-
Independent restaurants · The real cost of platforms
TheFork, Uber Eats and Deliveroo commissions: what the platforms cost your restaurant
You know your platforms inside out, but rarely their real cost, channel by channel: what delivery takes, what a booked cover can cost, and what you are left with on each order. This page sets out the calculation, backed by dated sources, presents the commission-free alternatives and the method for rebalancing your distribution without losing volume. ARETA, an organic SEO and AI visibility agency specialising in hotels and restaurants, based in the Basque Country, works to raise the share of your direct orders and bookings, with a full SEO audit from €1,500 excl. VAT.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5.0/5 from 20 reviews (Google, Sortlist, Malt, Pages Jaunes)
Since 2019Independent agency, founder trained in restaurant management at the Institut Paul BocuseDated sourcesEvery commission or price figure quoted on this page carries its source and the date it was checkedPublic pricingOur price list is online, local SEO starter pack from €390 excl. VAT per month -
The calculation, channel by channel
What a cover costs by channel
Before any calculation, a distinction that averages blur: booking platforms and delivery platforms are not paid for in the same way. TheFork charges for the introduction, historically on a per-cover model; Uber Eats and Deliveroo take a proportional commission on every delivered order. Blending them into a single figure makes no sense: here are a restaurant's four channels, each with its source. This is the first step towards breaking free of dependence on OTAs.
The channel What the intermediary takes The source, and its nature Dine-in and takeaway, direct (phone, website, Google Business Profile) 0% intermediation commission. The cost of the channel is essentially fixed (website, booking or ordering module, SEO), excluding any payment processing fees from your payment solution. By design: no intermediary comes between you and the transaction. Booking via a platform (TheFork) Per-cover model. No complete public price list: terms are negotiated by quote, restaurant by restaurant. Checked on 16 August 2026 on TheFork's restaurateur pages. Figures circulate in the trade press; we do not repeat a figure that the platform does not publish. Delivery via a platform (Uber Eats, Deliveroo), as reported by an operator 24 to 25% per order, excluding any sponsorship, according to one operator's account. L'Hôtellerie Restauration, 18 February 2026. One account, not an average: your rate depends on your contract and your package. Delivery via a platform, the ceiling reported to Parliament Commissions “that can reach 30 to 35% of orders”. Written question No. 12960 to the National Assembly, Journal officiel of 17 February 2026. A reported ceiling, not an average. The calculation you can redo with your own figures: on a €100 order delivered with a 30% commission, €30 goes to the platform and you keep €70, before your ingredients, staff and overheads. This commission also pays for the introduction and the delivery logistics: the fair comparison is with an equivalent direct sale, a takeaway order or a cover in the dining room, which bears no intermediation commission. What remains is the fixed cost of your tools and, where applicable, your payment processing fees: costs you know in advance and that dilute as your volume rises, whereas a percentage grows with it.
-
The hidden part of the calculation
What the platforms do not publish
Platforms bring customers, that is their role and they fulfil it. What causes a problem when it comes to deciding is the information: it is hard to compare costs when part of them is not published. Three documented blind spots, each with its source.
No public price list at TheFork
As of 16 August 2026, TheFork does not publish a complete price list for restaurateurs in France: terms are given by quote, with an adviser. Per-cover figures circulate in the trade press, but they come from third-party sources: we do not repeat on this page a figure that the platform does not publish itself.
Sponsorship comes on top of the commission
In delivery, the commission is not always the only cost. The operator quoted by L'Hôtellerie Restauration on 18 February 2026 reports that the platforms offered her sponsorship of about €100 per week to be promoted by the algorithm; she turned it down. The visibility budget stacks on top of the commission; it does not replace it.
No industry study in margin points
To our knowledge, at the time of writing this page, no French professional body has published a study quantifying the weight of platform commissions in margin points for the restaurant trade. Everyone is therefore left to do their own calculation: it is exactly the one in the previous section, to be redone with your figures.
Our position is that of the calculation, not of the trial. Booking and delivery platforms have a legitimate use: reaching customers you would not otherwise have had, filling quiet services, testing delivery without investing. The question is not whether to leave them, but to know precisely what they take from your total volume, and what share of that volume could come direct.
