DoorDash charges restaurants a commission on each order's subtotal: 15% on the Basic plan, 25% on Plus and 30% on Premier for delivery orders, and 6% on pickup orders on every plan (DoorDash merchant pricing). There is no monthly fee, and DoorDash says the commission already includes card processing, so for most restaurants the commission line is most of the bill.
Which plan is cheapest depends less on the rate than on how many extra orders the higher plans bring. This guide sets out what each plan includes, the costs that sit outside the commission, the break-even arithmetic between plans, how DoorDash compares with Uber Eats, and how to keep more of each order. Rates are as DoorDash published them on 30 October 2026; they change, so check the page before you decide.
The three DoorDash plans
| Plan | Delivery commission | Pickup commission | Intro rate | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 15% | 6% | 0% for the first 7 days | Listed to customers nearby; online ordering; a free menu photoshoot |
| Plus | 25% | 6% | 0% for the first 30 days | A wider delivery radius, a lower delivery fee for customers, access to DashPass members |
| Premier | 30% | 6% | 0% for the first 30 days | The widest delivery range, a commission rebate guarantee, a complimentary sponsored listing, a $200 photoshoot credit |
All three are percentages of the order subtotal, the food before tax, tips and the fees the customer pays (DoorDash). DoorDash's own advice is that "most new merchants start with Plus", and that you can switch plans at any time in the Merchant Portal; changes take up to five business days. The plans are available to restaurants with 75 or fewer locations in the US.
What the commission covers, and what costs extra
DoorDash's answer to "what am I paying for?" is that the commission covers your listing and marketing on DoorDash, Dasher delivery, customer support and credit card processing, with "no activation fee, no subscription fee, no payment processing fee" (DoorDash). The costs that sit outside it are ones you opt into:
- The DoorDash tablet: $6 a week after the trial. Check whether your POS can receive DoorDash orders before renting one.
- Promotions: discounts you fund to win orders. They come out of your payout, on top of the commission.
- Sponsored Listings: paid placement in the app. Premier includes one complimentary Premier Sponsored Listing; anything beyond that is extra.
Two more things shrink payouts without being called fees. Your own promotions come on top of the commission, so a 20% discount you fund on a 30% Premier order leaves you well under 60% of the menu price before food costs. And any refund or adjustment that appears on your statement for a missing or wrong item is a cost of that order, which makes packing accuracy a money question. The section on finding your real rate, below, shows how to add it all up.
Pickup orders: 6%, with one condition
Pickup orders are 6% on every plan, but only if your DoorDash pickup menu prices match your in-store prices; DoorDash's terms make that a condition (DoorDash). Pickup is where the app is cheapest for you and where guests are easiest to move to your own ordering later, because they already come to the door.
Delivery prices can be higher than your menu
DoorDash says plainly that "you can set different prices for delivery orders if you want. Many restaurants do" (DoorDash). Raising delivery prices to cover part of the commission is common and allowed for delivery; it is not allowed for the 6% pickup rate, which needs pickup prices to match in-store. If you raise delivery prices, do it evenly and keep the in-house menu the cheapest place to order, which also gives regulars a reason to order from you directly.
The case DoorDash makes for the higher plans
DoorDash's argument for paying more is reach. Plus and Premier widen your delivery radius, lower the delivery fee customers see, and open your menu to DashPass members, who DoorDash says "order twice as often and spend 2.5× more than non-members" (DoorDash). It also argues that delivery orders are "often incremental": customers "who wouldn't have found or visited you otherwise", so the fair comparison is "delivery margin vs. no order at all".
That argument is right for new guests and wrong for regulars. A first-time guest who finds you on DoorDash is worth the commission if they come back, ideally through your own ordering. A regular who has eaten with you twenty times and now orders through the app is not incremental at all: they are an order you used to get at full margin. Most restaurants have both kinds on the same app, which is why the useful question is not "which plan?" but "which orders?".
Which plan pays: the break-even arithmetic
Higher plans cost more per order but promise more orders, through a wider delivery radius, lower delivery fees for customers and DashPass. The question is how many more. On any order, what you keep is the subtotal minus the commission, so the break-even is simple:
| Kept from a $32 order on Basic (15%) | $27.20 |
| Kept from a $32 order on Plus (25%) | $24.00 |
| Kept from a $32 order on Premier (30%) | $22.40 |
| Plus breaks even with Basic at 27.20 ÷ 24.00 | +13.3% orders |
| Premier breaks even with Basic at 27.20 ÷ 22.40 | +21.4% orders |
In other words, Plus needs about 13% more delivery orders than Basic to leave you the same money, and Premier about 21% more, before food costs. If your extra orders from the wider radius stay below those lines, the cheaper plan wins. Food cost makes the gap matter more, not less: every order also carries the ingredients, so check the plate cost of your top delivery items with the food cost calculator before choosing.
