FoodyOS vs ChowNow.
ChowNow and FoodyOS agree on the main thing: a restaurant should pay a flat subscription for direct online ordering, not a commission on each order. They differ in what the subscription covers. ChowNow is ordering, a website, a branded app and marketing added to the POS you already run, from $229/mo on annual billing ($249 month-to-month) plus 2.95% + 29¢ processing and a $119–$499 setup fee. FoodyOS includes the POS: website, ordering, POS, KDS, in-house delivery dispatch, ESC/POS printing, and Apple Wallet loyalty in one flat $149/mo plan, with checkout on your own Stripe account.
ChowNow pricing
As published by ChowNow, October 2026
| Plan | Month to month | Billed annually |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | $249/mo | $229/mo |
| Grow | $349/mo | $319/mo |
| Elevate | $449/mo | $409/mo |
- One-time setup fee: $119 to $499
- 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
- Not included on 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
Source: ChowNow’s own pricing page, retrieved October 12, 2026. ChowNow labels each price "Starting At", so read them as the lowest price for that plan. Prices change: check the page before you decide.
For what the three plans differ by, a first-year total and the questions to ask before signing, see ChowNow pricing in 2026.
Same philosophy, different scope
ChowNow sells direct ordering by subscription instead of commission, and FoodyOS shares that philosophy completely. ChowNow’s published pricing (re-verified October 12, 2026) has three tiers — Launch at $249/mo, Grow at $349/mo, and Elevate at $449/mo, each discounted to $229 / $319 / $409 on annual billing — plus a one-time setup fee of $119–$499 and card processing at 2.95% + 29¢. The tiers differ in features and in marketing reach: Launch leaves out SMS marketing, QR code ordering and third-party order aggregation, and the contact caps are 500, 2,000, and 5,000 per tier. A branded iPhone app is available, with the $99/yr Apple Developer Program fee billed on top, and ChowNow’s Flex Delivery option costs the restaurant $7.98 per delivery order.
That price covers more than an ordering button. ChowNow’s pricing page lists a website, a branded mobile app, automated email marketing and a rewards program on every plan, and marks SMS marketing, QR code ordering and third-party order aggregation as not included on Launch, the cheapest. What the list does not contain is a POS, a kitchen display, inventory or table management: ChowNow connects to the POS you already run. FoodyOS puts the POS and the kitchen display in the same system as the ordering site, so the menu, prices, photos and 86’d items come from one dashboard, on one flat $149/mo plan.
Side by side
| Criterion | FoodyOS | ChowNow |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $149/mo flat per restaurant — one published plan | Launch $249 / Grow $349 / Elevate $449 per month ($229 / $319 / $409 on annual billing) |
| What's included | Ordering + website + POS + KDS + in-house delivery dispatch + hostess & reservations + inventory + ESC/POS printing + Apple Wallet loyalty | Online ordering, a website, a branded mobile app, email marketing and a rewards program on every plan. SMS marketing, QR ordering and order aggregation from Grow up. No POS: ChowNow integrates with the one you have |
| Commission on direct orders | 0% | 0% — ChowNow is subscription-based, not commission-based |
| Payment processing | Your own Stripe account at Stripe’s published rates — payouts direct to your bank, no resold markup | 2.95% + 29¢ per transaction |
| Restaurant website | Full custom-domain-ready website included (three templates), synced to the POS menu and inventory | Ordering page / checkout added to a website you bring (or a ChowNow-hosted ordering link) |
| Contract | Month-to-month | Monthly or annual billing — the annual rate is discounted ($229 / $319 / $409) |
| Setup fee | None — white-glove onboarding included | One-time $119–$499 depending on tier |
How to read this: both columns say 0% commission — that part is genuinely equivalent, and ChowNow got there first. The cost difference is structural: ChowNow’s subscription buys ordering on top of a stack you still pay for separately, while the FoodyOS plan is the stack. On processing, ChowNow publishes 2.95% + 29¢; FoodyOS storefront checkout runs on your own Stripe account at Stripe’s published rates, with payouts settling directly from Stripe to your bank and no resold markup — FoodyOS never sits in the money flow.
When each one is the right call
Choose ChowNow if you love your current POS and want direct ordering built around it. That is the job ChowNow is built for: it adds commission-free ordering, a website, a rewards program and marketing to whatever you already run, and it offers a branded customer-facing mobile app, something FoodyOS does not offer today. Its Grow plan adds SMS marketing, QR code ordering and order aggregation, and Elevate raises the contact and credit limits. If the rest of your operation is settled, paying a specialist for this part is a perfectly rational move.
