Around 35% of Indian eateries say they would quit Swiggy and Zomato if they could (News Karnataka, 2025). Most don't — because the orders come from the apps, and walking away from the orders feels like walking away from the business.
But "stay and pay 18–25% on every order" and "quit entirely" are not the only two options. In 2026 there are four real routes to taking online orders commission-free — your own ordering page, WhatsApp, ONDC and the new zero-commission platforms — and the owners getting it right run them alongside the aggregators, not instead of them.
This guide is the full picture: what each route costs, what you actually keep per order on each, and a 30/60/90-day plan to shift your regulars across without losing the Swiggy volume that pays this month's rent.
Key takeaways
- The grievance is real and measured. Around 35% of eateries would quit the aggregators given the option; rising commission is the top complaint (News Karnataka, 2025).
- The gap per order is large. Brokerage BNP Paribas puts Zomato and Swiggy commission at 18–25% per order, against around 10–11% on the government-backed ONDC network (Outlook Business, 2025). On your own ordering page the commission is zero.
- UPI makes direct payment genuinely free. There is no merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI or RuPay debit payments, so a direct UPI order costs you nothing to collect (Business Standard, 2025).
- Commission-free is not effort-free. Direct channels bring no marketplace footfall — you supply the customers. That is why the right move is a blend, not an exit.
- Start with your regulars. A repeat customer who already knows you needs no app to find you. Moving even your top 50 regulars to direct ordering takes the platforms' cut off your most loyal revenue.
Why are Indian restaurants looking beyond Swiggy and Zomato?
Because the economics of renting your order channel keep getting worse, and owners can now point to the line items.
The headline cost is commission — 18–25% per order for restaurants on the two big platforms, per a BNP Paribas note (Outlook Business, 2025). But the settlement stack runs deeper. One dessert-shop owner itemised it publicly: "zomato charges 24% commission + 18% gst on this 24% commission", plus delivery fees, a ₹562 discount on ₹4,047 of orders that "100% restaurants bare this from their pocket", and "minimum ₹1,000 per week" on ads — concluding "After factoring in all this we loose almost 50%" (Times Now, 2026). We have broken that full stack down, rupee by rupee, in what Swiggy and Zomato really cost Indian restaurants.
Then there are the charges owners say they never agreed to. Restaurateurs have alleged ad campaigns and discounts applied without consent — "If we don't approve them, they auto-approve it from their backend", as one put it — including more than ₹4 lakh deducted across one 16-outlet group over a few months (Outlook Business, 2024). In Bengaluru, eateries have flagged hidden platform discounts funded from their payouts — "their discount, our loss" (Deccan Herald, 2026).
The quieter cost is ownership. The survey's respondents also complained that they get little access to customer information, which stops them building direct relationships (News Karnataka, 2025). You cook the food, the platform keeps the customer. That is the part a commission-free channel fixes permanently.
What does "commission-free online ordering" actually mean?
It means taking orders through a channel where nobody charges you a percentage of each order. You may still pay something — a flat monthly fee for a website, a small network fee on ONDC, your own rider's salary — but the per-order percentage that scales with your success is gone.
In India in 2026 there are four practical routes:
| Route | What it is | What it costs you | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own ordering page | A website with your menu, where customers order and pay you directly | A flat monthly fee; ₹0 per order on UPI | Regulars, pickup, direct delivery |
| WhatsApp ordering | Customers message their order; you confirm and take payment by UPI | Your time; ₹0 per order | Small menus, colonies and offices nearby |
| ONDC | A government-backed open network your restaurant lists on once, visible through many buyer apps | Around 10–11% in network fees | Discovery without the duopoly's rates |
| Zero-commission apps | New platforms that charge restaurants no commission per order | Varies — check how they earn instead | Owners who want an app experience without the % |
None of these replaces the aggregators' reach on day one. The aim is different: move the orders that don't need a marketplace — your regulars, your pickup trade, the office around the corner — onto rails you own.
Route 1: Your own ordering page
This is the channel with the cleanest economics. A customer opens your site, orders, and pays you by UPI — and since there is no MDR on UPI or RuPay debit payments, the full amount lands with you (Business Standard, 2025). No commission, no GST on a commission, no ad bidding to appear above your own shop. The customer's number and order history are yours, so your best customers stop being an asset you rent back from a platform.
Getting one no longer needs an agency or a developer cousin. AI website builders made for restaurants (DineHere, for instance, turns a photo of your menu into a working site in about ten minutes) cost less per month than the ₹1,000 a week owners report spending on platform ads alone — and you can edit it yourself when the menu changes.
