ChowNow sells direct ordering and calls it commission-free — and on the restaurant's side of a direct order that is true. It is not free. Plans start at $229 a month on annual billing ($249 month to month), a setup fee of $119–$499 lands before you take an order, and every order carries 2.95% + 29¢. Here is what three years of that adds up to next to a page that is paid for once.
ChowNow is unusually clear about its prices, and the number is not $119 any more. Its pricing page lists three plans with an annual and a monthly column:
Every plan includes the ordering site, a branded mobile app, a marketplace listing, the discovery network (Google, Apple, Yelp and six more), email and SMS marketing, loyalty and 100% fraud and chargeback cover. That is a real product, and for a restaurant whose online order book is $10,000 a month it is a defensible bill.
The fee stack is where the arithmetic moves. The 2.95% + 29¢ is processing, not commission — it replaces what you would pay Stripe, so compare it with your processor rather than with zero. Beyond that: a $99 annual Apple developer fee if you want the iOS app under your own name, $250–$420 for their printer, $7.98 an order for Flex Delivery, a 5% fee on direct catering orders, and a 15.5% marketing fee on Order Better Network orders unless Profit Protector is on. Orders placed in ChowNow's own app carry a 7.5% Support Local Fee paid by the diner — not by you, which is the whole point of a commission-free marketplace, and worth knowing before a guest asks.
Only the first line is the plan. The second is on the first invoice, and none of it includes processing — 2.95% + 29¢ is charged on top of every order. At 200 orders a month and a $40 average that is about $294 a month, or $10,584 over three years, and it is the one line in this comparison that is genuinely comparable to a card processor rather than to a subscription.
That is the case for ChowNow, stated fairly: if those 200 orders a month are new revenue you would otherwise lose to a 30% delivery app, a $229 plan that keeps them on your own site is not expensive. If those orders arrive by phone and at the counter anyway, the same $8,743 buys a website and a diner list you did not need.
| ChowNow | ShopLaunch | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | $229 / $319 / $409 a month on annual billing ($249 / $349 / $449 monthly) | $49 / $199 / $499, once |
| Setup fee | $119–$499, one time, on the first invoice | $0 |
| Per transaction | 2.95% + 29¢, on every order — this is card processing | None. We do not take payments |
| Commission on direct orders | None on your site and branded app | None — there are no orders |
| Other channels | Marketplace orders: the diner pays a 7.5% Support Local Fee; Discovery Network: 15.5% unless Profit Protector is on | Does not apply |
| Term | Annual billing is a 12-month prepaid term; monthly plans keep billing 30 days after you cancel | No contract |
| Extras | $99 a year Apple developer fee for a branded iOS app; $250–$420 printer; $7.98 an order for Flex Delivery | None of these |
| What it includes | Ordering site, branded app, marketplace listing, discovery network, email/SMS, fraud and chargeback cover | Page, menu, QR, posters, posts |
| Time to live | Onboarding with an advisor; ask for a date | 24 hours |
| What you keep | A site and a diner list inside ChowNow | The page, the PDFs, the link |
ChowNow plan prices, setup range, processing rate and extras are from its pricing page, read 11 November 2026; contract terms from its Restaurant Agreement (current version 6 August 2026) as summarised by the sources below. Prices are "starting at" and multi-location rates are not published. ShopLaunch prices are the ones on this site, before tax.
If direct online ordering is how your shop grows, ChowNow is a serious option — it is the platform most often chosen by independents who want their own app without a per-order commission.
Not a template you fill in. We take your hours, prices and photos, build each piece, and hand back files and a live link.
One form, five minutes. Live the next business day. No app for you or your guests, no monthly fee, and no cut of anything you sell.
The page and the menu are the Local Pack. Nothing here is a subscription, and nothing renews.
One page, one business day.
The one most shops order.
Everything, plus 30 days of us on call.
Payment is taken by Polar Software, Inc., our merchant of record, on their checkout page — we never see your card. By ordering you agree to our terms and refund policy. One round of edits is included; the files are yours to keep and reprint.
On orders from your own website and your branded app, yes — ChowNow takes no percentage beyond the 2.95% + 29¢ processing it charges. The percentage fees sit on other channels: 15.5% on Order Better Network orders unless Profit Protector is on, 5% on direct catering, and a 7.5% Support Local Fee that the diner pays on orders placed in ChowNow's own app.
The plan names and prices did. Charts still circulating quote legacy plans — Premier, Hub, Pro, Core — at $119 or thereabouts. ChowNow's current page lists Launch, Grow and Elevate at $229, $319 and $409 a month on annual billing ($249, $349, $449 monthly), each “starting at”. If a quote names an old plan, it is not today’s list price.
The pricing page says $119–$499. ChowNow's Restaurant Agreement defines a one-time $499 implementation fee for all three plans, billed on the first invoice. The two documents do not reconcile, so ask which applies to your order and get it on the order form — a $380 difference on a $199 page is not a rounding error.
No. ChowNow's team will build, optimise and launch a branded site for a restaurant that does not have one, which is a real thing to be paying an advisor for. Whether that build is inside the monthly fee or quoted separately is a question for them — the question here is only whether you need the ordering, the app and the marketing that come with it.
Polar Software, Inc., our merchant of record, takes it on their checkout page. Your card details are entered there, never on this site, and they handle the receipt and the tax. We never see your card number.
The three plans, the fee stack and the three-year arithmetic, on one printable page.
Want all eleven on one page? The 2026 cost comparison puts them side by side.
Send your shop once. We build the page, the QR menu, the posters and the posts, and hand it back the next business day. If you already pay a platform for a page like this, this is the line you can take off the bill.