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Catering Marketplace Commissions vs Direct Ordering
July 26, 2026 · Angel Roman
Catering marketplace commission is commonly reported in the mid-teens as a percentage of the order total, plus roughly 2.75% in card processing, though the figure varies by platform and by the agreement you signed. Direct ordering replaces that percentage with a fixed cost: software, plus whatever you spend to generate demand. Those two structures behave differently as you grow. The percentage rises with every dollar of catering revenue. The fixed cost does not. That is the entire argument, and it is why the gap between the two widens as monthly volume increases rather than staying proportional.
Catering Funnels is a done-for-you lead generation and automation platform built for restaurants with active catering operations, so we have a position here. This post shows the math rather than asserting the conclusion, including the volume level below which the marketplace is genuinely the cheaper choice.
What is the typical commission on catering marketplaces?
There is no single industry rate, which is the first thing worth knowing. Published and commonly reported figures cluster in the mid-teens for catering-specific marketplaces and run higher on general delivery platforms.
| Platform | Reported cost to the restaurant | Structure |
|---|---|---|
| ezCater | Commonly reported at approximately 15% of the order total plus roughly 2.75% card processing. Varies by partner agreement, volume, and placement. | Per-order commission |
| DoorDash | Three published marketplace tiers of 15%, 25%, and 30%. Operators using advertising and promotions report effective costs above the base rate. | Per-order commission, tiered |
| Grubhub | No corporate-specific rate published. The rate that applies is set by your individual marketplace agreement. | Per-order commission |
| ChowNow | Reported starting around $199 per month with no per-order commission. Plan pricing varies by tier and billing cycle. | Flat monthly subscription |
Two caveats before you use any of these numbers.
Your agreement is the source of truth. Every figure above is a published or commonly reported rate, not a guarantee of what applies to your account. Rates move with volume, placement, promotional participation, and negotiation. Pull your own contract.
Card processing is separate. Commission is usually quoted before processing fees, so the all-in cost is higher than the headline percentage. When you compare models, compare all-in numbers or you will understate the marketplace side.
What is the commission difference between ezCater and ChowNow?
They are not on the same scale, because they do not use the same structure. ezCater charges a percentage of each order. ChowNow charges a flat monthly fee and takes no per-order cut.
At low volume ezCater is cheaper. If you do $1,500 a month in catering, a commonly reported 15% commission is about $225, which is less than a ChowNow subscription reported to start around $199 plus the work of driving your own traffic. At high volume the comparison inverts hard. At $30,000 a month, that same percentage is roughly $4,500, while the subscription has not moved.
But the cost comparison is the less important half of the answer, and treating it as the whole answer will lead you wrong.
ezCater is a marketplace. It brings you corporate buyers who are already searching. ChowNow is ordering software. It gives buyers who already know you a commission-free way to order, and it finds you nobody. Swapping one for the other does not just change your cost structure, it removes your demand source. That is the mistake to avoid: the flat fee only looks cheaper if you have somewhere for the orders to come from.
Full breakdowns are on the ezCater comparison and the ChowNow comparison.
How do catering marketplaces make money?
Primarily by taking a percentage of each transaction, and secondarily by selling restaurants better placement in front of the demand they aggregated.
The model has three parts. First, they acquire corporate buyers at scale through search, sales teams, and procurement relationships, which is expensive and genuinely difficult. Second, they own the transaction, so payment, invoicing, and customer service run through them, and the commission comes off the top before you get paid. Third, several platforms sell advertising, sponsored placement, or promotional programs on top, which is why operators frequently report an effective cost above the published base rate.
There is a fourth part that is easy to miss because it never appears as a line item. The marketplace owns the customer relationship. Buyer contact details, order history, and reorder behavior stay on the platform. That is not a fee, but it is a cost, and over a multi-year period it is usually the larger one. A corporate account that orders monthly is worth far more than any single order, and on a marketplace that account belongs to the platform.
That structural point needs no hedge. Every marketplace works this way, and it is a fair trade when you are getting demand you could not generate yourself.
What does commission cost at real order volumes?
The percentage is unremarkable on one order and significant across a year. Here is what a commonly reported 15% marketplace rate produces at three monthly volumes, with card processing excluded to keep the comparison conservative.
| Monthly catering volume through the marketplace | Commission at a commonly reported 15% | Annual | Catering Funnels Delivery at $747/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $750 | $9,000 | $8,964 |
| $20,000 | $3,000 | $36,000 | $8,964 |
| $50,000 | $7,500 | $90,000 | $8,964 |
Stated assumptions, because a table like this is only as good as what it admits.
