ChowNow pricing in 2026: plans, setup fee and card rates

ChowNow publishes its prices. As of October 2026, its pricing page lists three plans: Launch from $229 a month, Grow from $319 and Elevate from $409, each on annual billing. Paying month to month costs $249, $349 and $449. On top of the plan there is a one-time setup fee of $119 to $499 and card processing at 2.95% + 29¢ per transaction. ChowNow describes direct orders as commission-free, with one condition covered below.

Everything below comes from ChowNow’s own pricing page, read on October 12, 2026. No review site and no reseller is quoted. Where we do arithmetic on those numbers, we say so and show the assumptions.

What the three plans actually differ by

Two things: features and marketing volume. This is easy to get wrong, because ChowNow’s plan grid marks what is missing with an icon and no text.

Launch leaves out six features that the other two plans include. ChowNow’s grid marks each of these as not included with Launch:

• QR Code Ordering
• Automated SMS Marketing
• On-Demand Email & SMS Campaigns
• CSV Upload For In-Store Diners
• Third-Party Order Aggregation
• Centralized Menu Management Across Direct + Third-Party Channels

So if you want SMS marketing, QR code ordering at the table, or orders from the delivery apps pulled into one place, the entry price for you is Grow, from $319 a month, not Launch. Every plan includes the direct online ordering tool, a website, a branded mobile app, catering, automated email marketing, a loyalty and rewards program, fraud and chargeback protection, POS integrations, delivery management, reporting and round-the-clock support.

Grow and Elevate have the same features and differ in volume. Launch lists 500 contacts and no message credits. Grow lists 2,000 contacts and 2,000 credits. Elevate lists 5,000 contacts and 5,000 credits.

The fees beyond the monthly price

ChowNow lists these under “Additional Fees”:

• Setup fee: $119 to $499, one time. The page gives the range and does not say which plan pays which amount.
• Card processing: 2.95% + 29¢ per transaction.
• Apple developer fee for branded mobile apps: $99 a year.
• Printer: $250 to $420.
• Flex Delivery: $7.98 per delivery order.

ChowNow also prints “Starting At” above each plan price. Read the three prices as the lowest price for that plan, and ask for your own number in writing.

What a first year adds up to

This is our arithmetic on ChowNow’s published numbers, for the subscription and the setup fee only. It assumes annual billing and leaves out card processing, the printer and delivery, because those depend on your volume and your choices.

Card fees are the other real cost. As an example, 300 online orders in a month at an average of $30 is $9,000 in sales. At 2.95% + 29¢ that is $352.50 in processing for the month. Your own figure moves with your order count and your average ticket, so run it with your numbers.

Does ChowNow charge commission?

No, with one condition. ChowNow’s pricing page says its customers can take “unlimited commission-free orders” from their website, their branded app, ChowNow’s marketplace app and its discovery channels, and it adds the condition “with Profit Protector enabled”. You pay the subscription and the card fee, not a percentage of each order. Ask ChowNow what Profit Protector is and whether it is on by default for your plan.

Questions to put to ChowNow before you sign

1. The price says “Starting At”. What is the price for my restaurant, and what would raise it?
2. Which setup fee applies to the plan I am choosing, $119 or $499 or something between?
3. On annual billing, what happens if I cancel in month four? ChowNow’s refund policy says there are no refunds on its service or product fees, that you may cancel at any time, and that you are billed for the rest of that monthly cycle. It adds that service is cancelled with no fees if the product is returned in working condition within 30 days of shipment. It does not say how any of that applies to a year paid up front, so ask.
4. Is 2.95% + 29¢ the rate for every card type, and can I use a processor I already have?
5. Do I need the printer listed under Additional Fees, or will orders reach the POS I already run?

How this compares with FoodyOS, briefly

We make FoodyOS, so weigh this section accordingly. The two are different kinds of product. ChowNow is online ordering and marketing that sits beside the POS you already have. FoodyOS is a restaurant platform that includes the POS, the kitchen display and the ordering website, at $149 a month with no setup fee. Online card payments on your ordering site run on your own Stripe account at Stripe’s published 2.9% + 30¢ for domestic cards.

ChowNow does things FoodyOS does not. It offers a branded mobile app for your guests, and instead of replacing your POS it integrates with the ones on its list, which its pricing page puts at more than 20 and which include Toast, Square, Revel and Clover. If you like your POS and only want direct ordering added to it, ChowNow is built for exactly that. The full side by side, with the same caveats, is on FoodyOS vs ChowNow, and our own price is on the pricing page. If you are also weighing Owner.com, its two plans are laid out the same way in Owner.com pricing in 2026.

Sources

1. ChowNow pricing page (plans, “Starting At” prices, the plan grid with what each plan includes and does not, contacts and credits per plan, additional fees, commission statement), retrieved October 12, 2026: get.chownow.com/pricing
2. ChowNow refund policy (cancellation and refunds), retrieved October 12, 2026: get.chownow.com/legal/refund
3. Stripe pricing (the card rate FoodyOS customers pay on their own Stripe account): stripe.com/pricing
4. FoodyOS pricing: foodyos.com/us/pricing