Ghost kitchen cost and business models: what a delivery-only kitchen really costs
Updated October 20, 2026
A ghost kitchen's cost comes down to three things: the kitchen (from nothing extra, if you add a virtual brand to your own restaurant, to rent and fees for a private unit), the cost of each order (food, packaging and the channel's fee), and how many orders a month cover the fixed costs. The channel fee is the swing factor. On a $30 order with a 30% food cost, a 30% delivery-app tier leaves $11.00 before labor and rent; the same order on your own page with a courier leaves about $15.69, and as pickup $18.83. No ghost kitchen operator we checked publishes its rents, so get quotes and use the tables below with your own numbers.
In short
- Startup: permits and licenses, equipment (if the unit isn't fitted), packaging, photos, deposits. A virtual brand in your own kitchen needs little more than a menu, packaging and app sign-ups.
- Monthly fixed: kitchen rent or hours, utilities and fees, insurance, software, labor.
- Per order ($30, 30% food cost, $1 packaging): DoorDash Basic 15% leaves $15.50; Plus 25% $12.50; Premier 30% $11.00; own page + courier about $15.69; own-page pickup $18.83.
- Break-even: fixed costs ÷ what each order leaves. $9,000 a month needs 720 orders at $12.50, or 478 pickup orders at $18.83.
- Model choice: who pays for the kitchen, who brings the customers and who delivers.
What does it cost to start a ghost kitchen?
| Startup cost | What it covers | Virtual brand in your own kitchen | Rented ghost kitchen unit | Shared kitchen by the hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business registration and licenses | State registration, local license, sales tax registration; EIN is free from the IRS | Usually done already | Yes | Yes |
| Health permit and inspection | Local health department permit for the kitchen | Ask whether the brand needs approval | Yes | Yes (some kitchens' permits cover renters' areas or hours; ask) |
| Food protection manager certification | Accredited exam for the person in charge | Usually done already | Yes | Yes |
| Equipment and smallwares | Fryers, ovens, prep tables, pans | Little or none | Depends on whether the unit is fitted | Little or none |
| Deposit and setup fees | Lease or membership terms | None | Per the operator's quote | Per the kitchen's quote |
| Packaging and labels | First stock of containers, bags, stickers | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Brand and photos | Name, logo, menu photos for the apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Insurance | General liability, property, workers' comp | Check your policy covers the brand | Yes | Yes |
What does a ghost kitchen cost each month?
| Monthly cost | How to estimate it |
|---|---|
| Kitchen | Rent for a unit, a share of your own kitchen, or hours × hourly rate in a shared kitchen |
| Utilities and facility fees | Per the lease or membership; some include them |
| Labor | Cooks and packers × hours × wage plus payroll taxes |
| Insurance | Your policy ÷ 12 |
| Software and tablets | Ordering system, app tablets, POS if any |
| Marketing | App ads and promotions, bag inserts, photography |
| Delivery for your own orders | Courier fees or your own drivers' wages and mileage |
Food, packaging, commission and card fees are per order, in the next table.
What does a ghost kitchen make per order?
Worked example: a $30 order, 30% food cost ($9.00) and $1.00 of packaging. Commission tiers are the US delivery-app rates; on your own page, card fees are Stripe's US 2.9% + 30¢. For the courier row, the customer pays a $4.99 delivery fee and the courier charges the restaurant $7.99 (Uber Direct's lowest published price).
| Channel | Fee on this order | Left before labor and rent | Share of $30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DoorDash Basic (15%) | $4.50 | $15.50 | 51.7% |
| DoorDash Plus (25%) | $7.50 | $12.50 | 41.7% |
| DoorDash Premier (30%) | $9.00 | $11.00 | 36.7% |
| Uber Eats (20% / 25% / 30%) | $6.00 / $7.50 / $9.00 | $14.00 / $12.50 / $11.00 | 46.7% / 41.7% / 36.7% |
| DoorDash pickup (6%) | $1.80 | $18.20 | 60.7% |
| Own page + courier (customer pays $4.99) | Card $1.31 on $34.99; courier $7.99; delivery fee +$4.99 | $15.69 | 52.3% |
| Own page, pickup | Card $1.17 | $18.83 | 62.8% |
What the table shows:
- Each step up a tier costs $1.50 to $3.00 on a $30 order. Higher tiers buy more visibility and lower delivery fees for customers; whether that's worth it depends on the extra orders.
- Direct delivery is not free. With a $7.99 courier and a $4.99 customer fee, your own delivery order leaves about the same as DoorDash Basic. The gain is bigger on pickup and with your own drivers on short, frequent trips.
- Grubhub charges 5%, 15% or 20% marketing commission plus a delivery commission from 10%, so compare its total, not the first number. All US rates: delivery app commission in the US.
Run your own numbers with the delivery app loss calculator and the own delivery cost calculator, and cost each dish with the recipe cost calculator for cloud kitchens.
How many orders does a ghost kitchen need to break even?
