If you run a restaurant, takeaway or cafe in the UK, you've probably got two or three aggregator tablets chirping away on the counter, and a sinking feeling every time the weekly statement lands. Owners call the commission "the new rent", and with UKHospitality warning that closures could hit as many as six a day in 2026 (The Caterer, 2026), choosing the right platform — and the right deal on it — is no longer a side decision.
This is the head-to-head for owners: what Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats actually charge in 2026, who each platform genuinely suits, and how to decide which (if any) deserves a place on your counter.
Key takeaways
- Just Eat is the cheapest headline rate — 14% commission per order, with no upfront joining fee; add 50p plus VAT per order if you self-deliver, or 5% (minimum 50p, capped at £1.99) to use Just Eat's couriers (Deliverect, 2024).
- Uber Eats publishes its UK rates: 30% if Uber delivers, 13% if you deliver, 13% for pick-up — plus a one-off £650 (excl. VAT) activation fee (Uber Eats, 2026).
- Deliveroo doesn't publish a rate card. Industry guides put its commission between 25% and 35% per order depending on your set-up (Menuviel, 2025) — you'll only get your number by negotiating.
- Deliveroo is now owned by DoorDash. The takeover completed on 2 October 2025, and while the brand continues, UK terms are worth watching as the new owner settles in (DoorDash, 2025).
- Whether you have your own drivers changes everything. Self-delivering drops Uber Eats from 30% to 13% and keeps Just Eat near 14% — the single biggest lever on what you pay.
What do Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats charge UK restaurants in 2026?
Here's the short answer, side by side. Just Eat and Uber Eats publish their numbers; Deliveroo's are negotiated case by case.
| Fee type | Deliveroo | Just Eat | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headline commission (they deliver) | ~25–35% (not published; negotiated) | 14% + 5% delivery fee (min 50p, capped £1.99/order) | 30% |
| You deliver (own drivers) | Negotiated | 14% + 50p (plus VAT) per order | 13% |
| Pick-up / collection | Negotiated | 14% | 13% |
| Joining / activation fee | Not published | £0 upfront | £650 (excl. VAT) |
| Rate transparency | Low | High | High |
Sources: (Uber Eats, 2026; Deliverect, 2024; Menuviel, 2025).
Two things jump out. First, the gap between platforms is enormous: on a like-for-like delivered order, Just Eat's combined cut can be roughly half of Uber Eats' headline 30%. Second, the published number is only the start: every platform quotes commission ex VAT, and paid promotions, sponsored placement and tablet kit can stack on top.
Owners have been comparing notes on this for years. In one long-running UK owners' forum thread, a north-west London restaurant reported paying "30% ex vat to deliveroo and 35% ubereats", while another owner talked Just Eat down from a quoted 17.5% to a signed 15% (UK Business Forums, 2018). The rates there are dated now, but the lesson hasn't aged: your rate is set in the negotiation, not the brochure.
The DoorDash takeover: what it means for Deliveroo partners
The biggest shift in the UK delivery market since the pandemic: DoorDash — the US delivery giant — completed its acquisition of Deliveroo on 2 October 2025, via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement (DoorDash, 2025).
For now, not much changes day to day. DoorDash says Deliveroo "will continue to operate as one of the leading local commerce platforms across its key geographies", bringing with it roughly 176,000 restaurant and retail partners and over 130,000 riders across nine countries.
For owners, though, two practical implications are worth pencilling in:
- Expect contract amendments. New owners harmonise terms. In the US, DoorDash sells tiered plans where the commission buys visibility — 15% Basic up to 30% Premier (DoorDash, 2026). If that model crosses the Atlantic, your "one rate" Deliveroo deal could become a menu of options. Read every terms update before clicking accept.
- Negotiating leverage may shift. Consolidation usually strengthens the platform's hand. If you've been meaning to renegotiate your Deliveroo rate, sooner is likely better than later.
Deliveroo: best for urban, premium-priced restaurants
Deliveroo suits urban, dinner-led restaurants with a brand worth protecting — and owners willing to negotiate hard, because nothing is published.
Its commission generally falls between 25% and 35% of each order's value, with quick-service operators typically nearer the bottom of that range and premium restaurants nearer the top (Menuviel, 2025). Rider supply is strongest in cities and large towns; coverage thins out fast beyond them.