Choose FoodyOS if you would rather have the POS and the kitchen display in the same system as the website and ordering. To compare prices fairly, add what you pay for your POS to ChowNow’s subscription first, because the FoodyOS $149/mo flat plan includes one. The menu then lives in exactly one place, and the ordering site is yours on your own domain. Run your own numbers in the side-by-side cost calculator.
What each plan covers
The two overlap on ordering, the website and loyalty, and differ on the POS. This is what each one’s published plan covers, from ChowNow’s pricing page (October 2026) and our own.
| Capability | FoodyOS | ChowNow |
|---|---|---|
| Direct online ordering, 0% commission | Included | Included |
| Restaurant website | Included, on your own domain | Included |
| Loyalty | Included, as an Apple Wallet pass | Included, as a rewards program |
| Branded guest mobile app | Not offered | Included, plus a $99 a year Apple developer fee |
| Email and SMS marketing | WhatsApp campaigns only | Email on every plan. SMS from the Grow plan, with contact and credit limits by plan |
| POS and kitchen display | Included | Not in the plan list. ChowNow integrates with your POS |
| Receipt and kitchen-ticket printing | Included, on an ESC/POS printer you supply | A printer is listed at $250 to $420 |
The full walkthrough of the storefront — templates, menu sync, custom domain, printing, and Wallet passes — lives on the restaurant website + online ordering deep-dive.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does ChowNow cost?
- Per ChowNow's own pricing page (get.chownow.com/pricing, re-verified October 12, 2026), ChowNow has three plans: Launch at $249/mo ($229 on annual billing), Grow at $349/mo ($319 on annual billing), Elevate at $449/mo ($409 on annual billing). ChowNow labels each price "Starting At". On top of the subscription there is a one-time setup fee of $119 to $499, card processing at 2.95% + 29¢ per transaction, and a $99 a year Apple developer fee if you want the branded iPhone app. FoodyOS is one published plan at $149/mo flat per restaurant with white-glove onboarding included and no setup fee.
- Does ChowNow take a commission on orders?
- No — ChowNow charges a flat monthly subscription instead of a per-order commission, and that subscription-not-commission model is its founding pitch. It is the same philosophy FoodyOS runs on. Per-order costs still exist on ChowNow, though: card processing at 2.95% + 29¢, and if you use ChowNow's Flex Delivery for on-demand drivers, the restaurant pays $7.98 per delivery order, per ChowNow's published pricing page, re-verified October 12, 2026.
- Is ChowNow better than ordering on my own website?
- ChowNow can be the website too. Its pricing page lists a website and a branded mobile app on every plan, along with online ordering, automated email marketing and a rewards program. SMS marketing and QR code ordering start at its Grow plan. What it does not include is a POS: ChowNow connects to the POS you already run. FoodyOS takes the other route. The ordering website is part of the same system as the POS, so the menu, the prices and the sold-out items come from one dashboard. Either way you avoid marketplace commission. The real question is whether you want ordering beside your POS or inside it.
- Does FoodyOS integrate with ChowNow?
- No. FoodyOS does not integrate with ChowNow or other third-party ordering platforms — it replaces them. The FoodyOS plan includes a built-in direct-ordering website on your own domain, with checkout on your own Stripe account, so there is no separate ordering subscription to maintain or sync against.
- When is ChowNow the better choice?
- If you like your current POS and want direct ordering, a website, a branded guest app and marketing added around it, ChowNow is a strong option. It charges a subscription instead of a commission, and it offers a branded mobile app, which FoodyOS does not offer today. FoodyOS is the better fit when you want the POS and the kitchen display in the same system, and the same price, as the website and ordering.
- How do I migrate from ChowNow to FoodyOS?
- White-glove onboarding is included in the FoodyOS plan — no setup fee. Our team loads your menu with you, from a CSV or by hand, you pick one of the three website templates and point your domain at the new storefront, and you connect your own Stripe account so online payouts settle directly from Stripe to your bank. The plan is month-to-month, so you can run the new storefront in parallel before you cancel the old subscription.
See the whole system in a 30-minute demo.
We’ll spin up a live storefront on your menu and show you ordering, POS, ESC/POS printing, and Apple Wallet loyalty end to end — on tablets you already own, no slides.
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- ChowNow — published pricing page (tiers, annual discount, setup fee, 2.95% + 29¢ processing, Flex Delivery, marketing contact caps, Apple Developer fee note); retrieved October 12, 2026: get.chownow.com/pricing.
- Apple — Apple Developer Program membership (99 USD per membership year, required for a branded iPhone app): developer.apple.com/programs.
- Stripe — published processing rates (your-own-Stripe storefront checkout, direct payouts): stripe.com/pricing.
- FoodyOS — pricing (one flat $149/mo plan, every module included): foodyos.com/us/pricing.
- FoodyOS — restaurant website + online ordering (templates, menu sync, custom domain): foodyos.com/us/restaurant-website.