Just Eat vs Deliveroo vs Uber Eats for restaurants (UK, 2026)

Short answer: For a UK restaurant or takeaway, Just Eat and Uber Eats publish their rates. Both charge 30% + VAT when they deliver. If you deliver yourself, Just Eat charges 14% + VAT and Uber Eats 13% + VAT. Deliveroo sets rates in each restaurant's contract. The only rate it publishes is 35% + VAT when Marketplace+ restaurants use its riders. All three add 20% VAT on top of the commission.

So the deliveroo vs uber eats question has no single winner, and neither does just eat vs deliveroo. The cheapest app is the one whose customers live near you, at the lowest tier you can run. This guide compares all three from the owner's side of the counter: fees, VAT, payouts, tablets, contracts and reach. It also shows how to pair them with a commission-free channel of your own.

Uber Eats and Deliveroo pages and terms checked on 11 October 2026. Just Eat figures are from its UK sign-up page as of 13 July 2026 (the live page blocks automated checks). Platforms change terms often. Your own agreement and payout statement are the final word.

Delivery app commission compared: who takes what?

This is the table most owners want first. It shows the commission on each order, before VAT.

What this means in practice:

• If the app's couriers deliver, expect to hand over about a third of the order, once VAT is added.
• If you have your own drivers, Uber Eats (13%) and Just Eat (14%) are close. The gap is 1 point.
• Deliveroo is the hardest to compare. Ask for your rate in writing before you sign.

One detail matters more than it looks. UK menu prices must include VAT. So the commission is charged on a VAT-inclusive price, but you may owe some of that price to HMRC. More on this in the VAT section below.

Sign-up, activation and set-up fees

Our advice on the Just Eat fee: budget for £295 + VAT (£354). Then ask your account manager to confirm the fee, or to waive it, in writing before you sign. Both statements appear on Just Eat's own UK sign-up page, so make sure you know which one applies to you.

VAT on commission (and the hidden VAT trap)

All three apps add 20% VAT to their commission.

• Just Eat gives its own example. On a £20 order at 14%, the commission is £2.80 + 56p VAT = £3.36.
• If you're VAT-registered, you can usually reclaim that VAT as input tax.
• If you're not VAT-registered (taxable turnover under £90,000), the VAT is a real cost. A 30% commission then costs you 36% of the order.

The hidden trap: commission is charged on the price the customer pays, and that price includes VAT. Hot takeaway food is standard-rated at 20%. So on a £24 hot meal, a VAT-registered takeaway owes £4 to HMRC and keeps £20. A 30% commission is £7.20, which is 36% of the £20 you actually keep.

In the usual set-up you are the seller of the food, so you account for the VAT on it. Check your agreement and ask your accountant if you're unsure. Read our guide to VAT on takeaway food for the hot vs cold rules.

Payouts, tablets, marketing and contracts

Terms change often, so re-check yours each year.

Worked example: a takeaway doing 400 orders a month at £24

Let's take a busy curry house or chippy. It does 400 delivery orders a month with an average order of £24, which is £9,600 a month in food sales. Here's what each app keeps, with 20% VAT added to the commission.

*Deliveroo doesn't publish other rates. 35% is its only published rate, so treat it as a ceiling and put your own rate in the calculator.

How to read it:

• VAT-registered? Take off the VAT column. For example, Just Eat delivered then costs £2,880 a month, not £3,456.
• Own drivers aren't free. On the 14% and 13% tiers, take off your driver costs. If a drop costs you £3 (an example, so use your own figure), Just Eat own-delivery leaves about £16.97 per order.
• Set-up fees come on top in year one: Uber Eats £780 incl. VAT, Just Eat up to £354 incl. VAT, and Deliveroo's joining fee (not published).
• The direct line still has costs: card fees and your Menuthere plan (US$17 a month on Lite, billed in US dollars; your bank converts it). It has no commission.

What happens if 30% of those orders come to you direct?

Say 120 of the 400 orders move to your own ordering page. Your regulars come back through a link instead of the app.

• If you already deliver yourself on Just Eat (14%): you save £4.03 − £0.56 = £3.47 per order. That's £416.64 a month, or about £5,000 a year. Same drivers, same food.
• If the app was delivering and those orders become collection: you save £8.64 − £0.56 = £8.08 per order. That's £969.60 a month, or about £11,635 a year.

Want to run your own numbers? Use the calculators on our Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats commission pages.

Reach: which app do your customers actually use?

