Commission-Free Ordering for Canadian Restaurants
A 40-seat restaurant in Calgary doing $8,000 a month in delivery through DoorDash is handing over roughly $2,000 of that in commissions before taxes even enter the picture. Multiply that by twelve and you are looking at $24,000 a year for the privilege of someone else owning your customer relationship.
That number is what pushed more Canadian independents toward commission-free ordering platforms in 2025 and 2026. The pitch is straightforward: take orders through your own branded channel, pay a flat monthly fee or a small processing charge, and keep the rest. No 25% cut. No mystery deductions. No wondering why your payout looks thin.
But "commission-free" is a spectrum, not a single product. Some platforms are genuinely free. Others cost $500 a month. Some work across Canada. Others exclude Quebec entirely. And the real cost of any platform includes what it does not do, because the features you are missing will cost you somewhere else.
Here is what is actually available to Canadian independents right now, what each option costs, and where the trade-offs hide.
What "commission-free" actually means (and what it doesn't)
Commission-free means the platform does not take a percentage of each order. That is the core distinction from DoorDash, Uber Eats, or SkipTheDishes, where commissions run 15-30% per order.
But commission-free does not mean free. Most platforms charge in one or more of these ways: a monthly subscription fee, payment processing fees (typically 2.6-2.9% plus a per-transaction charge), delivery logistics fees if the platform coordinates drivers, or setup and onboarding costs.
The honest comparison is not "commission-free vs. third-party." It is "flat monthly cost vs. percentage-based cost." For a restaurant doing $8,000 a month in online orders, a $100/month platform with 2.9% processing costs roughly $332 a month total. That same volume on a 25% commission platform costs $2,000. The math is not subtle.
Better guest experience. Bigger nights. $299. Once.
Eight platforms Canadian restaurants can actually use
Not every commission-free platform operates in Canada, and several that claim Canadian availability have gaps. Here is what is genuinely available as of April 2026, with verified pricing where possible.
The free tier: lowest barrier, most limitations
GloriaFood charges nothing for its core ordering system. Zero monthly fee, zero commission, unlimited orders. You get a menu builder, a branded ordering widget for your website and Facebook page, and a management app for accepting orders. It works in Canada.
The catch: orders come through GloriaFood's own app, not your POS. There is no inventory management. You cannot mark items as sold out from the ordering app. Enabling credit card processing for delivery adds $30/month. And every GloriaFood restaurant looks the same to customers, because menu customization is limited. For a single-location pizza shop doing pickup orders, it is a reasonable starting point. For a restaurant wanting a branded experience, you will outgrow it fast.
Square Online is free if you already use Square POS. No monthly fee for the online ordering page, and orders sync directly to your POS and kitchen display. Processing runs 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction. You can build a full website or just an ordering page. Curbside pickup and self-delivery are built in.
Square is available across Canada and the integration with Square POS is genuinely smooth. The limitation is that Square Online is not a delivery logistics platform. If you want courier delivery, you need your own drivers or a separate arrangement. And if you are not already on Square POS, the ecosystem pull is strong: the free ordering works best inside Square's world, which starts at $0/month for the basic POS but runs $60-$149/month CAD for restaurant-specific features.
The mid-range: Canadian-built options
UEAT is headquartered in Quebec City and built specifically for the Canadian market. Zero commission on orders, AI-powered menu recommendations through their RAI module, and strong French-language support. UEAT works with a monthly subscription model, though specific pricing is not published and requires a consultation. For Quebec restaurants especially, the bilingual interface and local support are real advantages that platforms built for the US market cannot match.
Lightspeed Order Anywhere comes bundled with Lightspeed Restaurant POS, starting at $69/month. Online ordering, QR code payments, and contactless options are included on every plan, not charged as add-ons. Processing runs 2.6% plus $0.10 in person, $0.30 for online. Lightspeed is a Montreal-based company, which means Canadian payment rails, Canadian support hours, and an understanding of the Canadian restaurant market that imported platforms lack.
