Cost & Pricing
Deliveroo Alternative for UK Restaurants: How to Stop Paying 35% Commission
If you accept orders through Deliveroo in 2026, you are giving up between 25% and 35% of revenue per order before VAT. For a takeaway doing £40,000 a month, that is £10,000 to £14,000 walking out the door every month. This guide breaks down what Deliveroo actually charges, who pays it, and what a credible Deliveroo alternative looks like for an independent UK restaurant.
What Deliveroo actually charges in 2026
Deliveroo splits restaurants into three tiers. The published tier is rarely the real one. Most independents end up on the full-service tier with the highest rate.
| Tier | Who delivers | Commission | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketplace+ | Your own driver | 14% to 16% | Lowest rate, you handle delivery |
| Standard | Deliveroo rider | 25% to 30% | Most common tier |
| Full service / Plus | Deliveroo rider | 30% to 35% | Includes marketing boosts, premium placement |
There is no payment-processing fee on top: Deliveroo bundles it in. There is also no monthly subscription. The price you pay is purely the percentage on each order, every order, forever.
What that means per order
A £20 order on Deliveroo at the 30% standard tier means £6 goes to Deliveroo before you make a single penny. After Deliveroo deducts their share, VAT (if you are registered), and the cost of food, the take-home on that order is usually £3 to £5.
- Customer pays £20 + delivery and service.
- Deliveroo takes 30% commission: £6.00.
- You receive £14.00.
- After food cost (typically 30% of gross): £8.00.
- After packaging: £7.50.
- After VAT (if applicable): £6.25.
- Real take-home, before rent / staff: roughly £3 to £4.
The annual picture for a typical UK takeaway
A takeaway doing 40 Deliveroo orders per day at a £20 average is putting £19,200 through Deliveroo every month. At 30%, that is £5,760 in commission per month. £69,120 per year. Per year, on one channel.
| Daily Deliveroo orders | Monthly revenue | Annual revenue | Annual commission at 30% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 / day | £6,000 | £72,000 | £21,600 |
| 25 / day | £15,000 | £180,000 | £54,000 |
| 40 / day | £24,000 | £288,000 | £86,400 |
| 75 / day | £45,000 | £540,000 | £162,000 |
All at £20 average order. Higher tickets scale the commission proportionally.
The Deliveroo alternative: your own branded app
A white-label ordering app removes commission entirely. You still pay Stripe processing (around 1.5% + 20p in the UK) and a flat subscription, but those numbers do not move with order volume in any meaningful way. Aexir is one of the larger UK builders in this space; the full pricing breakdown is on our pricing page.
| Channel | Take per £20 order | Annual cost at 40 orders/day |
|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo (30%) | £6.00 per order | £86,400 |
| Your own app (Aexir) | ~£0.50 per order | £7,572 |
Aexir cost = Stripe 1.5% + 20p + 10p platform fee + £31/month subscription, summed across 14,600 orders.
The £31/month Aexir subscription pays for itself on roughly the first half of one busy Friday night. Every order after that is pure gain compared to Deliveroo.
Why restaurants stay on Deliveroo even when the maths is brutal
- Customer acquisition. Deliveroo brings in customers who would never have found you in Google search. For new openings this is real value worth paying for.
- Brand familiarity. Some customers will only order through Deliveroo because they have it on their phone and trust the brand.
- Operational simplicity. One tablet, one workflow, no apps to maintain. Cognitive overhead matters in a kitchen.
All three are valid. None of them mean you should give Deliveroo 30% of every order forever. The right play is to use Deliveroo as a paid acquisition channel and convert customers off it as quickly as possible. See our guide on switching customers from Uber Eats and Deliveroo to your own app for the playbook.
When to switch (the 60-day plan)
- Day 1 to 30: Stand up your own branded app. Aexir gets you live in under 30 days for £399 setup + £31/month. Test it with friends and family.
- Day 30 to 45: Push the app to existing Deliveroo customers. Receipt inserts say "Order direct, 10% off, free delivery on first order". QR code on the table. Free sticker in every Deliveroo bag.
- Day 45 to 60: Adjust your Deliveroo delivery fees and minimum order slightly upward. Keep your own app the cheapest, fastest option. Track the % of orders that have shifted.
- Day 60 onwards: Most restaurants hit 40% to 60% of orders on their own app by month two. The remaining Deliveroo orders effectively become your marketing spend.
Stop paying Deliveroo 30% on every order.
Aexir builds you a branded ordering app in 30 days. £399 setup + £31/month. No commission, ever.
See the maths for your restaurantCommon questions answered.
The cheapest long-term alternative is your own branded ordering app via a white-label builder. The maths beats Deliveroo from roughly 15 to 20 orders per day onward. Marketplace-only options like Just Eat at 14% to 16% are cheaper than Deliveroo standard but still take far more than running your own app.
Deliveroo charges UK restaurants between 14% and 35% per order. Marketplace+ (your own driver) is 14% to 16%. Standard full-service is 25% to 30%. Plus tier is 30% to 35%. There are no separate payment-processing fees on top.
Most of them, yes, if you act early. The customers Deliveroo brought you are technically yours: their orders went through your kitchen. The playbook is to launch your own app first, drive existing customers there with loyalty rewards, then either drop Deliveroo or use it purely as a paid acquisition channel for genuinely new customers.
Yes, when there is a reason. Loyalty stamps, app-only discounts, exclusive items, free delivery thresholds: these all drive installs. Most Aexir restaurants see 30% to 50% of regulars install their branded app within 60 days of launch.
A white-label ordering app via Aexir is live in around 30 days from signed contract. You can stay on Deliveroo throughout the build to avoid losing orders, then phase the switch over the next 60 days.
Build your own restaurant app.
Aexir launches branded ordering apps for UK restaurants in under 30 days. Zero commission. From £1/day.