Comparison
Catering Funnels vs ezCater
ezCater charges restaurants commission on every order, typically 10-20% depending on your account. Here's what that costs at real volumes, and what the alternative looks like.
ezCater takes a commission on every order rather than charging a flat fee. The marketplace rate is commonly reported at approximately 15% of the order total plus roughly 2.75% in card processing, though the figure varies by partner agreement, order volume, and placement, so your own contract has the number that applies to you. Catering Funnels charges a flat monthly subscription with no per-order cut, which is why the two models diverge sharply once monthly catering volume grows.
Run your own numbersOpen the ezCater commission calculator to see what commission costs your operation per year.→The 30-second verdict
You have zero marketing capacity, you want corporate orders flowing tomorrow without lifting a finger, and you're comfortable paying commission on every order forever in exchange for that distribution.
You want to own your corporate client relationships, stop paying rent on every order, and build a direct-booking business that compounds over years instead of starting from zero every month.
How much does ezCater charge restaurants?
ezCater charges restaurants a commission on every order placed through the marketplace. The standard marketplace commission is commonly reported at approximately 15% of the order total, plus approximately 2.75% in credit card processing fees, though rates vary by partner arrangement, order volume, and featured placement. ezCater also offers ezOrdering, a lower-commission option reported at approximately 7% plus processing, for orders placed through a restaurant's own website rather than the marketplace. Your current partner agreement has the exact figure that applies to your account.
At the commonly reported 15% marketplace commission rate: a restaurant doing $20,000 a month in marketplace catering volume pays approximately $3,000 a month in commission, or $36,000 a year, before processing fees. The same restaurant on the Catering Funnels Delivery plan pays $747 a month ($8,964 a year), regardless of whether they book $20K or $200K in corporate orders. Past a few thousand dollars a month in corporate catering volume, the direct-booking model is dramatically more profitable. Below that threshold, the marketplace's zero-effort distribution may be worth the commission.
Knowing the number is the easy part. Replacing the volume without a revenue gap is the hard part, and how to leave ezCater without losing corporate orders walks through the sequencing.
If you are still deciding where the demand should come from rather than how to move it, ezCater alternatives for restaurants compares nine options across marketplaces, flat-fee software, and direct ordering.
How does ezCater work for restaurants?
ezCater is a corporate catering marketplace. Restaurants create a profile, upload menus and pricing, and the platform surfaces those listings to corporate buyers searching for catering in their area. When a buyer places an order, ezCater processes the payment, deducts its commission (commonly reported at approximately 15% plus credit card processing fees, though rates vary by account), and pays the restaurant the remainder. The restaurant fulfills the order and handles delivery.
The model works well for restaurants that want corporate catering volume without running their own sales outreach. The tradeoff is structural: the buyer's contact information, order history, and reorder behavior stay on the platform. The restaurant fulfills the order but does not gain a direct client relationship. Every marketplace booking restarts the same cycle rather than building a compounding relationship with the buyer.
Side-by-side
| Feature | ezCater | Catering Funnels |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Commission per order | Flat monthly subscription |
| Cost on a $5,000 order | ~$500–$1,500 in commission and fees (varies by account terms) | $0 above your subscription |
| Customer ownership | Marketplace owns the relationship | You own every contact |
| Setup required | Restaurant profile and menu upload | Funnels, AI agents, follow-up automation. 2-day done-for-you setup. |
| Time to first order | Days (when buyers match) | 2-day setup, then your outreach starts |
| Marketing required from you | None | Some, or fully done-for-you on Delivery and Full-Service |
| Best for | Restaurants without sales infrastructure | Restaurants ready to own their corporate sales engine |
| Long-term economics | Cost scales with revenue, forever | Cost is fixed regardless of order volume |
Commission per order
Flat monthly subscription
~$500–$1,500 in commission and fees (varies by account terms)
$0 above your subscription
Marketplace owns the relationship
You own every contact
Restaurant profile and menu upload
Funnels, AI agents, follow-up automation. 2-day done-for-you setup.
Days (when buyers match)
2-day setup, then your outreach starts
None
Some, or fully done-for-you on Delivery and Full-Service
Restaurants without sales infrastructure
Restaurants ready to own their corporate sales engine
Cost scales with revenue, forever
Cost is fixed regardless of order volume
Where ezCater shines
ezCater earned its position. Three things they genuinely do well, and where they're hard to beat:
Immediate distribution
You list, they have buyers, orders show up. There's real value in being on the largest corporate catering marketplace in the US. Millions of orderers are already searching there.
Zero sales work
If you don't have a salesperson, don't want to learn outbound, and just want catering volume from new customers who find you, ezCater handles the demand side completely.
Trusted infrastructure for corporate buyers
Companies have approved ezCater as a vendor for procurement, expense reporting, and consolidated billing. Replicating that as a single restaurant is hard.
Where Catering Funnels wins
The build-versus-rent decision. Three things Catering Funnels does that a marketplace structurally cannot:
You own the client
Every corporate contact, every past order, every menu preference. Yours forever. When a marketplace decides to feature competitors or raise commissions, your business doesn't change. You can call your top 50 corporate accounts directly any time.
