DoorDash Commission: The Real Math on When Direct Ordering Pays Off

Short version: whether your own ordering site pays for itself is arithmetic you can do in a minute: the monthly price, divided by what each order saves you once it moves off the app. The formula and three worked examples are below. They are examples, not results.

The 30% nobody talks about honestly

Most operators know the delivery apps take "around 30%" but think of it as a fuzzy operating cost. Let's get exact. DoorDash lists three plans on delivery orders, 15%, 25% or 30%, and 6% on pickup (DoorDash pricing). Uber Eats lists 20%, 25% or 30%, and 7% on pickup (Uber Eats pricing). Grubhub lists a marketing commission of 5%, 15% or 20%, plus from 10% more when its drivers deliver (Grubhub pricing). All three read 4 Oct 2026. The math below uses the top delivery rate, 30%.

For a $40 delivery order on a marketplace at a 30% commission, the math from the operator's side is roughly:

• Customer pays: ~$54 (food + delivery fee + service fee + tip)
• Restaurant gets paid: ~$28 (food revenue minus the 30%)
• Restaurant pays food cost: ~$11 (28% food cost)
• Restaurant's gross margin on that order: $17 on a $54 transaction. 31% gross margin.

The same $40 order placed direct on the restaurant's own site:

• Customer pays: ~$48 (food + delivery, no platform service fee)
• Restaurant gets paid: ~$38.80 (food revenue minus ~3% Stripe fee)
• Restaurant pays food cost: ~$11
• Restaurant pays a courier for the delivery: ~$8
• Restaurant's gross margin on that order: $19.80. Plus the customer relationship is yours.

The break-even formula

Direct ordering software (like Zayos) costs $399/mo per location with no setup fee, plus ~3% Stripe processing. (Zayos also charges the diner $0.99 per order at checkout, which is paid by the customer, not the operator — so it doesn't enter this math.) The break-even point in marketplace orders saved is:

Break-even orders/mo = monthly_software_cost / (avg_ticket × (marketplace_commission − direct_processing_fee))

Plug in real numbers. Software $399/mo, avg ticket $35, marketplace commission 30%, direct processing 3%:

Break-even = $399 / ($35 × 0.27) = $399 / $9.45 ≈ 43 orders/mo

About forty-three orders. That's one and a half a day. Past 43 orders/mo shifted from marketplace to direct, every additional direct order is pure margin recovery.

Three worked scenarios

Scenario A. Small lunch spot, 600 orders/mo, $22 avg ticket

• Today: 80% marketplace at 30% = $3,168/mo in commission
• After: 25% of marketplace shifts to direct. Net new direct: 120 orders/mo. Saved commission on those: $792/mo
• Cost of Zayos: $499/mo (no setup fee)
• Net month-one savings: $392. Net year-one savings: $4,704.

Worth it, but tight. At this volume the bigger payoff is the customer list — by month 12, your top 80 regulars are texting in their orders instead of clicking DoorDash.

Scenario B. Mid-volume neighborhood restaurant, 2,500 orders/mo, $34 avg ticket

• Today: 65% marketplace at 30% = $16,575/mo in commission
• After: 25% of marketplace shifts to direct = 406 orders/mo. Saved commission: $4,148/mo
• Cost of Zayos: $499/mo (no setup fee)
• Net month-one savings: $3,748. Net year-one savings: $44,976.

This is the sweet spot. Most US independents fall here.

Scenario C. High-volume / ghost kitchen, 8,000 orders/mo, $42 avg ticket

• Today: 70% marketplace at 30% = $70,560/mo in commission
• After: 25% of marketplace shifts to direct = 1,400 orders/mo. Saved commission: $15,876/mo
• Cost of Zayos: $399/mo (single location Operator) or $599/mo per location (multi-brand Concierge, up to 5 virtual brands per kitchen)
• Net month-one savings: ~$15,000. Net year-one savings: ~$180,000.

Why most operators don't actually capture the savings

Three failure modes we see constantly:

1. Direct ordering site exists but nobody knows about it. No QR code on the receipt, no SMS at checkout, no email follow-up.
2. Kitchen can't handle multiple screens. The kitchen has a DoorDash tablet, an Uber Eats tablet, a Grubhub tablet, and now a fourth screen for the direct site. By week three the line cooks ignore the direct orders because the marketplace ones beep louder. Solution: one consolidated kitchen display. This is exactly why Zayos ships the direct ordering + Otter aggregator on a single tablet.
3. No customer reactivation flow. A direct customer who hasn't ordered in 30 days needs a 15%-off SMS.

The seven levers that actually shift orders

We covered the full list in the Uber Eats / DoorDash commission reduction deep-dive. The short version: QR codes on every printed surface, SMS list-building at checkout, one-tap reorder, direct-only specials, win-back automations, and a kitchen tablet that doesn't add screen number five.

What about commission-free marketplaces?

You'll see other products marketed as "commission-free." Some charge a flat monthly fee and some charge a percentage of every order under another name. Before signing anything, read the price list and the fine print on who owns the customer record. Zayos gives the operator full ownership of the customer record, and its prices are published.

How to decide

Two questions:

1. How many marketplace orders do you do per month? Run the break-even formula above with your own count.
2. Will you actually drive customers to it? If you won't put QR codes on receipts, won't text the customer list, and won't run the win-back automations, don't bother. Direct ordering with no marketing is a monthly expense for no benefit.

Three operator profiles where direct ordering is non-negotiable

• The 90% marketplace operator. If nearly all your volume comes through one app, a change in that app's ranking is a change in your sales. Direct is insurance, not just savings.
• The high-AOV concept. Average ticket over $45 (sushi, steakhouse, fine dining catering). At a 30% commission that is $13.50 an order.
• The brand-with-pull operator. If customers know your name, you've already paid for the brand. Letting DoorDash insert itself between you and that customer is leaving free money on the table.

FAQ

Will going direct hurt my marketplace visibility?

No. Marketplaces don't penalize restaurants for having their own site.

Who handles delivery for direct orders?

Zayos hands delivery orders to a courier network such as Uber Direct or DoorDash Drive. You don't hire a delivery fleet.

What if I'm pickup-only?

Even better. The math gets simpler — no delivery dispatch cost. Marketplace commission on pickup is 15%, processing is 3%. Break-even drops to ~30 orders/mo.

How long to launch?

under a week from contract to live. POS integration, menu mapping, QR code printing, and staff training are the only setup steps.

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Run your numbers — Zayos · live demo on a real customer · phone 954-807-1509.