ChowNow

DeliveryFrom $229/mo

About

Commission-free online ordering with branded apps, websites, and marketing tools that help independent restaurants drive direct orders.

Visit Website

Affiliate link - commissions never influence our rankings. How we review

Key Features

Commission-free direct online ordering embedded on the restaurant's own SEO-optimized website (Squarespace-built templates, included in every plan) - the restaurant keeps all diner data.

Branded iOS/Android mobile app for the restaurant in all plans (requires a $99/year Apple developer fee).

Discovery Network that publishes ordering links across Google, Apple Maps, Yelp and 6 more channels, plus ChowNow's own commission-free marketplace app with 'Profit Protector'.

Flex Delivery: white-label dispatch through Uber Direct and DoorDash Drive at a flat $7.98/order (8-10 mile max, no percentage commission), with automatic failover between the two driver networks and a customizable restaurant/diner fee split.

Third-party order aggregation from the March 2024 Cuboh acquisition - consolidates DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub orders and menus into one device with centralized menu management and 20+ POS integrations (Toast, Square, Clover, Revel, Skytab, Heartland) - Grow and Elevate plans only.

Automated email & SMS marketing with behavior-based segments (New, Repeat, VIP, Lapsed) and pre-built Welcome/Win-Back/VIP/Seasonal campaigns, plus a loyalty/rewards program; contacts and SMS credits are plan-capped (500/2,000/5,000).

100% fraud and chargeback protection - ChowNow covers fraud and chargeback costs without limits and handles the card-company disputes.

Pricing

From $229/mo

Contact ChowNow directly for detailed pricing information, custom plans, and enterprise quotes.

What is ChowNow?

ChowNow is a commission-free online ordering and marketing platform for independent US restaurants, founded in 2011 by Christopher Webb and Eric Jaffe and headquartered in Culver City, California. Instead of taking 15-30% per order like DoorDash or Uber Eats, it charges a flat monthly subscription ($229-$449/month) and routes direct orders through the restaurant's own website, branded mobile app, ChowNow's commission-free marketplace, and a discovery network spanning Google, Apple Maps and Yelp.

Since acquiring order aggregator Cuboh in March 2024, it also consolidates third-party delivery-app orders into one device and 20+ POS integrations. It fits single- and few-location independents that already have local demand and want to move volume off commission-based marketplaces while keeping their customer data; the company claims $650M+ in commissions saved for restaurants to date.

ChowNow adoption: what our data shows

444 of 71,239 unique US restaurant locations (September 2026 scan)

5.0% of the 8,962 locations where we detected any technology.

ChowNow is the only direct-ordering platform in the online ordering and delivery table of our report; DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub and ordering-infrastructure provider Olo are each detected on more locations.

Definition: Detected public website signal (embedded widget, booking link, ordering button or platform script), not a confirmed contract or install. Scan: 238,000+ restaurant websites, deduplicated to 71,239 unique locations in the United States (50 states + DC); September 2026 recount.

See the full restaurant technology adoption report

ChowNow pricing

Plan	Price	Notes
Launch	$229/month billed annually ($249 month-to-month), as of July 2026	Entry plan: direct online ordering, SEO-optimized website, branded mobile app, commission-free marketplace, discovery network, catering, loyalty program, fraud/chargeback protection, POS integrations, delivery management
Grow	$319/month billed annually ($349 month-to-month), as of July 2026	Adds QR code ordering, on-demand email/SMS campaigns, CSV upload for in-store diners, third-party order aggregation and centralized menu management across direct + third-party channels; 2,000 marketing contacts + 2,000 S
Elevate	$409/month billed annually ($449 month-to-month), as of July 2026	Full feature set with 5,000 marketing contacts + 5,000 SMS credits.
Additional fees (all plans)	$119-$499 one-time setup; 2.95% + $0.29 per transaction; $99/year Apple developer fee for the branded app; $250-$420 for an order printer; $7.98/order for Flex Delivery	Commission-free ordering with Profit Protector enabled; confirm applicable terms with ChowNow. The $7.98 Flex Delivery fee can be split with the diner - ChowNow recommends 50/50 ($3.99 restaurant / $3.99 diner) per get.chownow.com/flex-delivery/. Note: older third-party article

Pricing verified July 2026 from the vendor website and public sources; plans and rates can change - confirm with the vendor before purchase.