The platform's pitch to owners is the exclusivity of its customer base — Deliveroo claims 73% of its customers "order exclusively with us each month" (Deliveroo, 2026). Discount that as marketing, but the underlying point is real: in city centres there is a pool of Deliveroo-first customers you won't reach anywhere else.
Choose Deliveroo if: you're in a dense urban area, your food travels well at a premium price point, and you can negotiate a rate in the mid-to-high 20s rather than the 30s.
Skip it if: you're in a smaller town with patchy rider coverage, or your margins can't survive a 30%+ effective rate while you "trial" it.
Just Eat: built for takeaways with their own drivers
Just Eat suits takeaways with their own drivers, full stop. It's the platform whose pricing was built around the traditional self-delivering takeaway, and it shows.
The numbers: 14% commission on every order, no upfront joining fee, then 50p plus VAT per order if you deliver yourself, or 5% of order value (minimum 50p, capped at £1.99) for Just Eat's delivery service (Deliverect, 2024). On a £20 order, that 14% works out at £3.36 including VAT — against £6 or more at a 30% platform.
Just Eat's historic strength is breadth: it grew up serving towns and suburbs, not just city centres, which is exactly where a fish-and-chip shop or curry house with two drivers on a Friday night lives. And as the forum thread above shows, owners have long talked the headline rate down — one was quoted 17.5% and signed at 15% (UK Business Forums, 2018).
Choose Just Eat if: you self-deliver, you're outside the big-city core, and order volume matters more to you than premium brand placement.
Skip it if: you have no drivers and your area's Just Eat courier coverage is thin — check this before signing, it varies street by street.
Uber Eats: published rates and a cheap self-delivery channel
Uber Eats suits owners who want published rates, national reach, and a cheap self-delivery or collection channel — and who can stomach the £650 (excl. VAT) activation fee.
Its UK pricing is refreshingly public: 30% delivery fee when Uber's couriers deliver, 13% if you use your own drivers, and 13% on pick-up orders. The one-off £650 activation includes the tablet, printer, menu creation, photography and training (Uber Eats, 2026).
That 13% self-delivery and pick-up rate is the quiet bargain of the UK market. If you already employ drivers — or can push regulars towards collection — Uber Eats becomes one of the cheapest doors to a national customer base, at less than half its own headline rate.
Choose Uber Eats if: you self-deliver (13% beats almost everything), collection is meaningful for you, or you want access to its late-night and city demand with terms you can read before you sign.
Skip it if: you'd be on the 30% full-delivery tier with thin margins, or the £650 upfront stings for an unproven channel in your area.
Which platform should you choose for your business model?
Match the platform to how you operate, not to who shouts loudest. The decision usually comes down to three questions: do you have your own drivers, where are you, and what's your margin per dish?
| Your situation | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Takeaway with own drivers | Just Eat (+ Uber Eats self-delivery) | 14% + 50p and 13% rates; keep your delivery costs in-house |
| City-centre restaurant, premium menu | Deliveroo (negotiate) | Strongest urban rider network and Deliveroo-first customers |
| No drivers, want maximum reach | Uber Eats + Deliveroo | Full-service delivery on both; weight menu prices to cover 30% |
| Suburban or small-town takeaway | Just Eat first | Built for towns; check courier coverage before adding others |
| Strong collection trade | Uber Eats | 13% pick-up rate is the cheapest published aggregator channel |
Most established operators end up multi-homing — listing on two or three platforms and treating them as paid discovery channels rather than the business itself. That's rational: each app has customers the others don't. Just keep each platform's effective rate visible on one page, and re-run the maths every quarter; with margins under the pressure of nearly £7bn of tax rises over the last two Budgets (The Caterer, 2026), a channel that quietly slides from 25% to 33% effective cost needs catching fast.
What does a 30% commission actually do to your margins?
Answer first: on a typical £20 delivered order at 30% commission, £6 goes to the platform before VAT, food, packaging and labour — which for many independents is the entire profit in the bag, and sometimes more.
Run the same £20 order through each platform's delivered rate:
- Just Eat (their couriers): 14% + 5% delivery (£1.00 here) ≈ £3.80 ex VAT
- Deliveroo (mid-range 30%): ≈ £6.00 ex VAT
- Uber Eats (full service): 30% = £6.00 ex VAT
- Your own ordering page: card processing pennies — you keep effectively all of it
Now multiply by volume. A takeaway doing 200 of those £20 orders a week at 30% hands the platform £1,200 a week before VAT — north of £60,000 a year. That's not a marketing line; that's a full-time wage or two at 2026 labour rates.
