Margin Intelligence · 2026

Thai Restaurant
Delivery Commission Fees

What Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats actually cost your Thai restaurant — per dish, per order, per year — and how to build a delivery menu that makes money instead of losing it.

What each platform charges

Standard commission rates for independent restaurants (June 2026). Chain restaurants negotiate better rates — these are what most Thai restaurant operators actually pay.

PlatformCommissionMarketing Add-onEffective RatePayment Terms
Deliveroo25–30%+5–7% for promoted placement30–37%Weekly (Tuesday)
Just Eat14–20%+5% for visibility boost14–25%Weekly
Uber Eats25–30%+5–10% for advertising30–40%Weekly (Monday)
Note: Just Eat offers a 'self-delivery' option with a lower commission (14%) where you use your own drivers. If you already have drivers for phone orders, this is by far the most profitable platform option.

What your Pad Thai actually earns

The brutal maths. A Pad Thai at £14.50 on Deliveroo with marketing enabled:

Dine-inJust Eat (14%)Deliveroo (30%)Uber Eats (30%)
Menu price£14.50£14.50£14.50£14.50
VAT (20%)-£2.42-£2.42-£2.42-£2.42
Platform commission—-£2.03-£4.35-£4.35
Food cost-£2.80-£2.80-£2.80-£2.80
Packaging—-£0.40-£0.40-£0.40
Your profit margin£9.28£6.85£4.53£4.53
Margin %64%47%31%31%

The delivery margin trap

Your Pad Thai earns £4.53 on Deliveroo vs £9.28 dine-in. That's a 51% profit drop — before labour, rent, and energy costs. If more than 40% of your orders come through delivery platforms, you need to raise delivery prices or reduce platform dependency. Use the full Profit Margin Defender →

Platform breakdown

Deliveroo
Commission 25–30%
Market share: Strong in London and major cities, weaker in rural areas
Best for: Premium positioning. Deliveroo customers spend more per order (£23 average) and are less price-sensitive
Worst for: Margins. The 30% base rate + marketing add-ons can push the effective rate to 37%
Thai-specific: Deliveroo's 'Editions' cloud kitchens are saturated with Thai concepts in London. You're competing with delivery-only brands that have lower overheads
Negotiation tip: If you're doing £2,000+/week on Deliveroo, ask your account manager for a rate review. Chain operators like Rosa's Thai negotiate 20–22%. High-volume independents can push to 25%
Just Eat
Commission 14–20%
Market share: The largest platform in the UK by number of restaurants, with the widest geographic coverage
Best for: The 14% self-delivery rate. If you have your own drivers, Just Eat is genuinely profitable
Worst for: Lower average order value (£18) and more price-sensitive customers
Thai-specific: Just Eat has the most Thai restaurant listings of any platform — meaning more competition. Menu photos and dish descriptions matter more here
Key strategy: Register on Just Eat with the 14% self-delivery rate and use your own drivers. Use the savings to offer 10% off compared to Deliveroo prices — you'll still earn more per order
Uber Eats
Commission 25–30%
Market share: Fast-growing, strong in cities, expanding in suburban areas
Best for: Discovery. Uber Eats' algorithm heavily promotes new restaurants in the first 4 weeks — good for launches
Worst for: Add-on costs. Uber's advertising platform is aggressive — it's easy to spend £200/week on promoted listings that don't convert
Thai-specific: Uber Eats users search heavily by cuisine type. Make sure your restaurant is tagged as 'Thai', not 'Asian' or 'Other'
Warning: Uber Eats' default ad settings auto-enrol new restaurants. Check your ad spend weekly — otherwise you'll find £150/month going to promotions you never enabled

How to build a profitable delivery menu

1
Separate your delivery menu from dine-in
Your delivery menu should be 20–25% more expensive than your dine-in menu. Customers accept this — they're paying for convenience. A separate menu also lets you remove dishes that don't travel well (crispy fried fish, tempura).
2
Focus on high-margin dishes
Feature curries (GP 83%), stir-fries (GP 80%), and rice dishes on your delivery menu. Deprioritise or cut low-margin items. Delivery customers aren't comparing your menu against your dine-in version — they're comparing against other delivery options.
3
Sets beat single items
"Pad Thai + Spring Rolls + Drink = £18.50" Sets increase average order value by 30–40%. Platforms take the same commission percentage, but your fixed costs (packaging, driver wait time) are spread across a larger order.
4
Self-deliver on Just Eat
If you have even one driver for phone orders, register on Just Eat with the 14% self-delivery rate instead of the 20% marketplace rate. At 100 orders/week with an average value of £20, that's £120/week saved — £6,240/year. Use Deliveroo and Uber Eats for discovery. Use Just Eat for profit.
5
Turn off marketing after 8 weeks
Platforms push promoted listings hard. Use them for the first 8 weeks to build review volume, then switch them off. Organic ranking is driven by review count and order volume — not ad spend. Most Thai restaurants overpay on marketing, £100–300/month.
6
Charge for packaging
Add £0.50–£1.00 to every delivery item to cover packaging costs. Thai food needs quality containers (curries leak, crispy dishes go soggy). A container at £0.40 + bag at £0.10 costs £0.50 — charge £1.00. Nobody notices £1 on a £16 curry.