Do restaurants make money on DoorDash?
Published July 2026 · Updated October 4, 2026
Some do, on some orders. DoorDash charges 15%, 25% or 30% commission on delivery orders. The median restaurant earns 2.8% to 4.0% of sales before taxes. An order from a new customer can pay off. An order from a regular who would have ordered direct usually costs you money.
Sources: DoorDash for Merchants pricing, https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/pricing, and National Restaurant Association, Restaurant Operations Data Abstract announcement, 20 Aug 2025, https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/media/press-releases/new-resource-from-national-restaurant-association-provides-insights-into-operational-realities/, both read 4 Oct 2026.
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How much does DoorDash take compared with what a restaurant earns?
DoorDash takes 15% of the order subtotal on its Basic plan, 25% on Plus and 30% on Premier for delivery orders, and 6% on pickup. The National Restaurant Association puts median income before taxes at 2.8% of sales for full-service restaurants and 4.0% for limited-service. On a $30 order at 25%, DoorDash takes $7.50. The median pre-tax profit on $30 of sales is $0.84 to $1.20.
Sources: DoorDash for Merchants pricing, https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/pricing, and National Restaurant Association, Restaurant Operations Data Abstract announcement, 20 Aug 2025, https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/media/press-releases/new-resource-from-national-restaurant-association-provides-insights-into-operational-realities/, both read 4 Oct 2026. The dollar figures are arithmetic on those rates.
That gap does not settle it. The margin is an average over every sale and every cost. One extra order only has to beat its own food, packaging and commission. So the real question is which orders would not exist without the app. For the full fee table and how the app works, see how much DoorDash charges restaurants.
Source for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
When is DoorDash worth it for a restaurant?
DoorDash is worth it when the order would not exist without the app: a new customer, a delivery you could not make yourself, or an order in a slow hour. That order only has to cover its food, its packaging and the commission, because rent and staff are already paid.
New customers you could not reach yourself
DoorDash puts your menu in front of diners who are already looking for delivery and have never heard of you. For a new restaurant, a first order at 25% can be a fair price for a customer you have never met.
Delivery without hiring drivers
DoorDash supplies the drivers. If you would not deliver at all otherwise, every delivered order is one you would not have had.
Orders in your slow hours
Rent and the cook on the line cost the same at 2:30 in the afternoon. An extra order in a dead hour only has to cover food, packaging and the commission.
More numbers on the listed rates: restaurant delivery commission statistics.
When does DoorDash lose a restaurant money?
DoorDash loses a restaurant money when the order replaces one the restaurant would have had anyway. A regular who moves to the app turns a full-margin sale into one that pays 15% to 30% commission. Small orders, funded promotions and paid placement make it worse.
Regulars who move to the app
A customer who used to call or walk in now orders through DoorDash. Same customer, same food, and you pay 15% to 30% on a sale you already had.
Small orders
Packaging and line time cost about the same on a small order as a large one. Take 25% or 30% off a small ticket and little is left.
Paying for placement on top
Promotions and Sponsored Listings are optional marketing tools on DoorDash, charged on top of the commission. Each one you fund raises the real cost of the order.
Higher prices in the app
DoorDash says restaurants can set different prices for delivery orders, and that many do. LendingTree found ordering delivery costs 79.5%, or $9.30, more than picking up the same meal. The customer sees your name on that bill.
Sources: DoorDash for Merchants pricing, https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/pricing, and LendingTree delivery versus pickup study, 28 Oct 2025, https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/delivery-pickup/, both read 4 Oct 2026.
See what your own app orders cost each month in the Savings calculator.
How do restaurants make DoorDash profitable?
Give each channel one job. DoorDash gets the first order. Your own site gets every order after it. In one study, 71% of consumers said they prefer a restaurant's own website or app over third-party ordering, so the demand for a direct option is already there.
- Keep the DoorDash listing on the plan that fits how many new customers you want from it.
- Put commission-free ordering on your own website.
- Give app customers a reason to order direct next time: a card in the bag, loyalty points, a promo code.
