A small US restaurant can run its own online ordering and loyalty program for about $49 a month plus card fees on a bundled point-of-sale plan such as Square Plus, or for $249 to $499 a month plus any per-order fee on a dedicated restaurant platform such as Owner.com, before rewards, extra texts and one-time fees. At 400 online orders a month with a $25 average order, those list prices come to about $459 on Square Plus and $499 to $749 on Owner's two plans, so your order count matters more than the sticker price.
All prices below are what each vendor's own US page listed on November 3, 2026. They change, so check the page before you budget. Square's totals include the card rates it prints, while Owner's page prints no card rate, so its totals leave that out. The totals are arithmetic on those list prices, not a forecast of what any restaurant will pay or earn.
What does each setup list per month?
Three kinds of product do this job, and each charges differently: a plan from your point-of-sale company, a direct-ordering product from a delivery platform, and a dedicated restaurant platform.
| Setup | Monthly software | Cost on each online order | Loyalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0 per location | 3.3% + 30¢ card fee | Not included |
| Square Plus | $49 per location | 2.9% + 30¢ card fee | Included |
| Square Premium | $149 per location | 2.9% + 30¢ card fee | Included |
| DoorDash Boost | $99 | 0% commission, standard processing fee | Loyalty and gift card integrations |
| DoorDash Pro | $249 | 0% commission, standard processing fee | Cross-Channel Loyalty Program |
| Owner Flexible | $249 | 5% restaurant fee; guest pays 5% | Included |
| Owner Flat Rate | $499 | No restaurant fee; guest pays 5% | Included |
Square's restaurant pricing page puts a branded online ordering page in the $0 plan, so you can take orders without a subscription. Points and rewards start at Plus.
DoorDash Direct says merchants pay only a standard payment processing fee on Direct Ordering, that customers pay delivery fees, and that Direct Ordering comes standard with all DoorDash Marketplace plans. Boost adds a branded website and automated email. Pro adds a branded mobile app, the loyalty program, and customizable email and text marketing. That page gives no processing rate, so ask for it on the package you are considering.
Owner's page lists a branded mobile app, loyalty, marketing campaigns, and setup and migration on both plans, month to month with no long-term contract. It does not show card processing as a separate line, so ask how that is handled. It also says guests pay a 5% order support fee on both plans. That fee stays off your bill, but it does show up at your guest's checkout.
If you run Toast, start with a quote. Toast's US rate sheet, last updated on September 2, 2026, covers services rather than the subscription: $125 for a one-hour Online Ordering setup consult and $200 to convert existing loyalty data. That page lists no monthly price for Online Ordering or Loyalty. Whatever system you run, get any add-on without a public price in writing.
What does that come to at your order volume?
Percentage fees and flat fees cross over, so put your own numbers in. Here are two hypothetical restaurants, both with a $25 average online order. Card fees are included where the vendor's page prints the rate.
| Setup | 100 orders a month ($2,500 in sales) | 400 orders a month ($10,000 in sales) |
|---|---|---|
| Square Free, no loyalty | $112.50 | $450 |
| Square Plus | $151.50 | $459 |
| DoorDash Boost, before processing | $99 | $99 |
| DoorDash Pro, before processing | $249 | $249 |
| Owner Flexible | $374 | $749 |
| Owner Flat Rate | $499 | $499 |
Four things to read from that table:
- Square Free and Plus nearly tie at the higher volume. At 400 orders, the lower online rate on Plus takes $40 off the card bill, and the plan costs $49.
- The percentage fee has a crossover. Owner Flexible at $249 plus 5% meets Flat Rate at $5,000 in monthly online sales, which matches the line Owner draws when it calls Flat Rate best for restaurants at $5k or more a month in online sales.
- Card fees are not all new money. A card sale carries a fee however it is rung up. On Square Plus, a $25 order costs about $1.03 online and about 78¢ tapped in person, so the online premium is about 25¢.
- The rows do not do the same work. Owner and DoorDash Pro include a branded mobile app, while Square's ordering page syncs with its own point of sale. Price the tools you would actually use, not the longest feature list.
What costs sit outside the monthly price?
The rewards. No pricing page shows this line, and it grows with member spending. If guests earn a point per dollar and 100 points buy a $10 reward, you have promised up to 10% of member spend at menu price. If the reward replaces something the guest would have paid for, you gave up the full $10 in sales. If it is an extra item, your cost is closer to the ingredients and the labor to make it: the National Restaurant Association's pre-pandemic breakdown has food at about 33 cents of each sales dollar, or about $3.30 on a $10 item.
