ChowNow Pricing in 2026: Plans, Fees and What You Really Pay

ChowNow costs $229 to $449 a month depending on plan and billing, plus a one-time setup fee of $119 to $499 and 2.95% + $0.29 card processing on every order.

This is a fee reference for owners pricing out ChowNow: plans, setup fee, processing, where percentage fees still apply, Flex Delivery, contract terms, and an all-in example at three sales volumes. Every number comes from ChowNow's own pricing page, support center and Restaurant Agreement, checked September 2026. ChowNow, founded in 2011 per Wikipedia and serving 22,000 restaurant partners per its about page, publishes its prices in full, which many platforms do not.

How much does ChowNow cost per month?

ChowNow's three plans cost $229 (Launch), $319 (Grow) and $409 (Elevate) a month when billed annually, or $249, $349 and $449 a month when billed monthly, per ChowNow's pricing page as of September 2026. Every plan includes direct ordering, a website, a branded app and a marketplace listing.

Each price is labelled "Starting At", so treat it as the floor for one location; multi-location rates are not published. Annual billing saves $20 a month on Launch, $30 on Grow and $40 on Elevate, in exchange for a 12-month commitment (see the contract section). Every plan includes things competitors charge extra for: native iOS and Android apps under your name, unlimited fraud and chargeback coverage, 24/7 phone and chat support, and next-business-day deposits.

What differs between plans is marketing capacity and operations tooling, not the ordering core. Per ChowNow's plan comparison table, Launch leaves out automated SMS marketing, on-demand email and SMS campaigns, CSV upload of in-store diners, QR code ordering, third-party order aggregation, and centralized menu management across direct and third-party channels; Grow and Elevate have all of them and differ only in contacts and SMS credits. Everything else (ordering tool, SEO website, branded app, marketplace listing, Discovery Network, catering, loyalty, 20+ POS integrations, reporting, support) is on all three. The practical rule: under 500 contacts and no need to text customers, Launch; otherwise Grow.

Does ChowNow charge a setup fee?

Yes: ChowNow's pricing page lists a one-time setup fee of $119 to $499, and its Restaurant Agreement (current version dated August 6, 2026) defines the Set-Up Fee as a one-time $499 implementation fee for Launch, Grow and Elevate, billed on your first invoice before you take an order.

Neither page explains the gap between $119 and $499, so ask which applies and get it on the order form. Per ChowNow's billing support article, the first charge lands 1 to 3 business days after signup and covers the setup fee plus the first month (or the whole prepaid term) plus tax; a prorated second invoice about 60 days later moves you to billing on the 1st.

Two more items sit under additional fees: Apple's $99 annual Developer Program fee if you want the iOS app published under your name (paid to Apple; no Google Play equivalent is listed), and a printer at $250 to $420. The agreement also starts fees accruing on the earlier of the day you can take orders or 30 days after signing, so a slow menu build does not pause the clock past day 30.

What is ChowNow's payment processing rate?

ChowNow charges 2.95% + $0.29 per transaction on Launch, Grow and Elevate, per its pricing page and Restaurant Agreement, or 2.9% + $0.30 on orders that run through a third-party POS integration, either way within pennies of Stripe's published 2.9% + 30 cents for domestic cards. Stripe is the processor ChowNow uses.

On a $35 order both come to about $1.32, so processing is not where ChowNow earns its margin and not a line to negotiate. What you get on top is real: the agreement says ChowNow "shall assume any consumer chargebacks" unless it finds fraud on the restaurant's side, with no cap.

Payouts, per ChowNow's July 2026 FAQ: "next business day deposits every business day, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays)." The agreement puts it at one to two business days from the order date depending on your bank, after deducting processing, refunds, delivery charges and any Marketing Fee (next section).

Does ChowNow charge commission?

Not on direct orders: orders from your ChowNow-built website or branded app carry no per-order commission; the percentage fees sit on other channels, a 7.5% Support Local Fee the diner pays on marketplace app orders, a 15.5% Marketing Fee on Discovery Network orders, and 5% on direct catering.

