How much does DoorDash take from restaurants?

How DoorDash's pricing actually works

DoorDash is a marketplace. Customers open the app, browse restaurants near them, and place an order. In exchange for that exposure and the delivery logistics, DoorDash charges the restaurant a commission on every order, plus a handful of smaller fees. The commission is tiered, so what you pay depends on the plan you sign up for.

DoorDash's published partnership plans are generally structured in three tiers. The entry tier carries the lowest commission but the least visibility and a smaller delivery radius. The middle and top tiers cost more per order but promise more reach, a wider delivery area, and perks like a limited "DashPass" customer base. In practice, most sit-down and quick-service restaurants land somewhere in the 15% to 30% per order range on the delivery commission alone. Pickup orders are usually charged at a lower rate. Rates and plan names change, so always confirm the current numbers on DoorDash's own merchant pricing page before you sign.

A real month, with real numbers

Percentages feel abstract until you run them against a normal week of service. Take a restaurant doing a $50 average delivery ticket:

• One $50 order at 30%: $15.00 goes to the marketplace.
• 40 delivery orders a day: that is $600 a day in commission.
• Over a 30-day month: roughly $18,000 in commission, on $60,000 of delivery sales.

Even on a gentler middle tier at 20%, the same volume is about $12,000 a month. That is money coming straight off already-thin restaurant margins, which often run in the single digits after food and labor. For many independents, the marketplace commission is one of the three largest line items in the entire business, alongside food cost and rent.

The fees beyond the headline commission

The commission is the big one, but it is not the only charge. Depending on your plan and market, you may also see:

• Payment processing on the order total.
• Tablet or hardware fees if you use DoorDash's provided device.
• Marketing and sponsored placement, where you pay extra to appear higher in the app or run promotions, which is effectively bidding against other restaurants for your own customers.
• Error charges and refunds, where a missing item or a customer complaint can be deducted from your payout.

Add these up and the effective take on a promoted order can climb well past the headline commission.

The cost that never shows up on the invoice

Here is the part most owners underestimate: on a marketplace, you do not own the customer. DoorDash keeps the name, the email, the order history, and the relationship. You cannot email that guest a Tuesday-slow-night offer, enroll them in loyalty, or win them back if they drift. Every marketplace order makes DoorDash's customer base stronger, not yours. You are renting demand, at a premium, and you have to keep renting it forever.

Why "the customer pays the fee" backfires

A common workaround is to raise menu prices on DoorDash to cover the commission. It feels free, but it quietly damages your brand. When your $12 dish reads $16 in the app, the customer does not blame DoorDash, which is invisible in that moment. They decide your restaurant is expensive. Higher prices shrink order sizes and frequency, and when that same guest walks in and sees the dish for less in person, trust takes the hit. You did not escape the fee. You traded it for reduced buying power and a pricier-looking brand.

So should you quit DoorDash?

Not necessarily, and this is the key nuance. Marketplaces are genuinely good at one thing: discovery. They put you in front of new customers who have never heard of you. The mistake is treating the marketplace as your main ordering channel, because that is where the commission compounds. The smart play is to split the two jobs:

• Discovery, on the apps. Keep a presence so new customers can find you. Think of it as paid marketing with a clear cost per order.
• Repeat and direct orders, on your own site. Once someone knows you, give them a reason to order direct, where you keep the margin and the relationship.

How to keep far more of every order

This is exactly what Town is built for. You get your own branded ordering site, and when you offer delivery, Town dispatches the same DoorDash Drive and Uber Direct drivers, up to about 10 miles out. The difference is that the order happens on your site, so there is no 15% to 30% marketplace commission, just a flat, low fee. Same driver at the door, a fair price for your guest, and you keep the customer, the data, and the margin. DoorDash for Restaurants walks through the exact playbook.