Two honest caveats. First, a direct channel has no built-in footfall: nobody browses your website the way they browse an app, so it works exactly as hard as you promote it — the QR on your counter, the card in every delivery bag, the link in your WhatsApp replies. Second, you fulfil the orders: pickup is trivial, but if you deliver, the rider is your cost. For most independents the direct channel starts as a pickup-and-regulars channel, which is precisely the traffic that should never have carried a commission in the first place.
Route 2: WhatsApp ordering
The lowest-tech route, and for many small operators the highest-trust one — your customers are already on WhatsApp all day. The flow is simple: a customer messages from a saved number or a QR code, you confirm the order and the time, and payment arrives by UPI before the food leaves.
The economics match the own-page route: no commission, no MDR on the UPI collection (Business Standard, 2025). A WhatsApp Business profile adds a catalogue, quick replies and labels, which is enough to run a tight takeaway operation from one phone.
The limit is labour. Every order is a conversation, so past a couple of dozen orders a day the chat becomes a bottleneck, and there is no menu page to send people to when you are slammed. That is why WhatsApp works best paired with an ordering page: the page takes the structured orders, WhatsApp keeps the relationship — your list of customer numbers becomes the cheapest re-marketing channel you will ever own.
Route 3: ONDC — the open network
ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is a government-backed network that decouples the listing from the app: you list your restaurant once through a seller platform, and customers can find and order from you through many buyer apps — Magicpin, Paytm, Ola Consumer, Waayu and others (Outlook Business, 2025).
The draw is the rate card. BNP Paribas notes that the "high commission fee of 18-25% per order" on Zomato and Swiggy "is driving restaurants to alternatives like ONDC, which charges 10-11% commissions and offers direct customer data access" (The Economic Times, 2025). It is not commission-free in the pure sense — but it roughly halves the per-order toll while keeping marketplace discovery, which is the part your own page can't give you. And the network wants to grow: ONDC has been planning to reintroduce subsidies worth ₹100–150 crore for food-delivery firms on its platform, which could translate into 80–100 million orders routed to restaurants, in a market projected to grow from $8 billion in 2023 to $17–21 billion by 2028 (Outlook Business, 2025).
Set expectations on volume, though. ONDC's food-delivery order base is still a fraction of the duopoly's, so treat it as a third leg that grows — not a same-week replacement for your Swiggy screen. Listing is cheap relative to what it saves; the realistic play is to be on it early and let the subsidised growth come to you.
Route 4: Zero-commission delivery platforms
The newest entrants drop the percentage entirely. Trade press now describes a "great food delivery reset" — independent restaurants questioning whether commission-driven models still serve them, and new platforms building the opposite pitch (The Economic Times, 2026).
Ownly co-founder Aravind Sanka frames the problem the way owners do: "For years, small restaurant owners have had to choose between profitability and visibility. When a significant portion of every order goes toward commissions, it becomes difficult to maintain pricing, quality and sustainable growth." The alternative model, he argues, is that "restaurants should be able to retain the value of the food they prepare while customers receive transparent pricing" (The Economic Times, 2026).
Due diligence still applies. A platform that charges no commission earns somewhere else — delivery fees, subscriptions, ads — so read the partner terms the way you now read an aggregator settlement: what do you pay, what does the customer pay, who owns the customer data, and how do you leave. The lesson of the last decade is not "platforms are bad"; it is "know the terms before the channel becomes your rent".
What do you actually keep on a ₹500 order?
Here is the per-order picture across channels, on an illustrative ₹500 item total, using the rates above. Packaging is on you in every channel, and the aggregator route typically adds restaurant-funded discounts and ad spend on top — the full teardown is in our Swiggy/Zomato cost breakdown.
| Channel | Per-order deduction | Left from ₹500 |
|---|---|---|
| Swiggy / Zomato (18–25% commission + 18% GST on the commission) | ₹106–148 | ₹352–394 — before discounts and ads |
| ONDC network (around 10–11% in fees) | ₹50–55 | ≈ ₹445–450 — before GST on the fees |
| Your own page / WhatsApp (UPI, zero MDR) | ₹0 | ₹500 — you handle pickup or delivery |
The exact figures vary by contract — the 24%-plus-GST stack is one owner's published settlement, and your rates sit in yours (Times Now, 2026). But the shape is the same for everyone: on the order value alone, a direct order keeps roughly ₹100–150 more per ₹500 than an aggregator order. For a shop doing even 10 direct orders a day, that is upwards of ₹30,000 a month staying in the till — money that today leaves as commission on customers who already knew where to find you.
