ChowNow has three plans: Launch at $229 a month, Grow at $319 and Elevate at $409, billed annually, or $249, $349 and $449 billed monthly. On top of the plan, every order pays card processing of 2.95% + 29¢, and there is a one-time setup fee of $119 to $499. ChowNow charges no commission on direct orders, apart from a 5% fee on catering orders. At 400 orders a month of $30, Launch costs a restaurant $699 a month on annual billing.
What do ChowNow’s three plans include?
Every plan includes ChowNow’s direct online ordering, a website built for search, a branded mobile app, the ChowNow marketplace, its Discovery Network (Google, Apple, Yelp and six more), catering, a loyalty and rewards program, delivery management, POS integrations, reporting, chargeback protection and 24/7 phone and chat support. The plans differ in marketing and in how many channels they manage.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | $229 a month | $249 a month | Email marketing to 500 contacts. No SMS, no QR code ordering |
| Grow | $319 a month | $349 a month | QR code ordering, email to 2,000 contacts, 2,000 SMS credits, on-demand campaigns, CSV upload of in-store diners, third-party order aggregation, one menu across direct and third-party channels |
| Elevate | $409 a month | $449 a month | Everything in Grow, with email to 5,000 contacts and 5,000 SMS credits |
ChowNow lists each price as “starting at,” so a quote for your restaurant can come in higher.
What fees does ChowNow charge on top of the plan?
ChowNow lists these fees on top of the plan:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Setup | $119 to $499, once |
| Card processing | 2.95% + 29¢ per transaction |
| Apple developer fee, for the branded mobile app | $99 a year |
| Printer | $250 to $420 |
| Flex Delivery | $7.98 per order |
| Catering orders through your direct channel | 5% per order |
The pricing page lists $7.98 per Flex Delivery order, and ChowNow suggests splitting it $3.99 each with the guest. Its Flex Delivery page calls this a flat rate of $3.99, so confirm the total in your quote. The 5% catering fee comes from ChowNow’s FAQ, not its pricing page. ChowNow deposits your sales the next business day, Monday through Friday.
What does ChowNow cost at 100, 400 and 1,000 orders a month?
Say every order is $30 and the guest pays no ChowNow fee, which is the case on your own website and app. Processing is 2.95% of $30 plus 29¢, or $1.175 an order. The totals below leave out the setup fee, printer and Apple fee, and tax and tips would raise processing a little.
| Orders a month | Processing | Launch, annual ($229) | Grow, annual ($319) | Elevate, annual ($409) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $117.50 | $346.50 | $436.50 | $526.50 |
| 400 | $470 | $699 | $789 | $879 |
| 1,000 | $1,175 | $1,404 | $1,494 | $1,584 |
Monthly billing adds $20 a month on Launch, $30 on Grow and $40 on Elevate. The subscription is a fixed cost, so its share of each order falls as volume grows: at 100 orders, Launch’s $229 is $2.29 an order, and at 1,000 orders it is 23¢.
A first year on Launch at 400 orders a month, billed annually, costs $8,388 with processing, or $8,507 to $8,887 once you add the setup fee.
Do diners pay a fee on ChowNow orders?
It depends on where the guest orders. ChowNow says direct ordering on your website and app has no mandatory diner fees. On the ChowNow App and eat.chownow.com, the guest pays a “Support Local Fee” of 7.5% of the subtotal, which is $2.25 on a $30 order.
Orders from ChowNow’s Discovery Network, its ordering buttons on Google, Yelp and other sites, carry a standard fee that the restaurant pays. Profit Protector, an optional free setting, raises your menu prices on those channels to offset it, so the guest pays the fee through higher prices. With it off, you absorb the fee. None of the ChowNow pricing or support pages we read give the fee or the price change, so ask for both.
Is ChowNow worth it?
ChowNow fits a restaurant that wants one company for its website, app, loyalty program and email marketing, and that takes enough orders to spread a $229 to $449 subscription. At 400 orders a month, Launch works out to $1.75 an order with processing, and guests ordering on your own site pay no ChowNow fee. A restaurant with 50 or 100 online orders a month pays far more per order.
For QR code ordering at the table, budget for Grow at $319, because Launch does not include it. Our QR code ordering cost comparison prices that plan against Square, Toast and Clover.
What are the alternatives to ChowNow?
Owner.com sells a similar bundle of website, app, loyalty and marketing. Its Flex plan is $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee per order, and Flat is $499 a month with no restaurant fee. On both, guests pay a 5% order support fee on every order. Our Owner.com pricing breakdown works out what each plan costs.
If you take most orders through DoorDash today, our DoorDash fees for restaurants post shows what its commissions add up to. Our comparison of online ordering systems for restaurants puts ChowNow, Square, Toast, Owner and others side by side for a 400-order month.
Where Expresso fits
Expresso is online ordering with no monthly fee, no setup fee and no contract. Guests order pickup, curbside or scheduled orders from your link, or scan a QR code at the table. Orders ring on a kitchen tablet ($149 once). The restaurant pays 3.2% + 30¢ per order, guests pay a 2.5% convenience fee shown at checkout, and payouts go to your bank every week through Stripe.
On the same $30 order, the card is charged $30.75, so the restaurant pays $1.284. That is $128.40 at 100 orders, $513.60 at 400 and $1,284 at 1,000, and guests pay $75, $300 and $750 in convenience fees. Counting what the restaurant and its guests pay together, Expresso costs less than ChowNow Launch on annual billing below about 267 orders a month, and more above it. That leaves out ChowNow’s setup fee and Expresso’s $149 tablet.
Expresso has no website builder, no branded app, no loyalty program, no email or text marketing and no delivery, and it is not a POS. Promo codes are its discount tool. A restaurant that wants those features from one vendor should pick ChowNow.
Take orders online without a monthly fee
Expresso gives your restaurant its own ordering page, QR codes for every table and a kitchen tablet. No monthly fee and no contract: card processing of 3.2% + 30¢ per order.
Request a demo →