Foodhub Fees and Commission: What Does Foodhub Cost Restaurants?

What does Foodhub charge restaurants?

Foodhub operates on a commission-based or subscription model depending on your arrangement. Rather than charging the headline rates of Just Eat or Deliveroo, Foodhub has positioned itself as a lower-cost marketplace alternative — but the fees still represent a meaningful cost per order for restaurants doing real volume.

The specific rates Foodhub offers depend on the individual arrangement, the restaurant's location, order volume, and whether you are on a commission-per-order or monthly subscription model. Restaurants considering Foodhub should request a direct quote and compare it carefully against their actual order economics.

How Foodhub's fee structure works

Commission-per-order model

Under a commission arrangement, Foodhub takes a percentage of the order value on each transaction processed through its platform. The exact rate varies, but it is lower than the rates typically charged by Just Eat and Deliveroo — this is Foodhub's primary competitive position in the UK market.

The practical implication: every order you receive through Foodhub generates a smaller margin than an equivalent direct order. As your order volume grows, so does the total amount paid in commission.

Subscription model

Foodhub has also offered subscription plans that replace per-order commission with a flat monthly fee. This is more cost-predictable and can be cost-effective for restaurants at higher volumes, but removes the discovery benefit of the marketplace model without giving you the direct channel benefits of a platform like Flipdish.

Payment processing fees

In addition to commission or subscription fees, there may be payment processing costs depending on how orders are handled. Review your specific Foodhub agreement for the full picture of what you pay per order.

The real cost of marketplace commission

The percentage headline looks manageable. The cumulative annual cost often surprises operators who have not calculated it explicitly.

Example calculation:

  • Monthly orders via Foodhub: 600
  • Average order value: £22
  • Monthly revenue via Foodhub: £13,200
  • Commission at 10%: £1,320 per month / £15,840 per year
  • Commission at 12%: £1,584 per month / £19,008 per year

For a takeaway doing 600 orders per month, Foodhub commission in the range of 10–12% represents £15,000–£19,000 in annual fees — before factoring in payment processing or any subscription component.

That is money that does not build your brand, does not give you customer data, and cannot be recovered if you stop using Foodhub.

What you get for the fees — and what you do not get

What Foodhub provides

  • Listing on the Foodhub marketplace, visible to customers browsing in your area
  • Order routing to your device or printer
  • Consumer-facing ordering interface and payment processing
  • Access to a pool of customers already using the Foodhub platform
  • Customer support for order disputes

What Foodhub does not provide

  • Your own branded ordering website
  • A branded mobile app
  • Access to your customer's contact data
  • A POS system for in-venue orders
  • Loyalty and marketing tools
  • Any means to market to the customers who ordered through the platform
  • Tools to grow your business beyond processing orders

Foodhub is an order routing service. It passes you orders from its customer pool and charges for the privilege. It does not give you the infrastructure to build a direct business.

What operators actually want to know

Is Foodhub cheaper than Just Eat?

In most arrangements, yes. Foodhub charges lower commission rates than Just Eat. For operators who have decided they need a marketplace presence, Foodhub is typically the cheaper option among the major UK platforms.

Is Foodhub worth the fees?

The answer depends on your situation:

  • If Foodhub is bringing you a meaningful volume of genuinely new customers who would not otherwise find you, and the margin on those orders is acceptable, the marketplace has value.
  • If most of the customers ordering through Foodhub already know your restaurant — they are returning customers who you could reach directly — then you are paying commission on orders you would have received anyway, which is poor economics.

Many established operators find that a proportion of their marketplace orders are from existing customers who would use a direct channel if one were available and easy. Converting those customers to direct ordering has an immediate positive impact on per-order margin.

Are there hidden costs?

The commission or subscription rate is the main cost, but review your agreement carefully for:

  • Payment processing fees on top of commission
  • Costs associated with promotional features or boosted listings
  • Terms around price parity requirements (some marketplace agreements restrict discounting on your own direct channel)
  • Cancellation terms if you decide to leave

The alternative: a direct ordering platform

The most significant shift for UK and Irish takeaways over the past several years has been building direct ordering channels alongside or instead of marketplace listings. The technology to do this is now accessible for independent operators, not just large chains.

A direct ordering platform gives you:

  • A branded website that accepts orders directly, with no per-order commission
  • A branded mobile app with push notifications and loyalty
  • Full ownership of customer data — email addresses, order history, preferences
  • Marketing tools to bring customers back
  • Better per-order margin on every transaction

Flipdish is the platform most widely used by UK and Irish restaurants and takeaways for this purpose. It provides a complete direct ordering system — website, app, kiosks, POS, loyalty, and AI marketing — on a subscription model with no per-order commission on direct orders.

Should you leave Foodhub?

Not necessarily all at once. The practical approach most operators take:

  1. Build a direct ordering channel (website ordering as a minimum, branded app when volume justifies it)
  2. Actively convert regular Foodhub customers to your direct channel using packaging inserts, QR codes, and first-order discounts
  3. Track the proportion of your orders coming from Foodhub versus directly over time
  4. Reduce or end your Foodhub presence when direct order volume makes it commercially sensible

For a new takeaway building brand awareness, Foodhub's discovery function has real value. For an established operator with a customer base that already knows the brand, the commission is harder to justify when a direct ordering alternative is available.

Comparing Foodhub fees to Flipdish

At the order volumes typical of an established UK takeaway, the annual commission paid to Foodhub typically exceeds the annual cost of a Flipdish direct ordering platform. The crossover point — where switching to Flipdish costs less than staying on Foodhub — depends on your specific order volume, your current commission rate, and your Flipdish pricing tier.

To calculate your specific numbers: take your monthly Foodhub commission spend, multiply by 12, and compare against a Flipdish subscription quote. Most operators doing real delivery volume find the comparison is straightforward.

Explore Flipdish pricing here and request a quote based on your actual order volume.

The bottom line

Foodhub's fees are lower than Just Eat and Deliveroo, which is its main selling point. But lower commission on a marketplace is still commission — and it still comes with no customer data, no brand building, and no marketing tools.

For operators who want to build a takeaway business with sustainable margins and real customer relationships, a direct ordering platform like Flipdish represents a better long-term investment than an optimised marketplace fee. The two are not mutually exclusive in the short term — but the direction of travel for successful operators is consistently toward more direct ordering, not less.