- Bring both kinds of orders into one kitchen screen so the line works from a single feed.
Source: Restaurant Technology News, reporting a Tillster and Dynata study, 11 Aug 2023, https://restauranttechnologynews.com/2023/08/research-71-of-consumers-prefer-restaurant-specific-websites-or-mobile-apps-over-third-party-solutions/, read 4 Oct 2026.
Step by step: how to stop paying DoorDash commission.
What would you keep on your own site instead?
On your own ordering site there is no commission. Zayos is commission-free online ordering on the restaurant's own branded site. The price is flat: $399, $499 or $599 per location per month, with no setup fee, month to month, no contract. The diner pays a flat $0.99 service fee on pickup and delivery. The restaurant never pays it.
With Zayos the restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue, and 100% of tips on pickup and dine-in. On delivery the tip goes to the driver.
You do not have to leave DoorDash. The $499 Operator + Tablet plan brings DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub orders into one feed with your direct orders, on one kitchen tablet. Restaurants are live on Zayos and taking direct orders today, including Farooj Abo Alabed and Melt N Dip.
Run your own numbers in the Savings calculator, or see the three plans on pricing.
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What else do owners ask about DoorDash and profit?
Why do restaurants stay on DoorDash if the fees are high?
Should a small restaurant join DoorDash?
How does DoorDash work for a restaurant?
How do restaurants make DoorDash profitable?
Where does each number on this page come from?
- DoorDash for Merchants pricing: 15%, 25% and 30% delivery commission by plan, 6% on pickup, no monthly fee, card processing included. https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/pricing, read 4 Oct 2026.
- National Restaurant Association, Restaurant Operations Data Abstract announcement, 20 Aug 2025: Median income before taxes of 2.8% of sales (full-service) and 4.0% (limited-service). https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/media/press-releases/new-resource-from-national-restaurant-association-provides-insights-into-operational-realities/, read 4 Oct 2026.
- LendingTree delivery versus pickup study, 28 Oct 2025: Ordering delivery costs 79.5%, or $9.30, more than picking up the same meal. https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/delivery-pickup/, read 4 Oct 2026.
- Restaurant Technology News, reporting a Tillster and Dynata study, 11 Aug 2023: 71% of consumers prefer a restaurant's own website or app over third-party ordering. https://restauranttechnologynews.com/2023/08/research-71-of-consumers-prefer-restaurant-specific-websites-or-mobile-apps-over-third-party-solutions/, read 4 Oct 2026.
Related: what DoorDash charges, what Uber Eats charges, what Grubhub charges, Zayos vs DoorDash, Zayos vs Uber Eats, DoorDash alternatives, Uber Eats alternatives, Grubhub alternatives and what blended commission means.
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Not ready yet? Get a free grade of your online ordering.
Source for the prices and rates in this section: DoorDash for Merchants pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. A company can change them; its own page is what counts.
What would you keep with DoorDash's rate filled in?
The calculator opens at 25%: DoorDash's listed rate for Plus plan. Source: DoorDash for Merchants pricing, https://merchants.doordash.com/en-us/pricing, read 4 Oct 2026. Change any number to your own. The share moved to direct is an estimate you set, not a promise. For DoorDash alone, use the DoorDash fee calculator.
A modeled estimate from the numbers you entered. Not a promise.
0 app orders a month per location pays for the plan.
The $0.99 service fee on pickup and delivery is paid by the diner, so it is not a restaurant cost and is not in these numbers.
How we got this
- What the apps charge
- Orders × share through apps × average order × commission rate × 12 months × locations.
- What Zayos costs
- Plan × locations × 12 months. Nothing per order.
- Commission you stop paying
- App sales × share moved to direct × (commission rate minus 3% card processing, which a direct order still pays).
Total: $0 - Money you keep
- Commission you stop paying, minus what Zayos costs.
- Break-even
- Plan ÷ (average order × share moved to direct × (commission rate minus 3%)).
One measured example: Farooj Abo Alabed, 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.
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