If you run a restaurant, cafe or takeaway in Australia, the delivery apps have quietly become one of your biggest cost lines — owners now call commission "the new rent". And in 2026 the maths changed. Menulog shut its Australian operations on 26 November 2025, announced just twelve days earlier (University of Sydney, 2025). That leaves a two-horse race: Uber Eats and DoorDash. So what do they actually cost, and what lands in your account on a A$100 order?
This is a straight breakdown using the apps' own published Australian rates — no US tiers, no closed platforms, no guesswork.
Key takeaways
- Uber Eats charges up to 30% commission on a standard delivery order in Australia, plus a one-time A$500 (excl. GST) activation fee for new locations (Uber Eats Australia, 2026).
- DoorDash charges up to 30% on a Marketplace delivery order, with no activation, subscription or contract fee (DoorDash Australia, 2026).
- Pickup and self-delivery cost far less — 6% pickup on Uber Eats, 15% on DoorDash — so the channel you push customers towards matters as much as the app you pick.
- On a A$100 order you keep about A$70 through either app's main delivery channel, versus roughly A$98 through your own ordering page.
- Menulog is gone, so any older "compare the three apps" advice you read is out of date — Australia is now a Uber Eats / DoorDash duopoly.
The short answer: what the apps charge in 2026
Here are the headline Australian rates, straight from each company's merchant pricing page.
| Channel | Uber Eats | DoorDash |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace delivery (app brings you the order and the driver) | 30% | 30% |
| Self-delivery (their order, your driver) | 16% | 15% (12% with DashPass) |
| Pickup / collection | 6% | 15% |
| Own-website "webshop" delivery | 25% | n/a (card processing only) |
| One-time activation (new location) | A$500 excl. GST | A$0 |
Sources: (Uber Eats Australia, 2026) and (DoorDash Australia, 2026).
The two big platforms have converged on the same headline number — 30% on a standard delivery order. Where they differ is in the cheaper channels and the fine print, which is where the real money is won or lost.
Why the delivery maths changed in 2026
For years, the standard advice was to spread your orders across three apps and play them off against each other. That advice is dead.
Menulog — which held nearly a quarter of the Australian market, about 24%, behind Uber Eats on around 54% and ahead of DoorDash on about 15% (University of Sydney, 2025) — ceased Australian operations on 26 November 2025. Its share didn't disappear; it flowed to the two survivors. If a third of your delivery volume used to come through Menulog, that demand is now landing on apps that charge up to 30%.
At the same time, two other 2026 changes are squeezing the same margin from other directions. Card surcharging on debit and credit will be banned from 1 October 2026, so you can no longer pass card costs to the customer at the till (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2026) — our 1 October 2026 card surcharge ban checklist walks through the absorb-vs-reprice decision. And award wages rise 4.75% from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2026). Delivery commission is the one big cost line you have the most direct control over — which is exactly why it's worth getting the numbers right.
Australian hospitality is a A$26.2bn industry spread across 29,765 businesses (IBISWorld, 2026), and most of those are independents running on thin margins. A few percentage points of commission is the difference between a viable delivery channel and a busy-but-broke one.
How much does Uber Eats charge restaurants in Australia?
Uber Eats splits its pricing by how the order is fulfilled (Uber Eats Australia, 2026):
- Uber Delivery (Marketplace): 30%. Uber lists you in the app, takes the order, and sends one of its drivers. This is the full-service option and the most expensive.
- Self-delivery: 16%. The order comes through Uber Eats, but you deliver it with your own staff or driver. You give up roughly half the commission in exchange for doing the legwork.
- Pick-up: 6%. The customer orders in the app and collects in person. At 6%, this is by far the cheapest way to use Uber Eats — and many owners never actively promote it.
Uber Eats also offers a Webshop — a branded ordering page on your own site — at 25% for delivery and 6% for pick-up. There's a one-time activation fee of A$500 (excl. GST) for a new location and A$350 for each subsequent location, plus a A$200 damage fee per device if you take their hardware (Uber Eats Australia, 2026).
Worth knowing for context: Uber Eats' 30% rate is itself the result of a permanent cut from 35% back in 2020 (Hospitality Magazine, 2020). It hasn't moved since — so don't expect the headline number to fall on its own.
How much does DoorDash charge restaurants in Australia?
DoorDash structures its Australian pricing a little differently (DoorDash Australia, 2026):
- Marketplace delivery: 30%. DoorDash's drivers (Dashers) bring the order — the equivalent of Uber's full-service tier.
- Marketplace pickup: 15%. The customer collects. Notably, this is more than double Uber Eats' 6% pickup rate, so the "cheap channel" winner flips depending on the app.
- Self-delivery: 15%, dropping to 12% with DashPass, plus a flat A$9.99 per delivery when you actually engage a Dasher.
- Online Ordering (DoorDash's commission-free ordering page for your own site): no commission, just 1.75% + A$0.30 credit-card processing and a A$5.50 delivery fee (incl. GST) per order.
DoorDash leans hard on having no fixed costs: it states it "does not charge an activation fee, subscription fee, software fee, cancellation fee, contract fee, or any hidden fees", its tablet is A$0 per week, and new merchants get a 30-day free trial of 0% delivery and pickup commissions (DoorDash Australia, 2026).
That free trial is genuinely useful for testing demand — but remember the 0% reverts to 30% the moment it ends, so model your numbers on the real rate, not the trial.
