A $40 pizza order through a delivery app can leave a restaurant with $28, sometimes less, before the cheese, the box, and the fifteen minutes someone spent making it are even counted. Most owners know the commission is high. Fewer have actually sat down with the settlement report and worked out which plan they're on and what it's really taking.
We build ordering systems for restaurants for a living, so this comes up constantly: an owner asks whether to drop UberEats, keep Skip, or go all-in on their own site. Here's what the three big Canadian platforms actually charge in 2026, and where the honest line sits between "worth it" and "you're funding their marketing budget."
The three platforms, side by side
Commission structures changed again this year. UberEats raised its Lite tier from 15% to 20% in March 2026 and added a 30% charge on Uber One member orders. DoorDash and Skip both sit in similar territory, just organized differently.
| Platform | Plan | Delivery commission | Pickup commission | Processing fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UberEats | Lite | 20% | 7% (10% without validated pricing) | ~2.5 to 3.5% |
| UberEats | Plus | 25% (30% for Uber One orders) | 7% | ~2.5 to 3.5% |
| UberEats | Premium | 30% | 7% | ~2.5 to 3.5% |
| DoorDash | Basic | 20% | 10% | none, built in |
| DoorDash | Plus | 25% | 8% | none, built in |
| DoorDash | Premier | 29% | 8% | none, built in |
| Skip the Dishes | Standard | 20 to 30%, negotiated | 10 to 15%, negotiated | not disclosed publicly |
DoorDash's own Canadian merchant page is the cleanest source here, it lists no separate processing fee at all, folded into the commission instead. Skip doesn't publish a fixed number; ours came from restaurants comparing account rep quotes, so treat it as a range, not a rate card.
Where the extra few percent actually hides
The plan tier is only half the bill. Every platform sells add-ons on top: sponsored placement in search results, promotional discounts the restaurant funds (not the app), and on UberEats specifically, a tablet or POS integration fee in some markets. DoorDash waives the tablet after a trial period, then charges around $3 a week for it.
Pickup orders quietly cost less per platform, but most restaurants never change their default settings to steer customers there. A customer who'd have walked in and paid nothing can end up routed through a marketplace app at a 10% cut, purely because that's the button they tapped first.
What we saw building Dough Boys' own ordering system
Dough Boys, the pizza and sports bar in East London, runs its own web ordering, four branded apps, and a POS-tuned admin, all pulling from one menu database on doughboysworld.ca. Every order placed through that system keeps its full sale price. No platform touches it, so there's no 20% to 30% commission to subtract before you get to ingredient and labor cost.
That's not a knock on UberEats or DoorDash as businesses. They built real customer bases and some of that traffic is genuinely incremental. It's a knock on paying marketplace rates for orders that would have come to you anyway, the ones from customers who already know your name and would have called or walked in regardless.
Check your own numbers today, no developer needed
Pull your last month's settlement report from whichever platform you're on, most have a "Payout" or "Statements" tab in the merchant dashboard, and add up total commission paid versus total order value. If that percentage is higher than the plan you think you signed up for, call your account rep and ask them to confirm your current tier in writing. Restaurants get moved onto higher tiers during platform-wide changes (like March's UberEats increase) without much notice.
Second thing to check today: does your Google Business Profile order button, your Instagram bio link, and your own website all point to the cheapest path for the customer? If they're all funneling straight into a 25% marketplace checkout instead of a direct order form, that's fixable this afternoon, not a project.
When the marketplace apps are still worth the cut
We'd be lying if we said every restaurant should drop these platforms. A new location with no local following yet, or a restaurant in a dense area where app-only customers genuinely wouldn't have found you, gets real discovery value out of that commission. The math changes once you have a customer base that already knows your name: repeat customers ordering through an app instead of calling you or using your own online ordering is pure margin loss, every single time, with nothing bought in return.
If you're mostly selling to people who already know you exist, commission-free ordering built on your own domain, the approach we set up for Dough Boys, usually pays for itself within a few months of order volume. If you're still building that first wave of local awareness, keep at least one marketplace app running while you do it.
Frequently asked questions
Is UberEats or DoorDash cheaper for restaurants in Canada?
DoorDash's published Basic plan is 20% with no separate processing fee, which usually nets out slightly cheaper than UberEats' Lite plan once UberEats' processing fee is added. The gap narrows or reverses at higher tiers, so check your specific plan rather than assuming one platform wins across the board.
Can restaurants negotiate their commission rate?
Yes, especially with Skip, whose published rate is already a range rather than a flat number. High-volume restaurants and multi-location groups have more leverage. It rarely hurts to ask your account rep directly what tier drop is possible.
Does commission-free online ordering actually work for a small restaurant?
Yes, for restaurants with an existing customer base who'd otherwise call in an order or walk up to the counter. It doesn't replace the discovery value marketplace apps provide to brand-new locations, so most restaurants run both at once rather than switching cold.
How much of a $40 order does a restaurant actually keep after delivery app fees?
At a 25% commission plus roughly 3% processing, a restaurant nets around $28 to $29 on a $40 order before ingredient and labor cost. At the top 30% tier that drops closer to $27.
Do delivery apps charge extra fees beyond the listed commission?
Often yes: sponsored placement, promotional discounts the restaurant funds, and in some cases a tablet rental fee. DoorDash currently waives most of these; UberEats and Skip vary by market and account.
Sources: DoorDash Canada merchant pricing, Restaurant Dive on UberEats' March 2026 fee increase, Deliverect's SkipTheDishes guide for Canadian restaurants.