Repeat revenue compounds for you, not the platform
When a corporate account that found you on ezCater orders 30 times in a year, ezCater takes commission 30 times. When the same account orders directly through Catering Funnels, you pay your flat monthly fee whether they order zero times or 300.
It's a sales engine, not a listing
ezCater is demand capture. You're discoverable when buyers search. Catering Funnels is demand creation: outbound outreach, AI follow-up, lifecycle nurture, missed-call recovery. Different game.
Who should pick which
- Have no time or capacity for outbound or follow-up
- Are just getting started with catering and want to test corporate demand
- Operate in a market where ezCater has dense corporate adoption
- Are fine paying commission indefinitely in exchange for zero sales work
- Already get catering inquiries but lose revenue to slow follow-up
- Have a salesperson, or want to act like one
- Have any past corporate clients sitting dormant in your inbox
- Want to build a corporate catering business as a long-term asset, not a referral channel
Many restaurants use both. ezCater for visibility, Catering Funnels for direct outreach and follow-up on inbound leads. That's a fully defensible hybrid strategy.
Common questions
Catering Funnels vs ezCater: questions we get
Can I use ezCater and Catering Funnels at the same time?
Yes, and many restaurants do. Use ezCater for distribution to corporate buyers actively searching the marketplace, and use Catering Funnels for direct outreach, follow-up on inbound leads, and managing your owned client relationships. The two don't conflict.
What is the ezCater commission rate?
The standard ezCater marketplace commission is commonly reported at approximately 15% per order, plus approximately 2.75% in credit card processing fees. Rates vary by partner arrangement, order volume, and featured placement. ezOrdering, a separate program for orders through your own website, is reported at approximately 7% plus processing. Your partner agreement has the exact rate that applies to your account.
Can I move my ezCater customers to direct booking?
You can't take ezCater-owned customer data with you, but you can absolutely market directly to companies you've worked with. They're not legally tied to the marketplace. Direct relationships start the moment you have an email or phone number from past orders.
What about CaterCow, DoorDash for Business, or ZeroCater?
All marketplace models have similar economics. Different commission structures, different geographic strengths, but the same core tradeoff: distribution in exchange for owning your customer. The Catering Funnels versus marketplace decision is essentially the same for all of them.
Does Catering Funnels replace ezCater?
It replaces the dependency. If your goal is to stop being subject to marketplace pricing decisions and start owning a direct corporate book of business, yes. If you genuinely benefit from the marketplace's distribution and don't have the capacity to run outbound yourself, ezCater is the simpler path.
How does ezCater's commission compare to ChowNow's fees?
They use different models. ezCater charges a per-order commission (commonly reported at approximately 15% plus processing, though rates vary by arrangement). ChowNow charges a flat monthly subscription (reported from approximately $119 to $328 per month depending on plan and billing cycle) with zero per-order commission. However, ChowNow is a direct-ordering platform, not a marketplace. It does not source corporate buyers the way ezCater does. A restaurant on ChowNow still needs its own outreach pipeline to find corporate clients.
How does ezCater work for restaurants?
Restaurants create a profile, upload catering menus and pricing, and ezCater surfaces those listings to corporate buyers searching in the area. When a buyer orders, ezCater processes the payment, deducts its commission, and pays the restaurant the remainder. The restaurant fulfills the order and handles delivery. Terms vary by partner agreement, and ezCater's current published partner terms are the source of truth for your account.
How does ezCater make money?
Primarily through a per-order commission deducted before the restaurant is paid, commonly reported at approximately 15% plus card processing fees. It also offers ezOrdering, a lower-commission option reported at around 7% plus processing for orders placed through a restaurant's own website, and sells placement and promotional visibility to restaurants competing for the same buyers. Rates vary by arrangement, so check your agreement.
When does ezCater charge the card?
This is a buyer-side policy rather than a restaurant one. ezCater's help documentation describes seeking a pre-authorization on the card to confirm it is valid and has available credit before the purchase completes, with the charge processed around the order rather than long after delivery. Authorizations on cancelled orders typically fall off within about a week. ezCater's current published terms are the source of truth.
What is ezCater's cancellation policy?
ezCater's help documentation states that ezCater itself does not charge a cancellation fee, but the fulfilling restaurant may charge one for last-minute cancellations, and buyers are generally advised to cancel at least 24 hours ahead. That means your own cancellation terms matter and are worth stating clearly in your listing. Policies change, so treat ezCater's current published terms as authoritative.
What is the best alternative to ezCater for restaurants?
It depends on what you need. If you want another marketplace that brings orders without outreach, CaterCow and DoorDash Catering serve similar functions with different commission structures and geographic coverage. If you want to stop paying per-order commission and build direct corporate relationships instead, a flat-rate system like Catering Funnels replaces marketplace dependency with outbound outreach, AI follow-up, and owned client data. Many restaurants run both models in parallel during the transition.
Want help figuring out which fits your operation?
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