Texts. Square Plus includes 500 messages a month per account, then 3¢ each, and Premium includes 2,500, then 1.5¢ each. A list of 1,000 opted-in guests texted twice a month is 2,000 messages: $45 extra on Plus and nothing extra on Premium. Text only guests who opted in, and ask your vendor or a lawyer what that requires. On a separately billed texting tool, ask for the per-message rate and whether carrier registration fees pass through to you.
Delivery. On DoorDash Direct Ordering, customers pay delivery fees. Square's plans let you deliver with your own staff or third-party couriers, so the cost depends on who you use. Pickup-only ordering skips the question.
Kitchen screens. Square lists its kitchen display app at $30 a month per device on Plus and $20 on Premium, if you want orders on a screen.
Your time. Someone has to set up promotions, answer replies and read the reports. Multiply those hours by what that person costs you and add the result to the total. A managed plan is largely a way of paying to move this line to someone else.
What if you want someone else to run it?
The monthly price jumps when the vendor's team does the work. One example, with a disclosure: this blog belongs to cirQQles, which sells this kind of platform through its Q-Bite product for restaurants. Its price list shows the pattern:
- Free Forever: $0, up to 25 members.
- DIY: $199 a month, up to 150 members, no onboarding fee, and the owner runs it.
- Base: $399 a month, unlimited members, a one-time onboarding fee of $999 to $2,500 or more by complexity, a success manager for onboarding, and the owner runs the day to day.
- Growth: $699 a month, unlimited members, a one-time onboarding fee of $3,500 to $8,500 or more by complexity, and the team sends campaigns and runs social media.
Over 12 months, ignoring the 30 free days every plan starts with, that comes to $2,388 on DIY, at least $5,787 on Base and at least $11,888 on Growth. On its plans, no commission is taken by a platform on orders through the restaurant's own storefront. It does not replace your point of sale: it connects to what you already run, including Toast, Square and Clover, so your existing plan stays on the bill. Multi-location support is on Growth only.
Q-Bite for restaurants: cirqqles.com/q-bite
Plans as listed: cirqqles.com/pricing
For scale, 12 months of subscription alone is $588 on Square Plus, $2,988 on DoorDash Pro or Owner Flexible, and $5,988 on Owner Flat Rate. These products do not do the same job, so compare them only after you have written down who would do the work each month. Check any member or message cap against your guest count too.
How much of this can a small restaurant afford?
Measure the bill against profit, not sales. The National Restaurant Association, in an analysis dated July 8, 2026, puts a typical independent restaurant's pre-tax margin at roughly 5% of sales before the pandemic and reports that 42% of operators said their restaurant was not profitable in 2025. On $40,000 in monthly sales, for example, a 5% margin is $2,000, so a $300 monthly bill would take 15% of that profit if it brought in nothing.
Then work out what would cover it. Take what one extra order leaves after food, labor and card fees. If that is $8 on a $25 order, which is an example and not a benchmark, a $300 bill needs about 38 extra orders a month. A price list cannot tell you whether a program will produce those orders. So start on the lowest plan that does what you need, write down the number that would justify it, and set a date to check it.
What should you check before signing?
- What is the fee charged per? Square's monthly fee applies to each location, while its message allowance is per account.
- Who pays which fee? A fee paid by the guest is still part of what the guest sees at checkout.
- What can you take with you? Ask who owns the guest list and order history, and whether you can export them if you leave.
- Does it connect to your point of sale? Ask whether orders flow into the system you already use and whether that connection costs extra.
- How do you get out? Square lists a free 30-day trial on Plus and Premium and says you can cancel anytime, DoorDash Direct says no cancellation penalties, and Owner says month to month with no long-term contract. Get the terms for your plan in writing.
- What happens above a limit? Find out what you pay when you pass a member or message allowance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a small restaurant take online orders for $0 a month?
Yes, on some plans. Square Free lists $0 per location with a branded online ordering page, and you pay 3.3% + 30¢ on online card payments. DoorDash says Direct Ordering comes standard with its Marketplace plans, so that route assumes a Marketplace plan, with a standard processing fee on each direct order.
Is loyalty usually included in the online ordering price?
It depends on the plan. Square includes a loyalty program on Plus and Premium but not on Free, Owner lists Loyalty and Rewards on both plans, and DoorDash puts its Cross-Channel Loyalty Program in the $249 Pro package. The rewards you give away are a separate cost either way.
How do I compare a percentage fee with a flat fee?
Multiply your monthly online sales by the percentage, add the subscription, and compare the totals. Owner Flexible at $249 plus 5% meets its $499 Flat Rate plan at $5,000 in monthly online sales. Use an average of several months rather than your best month.
What does it cost to text loyalty members?
On Square Plus, 500 messages a month are included per account and each extra one costs 3¢, while Square Premium includes 2,500 and then charges 1.5¢. A list of 1,000 opted-in guests texted twice a month would add $45 on Plus. Text only guests who opted in.