Shopify alternatives · 2026
Shopify alternatives for restaurants that take food orders without apps.
Shopify can sell food, but it is built for shipping products. A restaurant pays $39 a month for Basic (or $29 billed yearly), adds apps for delivery time slots and add-ons, and pays 2% extra on every order if it uses a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. The best alternatives for restaurants are Menuthere (free plan, then $17 a month, 0% commission), Square Online, Wix Restaurants, Owner.com and ChowNow.
Your menu, ordering website and table QR codes, made from a photo of your menu.
Free plan: 50 orders a month, no card needed. Lite and Pro start with a 7-day free trial (a card is needed; nothing is charged until it ends).
Why restaurants look elsewhere
Shopify is a store builder, not a kitchen's ordering system.
Shopify works well for a bakery that ships cookie boxes across the country. A restaurant taking orders for tonight needs different things: dish add-ons with prices, a menu that changes by the hour, pickup times the kitchen can keep, and table QR codes for dine-in. On Shopify, most of these come from paid apps.
Our guide Can I use Shopify for a bakery or restaurant? covers what Shopify does out of the box. Below is what owners usually notice once orders start.
- Delivery is set by zone, not by distance. Shopify's local delivery allows up to 10 zones per location, by distance radius or postal codes, each with its own price and an optional minimum order.
- No delivery or pickup time picker in Shopify's own help pages. Apps add one: Zapiet ‑ Pickup + Delivery, whose listing describes a date and time picker, starts at $49.99 a month (1 location, 250 orders a month).
- A second fee on other gateways. If you don't use Shopify Payments, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus, on top of your gateway's own fee. See why Shopify charges this extra fee.
- Restaurant tools are add-ons. Shopify's pricing page lists no dish modifiers, menu schedules, table QR ordering or kitchen tickets. Restaurants add them with apps from the Shopify App Store.
What Shopify costs
Shopify pricing for a restaurant.
Shopify's own prices, read 20 October 2026. Card rates are for online payments through Shopify Payments.
| Plan | US price a month | UK price a month | Online card rate (US) | Fee if you use another gateway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 (or $29 billed yearly) | £25 (or £19 billed yearly) | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2% |
| Grow | $105 (or $79 billed yearly) | £65 (or £49 billed yearly) | 2.7% + 30¢ | 1% |
| Advanced | $399 (or $299 billed yearly) | £344 (or £259 billed yearly) | 2.5% + 30¢ | 0.6% |
| Plus | From $2,300 | From £1,800 | 2.25% + 30¢ | 0.2% |
Shopify's trial is 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months. In-person selling is included; POS Pro is $89 a month per location. UK online card rates are 2% + 25p on Basic, 1.7% + 25p on Grow and 1.5% + 25p on Advanced. Apps are billed on top.
The alternatives
Shopify alternatives for restaurants, side by side.
Menuthere first because it is ours, and the facts for every option are on its own website. US prices unless stated.
| Option | Monthly price | Fees on each order | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menuthere | Free (50 orders); Lite $17; Pro $39; Branded App $99 | 0% commission; your own Stripe account's card fee (2.9% + 30¢ in the US) | Restaurants, cafés and bakeries that want their own ordering page, QR table ordering and WhatsApp updates at a fixed low price |
| Square Online | Free; Plus $49 per location; Premium $149 | 3.3% + 30¢ per online card on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus | Restaurants already on Square POS |
| Wix Restaurants | App is free; the site needs a plan that takes payments, from Core at $29 (billed yearly) | Wix Payments 2.9% + 30¢ in the US | Owners who want to design their whole website themselves |
| Owner.com | $249 + 5% per order, or $499 flat | Guests also pay a 5% order support fee | US and Canadian restaurants that want a managed site and marketing |
| ChowNow | From $229 (annual term) or $249 monthly, plus a $119–$499 setup fee | 2.95% + 29¢ per transaction | US restaurants that want a done-for-you ordering site and app |
Square Online figures: Square's US pricing pages, read 19 October 2026. Wix, Owner.com and ChowNow: their own pricing pages, read 20 October 2026.
What a restaurant needs
Where Menuthere fits a restaurant better than a store builder.
A menu from a photo
Upload a photo or PDF of your menu and Menuthere's AI reads the dishes, prices and sizes. You check the list before anything is saved. Every plan.
