Blog / October 18, 2026
Catering orderingCommission-free catering ordering for restaurants
Short answer: commission-free catering ordering means large group and event orders go through your own branded storefront, and the platform does not take a percentage of the ticket the way delivery apps do (typically 25–30%). With Ser.vi, catering orders come through the same commission-free online ordering: the restaurant pays 0% commission and $0 a month, and the guest pays a flat 5% at checkout. Ser.vi supports large catering orders with advance scheduling and bulk pricing.
Competitor fees quoted from each vendor's public pages, read October 14, 2026 (Owner.com pricing re-checked October 18, 2026). Ser.vi fees from our pricing page.
What "commission-free catering ordering" means
Catering tickets are usually much larger than an everyday takeout order, which makes marketplace cuts expensive: a $1,200 office lunch at a 25–30% delivery-app commission is $300–$360 gone before food cost.
Commission-free does not mean "no money moves." You still have:
- Card and platform fees (who pays them differs by vendor)
- Optional software or marketing subscriptions
- Delivery or setup fees you set or pass through
- Labor and packaging for large orders
It means the platform is not taking a marketplace-style percentage of the catering ticket.
Marketplace catering vs direct catering
At a glance. Competitor columns are what each company publishes on its own site.
| Ser.vi (direct) | Owner.com catering | FlashCater | Delivery apps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who takes the order | Your branded Ser.vi storefront | Your Owner website catering flow | Your branded FlashCater page | Their marketplace app |
| Platform commission on the order | 0% to the restaurant | 0% (commission-free, included) | 0% | Typically 25–30% (restaurant pays) |
| Monthly software | $0 for online ordering | Included in Owner plans: $249/mo + 5% restaurant fee, or $499/mo flat | $99/mo | Usually $0 plus commission |
| Guest fee | Flat 5% at checkout | 5% order support fee (both plans) | Not stated on the page we read | Varies by app |
| Catering features | Large orders with advance scheduling and bulk pricing | Minimums, lead times, delivery and setup fees | Packages, per-person pricing, calendar, CRM | Marketplace rules |
| Customer data | Yours | Yours | Yours | Often theirs |
Ser.vi: get.ser.vi/pricing/ and get.ser.vi/online-ordering/. Owner.com: owner.com/catering (read October 14, 2026) and owner.com/pricing (read October 18, 2026). FlashCater: flashcater.com, read October 14, 2026. Delivery-app commission: typical 25–30%. Prices change, so check each vendor before you decide. Third-party names are trademarks of their owners; Ser.vi is not affiliated with them.
How Ser.vi handles catering orders today
- