UpMenu vs ChowNow, checked by Zayos
Published July 2026 · Updated October 4, 2026
UpMenu prices by order count: $49 for 75 orders, $89 for 210, $169 unlimited, no setup fee. ChowNow prices by contact count and starts at $249 a month plus setup. Past a cap, UpMenu lists additional orders at $1.90 each. On the listed monthly price UpMenu is cheaper at every tier. ChowNow buys you a United States marketplace app.
Prices read off both vendor pricing pages on 4 Oct 2026. Sources at the bottom.
No setup fee. Month to month. We get you live in under a week.
Sources for the prices and rates in this section: ChowNow pricing; UpMenu pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
Which one survives my growth?
These two vendors price on completely different axes, which is why the usual side by side reads as noise. UpMenu charges you for orders. ChowNow charges you for guest contacts. So the question is not which is cheaper, it is cheaper at what.
Here is the same restaurant, walked up four rungs. ChowNow is priced at Launch billed monthly throughout, because its tier only moves when your email list grows past 500 people.
Getting started, 60 orders a month
Basic, $49. Cap is 75 orders.
Launch, $249 plus $119 to $499 setup.
UpMenu, on the listed monthly price
UpMenu branding stays on your site at this tier. Removing it requires Premium.
Building, 200 orders a month
Standard, $89. Cap is 210 orders.
Launch, $249.
UpMenu, on the listed monthly price
You are ten orders from the ceiling. Past it, UpMenu lists additional orders at $1.90 each.
Past the cap, 400 orders a month
Premium, $169. Unlimited orders.
Launch, $249.
UpMenu, on the listed monthly price
Premium is also where UpMenu branding comes off and API access switches on.
Busy, 1,000 orders a month
Premium, $169. Still unlimited.
Launch, $249. Tier moves on contacts, not orders.
UpMenu, on the listed monthly price
Neither one charges per order at this point, so the two monthly prices stay where they are.
UpMenu lists additional orders at $1.90 each. So order 76 on Basic and order 211 on Standard are not free: every order past the allowance adds $1.90 to that month.
Run it on your own busiest month before you pick a tier. Multiply the orders you expect past the cap by $1.90, add the plan price, and compare that with the tier above. Then ask UpMenu to confirm in writing how the overage is billed.
Sources for the prices and rates in this section: UpMenu pricing; ChowNow pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
What does the price become once I add what I need?
UpMenu unbundles: the plan is ordering, and the rest is sold as add-ons. ChowNow bundles more into the subscription and charges for the start. This page states the add-ons without their prices, because we only print figures from the plan table we read on 4 Oct 2026. Price each add-on on UpMenu's page the day you sign.
UpMenu Premium is $169 a month before any add-on. ChowNow Launch is $249 with a branded app, 20+ POS integrations and the marketplace app already inside.
So the honest summary is this: UpMenu is much cheaper if you only want ordering, and the gap closes as you add the app, loyalty, integrations and delivery. Write down the add-ons you would really buy, total them, and only then compare.
Sources for the prices and rates in this section: ChowNow pricing; UpMenu pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
Where do I operate, and who picks up the phone?
This is the part most comparisons skip, and for a lot of restaurants it settles the question on its own.
UpMenu publishes its prices in five currencies (US dollars, pounds, euros, Swiss francs and Canadian dollars), has been operating since 2012, and lists clients in over 40 countries. Its own site runs in English and Polish. That is a genuinely international product, and if you are running a restaurant in Warsaw, Manchester or Zurich, ChowNow is simply not built for you.
ChowNow is the opposite by design. Prices in US dollars, 24/7 phone and chat support on a United States number, 20+ integrations with the point of sale systems American restaurants actually run, and a consumer marketplace app whose users are American diners. That focus is the product.
Outside North America, UpMenu wins by default. Inside it, ChowNow is buying you a demand channel that UpMenu does not have.
UpMenu vs ChowNow, line by line
Sources for the prices and rates in this section: UpMenu pricing; ChowNow pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
Pick the one that matches your situation
Under about 200 online orders a month
$49 or $89 against a $249 floor with a setup fee on top. There is no argument to make here. A small operation should not pay ChowNow’s $249 a month for online ordering, and UpMenu has a free trial and no contract so the downside is a few hours of your time.