Break-even orders a month = monthly fixed costs ÷ what each order leaves. With an illustrative $9,000 a month of fixed costs (kitchen, utilities, insurance, software and labor together):
| Mix | Left per order | Orders a month | Orders a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| All DoorDash Premier (30%) | $11.00 | 819 | 27 |
| All DoorDash Plus (25%) | $12.50 | 720 | 24 |
| All own page + courier | $15.69 | 574 | 19 |
| All own-page pickup | $18.83 | 478 | 16 |
| 70% Plus, 30% own-page pickup | 0.7 × $12.50 + 0.3 × $18.83 = $14.40 | 625 | 21 |
Moving 30% of orders to your own page cuts the break-even from 720 to 625 orders a month in this example. Replace the $9,000 with your own figure, or use the restaurant break-even calculator. For margins after everything, see the restaurant profit margin guide and keep food cost honest with the food cost percentage guide and the food cost calculator.
What are the ghost kitchen business models?
| Model | Who pays for the kitchen | Who brings customers | Who delivers | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual brand in your own restaurant | You already do | Delivery apps, then your own page | App couriers or your drivers | Peak-time clashes with your main menu |
| Private unit in a ghost kitchen building | You, as rent and fees | Mostly delivery apps | App couriers; some buildings help with handoff | Rent before orders arrive |
| Shared or commissary kitchen by the hour | You, by the hour or month | Apps and your own page | App couriers or a courier | Limited hours and storage |
| Stand-alone delivery-only kitchen | You, as a lease and buildout | Apps, your own page, a pickup window | Any | Buildout cost, slow start |
| Licensed or franchised virtual brand | You (your own kitchen) | The brand's name, on the apps | App couriers | The brand's fees and rules, under its contract |
Definitions for each model, and the rules that apply, are in what is a ghost kitchen; the paperwork and launch steps are in how to start a ghost kitchen.
Are ghost kitchens profitable?
They can be, if the kitchen cost is low enough for the orders you can get and enough of those orders come through cheap channels. The numbers above give the test: what each order leaves on your channel mix, against your monthly fixed costs. Virtual brands in an existing kitchen have the easiest maths because the kitchen is already paid for; rented units need enough orders from day one to cover rent. We don't quote average ghost kitchen profit margins: we found no primary source that publishes one.
How Menuthere helps
- Orders without commission: each brand gets its own ordering page with 0% commission, so pickup orders leave $18.83 on a $30 order in the example instead of $11.00 to $15.50 on an app tier. Free covers 50 orders a month; Lite ($17 a month) is unlimited with Stripe card payments on your own account.
- Several brands, one view (Pro, $39 a month): each brand runs as its own outlet with its own menu and orders, and a head office shows every outlet's sales and orders together.
- Delivery (Pro): your own drivers with an iOS and Android driver app and live tracking for customers, assigned with one tap; or your own Uber Direct account (outside India) for courier delivery, billed by Uber with nothing added by Menuthere. See the delivery app for cloud kitchens and the in-house delivery guide for when your own drivers pay.
Keep more of every order with your brand's own ordering page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to start a ghost kitchen?
It depends on the model. A virtual brand in your own restaurant needs little beyond a menu, packaging, photos and app sign-ups. A rented unit or a stand-alone kitchen adds deposits, any equipment the unit lacks, permits and insurance. No operator we checked publishes rents, so get quotes and add up the startup table above.
How much does a ghost kitchen cost per month?
Add the kitchen (rent, hours or your own kitchen's share), utilities and fees, labor, insurance, software and marketing. Food, packaging, commission and card fees come on top for each order. Divide the monthly total by what each order leaves to see how many orders you need.
How much does a ghost kitchen make per order?
In our example, a $30 order with a 30 percent food cost and $1 of packaging leaves $15.50 on DoorDash Basic, $12.50 on Plus and $11.00 on Premier before labor and rent. On the brand's own page it leaves about $15.69 with a courier and $18.83 as pickup.
How many orders does a ghost kitchen need to break even?
Divide your monthly fixed costs by what each order leaves. With $9,000 of fixed costs, that is 720 orders a month at $12.50 each (DoorDash Plus), or 478 pickup orders on your own page at $18.83 each. A mix of both lands in between.
Are ghost kitchens profitable?
They can be when the kitchen cost is low and enough orders come through cheaper channels. Virtual brands in an existing kitchen are easiest because the kitchen is already paid for. Rented units need enough orders from the start to cover rent, which is why owners push regulars to their own ordering page.
What is the cheapest way to start a ghost kitchen?
Usually a virtual brand in a kitchen you already run, or a shared commercial kitchen rented by the hour, so you are not paying for a unit before orders arrive. Start with a short menu on one or two apps and your own ordering page, and add channels as orders grow.
Sources (4)
- Uber Direct "as low as $7.99"; DoorDash Drive $6.99–$10.99: Wave 1 draft
wave1/pages/en-in-house-delivery-for-restaurants.md(courier prices checked 20 Oct 2026, sources there). - Stripe US 2.9% + 30¢: Stripe support pages (stripe.com geo-redirects to India from this machine; as settled in Wave 1).
- IRS, "Get an employer identification number": https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/get-an-employer-identification-number (read 20 Oct 2026): "You never have to pay a fee for an EIN."
- Ghost kitchen operators' rents: CloudKitchens' site returned 403 to our fetch (20 Oct 2026) and DoorDash's ghost-kitchen post also returned 403; no operator rent figures used.