Guides
Ghost Kitchen Delivery App Fees: Ranges by Platform
Ghost kitchen delivery app fees: the base commission ranges DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub quote by plan, what pickup changes, and the add-on lines to check.
What to take away
- DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub do not publish one national fee; illustrative base commissions run 15% to 30%, and add-ons can push total cost above 35%.
- The real comparison is not one percentage, but what each platform bundles, what it passes through, and whether promotions are funded by you.
- The criteria that matter for a ghost kitchen are order volume, marketing spend, chargeback handling, driver reliability, and menu placement.
- No platform solves the deeper problem of marketplace dependence and rising ad costs.
What is being compared
Ghost kitchen delivery app fees are not a single rate. Each platform charges a base commission, then adds fees for delivery, marketing, credit card processing, and chargebacks. Some apps roll these into a higher published rate. Others list them as separate line items. Operators comparing DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub should read the full fee sheet, not the dashboard quote.
Before signing any platform agreement, read the whole fee sheet rather than the dashboard quote, including how sales tax and delivery app fees interact, because state tax treatment changes net margin.
The criteria that matter
A useful comparison uses criteria operators can measure. Volume matters because high fixed fees spread across more orders. Marketing spend matters because platforms charge separately for visibility. Chargeback handling matters because disputed orders can reverse revenue and add fees. Driver reliability matters because late deliveries produce refunds. Menu placement matters because buried brands do not get orders.
Fee ranges by platform
The ranges below are the illustrative base tiers these three platforms quote to US ghost kitchens; your metro, order volume, and contract set the actual rate, and none of the three publishes one national fee schedule.
- Base commission.DoorDash: 15% on its Basic plan, up to 30% on its Premier placement plan, with Plus in between. Uber Eats: 15% to 30% on delivery orders, below 10% on pickup for some plans. Grubhub: around 5% to 15% for marketing-only placements, up to 30% for a full delivery and marketing stack.
- Marketing add-ons.Sponsored listings and DashPass promotions are separate purchases on DoorDash that together can add 5 to 10 percentage points; Uber Eats marketing bundles raise the effective rate by an amount quoted in your market agreement; on Grubhub the full stack is what reaches 30%.
- Chargebacks and card processing.All three pass disputes through to the operator, who absorbs the reversal and often a per-dispute fee, and card processing is billed as its own line. Those amounts come from your contract schedule, not a published rate card.
| Criterion | DoorDash | Uber Eats | Grubhub |
|---|
Platform fee criteria compared
DoorDash
- Base commission
- 15%-30%
- Marketing add-on
- Often separate
- Chargeback pass-through
- Yes
- Driver management
- Platform-managed
- Promotions funded by operator
- Common
Uber Eats
- Base commission
- 15%-30%
- Marketing add-on
- Often bundled
- Chargeback pass-through
- Yes
- Driver management
- Platform-managed
- Promotions funded by operator
- Common
Grubhub
- Base commission
- 5%-30%
- Marketing add-on
- Often separate
- Chargeback pass-through
- Yes
- Driver management
- Platform-managed
- Promotions funded by operator
- Common
The fee lines behind the ranges
- The base.Ask what the commission applies to: the menu subtotal, the subtotal plus tax, or the subtotal plus the delivery fee. The same percentage produces different money on each base.
- Pickup versus delivery.Pickup is where a lower rate is available, but those orders usually get less placement.
- Tier names.DoorDash names its tiers — Basic, Plus, and Premier. Uber Eats and Grubhub quote the tier name and rate in your market agreement, so ask for both in writing.
- Marketing.Sponsored listings and DashPass-style promotions are the lines that move the effective rate most, and on DoorDash they can add 5 to 10 percentage points.
- Chargebacks and processing.Disputes pass through to the operator, who absorbs the reversal and often a per-dispute fee, and card processing is billed separately. Those amounts sit in your contract schedule and vary by metro and volume, so ask for them in writing — they are not on a published rate card.
- What these are not.None of the three publishes one national fee schedule; the ranges here are the figures to compare, and your own quote depends on metro, order volume, and the plan tier you sign.
How to read a fee sheet:
How to read a fee sheet
- List every line item from the agreement
- Model three order sizes$12, $25, $50
- Add delivery distance and peak-time surcharges
- Compare net revenue per order across platforms
- Base commission.Note the tier name and the rate you are quoted, and check whether delivery and pickup carry different rates.
- The base it applies to.Ask whether commission is charged on the menu subtotal, on the subtotal plus tax, or on the subtotal plus the delivery fee; the same percentage gives different money on each.
- Marketing lines.Sponsored listings, DashPass-style promotions, and marketing bundles are where the effective rate climbs.
- Pass-throughs.Credit card processing and chargeback handling are often separate line items, not part of the base commission. Get the per-dispute fee and the processing rate in writing.
- Promotion obligations.Note who funds discounts and what the platform requires you to offer.
- The total.Add the base rate to every add-on you expect to use before comparing it with the other two apps.
Market density changes break-even points, and rent is the other large fixed cost that decides whether a fee range works in a metro. Operators comparing metros can see commercial kitchen rental prices in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.
DoorDash is built for reach. Its illustrative base commission is 15% for a basic plan and up to 30% for a premium plan with broader placement, and it names those tiers Basic, Plus, and Premier. Add-ons like DashPass promotions and sponsored listings are bought separately and can add 5 to 10 percentage points. High volume often justifies DoorDash spend, but low volume can lose money quickly. Before scaling, run a volume and waste check so the fee percentage applies to orders that earn their margin.
Uber Eats uses a similar structure. Delivery orders typically carry 15% to 30% base commission, while pickup orders can be below 10% for some plans. Its user base includes late-night demand from the Uber app. Marketing bundles raise the effective rate, but the bundle price and the points it adds are quoted in your market agreement, so ask for both in writing. Uber Eats is right when a ghost kitchen wants late-night orders and already uses Uber Eats marketing tools.
Grubhub often advertises a lower entry rate for marketing-only placements, around 5% to 15%, but a full delivery and marketing stack reaches 30%. The platform has deep density in New York, Chicago, and Boston. Grubhub is right when a ghost kitchen targets office lunch and wants to control marketing spend separately, and its plan name plus each add-on line should be confirmed in writing. Its lower entry rate can hide high effective costs if the operator opts into every add-on.
Where each one wins
DoorDash wins where reach and stable order flow matter most. Uber Eats wins where late-night demand and pickup discounts matter. Grubhub wins where lunch density and separate marketing control matter. None is automatically cheaper; the right choice depends on order mix and promo budget.
What none of them solve
All three apps rely on independent contractor delivery fleets, so the delivery leg is priced outside the commission line; the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division fact sheet on the employment relationship under the Fair Labor Standards Act describes the contractor status behind those fleets. All three pass chargebacks to operators, and none gives a transparent per-mile delivery cost tied to menu price. When a customer disputes a charge, the Fair Credit Billing Act sets out the process and the FTC explains how it starts; restaurants eat the reversal and often a per-dispute fee.
