/Best Online Ordering Systems for Restaurants in the UK (2026)

Flipdish is an all-in-one restaurant management platform used by more than 5,000 brands worldwide. It began as a family business run by brothers Conor and James McCarthy and is built specifically for takeaways, QSR and growing restaurant groups. Where most providers treat online ordering as a feature bolted onto a till or sold through third parties, Flipdish builds the whole stack around direct ordering and runs it from one place.

Starting software price: From €69/month (per site, billed annually; €89 if billed monthly). Transaction fees from: Quote-based, with transparent rates and no hidden fees.

This is the heart of why Flipdish wins this category. Restaurants can take direct orders through their own branded ordering website, native mobile app, Google Business profile, self-service kiosks, QR codes and POS, and every one of those orders is a direct order. You keep the customer relationship, the data and the margin instead of paying commission to a marketplace. The ordering website is AI-optimised and built for SEO, so it works to win you new direct customers rather than just serving the ones you already have.

The connected model is the real advantage. Online orders flow straight into the same system that handles your menus, payments, inventory, staff rotas, kitchen display, delivery dispatch and reporting. That removes the double data entry and the monthly cost of stitching five separate tools together, and it gives you one source of truth across every channel. If you also sell on Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, Flipdish keeps your menus, pricing and availability in sync across all of them and consolidates those orders, alongside your direct orders, onto one dashboard and one kitchen display, which ends the tablet farm.

Flipdish has also leaned hard into practical AI for restaurants: an AI Phone Agent that answers during busy hours, demand forecasting, automated upsell and smart menu optimisation. Through integrations with Uber Direct, Stuart and others, it dispatches, tracks and delivers your direct orders under your own brand. Loyalty, vouchers and customer marketing are built in to bring guests back, and inventory, POS and reporting are designed for multi-outlet operations, so franchises and growing chains can manage menus centrally and see every site from one place.

Software pricing: Essentials from €69/month annually (€89 monthly). Pro from €99/month annually (€129 monthly). Advanced from €199/month annually (€249 monthly). Hardware and transaction fees are quote-based through Flipdish Pay.

GloriaFood, now part of Oracle, is the most popular entry-level online ordering system in the world, with more than 20,000 restaurants across 100 countries. Its appeal is simple: a free-forever core that lets you take unlimited online orders from your own website and Facebook page with no commission.

Starting software price: Free core ordering. Transaction fees from: Card payment acceptance is a paid add-on; courier and gateway fees apply.

For a small independent that wants to test direct ordering without a software commitment, this is the lowest-risk way in. The free plan covers online ordering for delivery, takeaway and dine-in, plus table reservations, pre-orders, promotions, coupons, a QR ordering widget and a basic customer database. You can have an order button live on your existing website in minutes, and menu and pricing changes are quick to make from any browser. Because it is now owned by Oracle, it integrates cleanly with Oracle Simphony POS, and there is a paid POS bundle if you want hardware as well.

The catch is depth. GloriaFood is an ordering widget, not an operating platform. Reviewers consistently flag that you cannot upsell at checkout, inventory and item-level stock control are thin, and the order workflow is limited (accept or decline, with little in between). Card payment processing, a branded mobile app and some marketing tools sit behind paid add-ons, so the true cost climbs once you move past the free basics. Ambitious operators who want loyalty, deeper marketing, in-store payments, delivery management and multi-site control will outgrow it.

Pricing: Free core online ordering with unlimited orders and no commission. Paid add-ons for card payments, a branded app and marketing. Optional POS bundle from around $49/month per location on a two-year commitment with a free starter kit.

Toast is purpose-built for hospitality and used by well over 100,000 restaurant locations. It is best known as a POS, but its online ordering is a serious proposition for any restaurant already running, or planning to run, Toast as its main system.

Starting software price: From £80 + VAT/month. Transaction fees from: Quote-based.

The value comes from integration. Toast online ordering is designed to flow straight into Toast EPOS, so digital orders, in-house orders and kitchen operations all live in one ecosystem with no middleware. You get direct website ordering, mobile order-and-pay, customisable online ordering and a multi-location picker so customers can choose their nearest venue. Built-in loyalty and points programmes help lock in repeat orders, and the inventory and reporting tools are strong, with cost and profit tracking. Despite the depth, the back office stays approachable, helped by a clear step-by-step onboarding guide.

The trade-offs are familiar. Toast is more system than a small, simple takeaway needs, the monthly cost sits at the higher end for single-site operators who only want the basics, and it is Android-based, so it will not suit operators committed to existing iPads. It is also POS-first by design: if your till and operations live elsewhere, Toast online ordering is far less compelling as a standalone tool.

Software: Starter from £80 + VAT/month. Essentials £150 + VAT/month. Custom: bespoke pricing. Hardware and transaction fees are quote-based. No free trial.

Square serves millions of businesses and is built for small and medium operators. Its online ordering is a practical, low-friction option for cafés, bakeries and casual restaurants that want to take orders without complexity, and its interface is one of the cleanest around.

