A delivery app for cloud kitchens: your zones, your fees, your riders
Updated October 19, 2026
A cloud kitchen's delivery app has one job: get every order to the door without the delivery eating the margin. Menuthere gives a delivery-only kitchen its own ordering site with the delivery rules built in. You set exactly where you deliver, by radius or by drawing zones (or typing an area's name), a fee that grows with distance, a minimum order and packaging charges. Your own riders carry orders on the Pro plan (US$39 a month), with live tracking for customers. Outside India, Uber couriers on your own Uber Direct account can carry them instead, on any plan. Each brand can run as its own outlet with its own menu and link. You pay 0% commission.
In short
- Delivery-only: switch dine-in off and keep delivery, with pickup as an option if you want it.
- Exact areas: a radius, zones you draw, or zones added by typing a district's name. Addresses outside them are stopped at checkout.
- Fees that cover the ride: a flat fee and a doubled charge for the return trip on every plan; fees by distance and free delivery above an amount from Lite.
- Packaging and minimums: a packaging charge per order, per item or per dish, and a minimum order for delivery.
- Brands as outlets: each brand gets its own menu, link and plan, with one head-office login on Pro.
Delivery-only settings, in the order you'll set them
| Setting | Where | What to choose for a cloud kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| Order types | Settings → Ordering → Order types | Delivery on. Dine-in off. Takeaway on only if customers can collect. |
| Delivery area | Delivery settings | Delivery Radius with a maximum distance, or Custom Boundary for zones |
| Zones by name | Delivery settings → Add an area by name | Type a district or neighborhood; its outline is added as a named zone you can still adjust |
| How delivery is charged | Delivery settings | Flat fee, by distance (base + per km, or price bands, from Lite), or by zone |
| Minimum order amount | Delivery settings | The smallest basket that pays for a ride. It never applies to takeaway. |
| Packaging charge | Settings → Ordering → Parcel settings | Once per order, for each item, or different for some dishes |
| Delivery price per dish | Each dish (and each size) | A separate delivery price, for example on a dish with costly packaging |
Stores that never set a radius use 15 km by default, so set yours before you go live. If you use zones, a customer outside every zone is told which areas you deliver to and can change the address or switch to pickup.
A worked margin check for one order
Here is how the settings combine on a single order, with example numbers in your own currency. The point is to see that each order pays for its ride before you switch delivery on.
| Line | Setting used | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Items | Two bowls | $24.00 |
| Minimum order check | Minimum $15, compared with the items before charges | Passes |
| Delivery fee | Price band 3–5 km (Lite and above): $3.50, doubled for the return trip | $7.00 |
| Packaging | $0.50 for each item | $1.00 |
| Customer pays | $32.00 |
Is $7.00 right? It depends on what the ride costs you. The price map in Delivery settings shows what a customer pays at each distance, ring by ring, and redraws as you change the bands before you save. The free delivery fee calculator helps you work out the fee from rider pay and distance. If you'd rather reward bigger baskets, free or reduced delivery above an amount (Lite and above) shows customers a bar with how much more to add.
Several brands from one kitchen
Many cloud kitchens sell two or three brands from the same kitchen. In Menuthere each brand can be its own outlet.
| Each brand (outlet) | Head office (Pro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Menu, prices, link | Its own | Not edited here; opens any outlet in one press |
| Orders | Its own dashboard | Today's orders and sales for every outlet, in one place |
| Delivery settings | Its own area, fees and minimum order | |
| Plan and bills | Its own plan: Free, Lite or Pro | Lists every outlet's bills |
A new outlet copies the country, currency, time zone, logo and colors of your first one, so change the branding per brand. If you want one link where customers pick a brand or location, Menuthere can set up a brand page with an outlet picker. For listings, see can each of my cloud kitchen's brands have its own Google profile.
Who carries the order
| Carrier | How it works | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Your own riders | Riders sign in to the Menuthere delivery app; you assign orders in one tap; customers see a live map, arrival estimate and Call button | Pro |
| Uber Direct (outside India) | Your own Uber Direct account. Checkout shows Uber's live fee; a courier is booked when the order is accepted, when food is ready, or when you tap Book; Uber bills your account. If Uber can't quote an address, your own delivery pricing is used. | Every plan |
| Customer's own courier | Pickup only; customers book their own courier with the pickup and drop details shown to copy | Every plan |
Not sure whether to hire riders at all? Read should a cloud kitchen with no dine-in run its own delivery riders. For the dispatch side in detail, assigning, rider reports and pay, see our pizza delivery software page; it works the same for any kitchen.
Keep customers informed without extra cost
The order tracking page shows each order's progress and, with your own rider, the live map. It's a web page, so it costs nothing however often a customer checks it. On Pro you can also send WhatsApp updates from your own number, such as "dispatched" with a Track Order button; Meta charges per message on your WhatsApp Business account. See WhatsApp ordering for cloud kitchens for which updates are worth sending.
What it costs
| Plan | Price | For a cloud kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| Free | US$0 | Delivery, radius or zones, flat fee, minimum order, packaging, Uber Direct; 50 orders a month |
| Lite | US$17 a month | Unlimited orders, fees by distance, free delivery above an amount, card payment to your own Stripe account (outside India), Google Maps addresses |
| Pro | US$39 a month | Your own riders with live tracking, head office for several outlets, WhatsApp on your own number |
Lite and Pro have a 7-day free trial; a card is needed to start it, and nothing is charged until it ends. Compare with what marketplaces take per order, for example DoorDash in the US, Uber Eats in Australia or Talabat in the UAE. Running a dark kitchen in the UK? Read our UK dark kitchen guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can a cloud kitchen run its own delivery app?
Yes. Menuthere gives a cloud kitchen its own ordering site with delivery areas, fees and minimum orders, and your own riders with live tracking on the Pro plan. Menuthere takes 0% commission.
Can I deliver to named areas instead of a radius?
Yes. Switch the delivery area to Custom Boundary and type a district or neighborhood name. Its outline is added as a named zone, which you can adjust, and each zone can have its own charge.
How do I stop small delivery orders?
Set a minimum order amount in Delivery settings. It is compared with the items before the delivery charge, applies only to delivery, and customers below it are told how much more to add.
Can I charge for packaging?
Yes, on every plan. Add a packaging charge once per order, for each item, or a different amount for chosen dishes. It applies to takeaway and delivery orders, never to table orders.
Can I run several brands from one kitchen?
Yes. Each brand can be its own outlet with its own menu, link, delivery settings and plan. Running several outlets from one head-office login is a Pro feature.
Do I need my own riders?
No. Outside India you can use Uber couriers on your own Uber Direct account on any plan, or let customers book their own courier for pickup orders. Your own riders with live tracking are on Pro.
Sources (11)
- Menuthere Docs, "Set up delivery: start here": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/set-up-delivery-start-here (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Delivery radius": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/delivery-radius (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Add a zone by area name": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/add-a-zone-by-area-name (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Delivery charges: flat, by distance, by zone": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/delivery-charges-flat-by-distance-by-zone (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Minimum order and maximum distance": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/minimum-order-and-maximum-distance (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Charge for the return trip": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/charge-for-the-return-trip (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "See what each distance costs": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/see-what-each-distance-costs (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Packaging (parcel) charges": https://menuthere.com/docs/checkout-payments/packaging-parcel-charges (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Run several outlets": https://menuthere.com/docs/outlets/run-several-outlets (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Brand page and outlet picker": https://menuthere.com/docs/outlets/brand-page-and-outlet-picker (accessed 19 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere Docs, "Uber Direct": https://menuthere.com/docs/delivery/uber-direct (accessed 19 Oct 2026)