credit card processing, and states there are no activation fees, subscription fees, software fees or cancellation fees, so the commission percentage is the whole marketplace charge. The exception is DoorDash Online Ordering, its 0% commission direct channel, where standard payment processing fees apply and the rate is not published.

DoorDash also offers a direct ordering page. Should I just use that?

It is better than nothing. DoorDash Online Ordering runs at 0% commission on direct orders, with payment processing fees on top. The catch is who the channel belongs to: it is hosted by the same company whose marketplace you are trying to depend on less, and it lives or dies with that relationship.

Which plan tier should I pick on either app?

Tier buys placement on both platforms, so the honest answer is to test rather than guess. Start on the lowest tier, run 60 days, and divide total fees by total orders to get your real cost per order. If moving up a tier does not raise order count by more than the extra percentage costs you, move back down. Both companies list their plan rates, so the plan cost is easy to model; on Grubhub also ask for the payment processing rate in writing, because the pricing page does not list it.

Can I run both at the same time?

Yes, and most operators do. Neither published plan requires exclusivity. The operational cost is a second tablet and a second menu to keep in sync, which is why order aggregation tools exist. The financial question is not which app to pick, it is what percentage of your total online volume is going through a percentage fee at all.

Sources for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing; Grubhub for Restaurants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.

Sources

Every figure above was read directly from the vendor’s own site on 4 October 2026. Marketplace pricing changes; check the source before you sign anything.