None of this means "quit the apps". It means treating aggregator commission like rent: a cost you cap, negotiate, and never let creep unexamined.
How do you pay the apps less without losing orders?
You don't have to choose between 30% commission and invisibility. Five moves that work in practice:
- Negotiate — with evidence. Rates are clearly movable (17.5% quoted, 15% signed, in the thread above). Bring your weekly volume and a competitor's offer to the conversation. Renegotiate annually, and after any ownership change, like now with Deliveroo.
- Exploit the cheap channels inside each app. Uber Eats' 13% self-delivery and pick-up rates, and Just Eat's 14% + 50p self-delivery, cost less than half the full-service tiers. Steer what you can there.
- Weight your menu prices per platform. Most operators price 10–20% higher on aggregator menus than in-store — but mind the rules on promotions if you sell HFSS items, which are restricted online.
- Audit the add-ons. Sponsored placement, funded promos and equipment charges push your effective rate well past the sticker. Pull one month's statements and work out what you actually paid per order on each app.
- Convert regulars to direct orders. The apps are good at finding new customers; they're a terrible place to keep serving your existing ones at 30% a time. Put a commission-free online ordering page on your own website, drop a card in every delivery bag, and move your repeat trade there — tools like DineHere build the site and ordering page from a photo of your menu, for less than one delivery-app commission a week.
The platforms are discovery engines. The owners who win with them use each app's cheapest viable channel, hold their rate down by negotiating, and quietly migrate their regulars to a channel they own.
FAQ
Which delivery app charges the lowest commission in the UK?
Just Eat, on headline rates — 14% per order, plus 50p (plus VAT) if you self-deliver or 5% (capped at £1.99) for its couriers (Deliverect, 2024). Uber Eats' 13% self-delivery and pick-up rates are comparable if you don't need their drivers.
How much does Deliveroo charge restaurants per order?
Deliveroo doesn't publish UK rates. Industry guides put commission between 25% and 35% per order depending on restaurant type and set-up (Menuviel, 2025), and owners have reported rates around 30% ex VAT. Your actual number is negotiated.
Does Just Eat charge a joining fee?
Current industry guidance says there's no upfront joining fee (Deliverect, 2024) — older £295–£699 set-up fees have largely disappeared from its standard offer. Confirm in writing before you sign, as packages change.
What does Uber Eats charge to join?
A one-off £650 activation fee (excl. VAT), which covers the tablet, printer, menu creation, photography, a window sticker and training (Uber Eats, 2026). Commission then applies per order.
Can I negotiate commission rates with delivery apps?
Yes. Rates are commercial terms, not fixed prices — owners have long reported talking Just Eat down from a quoted 17.5% to a signed 15% (UK Business Forums, 2018). Volume, exclusivity and a competing offer are your levers.
Should my restaurant be on all three platforms?
Often, yes — each has customers the others don't, and multi-homing spreads the risk of one app's terms worsening. The discipline is tracking your effective rate per platform monthly and cutting any channel that stops paying its way.
Who owns Deliveroo now?
DoorDash, the US delivery giant, completed its acquisition of Deliveroo on 2 October 2025. The Deliveroo brand and app continue to operate in the UK (DoorDash, 2025).
Do I pay VAT on delivery app commission?
Commission is quoted ex VAT and the platforms add it on top — Just Eat's 14% on a £20 order is £2.80 plus 56p VAT, £3.36 in total (Deliverect, 2024). If you're VAT-registered you can usually reclaim it; if you're not, it's a real extra cost.
Is it cheaper to use my own drivers?
Dramatically. Self-delivery drops Uber Eats from 30% to 13% (Uber Eats, 2026) and keeps Just Eat at 14% + 50p per order. If you run enough volume to keep a driver busy, the saving usually covers their wage.
How do I get customers to order direct instead?
Make direct ordering the better deal: a simple ordering page on your own site, a flyer or card in every aggregator bag, and a small direct-only perk (free side, loyalty stamp). Our commission-free online ordering guide walks through the full set-up.
