If you run a restaurant, café or takeaway in Ireland, the delivery apps have quietly become one of your biggest cost lines — many owners now call commission "the new rent". Irish consumers are spending €2.2 billion a year on food delivery (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025), and a big slice of every one of those orders goes to the platform, not the kitchen that cooked it.
So what do Deliveroo and Just Eat actually cost, and what lands in your bank account on a €100 order? This is a straight breakdown in euro — no UK tiers, no US plans, no guesswork.
Key takeaways
- Delivery platforms charge Irish restaurants roughly 25–35% per order, according to a 2025 analysis of the Irish market (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025).
- Deliveroo's base commission generally falls between 25% and 35% of each order, because it supplies the couriers (Menuviel, 2026).
- Just Eat ranges from about 14% to 35% depending on whether you deliver the order or its couriers do, with collection-only orders nearer 8–15% (Menuviel, 2025).
- On a €100 delivery order you keep about €70 through a full-service app — versus roughly €98 through your own ordering page, where you only pay card processing.
- Collection costs far less than delivery, so the channel you push customers towards matters as much as the app you sign with.
The short answer: what the apps charge in 2026
Neither Deliveroo nor Just Eat publishes a public Irish rate card — your exact rate depends on your location, order volume and contract, so always get the figure in writing before you sign. But industry guides and a 2025 review of the Irish market put the headline rates in a clear band.
| Channel | Deliveroo | Just Eat | Uber Eats (Dublin/Cork) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full delivery (their couriers bring the order) | 25–35% | up to ~35% | up to 30% |
| Self-delivery (their order, your driver) | lower | lower | ~15% |
| Collection / pickup (customer collects) | lower | 8–15% | 6% |
Sources: (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025), (Menuviel — Deliveroo, 2026), (Menuviel — Just Eat, 2025) and (UpMenu, 2026).
The pattern is the same across all three: full-service delivery, where the app finds the customer and brings the food, is by far the most expensive. The cheaper channels — self-delivery and collection — are where the real money is kept or lost.
Why delivery commission is "the new rent" in 2026
The reason this maths matters so much in Ireland is margins. Restaurants here run on "average profit margins usually falling between a slim 3 and 5%" (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025). When a platform takes 25–35% off the top of an order, it is taking a multiple of the profit you would make on that sale.
The platforms, meanwhile, are growing. Deliveroo's Irish revenues rose from €47.89m in 2023 to €51.98m in 2024, and Just Eat generated over €1.3 billion in revenues across the UK and Ireland in 2023 (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025). The pressure shows at street level: 150 restaurants closed in the first quarter of 2025 due to rising business costs, with almost two-thirds of restaurants reporting a decline in financial performance in 2024 (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025).
And the squeeze is landing from several directions at once in 2026. The minimum wage rose and pension auto-enrolment began in January, while the hospitality VAT relief does not arrive until 1 July (Irish Times, 2025) — see our guide to Ireland's hospitality VAT rate for the full timeline. Of all these cost lines, delivery commission is the one you have the most direct control over, which is exactly why it is worth getting the numbers right.
How much does Deliveroo charge restaurants in Ireland?
Deliveroo's base commission "generally falls between 25% and 35% per order" (Menuviel, 2026). It sits at the higher end because Deliveroo supplies the riders — you are paying for the logistics network as well as the listing.
Where you land in that band depends on volume, location and how exclusive you are. When Uber Eats first arrived in Ireland, Deliveroo was charging exclusive restaurants a "competitive rate of 30%" and warned partners who also joined a rival app that "30 days from now, your renewed commission rate will be 35%" (TheJournal.ie, 2018). That exclusivity dynamic still shapes negotiations today — playing the apps off against each other can cost you a few points either way.
On top of the base rate, marketing features and promoted placement are charged separately and come out of your margin, so your effective cost per order is usually higher than the headline percentage.
How much does Just Eat charge restaurants in Ireland?
Just Eat is more variable because it offers more models. Its commission "typically ranges from 14% to 35% per order, depending on your plan and geographic location", with collection orders "usually 8% to 15%, since Just Eat doesn't handle drivers", plus a card-processing fee "typically around 1–2% of transaction value" (Menuviel, 2025).
In practice, the rate you pay hinges on one question: who delivers? If your own staff or driver bring the order, you sit at the lower end of the range. If Just Eat's couriers deliver, you pay for that service and land near the top. That makes Just Eat potentially cheaper than Deliveroo if you already run your own delivery — and roughly comparable if you rely on the platform's riders.
What about Uber Eats? (Dublin and Cork)
Uber Eats operates in the bigger Irish cities, mainly Dublin and Cork. It launched in Ireland understood to charge "an average of around 30%" (TheJournal.ie, 2018), and today prices on tiered plans: roughly 15% on its Lite plan, 25% on Plus and 30% on Premium for delivery orders, with pickup at 6% across all plans (UpMenu, 2026).
The standout figure there is pickup at 6%. If a meaningful share of your orders are customers who collect, that single rate can make Uber Eats far cheaper than its headline 30% suggests — but only if you actively steer people towards collection.
