WebEatery vs. Grubhub

Grubhub's pricing looks gentler than its rivals' until you add the parts together. The headline is a marketing commission starting at 5%; the number that hits your statement is that plus delivery plus processing. And its commission-free direct product is now free to run, which changes what this comparison is actually about.

What Grubhub Costs

Grubhub charges a 5% (Basic), 15% (Plus), or 20% (All-access) marketing commission, plus at least 10% more when Grubhub's drivers deliver—self-delivery skips that part—with a per-order processing fee on top that Grubhub acknowledges but doesn't publish. Grubhub Direct, its commission-free ordering page, is now free to run—but it's an ordering page, not a channel: no restaurant-branded mobile app, and rewards run through Grubhub+ rather than your own brand.

What WebEatery Costs

$165/month for the first location

Read the Rate Card as a Sum

Grubhub prices in components, and the components stack. The Basic plan's 5% marketing commission is only the marketing commission—Grubhub's drivers add at least 10% on top, and there's a per-order processing fee that Grubhub acknowledges without publishing.

Stack them and you're in the same 15 to 30% territory as everyone else. Worth checking against your own statements rather than the plan page.

If you're in New York City, note that the old 15% cap no longer describes the law. Local Law 79 of 2025 replaced it with a componentized cap that can total up to 43%.

Grubhub Direct is Free. It's Also Not a Channel.

Grubhub Direct now costs nothing—no setup, no monthly hosting, no commission. That's a real improvement, and it means price is no longer the argument against it.

The argument is what it is. Grubhub Direct is a hosted ordering page you link to from your website. There's no app on your customer's home screen, no design control beyond the basics, no rewards program under your name, and no way to reach your list.

Your storefront as mobile apps for iOS and Android, listed on the App Store and Google Play, branded with your restaurant's name, logo, and colors.

Customization across your storefront and apps. Your brand colors, your choice of theme and icon style, and options for how the app itself looks and behaves—not just a logo on a stock template.

A points-based rewards program and targeted promotional offers to keep customers coming back.

A free ordering page is worth having. It isn't the same thing as owning the channel.

Who Owns the Relationship

On marketplace orders, Grubhub does. On Direct orders you get some of it back. Here you get all of it:

The restaurant owns its customer data. WebEatery processes that data on the restaurant's behalf to provide and improve the service, and never sells it or uses it to market to the restaurant's customers.

Where Grubhub is the Better Choice

Grubhub and Seamless carry real weight in the Northeast, and in New York in particular the customer base is entrenched in a way the national numbers understate. If that's your market, delisting would cost you orders you won't recover elsewhere.

Grubhub Direct being free also makes it a sensible first step for a restaurant that isn't ready to spend $165 a month. Take the free page, see what direct ordering does for you, and come back when the volume justifies the upgrade.

The Short Version