Delivery apps bring a restaurant customers it wouldn't reach on its own. You pay for that with a commission on every order. With food service margins, it's often the biggest cost of an order after ingredients.
We gathered the available data on the commissions of Pyszne.pl (a Polish food delivery app), Glovo, Uber Eats and Wolt in Poland, converted them into zloty and point out what to check in the contract. The apps don't publish official price lists for restaurants, so we give ranges from statements by their representatives and industry comparisons, with dates (sources at the end).
What the apps charge
| App | Commission according to the available data | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Pyszne.pl | 13% as standard, no joining fee or subscription; higher with the app's couriers | Statement by a Pyszne.pl representative (2020) |
| Pyszne.pl | 13–30% | UpMenu comparison (2023) |
| Glovo | about 15% with your own delivery or pickup, about 30% with Glovo couriers | UpMenu comparison (2023) |
| Glovo | 25–35% | Foodyo comparison (2026) |
| Uber Eats | 15–30% | UpMenu comparison (2023) |
| Uber Eats | 25–30% | Foodyo comparison (2026) |
| Wolt | about 25% on average, rarely above 30%; set individually | Statement by the head of Wolt Poland (2020) |
| Wolt | 15–30% | UpMenu comparison (2025) |
The figures from different years don't contradict each other: the lower rates usually apply to orders the app doesn't deliver, and the higher ones to the full service with a courier. The rate is part of the contract, so two restaurants in the same city can pay differently. You'll find yours in your contract or in your statement from the app.
What the rate depends on
- Who delivers. This is the biggest difference. The app's courier is included in the commission, which is why this model is the most expensive. With your own delivery or pickup, you mainly pay for access to the app's customers.
- The contract and negotiation. Wolt has said it sets the rate individually for each venue. Chains and venues with many orders usually have a better negotiating position.
- Visibility and packages. Some apps offer a higher position in the app, featured placement or a place in loyalty programs. This usually means a higher rate or an extra fee.
- Promotions. Discounts for app customers are often paid for by the venue, in full or in part.
What else you pay on top of the commission
The commission isn't the whole cost. Before you sign a contract, ask about:
- online payment fees – some apps include them in the commission, others charge them separately, usually 1.5–2.5% of the order value,
- promotions and discounts – who pays for them and whether you can opt out,
- in-app advertising – budgets start from a few hundred zloty a month,
- refunds and complaints – who pays when a customer reports a missing dish or a late delivery,
- VAT on the commission – if you're exempt from VAT, you can't deduct it, so the real cost of the commission is higher. Check this with your accountant.
- payout terms – how many days it takes to get the money for orders paid online.
What it costs in zloty
Let's work through an example: a PLN 60 order and 300 such orders a month, which is PLN 18,000 of sales through the app.
| Commission | Per order | Per month (300 orders) | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13% | PLN 7.80 | PLN 2,340 | PLN 28,080 |
| 15% | PLN 9.00 | PLN 2,700 | PLN 32,400 |
| 25% | PLN 15.00 | PLN 4,500 | PLN 54,000 |
| 30% | PLN 18.00 | PLN 5,400 | PLN 64,800 |
This example shows the scale; it isn't a market average. It's worth seeing what's left of a single order, though. At a 30% food cost, the ingredients of a PLN 60 order cost about PLN 18. Let's also assume PLN 2 for packaging:
| Item | 15% commission | 30% commission |
|---|---|---|
| Order value | PLN 60.00 | PLN 60.00 |
| Ingredients (30%) | −PLN 18.00 | −PLN 18.00 |
| Packaging | −PLN 2.00 | −PLN 2.00 |
| Commission | −PLN 9.00 | −PLN 18.00 |
| Left for wages, rent, utilities and profit | PLN 31.00 | PLN 22.00 |
At a 30% commission, about 30% less is left from an order than at 15%. In a venue where wages and rent take up another several dozen percent of sales, the profit on such an order can be close to zero.
For comparison: on an order on your own website paid by card, a payment provider such as Stripe charges 1.5% + PLN 1 for a standard EEA card, which is PLN 1.90 on a PLN 60 order. With BLIK (a popular Polish mobile payment method) it's 1.6% + PLN 1. Your own channel has fixed costs too: the ordering system, the website and delivery, if you deliver. We compared delivery costs in the article Own delivery or delivery apps?.
When a delivery app pays off
A delivery app isn't a bad choice by definition. It gives you something that's hard to build yourself:
- new customers – people who look for food in the app and don't know your venue yet,
- logistics – couriers at peak times, without hiring your own,
- marketing – visibility in the app and loyalty programs.
The problem starts when regulars who would have come to you anyway also order through the app. You pay a commission on each of their orders, and the customer's contact details stay with the app.
That's why many venues use a simple split: the app to win new customers, your own channel for regulars. Your own channel can be the phone, pickup or orders on your website, with no commission. We describe how to set that up in the article Online ordering on your restaurant's own website.
What to check in a delivery app contract
- The rates for each model: delivery by the app, your own delivery, pickup.
- Extra fees: payments, activation, equipment (tablet, printer), subscription.
- Promotions: whether taking part in discount campaigns is mandatory and who pays for them.
- Complaints: who bears the cost of refunds for missing items, mistakes and courier delays.
- Menu prices: whether the contract affects the prices you can set in the app and in other channels.
- Payouts and termination: how often you get paid and how long the notice period is.
If you have a lot of orders, negotiate. Your arguments are your order volume and whether you can deliver yourself.
Summary
Delivery app commissions range from the low teens to about 30% of the order value, and the model with the app's courier is the most expensive. Payments, promotions and ads come on top of the commission, so work out the real cost from your statements, not the rate in the contract. An app works well for winning new customers. It pays to move regulars to a commission-free channel: pickup, the phone or orders on your own website.
Sources
- Wirtualnemedia.pl: Are food delivery platforms pushing up commissions for restaurants? The case went to UOKiK, Poland's competition and consumer protection authority (May 16, 2020, in Polish)
- UpMenu: Pyszne, Glovo, Uber Eats – what commissions? (2023, in Polish)
- UpMenu: The best food ordering apps and portals (2025, in Polish)
- Foodyo: Pyszne, Glovo and Uber Eats – the cost of selling in 2026 (June 4, 2026, in Polish)
- Stripe: pricing for Poland (accessed October 12, 2026)