The trade-off: Lightspeed is a POS-first company. If you are happy with your current POS and just want an ordering layer, switching your entire system is a steep price for commission-free ordering. The $69 starting price also climbs to $189 or $399 for plans with the features most restaurants actually need.
TouchBistro Online Ordering is another Canadian-built option (Toronto headquarters) with zero commission on orders and integration with DoorDash Drive for flat-fee delivery. But there is a significant gap: TouchBistro Online Ordering is not available in Quebec. If you are operating in Montreal, Sherbrooke, or Quebec City, this one is off the table entirely.
EasyOrder offers monthly plans starting at $100 CAD with no commission and no per-order fees. The platform can launch your ordering site within 24-48 hours, and you keep full ownership of customer data. It is available across Canada. The trade-off is that EasyOrder is a smaller platform with less brand recognition, which means fewer integrations with third-party tools and a thinner ecosystem around it.
The premium tier: full-service direct ordering
Owner.com sits at the top of the price range with two plans: $249/month (Flex, with a 5% per-order fee) or $499/month (Flat-Rate, no per-order commission). Both include an AI-optimized website, branded mobile app, automated SEO, loyalty programs, email and text campaigns, and POS integrations with Square, Clover, and Toast.
Owner.com negotiates bulk delivery pricing with DoorDash and Uber Eats driver networks, passing a flat $7 per delivery to the restaurant with no markup. The platform has strong reviews (4.8/5 across 1,000+ reviews on G2). But two things matter for Canadian operators: the $249-$499 monthly cost is significant for a single-location independent, and guests pay a 5% order support fee on every order, which affects how your pricing appears to customers. At $499/month, the flat-rate plan makes sense only if you are doing more than roughly $5,000 a month in direct online orders. Below that, the per-order Flex plan is cheaper, but the 5% fee starts to look a lot like a commission.
Toast Online Ordering is commission-free on first-party orders with a flat monthly rate. Toast has built a strong ecosystem around digital ordering in Canada. But first-party delivery is not available in Canada, and Local by Toast (their consumer-facing discovery marketplace) is also unavailable here. You can take pickup and takeout orders commission-free, but if delivery is part of your model, you need your own drivers.
The comparison that actually matters
| Platform | Monthly Cost | Per-Order Fee | Processing | Delivery Logistics | Available in QC | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GloriaFood | $0 | $0 | $0 (pickup) / $30/mo (cards) | No | Yes | Pickup-only, testing the waters |
| Square Online | $0 (with Square POS) | $0 | 2.9% + $0.30 | Self-delivery only | Yes | Already on Square POS |
| EasyOrder | From $100 CAD | $0 | Included | No | Yes | Quick launch, small operation |
| UEAT | Custom (consultation) | $0 | Included | Varies | Yes | Quebec restaurants, bilingual |
| Lightspeed | From $69/mo (POS bundle) | $0 | 2.6% + $0.10-0.30 | No | Yes | Already on Lightspeed POS |
| TouchBistro | Add-on pricing | $0 | Included | Via DoorDash Drive | No | Ontario/Western Canada, on TouchBistro POS |
| Owner.com | $249-$499 | 5% (Flex) or $0 (Flat) | Included | Yes ($7 flat/delivery) | Yes | High-volume direct ordering |
| Toast | Flat monthly | $0 | Included | No (not in Canada) | Yes | Already on Toast POS, pickup focus |
The table reveals something the marketing pages hide: most commission-free platforms do not solve delivery logistics. They solve ordering. If your customers expect delivery, you still need drivers, either your own or a third-party arrangement, and that cost sits outside the "commission-free" label.
The real decision: ordering layer vs. full ecosystem
Commission-free ordering is not a single choice. It is a fork in the road.
Path one: add an ordering layer to your existing setup. If you already run Square, Lightspeed, or TouchBistro, their built-in ordering is the lowest-friction option. No new vendor relationship, no integration headaches, and ordering data flows into your existing reports. The cost is minimal because you are already paying for the POS.
Path two: build a standalone direct ordering channel. If you want a branded website, mobile app, loyalty program, and marketing tools independent of your POS, platforms like Owner.com or UEAT offer that. The cost is higher, but so is the potential return if you are serious about shifting volume away from third-party apps.