The 15% is a commonly reported ezCater marketplace rate, not a universal one. Your agreement may differ. Card processing of roughly 2.75% is excluded, which understates the marketplace column. The Catering Funnels column is the Delivery plan at $747 a month and excludes the one-time activation fee. Most importantly, the right-hand column assumes you actually generate the volume, which is the real work the marketplace was doing for you.
Read that last assumption carefully, because it is where this math usually gets abused. The table does not show savings you get for free. It shows what the percentage costs, which is the number you need before you can decide whether replacing it is worth the effort.
The crossover sits somewhere around $5,000 a month in marketplace volume. Below it, the marketplace is cheaper outright and you should not overthink it. Above it, the percentage grows without limit while the subscription stays flat. To run your own numbers instead of these, use the ezCater commission calculator.
The other half of this math is what the order was worth before the commission came out of it. The catering pricing calculator builds a quote up from food cost, delivery, and service level, then reports the gross margin on the order. Subtract the platform's cut from that margin line and you can see what a marketplace order actually leaves you, order by order rather than in annual totals.
When is paying a commission worth it?
Often. A commission is rent on demand you did not have to create, and that is worth paying in four situations.
When you have no sales capacity. Outbound needs an owner. If nobody in your operation can be that person, paying a percentage for demand is a rational trade.
When your volume is low. Below roughly $5,000 a month in catering, the commission in absolute dollars is smaller than a system plus the labor to run it. The percentage does not hurt yet.
When you are still testing. Finding out whether your kitchen can handle 150-person orders and whether your margins hold at volume is worth doing before you build a pipeline to feed it.
When the marketplace is dominant in your metro. If corporate buyers in your city default to one platform, leaving removes you from where they are looking. That is a real cost.
Marketplaces also do genuinely hard things well. ezCater's consolidated billing and approved-vendor status with corporate procurement teams solve a problem most single restaurants cannot solve alone. DoorDash's delivery fleet is infrastructure you would otherwise build or hire. Those are not marketing claims, they are the reason the commission exists.
How do you avoid marketplace commissions without losing volume?
By building the direct pipeline first and letting the mix shift, rather than delisting and hoping. The order of operations is the whole thing.
Start by pulling every corporate contact you already have. Past catering clients, inquiries that never closed, event contacts, anyone who has ever paid you for a group order. Most operators have more of these than they think, sitting in an inbox. That reactivation list is the cheapest lead source available, and how to get catering leads covers where the rest should come from once it runs dry.
Then get the follow-up right before adding new leads. Quotes that go unanswered for two days are the most common leak in a catering operation, and fixing that costs nothing and produces revenue from demand you already have.
Then add outbound. Targeted outreach to specific people at specific companies is what produced Bain Barbecue's $5,550 corporate order from a single LinkedIn message, and Fob Grill's 600-person, $22,000 holiday party booked direct with no commission attached.
Only then reduce marketplace dependence, and gradually. Keep the listing while direct revenue grows. Let the percentage of your catering revenue that arrives commission-free rise over quarters, not weeks. Nothing about building your own pipeline requires you to break an agreement you signed or to stop serving buyers who found you through a platform. The goal is a second channel you own, not a dramatic exit.
For the sequencing in detail, see how to leave ezCater without losing corporate orders. For targeting and channels, the guide to getting corporate catering clients covers a realistic first 90 days, and the Corporate Catering Playbook has the scripts. If you are weighing platforms rather than the model itself, ezCater alternatives for restaurants compares nine options.
If you want help mapping this to your operation, book a strategy call. We run the campaign until you have earned back at least what you paid.
Common questions
What is the typical commission on catering marketplaces? Catering-specific marketplaces commonly report rates in the mid-teens as a percentage of the order, plus card processing of roughly 2.75%. General delivery platforms run higher, with DoorDash publishing tiers of 15%, 25%, and 30%. Rates vary by agreement, volume, and placement, so your own contract is the only rate that actually applies to you.
How does ezCater make money? Mainly through a per-order commission taken before the restaurant is paid, commonly reported at approximately 15% plus card processing. It also offers ezOrdering, a lower-commission option reported at around 7% plus processing for orders placed through a restaurant's own site, and sells placement and promotional visibility to restaurants competing for the same buyers.
Is direct ordering always cheaper than a marketplace? No. Below roughly $5,000 a month in marketplace catering volume, the commission in absolute dollars is typically less than a system plus the labor to run it. Direct ordering wins on cost as volume grows, because the fee is fixed while the commission is not. It also assumes you can generate the demand yourself.
Can I avoid marketplace commissions without leaving the platform? Yes, and that is the lower-risk path. Build a direct pipeline alongside the marketplace so a growing share of your catering revenue arrives without a percentage attached. You keep the marketplace volume while the direct channel develops, and you are not depending on a single source of demand during the transition.