ChowNow pros and cons

Pros

+Very easy to run day-to-day: G2 rates it 4.6/5 (73 reviews) with 91% for ease of use and 90% for ease of setup, and reviewers highlight seamless POS integration and straightforward menu updates.
+Flat-fee economics beat 15-30% marketplace commissions for restaurants with steady direct volume - Capterra reviewers (4.8 rating) call it 'an easy and reasonably priced way to increase revenue' with minimal fees for business and customer.
+Onboarding and 24/7 support are consistently praised on G2 and Capterra, and detailed receipts (including the diner's phone number) reduce order errors.

Cons

−Price creep and contract rigidity: Capterra reviewers report the cost 'continues to go up every time you renew,' and a long-time operator on Trustpilot criticized the inflexible one-year contract.
−The Cuboh-based third-party order aggregation is described by a Capterra reviewer as 'not restaurant friendly' with too many extra steps and poor fit with Square; it is also excluded from the entry Launch plan.
−Menu and availability lag: G2 reviewers report 86'd items not updating quickly (leading to orders for out-of-stock food) and difficulty un-pausing orders without calling support; separately, ChowNow's consumer-facing marketplace scores only 1.2/5 on Trustpilot (164 reviews), mostly diner complaints about failed deliveries and refund handling.

Top ChowNow alternatives

Owner.com

Better if you want a heavier done-for-you growth stack - website, ordering and aggressive automated/AI marketing in one vendor - and are willing to pay a higher monthly fee for it; it is ChowNow's most direct commission-free competitor per G2's comparison pages.

Toast Online Ordering

Better if you already run Toast POS - digital ordering is native to the POS with no middleware, one menu database and one support vendor, at the cost of being locked into Toast's ecosystem.

Square Online

Better for very small or budget-constrained restaurants - the free tier costs only per-transaction processing fees and syncs directly with Square POS, though with fewer restaurant-specific marketing tools.

Compare all ChowNow alternatives

ChowNow FAQ

How much does ChowNow cost?

As of July 2026, three plans: Launch $229/month, Grow $319/month and Elevate $409/month when billed annually ($249/$349/$449 month-to-month), plus a $119-$499 one-time setup fee and 2.95% + $0.29 card processing per order. A branded app adds a $99/year Apple developer fee, and optional Flex Delivery costs a flat $7.98 per order. The commission-free claim requires Profit Protector to be enabled; confirm applicable terms with ChowNow. Note that many older articles still list the retired Hub/Pro/Premier plans at $119-$328/month.

Does ChowNow really charge no commission?

ChowNow's official pricing page (checked September 17, 2026) describes orders through your website, branded app, marketplace and discovery channels as commission-free with Profit Protector enabled. Confirm the applicable terms with ChowNow; subscription and card-processing charges (2.95% + $0.29) still apply. Delivery is the exception: Flex Delivery costs a flat $7.98 per order via Uber Direct/DoorDash Drive drivers, which ChowNow recommends splitting 50/50 with the diner ($3.99 each). Confirm Profit Protector is active on your account before relying on the commission-free claim.

How is ChowNow different from DoorDash or Uber Eats?

DoorDash and Uber Eats are marketplaces that take roughly 15-30% of each order and keep the customer relationship. ChowNow is subscription software: orders come through your own site and app, you keep full diner contact and ordering data for email/SMS remarketing, and ChowNow even aggregates your DoorDash/Uber Eats/Grubhub orders into one device (Grow/Elevate plans) via its 2024 Cuboh acquisition. The trade-off is that ChowNow's own marketplace generates far less new-customer discovery than the big apps.

Who is ChowNow best for?

Independent US restaurants with one or a few locations that already have local demand and want to shift existing third-party order volume to commission-free direct channels - the math works when saved commissions exceed the ~$229-$449 monthly fee. It is a weaker fit for restaurants that depend on marketplace apps for customer discovery, need deep website customization, or want the entry plan to include SMS marketing and third-party order aggregation (both require Grow or Elevate).

Pricing and feature details verified July 2026from vendor websites and public review platforms. Adoption figures come from RestaurantTools.ai's scan of US restaurant websites and reflect detectable integrations only.