Path three: start free, see what happens. GloriaFood or a basic Square Online page costs nothing to launch. You will learn whether your customers actually order direct before committing $200-$500 a month to a premium platform.
For most single-location Canadian independents, path one or path three makes the most sense as a starting point. The premium platforms earn their cost only when direct ordering volume justifies the monthly fee.
Why this matters more than the commission math
The commission savings are real, but the bigger value of direct ordering is data. When a customer orders through DoorDash, the platform owns that relationship. 43% of restaurant professionals say third-party apps interfere with their direct customer relationship. You do not get an email address. You do not know their order frequency. You cannot send them a loyalty offer or a birthday discount. You cannot even be sure they remember your restaurant's name: research suggests 43% of delivery customers cannot recall which restaurant they ordered from.
Direct ordering flips that. You get the name, the email, the phone number, the order history. Customers who order directly spend more per order (average digital order values run 23% higher than in-person transactions) and reorder more frequently. Repeat customers spend 67% more than new ones. That is where the long-term margin lives.
The smartest approach for most Canadian independents is not "quit delivery apps" but "use platforms for discovery, build direct for retention." Run DoorDash and Uber Eats and SkipTheDishes to reach new customers. Put a card in every delivery bag pointing to your own ordering page. Over time, shift repeat customers to direct ordering where you keep the full margin and own the relationship.
What to check before you sign up
Before choosing a platform, run through these questions:
Does it work where you are? TouchBistro Online Ordering excludes Quebec. Toast's delivery features are unavailable in Canada. Check actual Canadian availability, not just a "we serve Canada" claim on the homepage.
Does it integrate with your POS? If orders come through a separate app and your staff has to re-enter them into the POS, you have created a new problem. The best setup is orders flowing directly into your existing kitchen workflow.
Who handles delivery? If the platform does not coordinate drivers, you need your own solution. That might mean hiring a driver, partnering with a local courier service, or using a service like DoorDash Drive that provides drivers without the marketplace commission.
What does the customer experience look like? A clunky ordering page with a generic template can hurt more than help. Order from your own page as a customer. If the experience is worse than DoorDash, customers will go back to DoorDash.
What is the real monthly cost at your volume? Calculate total cost at your expected order volume: monthly fee plus processing fees plus any per-order charges plus delivery costs. Compare that to what you are currently paying in platform commissions. The break-even point is your answer.
Sources: Lightspeed, ChowNow, Restolabs, TouchBistro, Square Canada, GloriaFood, Owner.com, Toast Canada.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does commission-free ordering actually mean for restaurants?
Commission-free means the platform does not take a percentage of each order, unlike third-party apps that charge 15-30%. Restaurants typically pay a flat monthly fee and/or payment processing fees instead, which results in significantly lower costs at most order volumes.
Which commission-free ordering platforms work in Quebec?
GloriaFood, Square Online, EasyOrder, UEAT, Lightspeed, Owner.com, and Toast all operate in Quebec. TouchBistro Online Ordering is the notable exception, as it specifically excludes Quebec from its Canadian availability.
How much does commission-free ordering cost per month in Canada?
Costs range from $0 (GloriaFood, Square Online with existing POS) to $499/month (Owner.com Flat-Rate). Most mid-range options like EasyOrder ($100 CAD) or Lightspeed ($69+ as part of POS) fall between $70 and $200 per month, plus payment processing fees of 2.6-2.9% per transaction.
Do commission-free platforms handle delivery drivers?
Most do not. GloriaFood, Square Online, Lightspeed, and EasyOrder are ordering platforms only. Owner.com coordinates drivers through DoorDash/Uber networks at a flat $7 per delivery. TouchBistro integrates with DoorDash Drive. Restaurants often need their own delivery solution.
Should restaurants quit third-party delivery apps for direct ordering?
Not necessarily. The most effective strategy for independents is a hybrid approach: use DoorDash, Uber Eats, and SkipTheDishes for customer discovery, then shift repeat customers to direct ordering through bag inserts, loyalty programs, and better pricing on your own channel.