Starting software price: Free plan. Transaction fees from: 1.4% + 25p UK online; 1.75% in-person.

Square's strength is ease. Many operators already use it for payments and POS, so adding online ordering feels like a natural next step rather than a new project. Square Online lets you accept and manage orders online and in person, with a tidy ordering page, click-and-collect, QR code ordering and integrated payments. It runs on iOS, which suits anyone who already owns iPads, and it can connect to Deliverect or Otter to bring delivery orders together. You can start completely free and move up to the Square for Restaurants Plus plan when you need more takeaway-focused features.

Where it falls short is depth for delivery-heavy or multi-site operations. Square does not track ingredient usage, so close stock control is harder than on Flipdish or Toast, and it lacks the deeper loyalty, dispatch, customer marketing and multi-location tools that ambitious takeaways and groups need. It is very good at simple. It is less suited to running a serious direct-ordering growth engine.

Software: Free plan. Square for Restaurants Plus: £69/month per location. Premium: custom pricing. Transaction fees: 1.75% in-person, 1.4% + 25p UK online, 2.5% Virtual Terminal and Invoices. 30-day free trial on paid plans.

Slerp is a UK-focused online ordering platform built for restaurants, bakeries, cafés and QSR brands that care about polish and brand. It is one of the strongest pure-play direct-ordering specialists, designed to move customers off marketplaces and onto your own web and app experience.

Starting software price: Quote-based monthly fee. Transaction fees from: Competitive courier and processing rates, commission-free on orders.

Slerp's pitch is straightforward: stop paying commission on every order, pay a single monthly fee instead, and keep full control of the customer relationship. It builds you a branded web ordering experience and a fully white-label app with push notifications, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and it claims direct ordering through Slerp converts around seven times better than the industry average and drives roughly 32 per cent higher spend than marketplaces. It handles click-and-collect, catering, pre-orders and direct delivery through courier partners including Uber, Stuart and Addison Lee, with all courier invoicing handled in-house. Built-in CRM and loyalty tools give you full visibility of customer data and buying habits.

The honest limitation is scope. Slerp is highly focused on branded direct ordering and delivery fulfilment. It is excellent at that, but it is not a full operating platform: if you also want in-store payments, a POS, deep inventory and wider operations in the same system, you will need to compare it against more complete platforms or stitch it together with other tools. Pricing is quote-based, so you will need a demo to get your number.

Pricing: Single monthly fee, quote-based by site count and feature set. Commission-free on orders, with competitive courier pricing rather than inflated transaction fees. No public rate card.

Storekit is a UK hospitality platform focused on online ordering, QR code menus, takeaway and order-and-pay, used by names like Pizza Pilgrims, BAO and Patty&Bun. It is especially strong for restaurants, pubs, bars and casual venues that want customers to order and pay from their phones.

Starting software price: Free pay-as-you-go; storekit+ from £19/week per location. Transaction fees from: Card transaction fee per order, no commission.

The standout is the QR order-and-pay experience. Customers scan a code and the menu opens instantly in their browser, with no app to download and nothing to log into. They build their order, including add-ons, sides and notes, and pay there and then, which cuts queues, speeds up service and lifts spend through automatic upsells. It covers takeaway (pickup and delivery), click-and-collect, pay-at-table and add-to-bill, with payouts in around 48 hours and over 7,000 integrations across EPOS, CRM and loyalty so you can add it without changing your stack. Menu upload is quick, with an auto-importer that works from a PDF or website link.

Storekit is deliberately focused on digital ordering and order-and-pay rather than being a complete restaurant operating system, so reviewers note thinner advanced reporting and occasional syncing quirks with third-party integrations. Larger or more complex operations may want a more robust EPOS underneath. For most venues that simply want fast, clean QR ordering and direct takeaway, it is an excellent fit, and the free pay-as-you-go tier makes it easy to trial.

Pricing: Pay-as-you-go is free to join and free to use, with a card transaction fee per order and no commission. storekit+ adds money-making features from £19/week per location. Custom enterprise pricing for larger groups.

OrderYOYO focuses squarely on helping local takeaways grow direct orders through their own branded website and app, with the UK and Ireland as its main market and a sales and operations office in Manchester. It is trusted by more than 13,000 restaurant partners.

Starting software price: Commission on weekly website and app revenue (quote-based). Transaction fees from: A small consumer service fee of around £0.50 per web and app order.

The model is built around reducing dependence on third-party delivery apps. OrderYOYO gives you a branded website and mobile app, a Cloud POS, marketing support including Google search ads, and direct contact with your own customers, and it positions itself on helping operators keep up to 20 per cent more profit versus the marketplaces. Crucially, its pricing is commission-based on weekly revenue, with rates that fall as your volume grows, calculated weekly so you always pay the lowest applicable rate. The consumer-facing service fee of around £0.50 per order is paid by the customer, not the restaurant.

