◆ Definition

What is commission-free online ordering? The Zayos explainer

Published July 2026 · Updated July 26, 2026

Quick answer

Commission-free online ordering is a setup where a restaurant takes orders on its own website or app and pays no percentage of the ticket to a middleman. The restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue and tips, paying only a flat software fee and normal card processing.

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So what does commission-free actually cost a restaurant?

Three costs, and none of them is a share of your food. First, a flat monthly software fee for the ordering system, billed the same in February as in December. Second, card processing, which the payment network charges on any card transaction anywhere. Third, delivery, but only on the orders that need a driver, and only if you offer it.

The useful question is not whether a system is free. It is whether the cost is fixed or variable. A flat fee is a line item you can plan around: it does not move when a food blogger posts your shawarma and your Friday doubles. A commission is a permanent tax on growth, and it is charged hardest exactly when you are busiest.

Divide the flat fee by your direct orders to compare them honestly. At 500 direct orders a month, a $499 plan is about $1.00 an order. At 1,000 orders it is about $0.50. A 30% commission on a $40 ticket is $12.00 and it never gets cheaper.

Where does the money go on a $40 order?

Same ticket, same food, same kitchen. The only variable is the channel it arrived on.

On a marketplace

Restaurant keeps about $28

  • Ticket: $40.00
  • Commission at 30%, the top of the published 15% to 30% base range: $12.00
  • What reaches the restaurant: $28.00

Blended real cost lands higher, 25% to 35%, once delivery, in-app marketing and processing stack on top.

On a commission-free direct order

Restaurant keeps about $38.54

  • Ticket: $40.00
  • Commission: $0.00
  • Card processing at a published 2.9% plus $0.30: $1.46
  • What reaches the restaurant: $38.54

Card processing is a bank cost on any card payment, in the dining room or online. It is not a commission and nobody escapes it.

The gap on one ticket is about $10.54. Run it 300 times a month and it is roughly $3,160. That arithmetic, not a sales pitch, is the whole argument. Our commission statistics page shows the published rate cards behind it.

How does this work during a real dinner rush?

Here is where most explanations go wrong. Commission-free is a billing arrangement, not a different way to cook. On the line, a direct order should look exactly like a marketplace order: same ticket format, same alert, same station routing, same bump. If your staff has to learn a new screen to save you money, they will quietly stop using it by the second Saturday.

In practice that means the direct channel feeds into whatever the pass already runs, usually an order aggregator like Otter or the POS itself. The cook never learns which channel paid the toll. The owner sees it in the deposit.

The other operational difference is who owns the diner. On a marketplace order you get a first name and a drop-off note. On a direct order you get the name, the phone, the email and the order history, which is the difference between marketing to your regulars and renting them back. The operator glossary defines that split in one paragraph.

What do owners get wrong about commission-free?

Myth 01

Commission-free means free

It does not. It means no percentage of your food revenue leaves the building. You still pay a flat monthly software fee and you still pay card processing. The useful question is not free or not free, it is fixed or variable. A flat fee stops growing the day your Friday gets busier. A commission never stops.

Myth 02

The diner service fee is just a hidden commission

A commission is a percentage of the ticket and it scales with your sales. A flat diner fee is cents and it does not. On a $40 order, 30% is $12.00 and a $0.99 pickup fee is $0.99. On a $120 catering order the gap gets wider, not narrower. Percentages punish your best tickets.

Myth 03

Going commission-free means dropping the delivery apps

Most operators run both, and that is the sane play. The apps are a paid discovery channel: they show your food to somebody who has never heard of you. Direct ordering is where you keep the diners you already earned. The mistake is paying app rates on a regular who already knows your address.

Myth 04

Commission-free means no delivery

Delivery and commission are separate purchases. A direct order can be dispatched to a courier network per order, at a flat delivery cost, without handing over a cut of the food. What you give up is the marketplace listing, not the driver.

Where Zayos fits

Zayos is one commission-free implementation of the model described above, built in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Plans are $499, $599 and $699 per location per month, month to month, with no setup fee. The restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue and 100% of tips. The only per-order charge is paid by the diner at checkout: $0.99 pickup, $2.99 delivery, $0 dine-in, and 10% on catering.

Compare the model against the alternatives on the commission-free ordering guide, check the numbers on pricing, or run your own on the commission calculator.

Questions owners ask out loud.

What does commission-free online ordering actually mean?
It means the restaurant pays no percentage of any order to the company that provides the ordering system. Orders are placed on the restaurant’s own website or app, the restaurant keeps 100% of food revenue and 100% of tips, and the ordering software is billed as a flat monthly fee instead of a cut of sales.
If it is commission-free, how does the software company make money?
Two normal ways. A flat monthly subscription paid by the restaurant, and in some setups a small flat service fee paid by the diner at checkout. Neither one scales with the size of the ticket, which is the entire point. A percentage model earns more every time you sell more; a flat model does not.
Is commission-free ordering cheaper than DoorDash for a small restaurant?
It depends on volume, and the math is simple enough to do on a napkin. Divide the flat monthly fee by your expected direct orders per month to get a cost per order, then compare that to the commission you pay per order today. At 500 direct orders a month a $499 plan is about $1.00 per order. At 30% commission a single $40 order costs $12.00.
Do I still pay credit card fees on a commission-free order?
Yes. Card processing runs about 2.9% plus $0.30 on a typical online card transaction, and that is charged by the payment network, not by the ordering platform. You pay it on dine-in card payments too. It is a cost of accepting cards, not a cost of the ordering channel.
Will my regulars actually order on my own site instead of the app?
Regulars order where you point them. The levers operators use are QR codes on the bag and the receipt, a table tent, the link on the Google Business Profile, and the sign at the register. A diner who already knows your food does not need a marketplace to find you, they need one tap and a saved card.

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More definitions in the operator glossary.