Every restaurant owner knows the feeling. The tablet pings, an order comes in, the kitchen gets busy, and at the end of the month the payout is much smaller than the sales screen suggested. Delivery apps bring real customers, but they also take a share of every single order.
This post walks through what that share means in rupees, what you get for it, and what changes when customers order from your own website instead. We will use simple made-up numbers so you can swap in your own.
What a delivery app commission pays for
Before comparing, it is only fair to be clear about what the app gives you. Depending on the app and your agreement, a commission usually covers some mix of these:
- Discovery. Hungry people browse the app and find restaurants they have never heard of.
- Riders. Some apps handle delivery for you, others expect you to use your own riders.
- Payments. The app may collect card or wallet payments and pay you later.
- Marketing. Banners, featured spots and app-wide discount campaigns.
That is real value, especially for a new restaurant nobody knows yet. The problem is that the commission is charged on every order, including orders from people who already know you and would have ordered anyway.
A worked example: one Rs 2,000 order
Here is a hypothetical example. These are not any real app's rates. They are round numbers to make the maths easy.
Say a family in Lahore orders a Rs 2,000 meal through a delivery app, and your agreement says the app keeps 25% of the order value.
- Order value: Rs 2,000
- App commission at 25%: Rs 500
- What reaches you: Rs 1,500
Now add the food cost. If ingredients and packaging for that meal cost you Rs 800, your margin on the order is Rs 700, not Rs 1,200. The app has taken almost as much as you kept.
Scale that up. If you take 300 orders like this in a month:
| Through the app | Through your own site | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly order value | Rs 600,000 | Rs 600,000 |
| Commission at 25% | Rs 150,000 | None |
| Your fixed monthly cost | None | Your package fee |
On your own ordering website the per-order commission line disappears. What you pay instead is a flat package fee that stays the same whether you take 50 orders or 500. With Krobr, that is how it works: a package fee, not a commission per order. You can see the current packages on the pricing page.
The costs that never show on the invoice
The commission is the number everyone talks about. There are quieter costs too.
You do not really own the customer
When someone orders through an app, the relationship belongs to the app. You may not get their phone number, you cannot easily invite them back, and next time they open the app they will see your competitors right next to you.
Discounts you did not choose
App-wide promotions can pull your prices down, and depending on your agreement you may be the one paying for the discount.
Your menu prices drift
Many owners quietly raise prices on apps to make up for the commission. Customers notice when the same biryani costs more on the app than at your counter, and it can feel unfair to them.
Rules you cannot change
Opening hours, how you show your menu, how reviews appear. On someone else's platform, you follow their rules.
What your own ordering website costs you instead
It would be dishonest to say your own website is free of costs. Here is what you take on:
- The package fee. A fixed monthly cost. On Krobr, every account starts on the Free package, which allows one store and up to 20 orders a month, so you can try the full flow before paying anything. When you outgrow it, Pro allows 2,000 orders a month.
- Your own delivery. If you deliver, you need riders or a delivery arrangement of your own. Many restaurants in Karachi and Lahore already have one or two riders for phone orders, so this is often not a new cost.
- Your own marketing. Nobody browses into your website by accident. You have to share the link with your regulars, on WhatsApp, on your packaging and on your table.
- A little setup time. Building your menu with prices, sizes and add-ons takes an afternoon.
In return, the money from the order goes straight to you. Customers pay cash on delivery, or pay by bank transfer into your own account and you verify it. Krobr does not sit in the middle of the payment.
A fair way to compare the two
Do not compare them as all or nothing. Think about where each order comes from.
- New customers who found you on an app. The commission is the price of being discovered. That can be worth paying.
- Regulars who already know you. Paying a commission on these orders is like paying a finder's fee for a friend who walked in by themselves.
The smart move for most restaurants is to keep using delivery apps for discovery, and move repeat customers to your own ordering page over time. Even shifting a third of your regular orders can make a noticeable difference to your monthly margin.
Try this quick calculation with your own numbers:
- Count last month's app orders from repeat customers (your best guess is fine).
- Multiply by your average order value.
- Multiply by your commission rate.
That number is roughly what your regulars cost you in commission each month. Compare it with a flat monthly package fee.
How to move regulars to your own ordering page
Once your store is set up, getting regulars to switch is mostly about reminding them, gently and often.
- Put a QR code in every delivery bag. A small sticker or card saying "Order direct next time" works well. We collected more ideas in 12 ways to use QR codes in your restaurant.
- Share the link on WhatsApp. Add it to your status, your profile and the replies you send to people asking for the menu.
- Offer a reason to order direct. Krobr lets you run promotions, such as a discount above a minimum order value or a voucher code printed on your packaging. Only the best single promotion applies to an order, so your totals stay predictable.
- Keep the experience smooth. Customers get a private link to track their order, and you get a push notification on your phone for every new order.
- Deliver where it makes sense. You can limit delivery to the cities and areas you actually cover, so you never get an order from across town. The delivery coverage guide shows how.
If you are starting from zero, our step by step guide on how to take online orders for your restaurant in Pakistan covers the full setup.
The short version
A delivery app commission is a cost per order. Your own ordering website is a fixed cost per month plus your own delivery and promotion effort. For new customers, the app's share can be a fair price for discovery. For regulars, it usually is not. Run the numbers for your own restaurant, keep the apps where they earn their share, and give your loyal customers a direct way to order from you.