The marketplace app. ChowNow's marketplace page promises "0% Commissions on every marketplace order," and that holds for the restaurant. The diner funds that channel: per the diner fee support page, a "Support Local Fee" of 7.5% of the subtotal applies only to "orders placed on the ChowNow App or eat.chownow.com," and the agreement says ChowNow keeps all of it. It is the pattern in the hidden cost of zero commission platforms: commission-free for you, a fee at your customer's checkout. Your own site is clean.

The Discovery Network. Read this one twice. It launched in October 2021 as the Order Better Network, "a standalone product" with "a 12% transaction fee," per Restaurant Dive. Today it is on all three plans as the Discovery Network (Google, Apple Maps, Yelp, Tripadvisor, Snap and more), and the Restaurant Agreement, still using the old name, sets the Marketing Fee at "fifteen and a half percent (15.5%)" of each subtotal, deducted from your payout. On a $35 subtotal that is $5.43.

The pricing FAQ calls these orders commission-free "with Profit Protector enabled." Profit Protector is an optional feature that "automatically adjusts menu prices on Discovery Network to offset standard fees." On, the diner pays the 15.5% through a higher price. Off, you pay it. You can opt out of individual channels through support. In fairness, 15.5% on orders arriving from Google or Yelp is below delivery marketplace rates, and you keep the diner's data. It is just not zero, and it is not on the pricing page.

The $0.99 Direct Service Charge. The agreement defines "the ninety-nine cent ($.99) fee charged on Orders placed through Elevate, Grow, Launch, Pro and Premier which is shared between us and you," with an opt-out by written notice. It does not say who is charged, and ChowNow's direct ordering page says there are "no mandatory diner fees." Ask whether it is on for your account.

Catering. The July 2026 FAQ states: "ChowNow charges a 5% fee per catering order placed through your direct channel," and benchmarks that against ezCater's 7% direct rate; the full sheet is in ezCater commission and catering fees.

How much does ChowNow Flex Delivery cost?

Flex Delivery costs a flat $7.98 per order with no distance surcharge, and you decide how much of it the diner pays; ChowNow recommends a 50/50 split of $3.99 each. Orders go to Uber Direct or DoorDash Drive drivers, up to 10 miles with Uber and 8 miles with DoorDash Drive.

The $7.98 appears on the pricing page and in the delivery support article ("a flat $7.98 with a maximum range of 8 miles"). The Flex Delivery product page leads with "a flat rate of $3.99 per order," which is the restaurant's half under the recommended split, not the total. You can cover nothing at all if you prefer. Delivery tips go directly to the delivery service; pickup tips go to you. Since June 11, 2024, ChowNow has warned that fees may run higher in California, New York City and Seattle under local delivery rules, without publishing the surcharge.

Because the rate is flat, the math is simple: 100 delivery orders a month on the recommended split is $399 to you and $399 to diners. Cover it all and it is $798, whether the order is a $14 lunch or a $90 catering tray.

What are ChowNow's contract and cancellation terms?

ChowNow plans auto-renew for the same term you signed, cancellation takes effect 30 days after you submit a cancellation form or finish a cancellation call with your Restaurant Success Manager, and there are no refunds on service fees, including unused months of a prepaid annual plan.

On a monthly plan your exposure is one more month, per the cancellation support article. On an annual plan it is the rest of the year, because the refund policy allows no refunds on service fees. Take the $20 to $40 discount only if you expect to be on the platform in month 12. The fee-change clause matters too: on Capterra, where ChowNow holds 4.7 of 5 across 47 reviews, an owner wrote in December 2025 that "the cost of using ChowNow service continues to go up every time we renew." Get the renewal price in writing.

What does ChowNow cost all-in at $5,000, $15,000 and $30,000 a month?

Using ChowNow's published rates, a restaurant on the Launch plan with annual billing pays about $468 a month at $5,000 in online sales, $846 at $15,000 and $1,413 at $30,000, before delivery. That is 9.4%, 5.6% and 4.7% of sales, falling as volume rises because the subscription is fixed.

