Cost & Pricing
Just Eat Alternative UK: The Real Options for Restaurants in 2026
Chart: Aexir, from the figures in this article
Just Eat is still the biggest takeaway marketplace in the UK, and for plenty of shops it is also the biggest single bill after rent and staff. The realistic alternatives fall into three groups: the rival marketplaces (Deliveroo and Uber Eats), the flat-fee platforms, and a direct ordering channel of your own. Most independents do best with a hybrid: keep a marketplace for discovery and move the regulars to a channel that does not charge a percentage. This guide compares every option using the numbers that are published or commonly reported, so you can choose with your eyes open.
Short answer: the realistic Just Eat alternatives for a UK takeaway are the rival marketplaces, a smaller marketplace such as Foodhub (quote only, no published rate card), or your own ordering website and app. Deliveroo (no published rate; restaurants commonly report 25% to 35% on full service) and Uber Eats (30% plus VAT on orders it delivers, per its UK merchant pricing page) usually cost a higher percentage than Just Eat marketplace at around 14% plus VAT and roughly 50p admin per order, while your own channel runs on a flat monthly software fee at published prices plus standard card processing (Aexir’s plans are £30, £40 or £50 a month ex VAT). For most independents the best option is the hybrid: keep Just Eat for discovery and move regulars to a direct channel, which the rest of this guide works through.
Short on time? Run your weekly orders through the savings calculator first: it shows what your current platform mix costs in a year, in about ten seconds.
Why owners look for an alternative in the first place
The fee stack is the obvious reason. On the marketplace model, where you deliver or the customer collects, Just Eat commission is commonly reported around 14% plus VAT, with an admin charge of roughly 50p plus VAT on each order. Let Just Eat couriers deliver and Just Eat publishes 30% plus VAT on its partner sign-up page. The line-by-line breakdown is in how much commission Just Eat takes.
The quieter reasons matter as much. The customer relationship belongs to the platform: you do not get the data, you cannot message the person who ordered last Friday, and a change to search ranking or terms can move your sales overnight. A real alternative is not just a lower percentage, it is a bigger share of the business under your control.
The realistic alternatives, compared
| Option | Commonly reported cost | What it solves | What it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deliveroo | 25% to 35% full service, lower self-delivery tiers | A different customer base, strong in cities | The percentage: it is usually higher than Just Eat marketplace |
| Uber Eats | 30% when Uber delivers (published merchant rate) | Reach among younger, app-first customers | Same model, so the bill still scales with every order |
| Smaller marketplaces (Foodhub and similar) | Not published: Foodhub prices by quote and publishes no rate card | Another marketplace listing; Foodhub lists its EPOS partners free | Far smaller customer base, so it rarely replaces Just Eat volume on its own |
| Your own ordering site and app | Flat monthly software fee at published prices, plus standard card processing | Repeat orders stop paying a percentage, and you keep the customer data | It does not market itself: you have to point regulars at it |
| Phone and counter only | Nothing | No platform in the middle at all | No online ordering either, and customers increasingly expect it |
Rates vary by agreement and change over time. Your own contract and each provider's current terms are the definitive source.
Switching marketplace is the weakest move on the list. Going from Just Eat to Deliveroo or Uber Eats usually raises the percentage rather than lowering it, and you start again from zero on rankings and reviews. It mainly makes sense where one platform clearly dominates your town or your cuisine.
The comparison that actually matters
The meaningful comparison is not marketplace against marketplace. It is a percentage of every order against a fixed cost. A £20 marketplace order at 14%, plus the admin charge and VAT on the fees, loses £3.96 before you buy a single ingredient. The same order through your own channel pays standard card processing, with the software on a flat monthly fee at published prices. One of those costs grows every time you get busier. The other does not.
Scale decides it. At 150 platform orders a week and a £20 average, the marketplace fee stack works out around £25,700 a year. A flat software fee does not move with that volume. The savings calculator runs your own weekly numbers across Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, and the delivery statement decoder shows what was actually kept from a real weekly statement, line by line.
How much could you save?
Two quick questions. No sign-up needed.
How many orders per week?
The hybrid most shops actually land on
- Stay listed on Just Eat, but treat it as paid discovery: commission on a genuinely new customer is an acquisition cost, and can be a fair one.
- Give regulars a direct channel: a branded ordering website and app with your menu, your prices and your customer data, on published pricing.
- Tell people it exists at every physical touchpoint. The order direct print kit prints the window poster, bag stickers and counter cards for free.
- Make ordering direct worth it with loyalty stamps and push offers, which only exist on a channel you own.
- Reprice where needed so every channel protects your margin: the menu markup calculator does the sums per dish.
The step-by-step version, from signup to live, is in the 30-day online ordering setup guide. The direct-versus-platform decision in more depth is in Just Eat vs your own app.
How to judge any provider you consider
- Published pricing you can point at, not a quote that appears after a sales call.
- Ask who keeps the customer data if you leave. With marketplaces the answer is not you.
- Check whether the ordering experience carries your brand or theirs.
- Watch for percentage-based line items hiding under a flat headline: service charges, marketing fees, card surcharges.
- Ask what happens to your printed QR codes and links if the provider shuts down. The GloriaFood shutdown is the cautionary tale of the moment.
A side-by-side of the main white-label providers, including what each one actually publishes about pricing, is in the UK ordering provider comparison, with a dated one-to-one page for each provider on the alternatives hub. Aexir is one of the providers compared there: plans are £30, £40 or £50 a month ex VAT, published in full on the pricing page.
See what staying marketplace-only costs you in a year
Run your weekly orders through the calculator and compare the yearly figure with a flat monthly fee at published prices.
Run your numbersTalk to a real person about switching
Common questions answered.
It depends what you are solving. If reach is the worry, Deliveroo and Uber Eats are the like-for-like rivals, but they usually cost a higher percentage than Just Eat marketplace. If the bill is the problem, the strongest alternative is a direct ordering channel of your own, on a flat monthly fee at published prices, run alongside a marketplace for discovery rather than instead of it.
Usually not for shops that deliver their own orders. Just Eat marketplace at around 14% plus VAT is commonly the cheapest big-three rate for self-delivery, while Deliveroo and Uber Eats full-service tiers are widely reported at 25% to 35%. Exact rates depend on your agreement, so check your partner dashboard rather than a headline figure.
Yes. Your own ordering website and app run on a flat monthly software fee at published prices, with standard card processing on each order, so the cost does not rise as you get busier. Smaller marketplaces such as Foodhub are another route, but Foodhub prices by quote and publishes no rate card, so get its per-order charges in writing; its customer base is also much smaller.
Yes, and most independents should. Staying listed for discovery while moving regulars to a direct channel is the standard hybrid. A marketplace brings the first order from a new customer; your own app is where the repeat orders land without a percentage coming off each one.
Some, which is why few shops should leave outright on day one. The safer route is gradual: launch the direct channel, convert regulars with bag stickers, QR codes and loyalty rewards, then judge from your own numbers whether the remaining marketplace orders still earn their fees as marketing.
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