The 30/60/90-day migration plan
Do not quit the platforms. Their discovery is real, and the survey's tension — owners who want out but fear losing the orders — resolves the other way: keep the aggregators for strangers, move the regulars to rails you own.
Days 1–30: see clearly, set up the channel.
- Audit your last three months of settlements line by line — commission, GST on commission, delivery fees, discounts, ads. Flag anything you didn't approve in writing; unauthorised ad and discount deductions are a documented pattern (Outlook Business, 2024).
- Stand up your direct channel: an ordering page with your real menu and a UPI flow, plus a WhatsApp Business profile. Keep your compliance basics in order as you go — the FSSAI licence rules that govern your aggregator listings apply to food you sell through your own channel too.
- Print one QR code that opens your ordering page. Put it on the counter, the door and the bill folder.
Days 31–60: move the regulars.
- Drop a card with the QR and a plain message — "order direct and skip the app mark-up" — into every delivery bag and takeaway parcel, including the Swiggy and Zomato ones you already send out.
- Start collecting numbers: every direct order goes into a WhatsApp broadcast list. One message on a slow Tuesday to 200 regulars costs nothing and fills tables the apps would have charged you to fill.
- List on ONDC through a seller app, so network discovery starts compounding while you build the direct base.
Days 61–90: measure and rebalance.
- Track one number weekly: the share of online orders that came direct. Even 20–30% direct changes your month's maths — at ₹100–150 saved per ₹500 order, the channel pays for itself many times over.
- With direct volume flowing, revisit your aggregator ad budget and discount participation. Visibility spend makes sense for reaching strangers; it never made sense for reaching your own regulars.
- Decide your steady state: most owners land on aggregators for discovery, ONDC for low-fee marketplace orders, and their own page plus WhatsApp for the loyal core.
Frequently asked questions
How much commission do Swiggy and Zomato charge restaurants?
Brokerage BNP Paribas puts commission on the major platforms at 18–25% per order (Outlook Business, 2025), and 18% GST applies on that commission as one owner's published breakdown shows (Times Now, 2026). Discounts, delivery fees, packaging and ad spend come on top.
What is the cheapest way for an Indian restaurant to take online orders?
Your own ordering page or WhatsApp, paid by UPI. There is no per-order commission, and no MDR applies on UPI or RuPay debit payments, so collection itself is free (Business Standard, 2025). Your only costs are a flat website fee and your own fulfilment.
What is ONDC and how is it different from Swiggy or Zomato?
ONDC is a government-backed open network: you list once and become visible across many buyer apps instead of inside one company's marketplace. BNP Paribas puts ONDC commission at around 10–11% per order, versus 18–25% on the big two platforms (The Economic Times, 2025).
Are UPI payments really free for my restaurant?
Yes. MDR was made zero for RuPay debit cards and BHIM-UPI transactions from January 2020 to promote digital payments (PMO India, 2025), and no MDR applies to UPI payments today (Business Standard, 2025) — so a ₹500 UPI order credits you ₹500.
What GST applies when I take orders on my own website?
Restaurant food is 5% GST without input tax credit for standalone restaurants, including takeaway (ClearTax, 2025). On direct orders you bill and remit that 5% yourself, whereas on aggregator orders the platform has been liable to collect and pay it since 1 January 2022 (ClearTax, 2024).
Do I need a separate FSSAI licence to sell through my own channel?
Food sold online from the same premises is still food sold by your business, so your existing registration or licence covers it — keep it current and displayed. Our FSSAI licence checklist for Indian restaurants walks through the requirements.
Should I quit Swiggy and Zomato entirely?
For most independents, no — the discovery is real, and around 35% of eateries wanting to leave (News Karnataka, 2025) does not mean leaving is the profitable move. Run the blend: aggregators for strangers, direct channels for regulars, and stop paying commission on customers you already own.
How do customers find my ordering page without an app?
You point them to it: a QR code on the counter and the door, a card in every takeaway and delivery bag, the link in your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio and every WhatsApp reply. Direct channels grow on the customers who already buy from you — which is exactly why no platform should take a cut of them.
How many orders will I get on ONDC compared with Swiggy?
Fewer, for now — ONDC's food-delivery volume is still well below the duopoly's, which is why the network has been planning ₹100–150 crore of subsidies to grow it (Outlook Business, 2025). Treat it as a low-fee third leg that compounds, not an overnight replacement.
What should I check before joining a zero-commission delivery platform?
How the platform earns (delivery fees, subscriptions, ads), what the customer pays, who owns the customer data, and how easily you can leave. The "great food delivery reset" is real (The Economic Times, 2026) — but any channel you don't understand can become the next rent.