A low commission is worth nothing if nobody near you opens that app. There's no public data that splits UK app use town by town, and national reputations don't always match your street. Owners often say:

• Just Eat is the long-standing takeaway name, used by many chippies, pizza shops, kebab shops and curry houses.
• Deliveroo started in city centres, with restaurant brands and lunch orders.
• Uber Eats shares its user base with the Uber ride app. Uber One members push orders toward the 33% tier.

Treat that as a starting point only. Local demand is what counts.

Do this five-minute test before you sign.

1. Open each consumer app.
2. Enter your shop's postcode.
3. Count how many takeaways like yours already show up.

Lots of rivals means proven demand, but also a fight for visibility. That fight is usually won with paid ads and offers, which cost more on top of the commission.

Uber Eats vs Deliveroo: the head-to-head

• Price clarity: Uber Eats publishes its rates (30% / 33% / 13%). Deliveroo doesn't. If you value certainty, Uber Eats wins this one.
• Set-up cost: Uber Eats charges £650 + VAT. Deliveroo's joining fee depends on the device option and isn't published.
• Payouts: Deliveroo pays weekly, on Thursdays. Uber Eats' UK terms say item revenue is transferred on a "bi-weekly basis".
• Contract: Deliveroo has a 30-day notice period. Uber Eats has a one-year term that renews automatically. That's a real difference if you're unsure.
• Self-delivery: both allow it. Uber Eats publishes 13%. Deliveroo Marketplace+ lets you set your own radius.

Just Eat vs Deliveroo: the head-to-head

• Commission: Just Eat publishes 14% (own drivers) and 30% (Just Eat delivers). Deliveroo's published figure is 35% with its riders. Others are negotiated.
• Joining: Just Eat says either free or £295 + VAT, depending on which part of its page you read. Deliveroo charges a one-off joining fee based on your device choice.
• Payouts: both pay weekly (Just Eat on Friday, Deliveroo on Thursday).
• Best fit: Just Eat suits takeaways with their own drivers. Deliveroo suits city restaurants that want its courier network and a premium audience.

Just Eat vs Uber Eats: the head-to-head

• App delivers: both charge 30%. Uber Eats charges 33% on Uber One orders.
• Own delivery or pickup: Uber Eats charges 13% and Just Eat 14%.
• Set-up: Uber Eats charges £650 + VAT. Just Eat is free to £295 + VAT.
• Contract: Uber Eats has a 1-year auto-renewing term. Check Just Eat's notice period in your agreement.

Which delivery app is best for your restaurant?

There's no single best food delivery app for restaurants. Match the app to how you run.

How to combine the apps with a direct channel

The smartest UK takeaways don't pick one app. They use the apps to find new customers and their own channel to keep them.

1. Pick one or two apps, not three. Each app means another tablet, menu to update and payout to check. Run the lowest tier you can (own delivery or collection).
2. Set up your own ordering page. With a commission-free online ordering system like Menuthere, you take collection, delivery and dine-in orders from one menu. Customers don't need to download an app, and Menuthere takes 0% commission.
3. Take card payments through your own Stripe account (Lite plan and up). Stripe's standard UK card rate is 1.5% + 20p. Card surcharges on consumer cards are banned in the UK, so build card fees into your prices.
4. Make reordering easy on WhatsApp. A customer sends "Hi" to your number and gets an Order Now button. Order updates arrive on WhatsApp automatically. WhatsApp Business API ordering is a Pro feature (US$39 a month). Meta bills your own WhatsApp account for messages directly, with no Menuthere markup. See our WhatsApp ordering system.
5. Promote your direct channel where you're allowed to. Use your Google Business Profile, Instagram, shop window and QR codes on the counter. Some app agreements limit marketing inside app orders, so check yours first.
6. Track cost per order by channel every month. Use the payout statement, not the headline rate.

Keep the apps for new customers, and stop paying commission on your regulars. It's free for up to 50 orders a month and takes 0% commission. Want a walkthrough first?

Create your free ordering pageBook a demo (opens in a new tab)

For a UK takeaway-specific setup, see our takeaway ordering system. If you're also weighing Foodhub's monthly-fee model, read Foodhub fees for restaurants.

Quick checklist before you sign with any app

• Commission for each order type (delivered, own delivery, collection), in writing
• Is the % charged on the VAT-inclusive price?
• Joining or activation fee, and what it includes
• Device fees: lease, loss and damage
• Payout day and frequency
• Who pays for refunds and missing items, and how long you have to dispute
• Notice period and any automatic renewal
• Rules on marketing your own channel and on menu price differences
• Your VAT status: can you reclaim the VAT on commission?