The honest picture is more mixed than the marketing. Reviews are uneven, the commission structure can be hard to pin down without a sales conversation, and you are paying a percentage on customers who, by definition, are already yours. The roughly £79 per year Apple developer account for a branded iOS app is an extra most operators forget to budget for. For a takeaway that wants a done-for-you branded app and marketing support and is comfortable with a commission model, it can work well, but compare the all-in cost carefully against flat-fee alternatives.

Pricing: Commission on weekly website and app revenue, banded so higher volume means a lower rate, calculated weekly. Quote-based, so exact rates require a sales conversation. Branded app, Cloud POS and marketing support included.

Hungrrr provides branded online ordering websites and mobile apps for hospitality businesses, from takeaways and restaurants to hotels, bars and stadiums, with clients including Brewdog, Subway and Hilton. Its pitch is a low-cost monthly plan with 0% commission on orders.

Starting software price: Quote-based low-cost monthly subscription. Transaction fees from: Card acquiring and transaction fees apply via the card acquirer; 0% commission on orders.

Hungrrr's appeal is keeping more of every order. You pay a fixed monthly fee for your own branded website and iOS and Android app, and Hungrrr takes no commission no matter your takings, so the only per-order costs are standard card processing. It covers click-and-collect, home delivery (your own drivers or delivery partners), table ordering and QR ordering, with a points-based loyalty scheme, free push-notification marketing, full menu control from one dashboard and next-banking-day settlement to help cash flow. It integrates with a wide range of EPOS systems and there is no lengthy contract, which lowers the risk of trying it.

The trade-offs sit in customisation and add-ons. You cannot fully customise the mobile or QR ordering landing page, and some of the more advanced capabilities come as paid extras, so the true monthly cost depends on the features you switch on. As a focused ordering platform rather than a full operating system, it lacks the depth of the bigger all-in-one players, but for a business that specifically wants an affordable branded app and website with no commission, it is a strong, low-risk choice.

Pricing: Subscription model with a low-cost monthly fee, quote-based. 0% commission on orders, with card acquiring and transaction fees charged separately. No lengthy contract.

Shopify is not a restaurant-specific ordering system, but it is a strong choice for food businesses that behave more like ecommerce brands than traditional restaurants. Think meal-prep companies, bakeries shipping nationwide, packaged-food and subscription brands, and retail food operators.

Starting software price: From £5/month (Starter); Basic from £19/month. Transaction fees from: 2.0% + 25p on the Basic plan with Shopify Payments.

Shopify is flexible, polished and excellent for online sales. Its UK plans run from a £5/month Starter tier for social and link-in-bio selling, through Basic (around £19 to £25/month) and Grow (around £49 to £65/month) for scaling brands, to Advanced and an enterprise Plus tier. Shopify Payments processing falls as you move up the plans, from 2.0% + 25p on Basic to 1.5% + 25p on Advanced, and annual billing knocks roughly 25 per cent off the monthly fee. The storefront, checkout, abandoned-cart recovery and huge app ecosystem are best in class for ecommerce.

The catch for restaurants is that Shopify is built for shipping products, not for service. To handle delivery zones, collection time slots, kitchen workflows, modifiers, local delivery and POS integration properly, you will need apps, customisation and extra setup, and those app subscriptions stack up. Using a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments also adds a 0.5 to 2 per cent fee on top. For a busy takeaway or restaurant doing live service, a purpose-built platform is simpler and cheaper. For a food brand selling like a retailer, Shopify is hard to beat.

Pricing: Starter £5/month, Basic from £19/month, Grow from £49/month, Advanced from £259/month, Plus from around £1,800/month. Shopify Payments fees range from 2.0% + 25p down to 1.5% + 25p by plan. Third-party gateways add 0.5 to 2 per cent. Apps and premium themes are extra.

WooCommerce is the open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, and with the right food-ordering plugins it can run restaurant ordering. It suits operators who already have a WordPress site and want maximum control over the ordering flow.

Starting software price: Free plugin. Transaction fees from: Set by your chosen payment gateway; hosting from around £15/month.

The advantage is ownership and flexibility. You own the website, you can customise the ordering journey however you like, and you can draw on a vast plugin ecosystem to add menus, modifiers, delivery and collection, table ordering, printing, payments, loyalty and reporting. For a restaurant or food brand with WordPress expertise, or access to a developer, WooCommerce can be shaped into almost anything.

The downside is that the headline "free" is misleading. WooCommerce itself is free, but a working restaurant setup means paying for managed WordPress hosting (commonly £15 to £50/month for something that handles real traffic), an SSL certificate, security plugins, premium food-ordering and booking plugins, payment gateway fees, and developer time whenever something breaks or needs updating. It needs more setup and ongoing maintenance than any specialist platform here. It is the most flexible option on the list and the least turnkey.

Pricing: WooCommerce plugin is free. Real-world costs include managed hosting from around £15/month, SSL, security and premium plugins, payment gateway fees, and developer time. Total cost depends entirely on your build.