What the delivery apps charge a UK takeaway
A delivery app takes a percentage of every order as commission, and in the UK the rate depends mostly on one thing: who carries the food. When the app's own riders deliver, Uber Eats and Just Eat both publish 30%. When you deliver it yourself, it's 13% on Uber Eats (the same on collection) and 14% on Just Eat. VAT goes on top of all of it. Deliveroo sets its rate in each restaurant's contract and doesn't publish one. Every figure below comes from the apps' own partner pages, checked 31 October 2026.
The apps are a sales channel, and plenty of shops keep them for good reason. They put your menu in front of people who live four streets away and have never walked past your door. The point of this page is to know exactly what that channel costs per order, so you can price your menu with your eyes open.
The rates at a glance
| When the app's riders deliver | When you deliver it yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| Uber Eats | 30% (33% with Uber One) | 13%, and 13% on collection |
| Just Eat | 30% | 14% |
Both charge VAT on top of the commission. The Uber Eats rates are from its UK pricing page and the Just Eat rates from its partner sign-up FAQ, both checked 31 October 2026. Deliveroo's partner policies describe its commission as "contractually agreed", so your rate is the one in your own agreement and on your invoices.
When the app's riders deliver
This is the dearest way to sell on an app, because you're paying for the rider as well as the listing. Uber Eats calls it Uber Delivery and charges 30% of the order, or 33% for Uber One, its paid membership scheme. Just Eat takes 30% when its couriers deliver. Its own example: on a £20 order, the commission is £7.20, which is £6.00 plus £1.20 VAT.
It's also the option that needs nothing from you once the bag is sealed. No driver on the payroll, no van, nobody standing around on a quiet Tuesday. For a lot of kitchens that's worth paying for.
When you deliver or the customer collects
Bring your own driver and the rate drops by more than half. Uber Eats charges 13% when you deliver and 13% when the customer collects. Just Eat charges 14% when you use your own drivers, which on its £20 example is £3.36 (£2.80 plus 56p VAT). Deliveroo's version is called Marketplace+: you deliver with your own riders, set your own delivery area, minimum spend and delivery fee, and can still request a Deliveroo rider when you're short.
The lower rate isn't free money, of course. Your driver's wages, fuel and insurance now sit on your side of the sum.
The fees around the commission
Commission is the big number, but it isn't the only one.
Uber Eats charges a one-off activation fee to get started, priced on its UK pricing page and charged plus VAT. It covers a tablet, a printer, menu set-up, professional photos, a window sticker and a training call, and Uber says you can opt out of some of those and have the fee adjusted. Deliveroo sends restaurants a tablet with a printer built in, and its partner policies mention a joining fee for each site, with the amount set in your contract.
Then there's anything you choose to fund yourself: a "20% off your first order" promotion, a free delivery weekend, a paid spot higher up the listings. Those come out of your payout too, so count them.
When the money arrives
Each app pays on its own timetable, which matters if you're paying suppliers weekly.
Just Eat sends an invoice every Tuesday and pays the balance into your bank every Friday. Deliveroo invoices Monday to Sunday and pays every Thursday. Uber Eats lets you choose weekly or daily payouts in Uber Eats Manager. All three pay you the order value with the commission already taken off, so the figure that lands in your bank is never the figure the customer paid.
What an app order really earns you
Take your own invoices for last month and do this once. It takes ten minutes and you'll never look at an app order the same way.
- Start with the order value, before any delivery fee the customer paid.
- Take off the commission at your rate.
- Take off VAT at 20% of that commission. If you're VAT-registered, ask your accountant whether you can reclaim it.
- Take off anything you funded: promotions, discounts, refunds the app charged back to you.
- Take off what the food and packaging cost you, and your driver if you delivered it.
Here's the start of that sum on a £20 order, using the published rates:
| £20 order | Commission plus VAT | Left before food and packaging |
|---|---|---|
| App delivers, 30% | £7.20 | £12.80 |
| You deliver, Just Eat at 14% | £3.36 | £16.64 |
| You deliver or they collect, Uber Eats at 13% | £3.12 | £16.88 |
If your food cost on that order is £6 and the box and bag are 50p, the app-delivered order leaves £6.30. That's still a sale you might not have had, from someone who might order again. But it's the number to price from. Plenty of shops set their app prices a little higher than the counter for exactly this reason.
Keeping app orders and your own in one place
The other cost of the apps doesn't show on an invoice. It's the tablets. One for each app, a phone for the regulars who ring, maybe a notepad by the till, and each one works from its own copy of your menu. Change a price and you change it three times. Run out of lamb at half eight and someone has to remember every tablet.
Three habits make that easier, with or without new software:
- Keep one master menu, on paper or in a spreadsheet, and change it first. Every app copy follows it.
- Put one person in charge of the screens on a busy night, so every order is accepted by someone who knows what the kitchen is doing.
- Check each app's payout against its invoice every week. Missing refunds and double-charged promotions are much easier to query while the week is fresh.
Rowbo does the joining-up for you. Orders from Uber Eats and Deliveroo arrive on the same screen as the orders your regulars place on your own site, for collection, your own delivery or the table. It rings until somebody deals with it, and every order reaches you by email as a kitchen ticket too. Change a price, a photo or a sold-out dish once with us and we update it on each app you're on and on your own site. The apps stay yours, they pay you out as they do now, and nothing changes for your customers.
What Rowbo costs
Ordering plans are £50, £149 or from £349 a month per location, with no contract and no fee per order. Card payments on your own orders are from 1.5% + 20p on every plan, Stripe's own rate with nothing added by us (checked 3 October 2026), paid into your own Stripe account in your business name. See how ordering works, or tell us your business name and we'll show you your own menu on it.
Take orders on your own website
Collection, your own delivery or ordering at the table. Each order reaches you by email as a kitchen ticket and the money goes to your own Stripe account. Tell us about the place and we'll set it up with you.