This is an example, not a quote. Assumptions: a $35 average order, Launch billed annually, the $499 setup fee and $99 Apple fee each spread over 12 months, no marketplace app or Discovery Network orders, and 30% of orders delivered through Flex with you covering the recommended $3.99.

The formula: monthly cost = subscription + (2.95% x online sales) + ($0.29 x orders) + (setup fee / 12) + (Apple fee / 12) + (delivery orders x your share of $7.98).

What moves the total: Grow adds $90 a month and Elevate $180 on annual billing, monthly billing adds $20 to $40, and a $119 setup fee instead of $499 takes $32 off every column. Each Discovery Network order adds 15.5% of its subtotal unless Profit Protector shifts it to the menu price. For scale, at $15,000 a month a 25% delivery commission would be $3,750; run your own order counts through the commission calculator.

ChowNow vs other flat-fee pricing models

ChowNow, DirectOrders and Owner.com's Flat Rate plan all charge a fixed monthly fee with no per-order commission to the restaurant; Owner.com's Flexible plan adds a 5% restaurant fee per order; DoorDash's marketplace charges no monthly fee and takes 15% to 30% of each delivery order instead. Pricing model only, from each vendor's published page as of September 2026:

Diner-side fees are the other half. Owner.com's pricing page says guests pay a 5% order support fee on both plans, and calls Flat Rate "best for restaurants at $5k+/mo in online sales," the point where 5% of sales equals the $250 gap between its plans. ChowNow charges diners 7.5% only on marketplace app orders. DoorDash sets its own consumer fees; every delivery app's rate card is in delivery app commission rates 2026, and a ranked field of platforms in best online ordering systems for restaurants.

Pricing model is one axis. Apps, channels, voice AI, payout speed and POS fit are the others, laid out side by side on the DirectOrders vs ChowNow comparison page rather than repeated here.

Where DirectOrders fits

DirectOrders uses the same model as ChowNow's direct product: a flat monthly fee and zero commission on every order. Pro is $249 a month and Pro + Voice is $349 a month with 500 AI phone-ordering minutes, both month to month with a 14-day free trial, and the pricing page lists Stripe's standard card rate with nothing added. Both plans include a branded website, 15+ ordering channels, same-day payouts, and delivery through your own drivers, Uber Direct or DoorDash Drive, with the restaurant owning its customer data. The fee math above is the price half of the decision; the feature half is on the comparison page.

Sources

All checked September 2026.

• ChowNow Plans & Pricing
• ChowNow Restaurant Agreement, version of August 6, 2026
• ChowNow Refund Policy
• ChowNow support: cancelling a subscription
• ChowNow support: billing dates and fees
• ChowNow support: diner fees
• ChowNow Discovery Network
• ChowNow support: Profit Protector
• ChowNow Flex Delivery
• ChowNow support: delivery cost
• ChowNow support: paying delivery fees
• ChowNow support: delivery tips
• ChowNow blog FAQs, July 6, 2026
• ChowNow Marketplace
• ChowNow Direct Online Ordering
• ChowNow About
• Wikipedia: ChowNow
• Restaurant Dive, October 5, 2021
• Capterra: ChowNow reviews
• Stripe pricing
• Owner.com pricing
• DoorDash merchant pricing

Bottom line

ChowNow's pricing is what the page says: a flat $229 to $449 a month plus card processing, with a setup fee up front and native apps thrown in. The percentage fees are real but channel-specific: 7.5% paid by the diner on marketplace app orders, 15.5% on Discovery Network orders unless Profit Protector moves it into menu prices, 5% on direct catering, and your share of $7.98 per Flex Delivery. At $15,000 a month in online sales the example lands at about $846 before delivery, under 6% of sales. Before you sign, get three things in writing: which setup fee applies, the renewal price, and whether the $0.99 Direct Service Charge is on.