Own your ordering. Keep your POS.
Marketplaces and ordering platforms take a cut of every order and keep the customer relationship. We build ordering on your own domain, paid through your own Stripe account, for a fixed price. The counter stays as it is.
Where the rent hides
The commission
Delivery apps advertise 15 to 30 percent. With promotions, processing, and refunds, the effective cut on an order commonly lands near a third.
The subscription
Commission-free ordering platforms charge $229 to $449 a month, and the price climbs at renewal.
The customer list
Order through a marketplace and the buyer stays on its list, not yours. Reaching your own regulars gets sold back to you as advertising.
The contract
POS and platform agreements allow annual increases. Owners renewing in 2026 report double-digit jumps over their signed pricing.
Run your numbers
Conservative defaults. An estimate, not a quote; a call with a principal makes it exact.Assumes the apps keep 30% of an order effectively, you move 60% of that volume direct, Stripe at 2.9% plus 30¢, a $350 monthly care plan, hosting, and a $15k to $25k build.
What the apps keep per year
$24,300
Kept per year with an owned channel
$16,457
The build pays for itself in
about 11 to 18 months
How it works
The numbers
A short call turns the estimate into a firm quote against your volume. If owning the channel does not pay, the call is where it ends.
The build
Menu or catalog, order-ahead or drops, customer accounts, text alerts, and the admin, on your domain and your Stripe account. Three to five weeks, fixed price.
The care plan
A flat monthly plan covers hosting, monitoring, and changes. No percentage of anything.
Built and running
Two of these are live today, built the same way we would build yours.
When you should keep the apps
If the marketplaces bring you discovery you could not buy otherwise, keep them for it. Owning the channel pays when a meaningful share of orders comes from people who already know you.
If counter volume is small and Square's free tier covers you, use Square. Paying us to rebuild it would be waste.
We also do not replace restaurant POS. Counter service needs offline mode and around-the-clock support, and the platforms built for that should keep the counter. We build the channel beside it.
Common questions
7 questionsDo I have to replace my POS or payment terminal?
No. The counter keeps whatever runs it today. We build the direct channel beside it, and orders arrive in one place your staff already checks.
What does it cost?
Most builds land between $15,000 and $25,000, fixed in writing before we start, plus a care plan from about $350 a month. There are no per-order fees and no percentages.
Who owns it when you are done?
You do, from day one. The domain, the code, the Stripe account, and the customer list are yours, and handover includes documentation your next developer can pick up.
Can it do drops and preorders instead of a standing menu?
Yes. Merrimack Mushroom sells exactly that way: subscribers get a text when a drop opens, reserve their packs, and pay by card or at pickup. Harvest schedules, pickup windows, and sold-out states are all first-class.
What about delivery drivers?
We build ordering, pickup coordination, and local delivery routing, not a courier fleet. Shops that need couriers usually keep one marketplace for those orders and move pickup and repeat business direct.
What happens if it breaks during a rush?
The care plan includes monitoring and a principal on call for the channel we built. If ordering ever goes down, the page tells customers to call, and the counter keeps trading.
How long does it take?
Three to five weeks from kickoff to live orders, scoped in writing before we start.
See your numbers with a principal.
A 30-minute call, your volume, and a firm answer either way.
Book a call