How much does ChowNow cost?
Published July 2026 · Updated July 16, 2026
Per ChowNow's published pricing page (accessed July 2026), ChowNow costs $249/month (Launch), $349/month (Grow), or $449/month (Elevate) — $229, $319, and $409 when billed annually. On top of the subscription, ChowNow publishes a $119-$499 one-time setup fee, a 2.95% + $0.29 payment processing fee per transaction, $7.98 per order for Flex Delivery, a $99/year Apple developer fee for the branded app, and $250-$420 for a printer. There is no commission on orders.
Every ChowNow cost, line by line.
All published figures are taken from get.chownow.com/pricing as it read in July 2026. ChowNow prints its extra fees on the pricing page itself — rare in this category, and worth crediting.
| Cost item | Amount | Detail + attribution |
|---|---|---|
| Launch plan | $249/mo ($229 annual) | The entry plan, priced "starting at": $249 billed monthly or $229/month billed annually. Core ordering, SEO website, branded app, and marketplace listing with 500 email marketing contacts; QR code ordering, third-party order aggregation, and SMS start at Grow. Published on get.chownow.com/pricing. |
| Grow plan | $349/mo ($319 annual) | Adds QR code ordering, third-party order aggregation, centralized menu management, and SMS, with 2,000 email contacts and 2,000 SMS credits. Published on get.chownow.com/pricing. |
| Elevate plan | $449/mo ($409 annual) | Everything in Grow with 5,000 email contacts and 5,000 SMS credits. Published on get.chownow.com/pricing. |
| Setup fee | $119 - $499 one-time | Listed under "Additional Fees" on the pricing page; ChowNow's support pages say exact fees depend on the agreement signed with your sales rep, with at least 30 days of complimentary onboarding time. |
| Transaction fee | 2.95% + $0.29 per order | The payment processing fee on every direct order, listed under "Additional Fees" on the pricing page. The page does not state whether the restaurant absorbs it or passes it to the diner — confirm which side of the ledger it lands on before signing. |
| Flex Delivery | $7.98 per order | ChowNow's dispatch option for restaurants without their own drivers, listed under "Additional Fees" on the pricing page. |
| Branded mobile app fee | $99/year | The annual Apple developer fee for the branded iOS app, listed under "Additional Fees" on the pricing page. |
| Printer hardware | $250 - $420 | Order printer hardware, listed under "Additional Fees" on the pricing page. |
| Contract terms | Not published | The pricing page offers monthly and annual billing but does not state contract length, cancellation terms, or auto-renewal policy. Ask for these in writing. |
ChowNow prices its plans "starting at" and sets exact setup fees in the signed agreement; the figures above reflect the pricing page as accessed in July 2026. Confirm current terms, the setup fee, and who bears the transaction fee directly with ChowNow before signing.
What's included in ChowNow's plans.
Per get.chownow.com/pricing, the core ordering, website, and app features are on every plan; QR code ordering, third-party aggregation, and SMS start at Grow, and the marketing allowances step up by tier.
Commission-free ordering on an SEO-optimized website, plus catering — on every plan. QR code ordering starts at the Grow plan.
A branded iOS/Android app for the restaurant (the $99/year Apple developer fee applies), on every plan.
Listings that route direct orders from Google, Apple, Yelp, and six more channels, plus ChowNow's own commission-free marketplace.
Automated email (500 / 2,000 / 5,000 contacts by plan) and a loyalty program on every plan; automated SMS and on-demand campaigns start at Grow (2,000 / 5,000 credits).
Third-party orders and menus managed centrally alongside direct channels on Grow and Elevate; 20+ POS integrations are on every plan.
100% fraud and chargeback protection, delivery management, reporting, and 24/7 phone and chat support on every plan.
A restaurant doing $8,000/month in direct orders.
250 online orders at a $32 average ticket, priced on ChowNow's published rates. The one-time setup fee and any Flex Delivery orders sit on top.
The subscription is only part of the monthly line. At this volume the published 2.95% + $0.29 transaction fee adds $308.50 a month — more than the gap between the Launch and Elevate plans — and it scales with volume while the subscription does not. Payment processing exists on every platform, so the right move is not to flinch at the rate but to compare it against what your current processor or alternative platform charges on the same orders.
Delivery is the other line worth modeling. ChowNow publishes Flex Delivery at $7.98 per order; on a $25 ticket that is roughly a third of the food revenue, so whether you absorb it, split it, or pass it to the diner changes the economics of every delivery order. To ChowNow's credit, all of these numbers are on its own pricing page — the same transparency standard this page applies to every vendor it covers.
How Zay-OS pricing differs.
ChowNow costs less per month; Zay-OS bundles more per month. The honest comparison is about which structure fits your volume.
Zay-OS is $499 Operator, $599 Operator + Marketplace, or $699 Concierge per location per month — no setup fee, month-to-month. ChowNow publishes a $119-$499 setup fee and offers monthly or annual billing, but its contract terms are not published on the pricing page.
The Zay-OS diner-paid service fee is flat — $0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery, $0 dine-in, 10% on catering — and the restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue and tips. ChowNow's published per-order line is the 2.95% + $0.29 processing fee, which grows with the ticket.
At $599, Otter pulls Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub orders into the same kitchen tablet as your direct orders — one screen, one ticket flow, while the marketplaces' 15-30% base commission (25-35% blended real cost) keeps getting displaced by direct volume. ChowNow offers third-party aggregation too; compare how each handles your channel mix in practice.
If you are a low-volume single location that mainly needs commission-free ordering with solid marketing tools, ChowNow's $249 Launch plan is real value and its pricing transparency is the best in the category. Zay-OS earns the higher price with the marketplace ingestion tier and Concierge's up-to-5 virtual brands per kitchen — pay for those when your volume uses them.
- ChowNow official pricing page — Launch/Grow/Elevate plan prices ($249/$349/$449 monthly; $229/$319/$409 annually), $119-$499 setup fee, 2.95% + $0.29 per transaction, $7.98/order Flex Delivery, $99/year Apple developer fee, $250-$420 printer, and included features (accessed July 2026).
- ChowNow support — What fees am I charged at sign up? — exact fees are set in the signed registration agreement; every partner gets at least 30 days of complimentary onboarding time (accessed July 2026).
- Zay-OS pricing — the $499/$599/$699 tiers, no setup fee, and the flat diner-paid service fee referenced above.
Where a figure is marked "not published," ChowNow's pricing page did not state it as of July 2026 and this page does not estimate it.
ChowNow cost questions, answered.
How much does ChowNow cost per month?
Does ChowNow charge a setup fee?
Does ChowNow take a commission on orders?
What does ChowNow Flex Delivery cost?
How does ChowNow's cost compare to Zay-OS?
Price the direct channel on your numbers.
Run the free grader on your real order volume and average ticket — it shows what your current setup costs you each month and what a flat-fee direct channel keeps, in about 60 seconds.