DoorDash suggests trying a plan for "two to three weeks before switching". Do that with a note of your delivery orders a week under each plan, and compare what you kept, not what you sold.
The Premier rebate, and its conditions
Premier promises that if you accept fewer than 20 orders in a month, DoorDash refunds that month's commission. The footnote limits it to a location's first six months on Premier, and only in months when you cancel fewer than five orders and keep your DoorDash "open hours" for at least 90% of the store hours you set (DoorDash). It protects a new or slow location from a bad month; it does not change the 30% rate on the months that go well.
DoorDash and Uber Eats, side by side
Uber Eats publishes a similar ladder of plans for US restaurants (Uber Eats merchant pricing). The rates on 30 October 2026:
| DoorDash | Uber Eats | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest plan, delivery | 15% (Basic) | 20% (Lite), 15% in some cities |
| Middle plan, delivery | 25% (Plus) | 25% (Plus), +5% on Uber One orders |
| Top plan, delivery | 30% (Premier) | 30% (Premium) |
| Pickup | 6%, with in-store price parity | 7% with validated in-store pricing, 10% without |
| Card processing | Included in the commission | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Monthly fee | None | None listed |
If you are on both, run each through the delivery commission calculator separately: the same order costs a different amount depending on which app it came through.
How to find your real DoorDash rate
The rate on the pricing page is the starting point, not the answer. Your real rate is everything DoorDash kept, divided by everything guests ordered through it. Take one full month of payout statements and add up:
- Order subtotals: the food sold through DoorDash, before tax and tips.
- Commission: delivery orders at your plan's rate, pickup orders at 6%.
- Promotions you funded: discounts and offers that came out of your payout.
- Ads: Sponsored Listings beyond any complimentary one.
- Refunds and adjustments: anything taken back for missing, wrong or cancelled items.
- Equipment: the tablet, if you rent it.
Add lines 2 to 6, divide by line 1, and you have your real rate. Do it for each app and each location, every month. A restaurant on Plus whose real rate comes out at 32% is paying for promotions and refunds, not for the plan, and the fix is in the kitchen and the promotions settings, not in a plan switch.
The cheapest DoorDash order is the one that comes direct
DoorDash itself sells a commission-free product for your own website: Online Ordering by DoorDash advertises "0% commission on direct orders", with standard payment processing and customers paying for delivery (DoorDash Online Ordering). Most POS systems sell their own online ordering too. Either way, an order through your own site costs you card processing, which on Square's free plan is 3.3% + 30¢ online (Square), instead of a 15–30% commission.
On a $32 order that is about $1.36 instead of $4.80 to $9.60. Multiply by the regulars who already know you and the difference is often the largest single saving open to a restaurant. Our guide to online ordering without commission covers the setup and what delivery costs. Moving regulars takes a few steps:
- Set your own ordering link as preferred on your Google Business Profile, for pickup and delivery. Google lists delivery apps on your profile automatically unless you do; our Google Business Profile page explains how.
- Put an Order button to your own ordering at the top of your website, not a link to the app.
- Put a card in every app order: order direct next time, same food, better price.
- Keep pickup on DoorDash at 6% if guests like it there; start moving the delivery regulars.
- Keep DoorDash for what it is good at: guests who have never heard of you.
Mistakes that make DoorDash more expensive than it needs to be
| Mistake | What it costs | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing a plan by its rate alone | Paying 30% on orders that would have come on 15% | Track orders a week per plan and compare what you kept |
| Pickup prices higher than in-store | Losing the 6% pickup rate | Match pickup prices to your in-store menu |
| Promotions stacked on Premier | Under 60% of the menu price left before food costs | Promote on your own ordering instead |
| Renting the tablet by default | $6 a week for something your POS may already do | Check for a POS integration first |
| The Google order button pointing to DoorDash | Commission on guests who searched for you by name | Set your own link as preferred on Google |
| Never reading the payout statement | Refunds and adjustments that go unnoticed | Divide everything kept by sales, monthly |
What to do this week
Pull last month's payout statements from every app and work out your real rate, all deductions included. Put your volume into the delivery commission calculator to see what moving a share of regulars direct would keep. Then fix the Google order button, which takes minutes. If you would rather we look at it with you, the free restaurant audit includes what delivery apps are costing you.