Anywhere outside North America
Five published currencies, clients in over 40 countries, running since 2012. ChowNow prices in US dollars, supports on a US number and runs a US marketplace. Geography is not a tiebreak here, it is the whole decision.
United States restaurants that want the full stack
UpMenu’s mobile app, loyalty, marketplace integrations and delivery services are each an add-on on top of Premium. ChowNow Launch at $249 comes with a branded app and 20+ POS integrations included. If you were going to buy all of it anyway, total the add-ons first, then decide whether to buy it bundled.
Anyone who wants their own name on the app icon
A branded mobile app is a paid add-on on UpMenu, charged per location every month. On ChowNow it is included and you cover a $99 annual Apple developer fee. And UpMenu’s branding stays on your ordering pages until you reach Premium.
Related reading: the full ChowNow comparison, how much ChowNow costs, and the wider field of online ordering systems.
Sources for the prices and rates in this section: ChowNow pricing; UpMenu pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
Where Zayos fits, and where it does not
Zayos is ours, so read it as such. It is $399, $499 or $599 a month per location, month to month, no setup fee. That is well above both vendors on this page, and there is no version of this comparison where we are the budget pick.
There are no order caps. No tier moves when your orders or your contact list grows, and there is no add-on menu: the price you sign is the price at 100 orders and at 5,000. The restaurant pays nothing per order. The diner pays a flat service fee at checkout ($0.99 pickup, $0.99 delivery, $0 dine in, 10% on catering) and the restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue, and 100% of tips on pickup and dine in. On delivery the tip goes to the driver.
The $499 Operator + Tablet plan is the reason operators move: it pulls DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub tickets onto the same kitchen tablet as your direct orders through Otter, the order aggregation layer many kitchens already run. Neither vendor here does that.
When not to pick us. If you are doing 60 online orders a month, UpMenu Basic at $49 is the right answer and we would be wasting your money. And we only operate in the United States, so if you are outside it, UpMenu is your shortlist, not us.
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. More restaurants are live and taking direct orders. We are a Fort Lauderdale, Florida company. See what Zayos is and our pricing.
Source for the prices and rates in this section: UpMenu pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
The seven questions worth asking before you sign
What happens if I go over UpMenu’s order limit?
When is ChowNow worth the higher monthly price?
Which one is cheaper for a small restaurant?
Will my restaurant’s name be on the site, or UpMenu’s?
I am outside the United States. Does that decide it?
Which one gets me orders I would not otherwise have had?
Do I need a new point of sale for either of these?
Sources for the prices and rates in this section: ChowNow pricing; UpMenu pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
Sources
Every price above was read off the vendor’s own pricing page on 4 October 2026; the other details (currencies, countries, cancellation terms) on July 26, 2026. Prices move without notice. Confirm before you sign, and tell us if a number here has changed.
- ◆ upmenu.com/pricing · Basic $49 (75 orders), Standard $89 (210 orders), Premium $169 (unlimited); additional orders at $1.90 each; the feature list per tier including branding removal and API access on Premium; the mobile app, driver app, delivery services, loyalty, marketplace integrations and POS sold as add-ons; free setup; no contracts; free trial; a separate subscription per location; the five published currencies; no refunds and end of period cancellation.
- ◆ upmenu.com/about-us · operating since 2012, clients in over 40 countries, English and Polish site.
- ◆ get.chownow.com/pricing · Launch, Grow and Elevate on monthly and annual billing; the $119 to $499 setup fee; 2.95% + $0.29 per transaction; contact caps of 500 / 2,000 / 5,000 with matching email and SMS credits; 20+ POS integrations, fraud and chargeback protection and 24/7 phone and chat support on every tier; $250 to $420 printer hardware; the $99 annual Apple developer fee for branded mobile apps; Flex Delivery at $7.98 per order.
- ◆ get.chownow.com cancellation policy · the cancellation form plus consultation call requirement.
Zayos is a product of Zay Revenue Group, LLC of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and competes with both vendors named here. We publish their own numbers and link to them so you can check us.
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