-
Direct, at a fixed cost
Commission-free alternatives
Every intermediated channel has a direct equivalent at a fixed cost. None is free, none is magic: the right reflex is to compare a subscription known in advance with a percentage taken on every sale. This is the foundation of direct booking for hotels and restaurants, applied to the restaurant.
The subscription-based booking module
Some software vendors charge a monthly subscription instead of a commission per cover. Example checked on 16 August 2026 on Zenchef's pricing page: plans at €129, 169 and 249 per month, with no commission per cover, but with card payment processing fees of 6, 4 or 2% depending on the plan, to be included in the calculation. Source: the vendor itself, so an interested party; the principle holds for any comparable solution.
Your Google profile, a booking channel
The Google Business Profile carries your opening hours, your menu, your customer reviews and can take a booking link that points to your own module, not to an intermediary. Well filled in and well maintained, it can turn the search “restaurant + your town” into direct covers, with no commission.
Your website, optimised for local SEO
A fast, up-to-date website that ranks for local searches remains the only channel where you control everything: content, prices, data. Organic SEO (people also type “referencement restaurant” without the accent) is the lever that brings volume to it: it is an investment, not a subscription, and it is measured in covers that come direct.
Your customer base, the asset that stays with you
A customer who came through your website or your phone can, with their consent, leave you usable contact details so you can bring them back; when they come through a platform, their details are generally not passed on to you for loyalty purposes. Building your base, then bringing customers back by e-mail or SMS, takes nothing off the bill: the cost is that of the tool, to be checked against each solution's public pricing. The full toolset (booking engine, channel manager, PMS and CRM) will have a page of its own.
The order of priorities matters. A commission-free module will not fill a dining room on its own: it collects the demand that your visibility creates. Start with what brings customers in (Google Business Profile, local SEO, customer base), then equip the channel. A dedicated article will cover the direct booking channels for restaurants, one by one.
-
Rebalancing, not cutting off
The method for switching without losing covers
Cutting the platforms overnight means cutting the volume they bring: that is advice we do not give. The method is to raise direct while the platforms keep running, and to manage the share of your volume that goes through them, not the amount of their invoice.
Measuring your starting point
Over a typical month: how many covers and orders per channel, and what share of your total volume goes through an intermediary. This ratio is your steering indicator: if it falls, your dependence falls, even if your platform volume stays stable because your total volume has grown. A dedicated article will cover the platforms' cost per cover, calculated step by step.
Strengthening what brings direct business
A complete, active Google Business Profile, a fast and up-to-date website, and a place in local search results: this is the work of a restaurant marketing agency focused on organic SEO. Direct bookings cannot be decreed, they are built on the searches your future customers are already making.
Become visible where people will look for you tomorrow
Part of local search now goes through answer engines: Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode have been rolled out in France since 22 July 2026. Being cited by these engines when a customer looks for somewhere to dine is the visibility in AI answers for a hotel or restaurant side of the work: one more channel to your website, with no commission.
Rebalance, then renegotiate from a position of strength
When the direct share rises, platforms become a supplementary channel that you choose to keep, or not, service by service. A restaurateur who depends on a platform for 30% of volume does not negotiate like a restaurateur at 70%: the balance of power is built before the discussion.
Your hotelier counterpart has exactly the same issue, with Booking in the leading role: the hotel-side demonstration goes through organic SEO for a hotel. Same logic, same levers, different platforms.
-
What we do, and at what price
Our work and what it costs
ARETA is a hotel and restaurant marketing agency with a deliberately narrow scope: organic and local SEO, and visibility in answer engines, in the service of your direct orders and bookings. We do not negotiate your platform contracts, we do not manage your sponsored campaigns inside their apps, and we do not sell any booking engine: our only interest is that your direct share goes up. Our prices are public, each offer shown as “from”, excluding taxes, and a firm quote comes before any commitment.
€1,500 excl. VAT
Full SEO audit
A review of your visibility and your distribution: where your covers come from, what holds your website back, and the costed action plan. From, depending on the size of the establishment.
€390 / month
Starter Pack · Local SEO
An optimised Google Business Profile, local pages, reviews: the foundation that brings local search to your dining room. From, with no minimum term.