Sizes, add-ons and sold-out switches
Each dish can have sizes and priced add-ons. Switch a dish, a size or a whole category off when you run out, and on again later. Every plan.
Menus by the hour, and prep times
Show breakfast dishes only until 11:30 and brunch only at weekends. Show customers your average delivery, takeaway and dine-in times at checkout. Every plan.
Pickup slots and pre-orders
Customers book a time, in fixed or rolling slots, and can pre-order while you're closed. Dishes that need notice, like cakes, get a lead time. Lite, $17 a month.
QR table ordering
Print a QR code for each table. Guests order from their phones, and a second round from the same guest is added to their open order. Every plan, Free included.
Delivery priced by distance
Charge one flat fee, a fee that grows with distance, or a fee per zone you draw on a map. Your own riders get an app with live tracking on Pro.
WhatsApp orders and updates
Every plan shows a Send Order to WhatsApp button after checkout. Pro adds order updates, a WhatsApp bot and broadcasts on your own number.
Allergens and calories
Record which of the 14 common allergens each dish contains, plus calories and a halal mark. Customers see them on the dish. Every plan.
Loyalty and table booking
Points customers earn and redeem on Pro; table booking (reservations) on Lite. No extra apps to install.
A worked example
A bakery with 300 orders a month: Shopify or Menuthere?
300 online orders a month at $30 each ($9,000 in card payments), in the US, paid monthly. Prices read 20 October 2026.
| Cost a month | Shopify Basic | Menuthere Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | $39 | $17 |
| Pickup and delivery scheduling | Zapiet Advanced app, $79.99 (Essential stops at 250 orders a month) | Pickup slots and pre-orders included in Lite |
| Card fees (2.9% + 30¢ on 300 orders) | $351 (Shopify Payments) | $351 (your own Stripe account) |
| Commission | 0% | 0% |
| Total | $469.99 | $368 |
If the bakery used a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify would add 2% on Basic: $180 more on $9,000 of sales, on top of that provider's own fee. Card fees are the same on both, because both charge 2.9% + 30¢ in the US. The difference is the plan and the app.
Be fair to Shopify
When Shopify is the better choice.
Keep Shopify if most of your sales are products shipped nationwide: sauces, coffee beans, cookie tins, gift boxes. Shopify's checkout, shipping labels, product catalogue and blog are built for that, and Menuthere is built for food orders in your area, not for shipping.
Many food businesses do both. Keep your Shopify store for packaged goods and add a Menuthere ordering page for tonight's orders, table QR codes and pickup slots. Link it from your Shopify menu as an Order food button. Read Shopify for restaurants and Shopify for bakeries for how each setup works.
- Shopify wins on a big retail catalogue, shipping and design themes.
- Menuthere wins on restaurant ordering: add-ons, menu hours, pickup slots, QR tables, delivery by distance and WhatsApp.
- Menuthere has no kitchen display screen, no delivery-app integration and only a basic POS ($10 a month add-on).
How to start
Move your food orders from Shopify in an afternoon.
- 1
Upload your menu
Take a photo of your menu or upload the PDF. Check the dishes, sizes and add-ons Menuthere reads.
- 2
Set pickup, delivery and tables
Draw your delivery area, set a fee by distance, add your opening hours and print a QR code for each table.
- 3
Connect payments
On Lite, connect your own Stripe account for card payments. Customers can also pay cash or at pickup.
- 4
Link it from your site
Add an Order now button to your Shopify store, your Google Business Profile and your social pages.
Questions owners ask
Answered, plainly.
Sources (9) · checked 2026-10-20
- Shopify pricing (US) · Shopify, read 20 October 2026
- Shopify pricing (UK) · Shopify, read 20 October 2026
- Setting up local delivery for online orders · Shopify Help Center, read 20 October 2026
- Zapiet ‑ Pickup + Delivery · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Square pricing (US) · Square, read 19 October 2026
- Wix plans · Wix.com, read 20 October 2026
- Owner.com pricing · Owner.com, read 20 October 2026
- ChowNow pricing · ChowNow, read 20 October 2026
- Stripe pricing (US) · Stripe, read 19 October 2026
Take food orders without paying for apps.
Your ordering website, QR menu and table ordering from a photo of your menu. 0% commission, free to start, $17 a month for unlimited orders.
