Owner.com has two plans. Flex costs $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee on each order. Flat costs $499 a month with no restaurant fee. On both, guests pay a 5% order support fee, and online card processing is 2.9% + 30¢ per order, a rate Owner lists in its help center rather than on its pricing page. At 400 orders a month of $30, Owner costs a restaurant $1,334.40 on Flex or $984.40 on Flat, and its guests pay $600 in fees on top.
What do Owner.com’s two plans include?
Both plans include the whole platform, according to Owner’s pricing page: a website built for search, online ordering, a branded mobile app, a loyalty and rewards program, automated email and text campaigns, catering orders, setup and migration with a dedicated specialist, chargeback protection and 24/7 support. The only difference between them is how you pay.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Restaurant fee per order | Guest fee per order | Card processing, online |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flex | $249 | 5% | 5% order support fee | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Flat | $499 | None | 5% order support fee | 2.9% + 30¢ |
Owner bills month to month with no long-term contract and no cancellation fee, and you can switch plans at any time. Flex has special rates for restaurants with several locations; Owner does not publish them. Owner says it can send a tablet or printer at no extra fee.
When does Flat cost less than Flex?
Flat costs $250 a month more than Flex and removes the 5% restaurant fee. The two cost the same at $5,000 a month in online sales, because 5% of $5,000 is $250. Below that, Flex is cheaper. Above it, Flat is cheaper by 5% of every dollar over $5,000, and Owner’s pricing page calls Flat best for restaurants at $5,000 or more a month in online sales.
What does Owner.com cost at 100, 400 and 1,000 orders a month?
Say every order is $30 of food and the guest pays Owner’s 5% order support fee, so the card is charged $31.50 before tax and tip. Owner’s help center says processing is charged on the full amount the guest pays, so each order costs 2.9% of $31.50 plus 30¢, which is $1.2135. We applied the 5% restaurant fee on Flex to the $30 of food. The figures assume the credit card surcharge described below is off.
| Orders a month (online sales) | Flex: fee + 5% + processing | Flex total | Flat: fee + processing | Flat total | Guests pay Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 ($3,000) | $249 + $150 + $121.35 | $520.35 | $499 + $121.35 | $620.35 | $150 |
| 400 ($12,000) | $249 + $600 + $485.40 | $1,334.40 | $499 + $485.40 | $984.40 | $600 |
| 1,000 ($30,000) | $249 + $1,500 + $1,213.50 | $2,962.50 | $499 + $1,213.50 | $1,712.50 | $1,500 |
Tax and tips raise the amount charged on each card, so real processing runs a little higher than these figures. Delivery orders cost more. You can use your own drivers, Owner’s third-party drivers or both. Owner says the third parties charge it about $7 a delivery, which it passes to you with no markup, and it suggests you cover about $3 of the delivery fee on orders over $30 and let the guest pay it on smaller ones.
What do guests pay on an Owner.com order?
Every guest pays the 5% order support fee, on either plan. Owner says it covers fulfillment and customer service, and points out that third-party apps charge guests fees of up to 15%. On a $30 order the fee is $1.50.
Owner also lets a restaurant turn on a credit card surcharge for online orders and the Owner POS. The rate is the lowest of 3%, the state’s limit (2% in Oklahoma) or the actual processing cost. Debit and prepaid cards are never surcharged, and surcharging is not available in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts or Puerto Rico. With it on, a guest paying by credit card pays the 5% fee and a surcharge of up to 3%, and Owner’s examples show the restaurant then paying about 30¢ of processing on each credit card order instead of the full rate. Any fee you add yourself stacks on these, and our guide to restaurant service fees covers the California rules for showing them.
How do payouts and tips work?
On Owner Payments, payouts go out daily, two business days after the sale, and weekly or monthly schedules are available on request. Instant payouts are not currently available on Owner Payments. Tips on pickup and in-house delivery orders go 100% to the restaurant. On third-party delivery the driver gets the tip up to 20% of the order subtotal, and the restaurant keeps anything above that.
Is Owner.com worth it?
Owner is a good fit if you want one company to run your website, search pages, app, loyalty program and marketing, and you would otherwise pay for those separately. Its pricing is clear and month to month. The cost to weigh is the fees on both sides of each order: the guest’s 5% on every order, plus 5% to the restaurant on Flex. At $30 an order, the $5,000 line between the plans falls at about 167 orders a month.
If all you need is an ordering page, check what you pay for the website and app today. Our comparison of online ordering systems for restaurants compares Owner with Square, ChowNow, Menufy and others, with totals 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 processing is $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. Expresso has no website builder, no loyalty program and no delivery, and it is not a POS. Promo codes are its discount tool. A restaurant that wants Owner’s marketing and delivery should pick Owner.
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 →