The real cost: a A$100 order, torn down
Headline percentages are easy to wave away. Here's what they mean on a single A$100 order (GST-inclusive, before your own food and labour costs), using each channel's published rate.
| How the order comes in | Fee on A$100 | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Uber Eats Marketplace (delivery) | 30% | A$70.00 |
| DoorDash Marketplace (delivery) | 30% | A$70.00 |
| Uber Eats self-delivery | 16% | A$84.00 |
| DoorDash self-delivery | 15% | A$85.00 |
| DoorDash pickup | 15% | A$85.00 |
| Uber Eats pickup | 6% | A$94.00 |
| Your own ordering page (card processing only, ~1.75% + A$0.30) | A$2.05 | A$97.95 |
The card-processing figure isn't plucked from the air — it's the exact rate DoorDash itself charges on its commission-free Online Ordering product, 1.75% + A$0.30 (DoorDash Australia, 2026). In other words, even DoorDash's own "no-commission" channel shows what an order is worth when nobody is taking a 30% cut.
The gap is stark. On a full-service delivery order you hand over A$30 of every A$100. Take that same order on your own page and you give up about A$2. Across a few hundred orders a week, that difference is the wages of a part-time staff member.
What the pricing page doesn't shout about
The published commission is the floor, not the ceiling. A few things to watch:
- Sponsored placement and promotions. Both apps sell ad placement and "buy-one-get-one"–style offers that come out of your margin on top of the commission. They lift orders, but they also lift your effective cost per order well above the headline rate.
- GST on the full order value. The commission is calculated on the GST-inclusive order total, and you still remit GST on the sale. Build that into your delivery menu pricing rather than discovering it at BAS time.
- The cheap channel flips by app. Uber Eats pickup (6%) is dirt cheap; DoorDash pickup (15%) is not. If pickup is a big part of your mix, that single number should influence which app you push hardest.
How to cut the commission without burning the apps down
You don't have to choose between "30% forever" and "quit delivery entirely". The practical play is to move volume down the cost ladder:
- Promote pickup relentlessly — in-store signage, on receipts, on your socials. On Uber Eats at 6%, a pickup order keeps almost everything a full-delivery order surrenders.
- Switch loyal regulars to self-delivery or your own page. The apps are brilliant at discovery — finding you a new customer. They're a terrible way to serve the regular who already knows your number. Use the apps to win the customer, then give them a cheaper way to reorder.
- Stand up your own ordering channel. A simple ordering page on your own website turns a 30% order into a roughly 2% one. You don't need a developer or a long contract — an AI website builder like DineHere can put a menu and an order button online in an afternoon, and the commission you save on a single busy weekend usually covers the cost for months.
The goal isn't to fight the apps. It's to stop paying full-service prices for orders that don't need full service.
So is Uber Eats (or DoorDash) still worth it?
For most Australian venues, yes — but only for the right orders. The apps are worth 30% when they bring you a customer you'd never have reached otherwise. They are a bad deal when they take 30% of an order from a regular who'd happily have ordered direct.
The owners who win in 2026 treat delivery apps as a paid acquisition channel, not a default. They watch their effective commission rate (commission plus ad spend plus funded promos), push every order they can onto pickup, self-delivery or their own page, and keep the apps for genuine new demand. With Menulog gone and two costs landing in the same year, that discipline is the difference between delivery that funds your kitchen and delivery that quietly drains it.
Frequently asked questions
How much commission does Uber Eats take from restaurants in Australia?
Up to 30% on a standard Marketplace delivery order, 16% for self-delivery, and 6% for pickup, plus a one-time A$500 (excl. GST) activation fee for new locations (Uber Eats Australia, 2026).
How much does DoorDash charge Australian restaurants?
30% for Marketplace delivery, 15% for pickup, and 15% for self-delivery (12% with DashPass). DoorDash charges no activation, subscription or contract fee and offers a 30-day free trial at 0% commission (DoorDash Australia, 2026).
Is Uber Eats or DoorDash cheaper for restaurants?
Their headline delivery rate is identical at 30%. The difference is in the cheaper channels: Uber Eats pickup is 6% versus DoorDash's 15%, while DoorDash has no activation fee where Uber Eats charges A$500. The cheaper option depends on your order mix.
What happened to Menulog in Australia?
Menulog ceased Australian operations on 26 November 2025, announced on 14 November 2025. It had held roughly 24% of the market, so Australia is now effectively a Uber Eats / DoorDash duopoly (University of Sydney, 2025).
How much do I actually keep on a A$100 delivery order?
About A$70 on a full-service delivery order through either app, A$84–A$85 on self-delivery, A$94 on Uber Eats pickup, and roughly A$98 through your own ordering page where you only pay card processing.
Can I lower my delivery-app commission?
Yes — by moving orders to cheaper channels. Pickup and self-delivery cost far less than full delivery, and your own ordering page avoids commission entirely, leaving only card-processing fees of around 1.75% + A$0.30.
Does Uber Eats charge a sign-up or activation fee?
Yes. Uber Eats charges a one-time activation fee of A$500 (excl. GST) for a new location and A$350 for each additional location (Uber Eats Australia, 2026). DoorDash does not charge an activation fee.
Is the DoorDash free trial worth it?
The 30-day trial at 0% delivery and pickup commission is a low-risk way to test demand. Just model your ongoing numbers on the real 30% rate, because that's what applies once the trial ends (DoorDash Australia, 2026).
Do I pay GST on delivery-app orders?
Yes. The commission is calculated on the GST-inclusive order total and you remit GST on the sale, so factor both into how you price your delivery menu.
Should I quit the delivery apps altogether?
Usually not. The apps are valuable for reaching new customers. The smarter move is to keep them for genuine new demand while steering regulars towards pickup, self-delivery or your own ordering page to protect your margin.