Gegsy vs. Grubhub & Seamless

A Smarter Way to Take Online Orders

Grubhub — and its sister platform Seamless — has been a fixture of restaurant delivery for over a decade. With a massive customer base, especially in cities like New York, it's often one of the first platforms restaurants sign up for. But the commission model that made Grubhub a billion-dollar company is the same model that squeezes your margins on every order.

Here's how Grubhub stacks up against owning your ordering channels with Gegsy.

How Grubhub Charges Restaurants

Grubhub uses tiered commission pricing:

• Basic (15%): Minimal visibility on the platform. Your restaurant appears in search but isn't promoted.
• Plus (20%): Higher visibility with access to Grubhub's marketing tools and promoted search results.
• Premium (25%+): Maximum exposure and featured placement. Effective rates can exceed 25% when you factor in sponsored listing fees.

For a restaurant doing $8,000/month on Grubhub at 20%, that's $1,600/month — or $19,200/year — going to Grubhub.

Seamless is the same platform with the same fee structure — just a different customer-facing brand that's more popular in New York City.

The Hidden Costs

Beyond the base commission, Grubhub has costs that aren't immediately obvious:

Phone order fees. Grubhub has charged commission on phone calls generated through their platform — even calls that didn't result in orders. This has been the subject of lawsuits and widespread restaurant complaints.

Sponsored listing pressure. Without paying for promoted placement, your restaurant can get buried under competitors who do. Many restaurants feel forced to pay for visibility on top of their commission.

Loyalty to Grubhub, not you. Grubhub+ rewards customers for ordering through the platform. This builds loyalty to Grubhub — when a customer has perks and credits on Grubhub, they have less reason to order from you directly.

Menu markup. To offset commission, many restaurants raise prices 15–25% on Grubhub. Customers notice, complain, and sometimes choose cheaper-looking competitors.

How Gegsy Compares

The Transition Playbook

Step 1: Get your Gegsy app and storefront live — your Square menu imports automatically.

Step 2: Put a card in every Grubhub/Seamless delivery bag: "Order directly from us next time — save money and earn rewards."

Step 3: Offer a first-order promo code for direct ordering.

Step 4: Post your storefront link on Google Business Profile, social media, and your website.

Step 5: As direct orders grow, evaluate whether Grubhub's commission is still worth the discovery.

Many restaurants find that after 3–6 months of promoting direct channels, the majority of their repeat orders shift away from Grubhub — saving thousands per month.

👉 See how much you'd save — try our free savings calculator.