Commission-Free Catering Ordering: What It Really Costs a Restaurant

If you're searching for commission-free catering ordering, you've probably just looked at a marketplace payout statement. Fifteen percent of a $2,000 week is $300, every week, and the customers who ordered aren't yours to contact. There's a way out, and it's cheaper than the marketplace. It's also more work than the software companies let on.

This article covers both halves: what commission-free ordering costs, and what it takes to get orders into it.

What "commission-free" actually costs

No commission doesn't mean free. Every tool below charges some combination of a monthly fee and card processing. Published pricing as of September 17, 2026:

Sources: Square, Toast, HoneyCart, CaterZen, ChowNow, Owner.com.

Two things to check before choosing: whether the tool handles catering the way buyers order it (per-person packages, headcount, a date and time picker, a minimum, a lead time), and whether it captures the customer's contact details so you can follow up. A generic online ordering system that treats a 25-person lunch like a large takeout order will cost you orders.

The math on a $500 order

The ezCater figures use its published 15% commission on food plus a $30 delivery fee and 2.99% processing on food, delivery and $40 tax. The direct figure uses 2.9% plus 30 cents on the same $510 charged to the card. Both leave out delivery costs, which you pay either way.

So a direct order keeps about $82 more. A tool at $99 a month pays for itself on the second direct order. At $400 a month it takes five. That's the easy part, and it's why every software vendor leads with it.

The part that gets left out

The marketplace isn't charging $80 to process a payment. It's charging $80 for finding the office manager, putting your restaurant in front of her, and taking the order. Go commission-free and that job is yours.

Here's how most commission-free setups quietly fail. The restaurant installs the ordering page, puts a link on the website, and waits. A few regulars find it. Volume stays flat. Six months later the marketplace is still 80% of catering revenue and the software subscription is a line item nobody looks at.

The market is moving the other way too. Third-party marketplaces' share of catering orders has climbed from about 13% in 2021 to a projected 36% in 2026, according to the 2026 State of Catering report from MONKEY, which surveyed over 100 brands. The same report found marketplace orders average 6% to 8% less than first-party orders. Buyers are getting used to ordering through a marketplace. They'll order direct from you, but only if you give them a reason and a way.

Getting direct orders comes down to five things, and all of it fits in five or six hours a week:

1. A catering page that converts. Packages, minimums, lead time, delivery radius, photos of real orders, and the order button above the fold.
2. Google Business Profile. Add "Caterer" as a category, upload catering photos, link the ordering page. Most local catering searches start here.
3. Outreach to nearby offices. A list of 100 businesses within your delivery radius, contacted by email, phone and a drop-off sampler over four weeks.
4. Your regulars. A counter card and a bag insert that say you cater. They already trust the food.
5. Follow-up after every order. A check-in the same day, a reorder prompt two weeks later, a win-back at 60 days.

The full version, with the email templates, the prospect worksheet and the weekly schedule, is in our guide to growing a catering business.

The middle option: keep the marketplace, move the repeats

You don't have to choose. The setup we see work most often:

• Keep the marketplace for buyers you'd never have found. Pay the 15% on first orders as a customer acquisition cost.
• Take repeat orders direct. After a marketplace order, the buyer got your food, your packaging and your business card. The catering page and the follow-up give them a way to order from you next time.
• Use ezCater's Online Ordering if you're already there. It puts an ezCater ordering link on your own website at 7% instead of 15%, and unlike marketplace orders, it gives you the customer's contact details and lets you download the list. It isn't commission-free, but it's half price and you keep the relationship.

Track the two channels separately. Direct share of catering revenue going up month over month is the number that tells you it's working. Our ezCater fee breakdown shows how to read the marketplace side, and reducing ezCater dependence covers the transition without a revenue gap.

Who should not go commission-free yet

If your kitchen can't reliably get a 30-person order out the door on a day's notice, fix that first. Commission-free ordering pointed at a kitchen that misses delivery windows just produces bad reviews under your own name instead of the marketplace's.

And if nobody on your team has five hours a week for outreach and follow-up, the honest options are to assign it, hire for it, or have it done. Our growth service does the list, outreach and follow-up for $400 a month with no commission. The software alone, at $99 a month, is only the right call if you already have the demand.

Common questions

Is there a catering platform with no commission?

Yes. Toast Catering & Events, Square Online, HoneyCart, ChowNow, CaterZen and Owner.com all take catering orders through your own website with no marketplace commission. You still pay card processing, usually around 2.9% plus 30 cents, and a monthly fee from $0 to about $500 depending on the tool.

What does commission-free catering ordering cost?

On a $500 order, card processing at 2.9% plus 30 cents is about $14.80. The same order on ezCater's marketplace costs $96.54 in commission and processing. The difference is the marketplace's fee for finding the customer, which you now have to do yourself.

How do restaurants get catering orders without a marketplace?

A catering page with packages and online ordering, a Google Business Profile that says you cater, outreach to offices within a few miles, signage for your regulars, and follow-up with every past customer. Restaurants that do this weekly typically see first orders in two to four weeks.

Can I take catering orders through my POS?

Toast sells a Catering & Events module for $100 a month, and Square Online handles scheduled orders on its free and paid plans. Both keep orders inside the system you already use. Check whether they handle per-person packages, headcount and future dates the way a catering buyer expects.