What one delivery order really costs you.
The app takes 20–30% of the order. Delivering it yourself means paying for a driver, a car, card fees and insurance. Each option is priced per order below for an Ontario restaurant in 2026, with a calculator for your own numbers. Sometimes the app is the cheaper choice, and the page says so where it is.
Checked against Ontario.ca, the CRA, WSIB, FSRA, Uber and DoorDash on 24 September 2026 · Shawn Mann, Glass Floor Studio
Who drives it, and who pays
Every delivery order gets to the customer one of these four ways. The first two keep the customer on the app. The last two need your own ordering, on your own site.
| How it's delivered | What you pay per order | What else to know |
|---|---|---|
| The app deliversUber Eats, DoorDash, Skip | 20–30% | Of the order subtotal. Uber: 20, 25 or 30%. DoorDash: 20, 25 or 29%. Skip publishes no rate card. The customer's delivery fee goes to the app, and so does the customer. |
| Uber self-deliveryyour driver, Uber's app | 15% | Plus the full cost of your own driver. Any order an Uber courier delivers instead is charged 25%. |
| Your site + a courierDoorDash Drive, Uber Direct | $6.99–$10.99 | A flat price per delivery, no commission. DoorDash's pricing page lists $6.99–$10.99 and its product page shows $8.50. Uber Direct is "as low as" $6.99 and varies with distance and speed. You set what the customer pays for delivery. |
| Your site + your own driveryour employee, your car or theirs | it depends | Wages for every hour on shift, payroll costs on top, the car, and insurance that covers delivery. How many deliveries a driver does in an hour decides most of it. |
Your site adds card processing to both of the last two: 2.9% + 30¢ per order through Stripe in Canada.
One order, four ways
The wage, payroll and mileage figures are Ontario's and the CRA's for 2026. Order size, deliveries per hour and distance are examples: replace them with a real week from your own store.
The app
Your own delivery
On a small order, the app is cheaper
A 25% commission on a $32 order is $8.00. A courier at $10.99 plus card processing is about $12.35. A driver on minimum wage doing two and a half deliveries an hour costs more than either. At those numbers, delivering it yourself loses money on every order.
Three things change that: a bigger order (the commission grows with the order, while a courier's price doesn't), a delivery fee the customer pays you, and a driver who's kept busy. Most restaurants that deliver themselves charge a delivery fee for exactly this reason.
Pickup is the opposite case. There's no driver to pay, so an order on your own site costs you card processing and nothing else. That's where your own ordering pays off first. What the apps take on pickup.
Where the line moves, at 25%
- Courier $10.99, no delivery fee: your site wins on orders over $52
- Same courier, $4.99 delivery fee: your site wins on orders over $30
- Your own driver, example numbers, no fee: your site wins on orders over $59
Worked from the calculator's defaults. Change them above.
What your own driver really costs
Every hour on shift
A driver waiting at the restaurant between runs is working, and in Ontario that time is paid at least minimum wage: $17.60 an hour until 30 September 2026, $17.95 from 1 October. Tips are the driver's own and don't count toward it.
Payroll on top
For 2026: CPP 5.95%, EI 2.28% (1.4 times the 1.63% employee rate), vacation pay of at least 4%, and WSIB at $0.90 per $100 of pay for restaurants. WSIB says restaurants must cover the delivery drivers they pay directly. About 13% in all.
The car
If drivers use their own car, the CRA treats 73¢ a kilometre (first 5,000 km in 2026) as a reasonable tax-free allowance, 67¢ after that. It's a tax benchmark, not what any particular car costs to run. You also can't deduct damage to your own delivery car from a driver's pay.
Insurance
Ontario's standard auto policy requires the owner to tell their insurer when the way a car is used changes. The Insurance Bureau of Canada says a personal car used for food delivery needs commercial coverage. No one publishes what that costs, so get a quote before the first run.
Questions people ask
Is it cheaper to deliver with my own drivers than with Uber Eats?
Only past a certain order size. At 25% commission the app takes $8.00 on a $32 order. A minimum-wage driver doing 2.5 deliveries an hour, with payroll costs and 6 km of driving at the CRA rate, costs about $12.50 per delivery before card fees. Bigger orders, a delivery fee paid by the customer and a busier driver all move the line in your favour.
How much does DoorDash Drive cost in Canada?
DoorDash's Canadian pricing page lists a flat $6.99 to $10.99 per delivery, with no commission and no subscription. Its Drive On-Demand product page shows $8.50. The restaurant pays, and tips go entirely to the Dasher.
How much does Uber Direct cost in Canada?
Uber lists Uber Direct as "as low as" $6.99 per delivery, with no commission or monthly minimum. The actual price varies with distance, delivery speed, region and how you connect to it, so you need a quote for your address.
Do I have to pay delivery drivers while they wait at the restaurant?
Yes. Under Ontario's employment standards, time an employee has to stay at the workplace counts as work even when they're not doing anything. Minimum wage is $17.60 an hour until 30 September 2026 and $17.95 from 1 October 2026.
What should I pay a driver who uses their own car?
Ontario's employment standards don't set a vehicle rate. The CRA's reasonable per-kilometre allowance for 2026 is 73 cents for the first 5,000 km and 67 cents after. An allowance at those rates, based on kilometres actually driven, is generally tax-free for the driver. A flat amount not based on kilometres is taxable.
Does personal car insurance cover food delivery in Ontario?
Don't assume it does. The standard Ontario auto policy requires you to tell your insurer when a car's use changes, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada says a personal car used for food delivery needs commercial coverage. Ask your insurer before anyone delivers.
Do my delivery drivers need WSIB coverage?
WSIB says restaurants must insure the delivery drivers they pay directly when the restaurant sets their hours and deliveries, however the CRA classes them. The 2026 rate for restaurants is $0.90 per $100 of insurable earnings.
Send me your delivery numbers
Tell me how you deliver now and roughly how many orders a week. I'll reply with a straight answer on whether your own ordering and delivery would pay for itself, including if it wouldn't.