What you actually net,
per delivery order.
Most operators we work with under-model the cost of delivery — the platform commission is the headline number, but packaging and restaurant-funded discounts often turn a healthy-looking dish into a wash. Move the sliders to model your menu.
Listed price the customer sees in the delivery app
Raw material cost per portion (food cost line)
Containers, lids, cutlery, tape, bag — per order
Platform commission. Typically 15–30%, depending on the platform.
Restaurant-funded discount on menu price (excludes platform-funded)
What you actually net
Menu price minus your 10% discount
24% of the menu price goes to the DSP
Direct cost to fulfil the order
25.1% margin on the menu price
Same dish dine-in nets 68.2% margin (no platform cut, no packaging)
Marker shows the 15% healthy threshold (scale: 0–50% margin)
Healthy
Delivery is contributing real margin. Variance comes mostly from order mix and ingredient inflation — keep an eye on the food-cost slider above 35%.
Delivery margin sits 43.1 pp below dine-in for the same dish.
The number that matters isn’t commission. It’s the gap.
The interesting line on the calculator isn’t “Restaurant net.” It’s the gap between delivery net and dine-in net for the same dish. That gap is what your in-store customers are quietly subsidizing every time they walk in.
For most QSR and casual menus we model, that gap runs into double digits of percentage points. That’s the cost of being on the platform — not the commission line, the gap. It’s also the budget you have to play with on direct-ordering investments before they break even.
The other dial worth watching: the discount you fund yourself. A restaurant-funded discount on a dish that already carries a meaningful commission doesn’t just cost the discount amount — it compounds with the platform take and can quietly halve the net on a dish that wasn’t making much to begin with.
Want help building this into your real ops?
Restronaut builds custom digital systems for F&B operators — direct ordering, integrations, real margin reporting.
Frequently asked questions
How does the calculator work out what I net per delivery order?+
Restaurant net = menu price − platform commission − ingredient cost − packaging cost − any restaurant-funded discount. Platform commission is calculated as a percentage of the full menu price.
Is the discount taken off before or after the platform commission?+
Commission is calculated on the full menu price, not the discounted price the customer pays. The discount you fund is then subtracted separately as its own line from the restaurant's net — so the two costs stack rather than one reducing the other.
What counts as a healthy delivery margin in the calculator?+
The calculator flags 15% or higher restaurant net margin (as a percentage of menu price) as healthy, 5–15% as tight, and below 5% as underwater.
How does delivery margin compare to dine-in for the same dish?+
The dine-in net for the same dish is menu price minus ingredient cost only — no platform commission, no packaging cost, and no discount. The calculator shows the percentage-point gap between the dine-in margin and the delivery margin.
Does the calculator account for packaging cost separately from platform commission?+
Yes. Packaging cost (containers, lids, cutlery, tape, bag) is a separate line from platform commission — both are subtracted from menu price along with ingredient cost and any discount to arrive at restaurant net.