Third-Party Delivery Services: Costs & Types

A third-party delivery service is an outside company that gets your orders to customers so you don't need your own drivers.

It comes in two kinds: delivery marketplaces like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, which bring you new customers for a commission on every order, and on-demand couriers like DoorDash Drive and Uber Direct, which deliver orders from your own website and app for a flat fee. Many restaurants use both.

What is a third-party delivery service?

A third-party delivery service handles the last mile of an order, from your pass to the customer's door, for a fee. Some also take the order and payment in their own app and send the ticket to your tablet or POS. Others only deliver orders from your website or app. Either way, you skip hiring, insuring, and scheduling drivers.

The two types of third-party delivery services

The difference is who brings the order and who keeps the customer.

Delivery marketplaces

Marketplaces are consumer apps where guests browse many restaurants, order, and pay. Your commission covers delivery, in-app visibility, and payment processing.

The U.S. market is concentrated: DoorDash earned 67% of observed U.S. meal delivery sales in March 2024, and Uber Eats 23%, according to Bloomberg Second Measure.

On-demand couriers (delivery-as-a-service)

An on-demand courier, also called white-label delivery or delivery-as-a-service, only moves the food. The guest orders on your website, app, or phone, and a courier handles pickup and drop-off under your brand.

In UpMenu, delivery dispatch sends orders to six courier integrations (Shipday, Uber Direct, DoorDash Drive, Stuart, Wolt Drive, and Relay) and shows each courier's price and ETA before you assign the order. Setup details are in our guide to on-demand delivery services.

Top third-party delivery companies compared (2026)

The providers U.S. restaurants use most, split by model. Rates change often, so confirm your plan before you sign.

What third-party delivery really costs per order

Commission grows with the ticket; a courier's flat fee doesn't. Here's one delivery at the marketplace rates above versus the $7.49 DoorDash Drive fee, before any delivery fee you charge the guest:

A flat courier fee is cheaper than a 30% commission on any order above $25, than 25% above $30, and than 20% above $37.45.

The comparison isn't apples-to-apples: the commission also buys you the customer, while the courier assumes the guest already ordered from you. That's why couriers win on repeat orders, and apps win on first orders.

Fees are also under regulatory pressure: New York City caps what delivery apps can charge restaurants, and in April 2026 the FTC opened a rulemaking on delivery-platform fees.

Pros and cons of third-party food delivery services

Pros

• Reach new guests: App users browse by cuisine and distance, so a listing reaches people who'd never search your name.
• No drivers to manage: The provider hires, schedules, and insures couriers and absorbs rush-hour spikes.
• Fast launch: You skip building ordering tech and a delivery fleet from scratch.
• Growing demand: Nearly 75% of restaurant traffic now happens off-premises, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Cons

• Commission on revenue, not profit: The fee comes off the full order total, even on your lowest-margin items.
• The platform keeps the customer: You can't email, text, or reward that guest directly.
• Your rating, their delivery: A late or cold order still hurts your reviews. Read more about why delivery apps can hurt restaurants.
• Competitors one tap away: Every order starts on a screen full of alternatives.

How to partner with a third-party delivery service

1. Pick the model: a marketplace for new guests, a courier for orders you already get, or both.
2. Compare real costs: commission tier, pickup rate, processing, and promotions for apps; the per-delivery quote and radius for couriers.
3. Check payouts and disputes: how often you're paid and who covers refunds for missing or late items.
4. Choose how orders arrive: a tablet, a POS integration, or order aggregation that puts every app on one screen.
5. Build a delivery menu: dishes that travel well, clear photos, and prices that account for fees.
6. Track margin monthly: compare profit per channel, not just order count.

The hybrid model: get found on apps, keep the repeat orders

You don't have to pick one model. Guests are open to ordering direct: in NCR Voyix's 2025 Customer Experience Report, 58% of customers said they prefer to order delivery through a restaurant's own app or website.

The same Restaurant Dive report notes that Olive Garden has tested delivery through Uber's white-label service on its own app and website, rather than a marketplace.

A simple hybrid setup:

1. Keep app listings for guests who haven't found you yet.
2. Put a card in every app order with a first-order offer for your own site or app.
3. Take direct orders through your own online ordering system and restaurant mobile app.
4. Deliver them with your own drivers or dispatch them to a courier.
5. Keep every direct guest in a CRM that saves every guest's order history, so you can win them back with email, SMS, or loyalty rewards.

Should you build your own delivery fleet?

Your own drivers pay off when orders are dense, local, and steady enough to keep a driver busy every shift. Budget for:

• Driver pay plus mileage or vehicles
• Commercial auto insurance
• A dispatcher for peak hours
• Insulated bags and delivery-grade packaging

Packaging matters: 90% of consumers say they'd order a greater variety of items if food kept its on-premises quality during delivery. Many restaurants run a small fleet for their core radius and send overflow orders to on-demand couriers.