The real cost: a €100 order, torn down
Headline percentages are easy to wave away. Here is what they mean on a single €100 order (before your own food and labour costs), using each channel's published rate.
| How the order comes in | Fee on €100 | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Full marketplace delivery (their couriers) | ~30% | €70.00 |
| Self-delivery (their order, your driver) | ~15% | €85.00 |
| Just Eat collection | 8–15% | €85.00–€92.00 |
| Uber Eats pickup | 6% | €94.00 |
| Your own ordering page (card processing only) | ~2% | €98.00 |
The gap is stark. On a full-service delivery order you hand over about €30 of every €100. Take that same order on your own page — where you only pay card processing of roughly 1–2%, the same kind of fee the platforms themselves charge on their commission-free products (Menuviel, 2025) — and you give up about €2. Across a few hundred orders a week, that difference is the wages of a part-time staff member.
What the headline rate doesn't show
The published commission is the floor, not the ceiling. A few things to watch:
- Sponsored placement and promotions. Both big apps sell ad placement and discount offers that come out of your margin on top of the commission. They lift orders, but they also push your effective cost per order well above the headline rate.
- Commission on the whole order. The percentage is usually taken on the full order value, so you are paying commission on the delivery fee and any service charge too, not just the food.
- Exclusivity clauses. As Deliveroo's 30%-to-35% warning shows, leaving an app or joining a rival can change your rate. Read the contract before you sign anything that locks you in.
How to cut delivery commission without quitting the apps
You do not have to choose between "35% forever" and "quit delivery entirely". The practical play is to move volume down the cost ladder:
- Promote collection relentlessly — in-store signage, on receipts, on your socials. On Uber Eats pickup at 6%, a collection order keeps almost everything a full-delivery order surrenders.
- Switch loyal regulars to your own channel. The apps are brilliant at discovery — finding you a new customer. They are an expensive 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 page. A direct order page on your own website turns a 30% order into a roughly 2% one. You do not need a developer or a long contract — an AI website builder like DineHere can put your menu and an order button online in an afternoon from a photo of your menu, and the commission you save on a single busy weekend usually covers the cost for months. Irish-founded options such as Flipdish sit in the same space if you want to compare.
The goal is not to fight the apps. It is to stop paying full-service prices for orders that did not need full service.
So are Deliveroo and Just Eat still worth it?
For most Irish venues, yes — but only for the right orders. The apps are worth 25–35% when they bring you a customer you would never have reached otherwise. They are a bad deal when they take a third of an order from a regular who would happily have ordered direct.
The owners who come out ahead 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 collection, self-delivery or their own page, and keep the apps for genuine new demand. On 3–5% margins, that discipline is the difference between delivery that funds your kitchen and delivery that quietly drains it.
Frequently asked questions
How much commission does Deliveroo take from restaurants in Ireland?
Deliveroo's base commission generally falls between 25% and 35% of each order, because it supplies the couriers (Menuviel, 2026). Your exact rate depends on volume, location and whether you trade exclusively with Deliveroo, and marketing features are charged on top.
How much does Just Eat charge Irish restaurants?
Just Eat typically ranges from about 14% to 35% per order depending on your plan and who delivers, with collection orders nearer 8–15% and a card-processing fee of around 1–2% (Menuviel, 2025). You pay less when your own driver delivers and more when Just Eat's couriers do.
How much does Uber Eats charge restaurants in Dublin?
Uber Eats prices on tiered plans of roughly 15% (Lite), 25% (Plus) and 30% (Premium) for delivery, with pickup at 6% across all plans (UpMenu, 2026). It launched in Ireland understood to charge around 30% (TheJournal.ie, 2018) and operates mainly in Dublin and Cork.
What do delivery apps cost Irish restaurants overall?
A 2025 review of the Irish market found platforms charging 25–35% commission per order (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025). On profit margins of just 3–5%, that takes far more than the profit a typical order would otherwise make.
How much do I actually keep on a €100 delivery order?
About €70 on a full-service delivery order, around €85 on self-delivery, €85–€94 on collection depending on the app, and roughly €98 through your own ordering page where you only pay card processing.
Is Deliveroo or Just Eat cheaper for restaurants?
It depends on who delivers. Deliveroo sits at 25–35% because it always supplies riders, while Just Eat can be cheaper if your own staff deliver the order and more comparable if its couriers do (Menuviel, 2025).
Can I lower my delivery-app commission?
Yes — mainly by moving orders to cheaper channels. Collection and self-delivery cost far less than full delivery, and your own ordering page avoids commission entirely, leaving only card-processing fees of around 1–2%.
Do delivery apps charge commission on the whole order or just the food?
Commission is usually calculated on the full order value, which can include the delivery fee and service charge, not the food alone — so build that into how you price your delivery menu.
Why is delivery commission called "the new rent"?
Because at 25–35% of every order it has become one of the largest fixed-feeling costs on a restaurant's books — comparable in scale to rent, but charged on every single delivery sale (RTÉ Brainstorm, 2025).
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 collection, self-delivery or your own ordering page to protect your margin.