€990 / month
Full support
Organic SEO, content and measurement of the direct-to-intermediated ratio, reviewed at regular intervals. From; specific assignments by quote.
Compare before you sign
Our full price list is detailed on the page how much a direct booking strategy costs, and the criteria for assessing any provider, ourselves included, on the page choosing your hotel and restaurant marketing agency. We encourage you to ask every candidate the same transparency questions.
The evidence, built in public
We will publish hotel and restaurant case studies with a measured before and after, once the establishments concerned have given their written agreement. Until then, we quote no client figure on this page: it is the same standard of proof that we advise you to demand from any provider.
-
Frequently asked questions
FAQ | Platform commissions for restaurants
The questions restaurateurs ask us most often about platform commissions, the cost of direct sales and the share of their volume that goes through an intermediary.
What commission does TheFork take on a booking?
As of 16 August 2026, TheFork does not publish a complete price list for restaurateurs in France: the model has historically been based on an amount per cover, and terms are given by quote. Ask for the amount per cover in writing before you sign, then set it against your average bill: it is the only way to know your real cost on this channel.
How much do Uber Eats and Deliveroo take on a delivered order?
Two sourced benchmarks, to be kept apart: an operator interviewed by L'Hôtellerie Restauration on 18 February 2026 reports a commission of 24 to 25% per order, excluding sponsorship; and a written question in the French National Assembly (No. 12960, Journal officiel of 17 February 2026) points to commissions “that can reach 30 to 35% of orders”. The first figure is a testimony, the second a reported ceiling: your exact rate is in your contract.
Are platforms worth their cost?
Often yes, for what they do well: reaching customers who do not know you, filling quiet services, testing delivery without investing. The real question is not “platforms or not”, but what share of your total volume should go through them. As long as that share is chosen and measured, the commission is an acquisition cost; when it is imposed on you, it is a dependency.
How can I reduce the platforms' share without losing customers?
By growing the direct share while the platforms keep running: a complete Google Business Profile with a booking link to your own module, a website that ranks in local search, a customer base that you bring back. You steer by a ratio, the share of your covers and orders that goes through an intermediary, not by the amount of the invoice: when your direct volume grows, this ratio falls without you having cut anything.
What does direct booking without commission cost?
A fixed cost, known in advance. Example checked on 16 August 2026: Zenchef plans are shown at €129, 169 and 249 per month, with no commission per cover, with card payment fees of 6, 4 or 2% depending on the plan, which the vendor, an interested source since it sells the solution, displays itself and which must be included in the calculation. Other comparable solutions exist: the principle to remember is that a subscription is diluted as your volume rises, whereas a proportional commission grows with it.
Can my Google Business Profile take direct bookings?
Yes: the business listing can carry a booking link that points to your own module, on your website. A customer who searches for you by name or by “restaurant + your town” then books with no intermediary in the transaction. The profile still needs to be complete, active and well ranked: this is precisely the job of local SEO.
Why does visibility in AI answers matter for a restaurant?
Because part of the “where to dine tonight” searches now goes through answer engines: Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode have been rolled out in France since 22 July 2026, and OpenAI announced on 23 July 2026 a partnership with Yelp for restaurant search in ChatGPT. Being cited in these answers can bring customers directly to your profile and your website, with no commission: it is one more channel to work on, not a replacement for the rest.
How much does ARETA's support cost?
Our prices are public, each offer shown as “from”, excluding taxes: full SEO audit from €1,500 excl. VAT, Local SEO Starter Pack from €390 per month, full support from €990 per month, specific assignments by quote. A firm quote comes before any commitment, and the way in remains the free 30-minute meeting, with no billed audit.
A question that is not on the list?
Ask your question, 30 free minutes -
Free meeting · 30 min · no obligation
Shall we work out your numbers together?
Thirty minutes, at your establishment or by video call: your current channels, the share of your volume that goes through platforms, and the realistic levers to raise your direct share in your specific case. The distribution review is the way in, with no billed audit and no commitment. Main office in Bayonne, with work in the Basque Country, in Béarn and remotely anywhere in France.
Email[email protected]Phone06 50 82 74 13Address2 place du Château Vieux
64100 BayonneLinkedInARETAMonday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Last updated: 26 October 2026
-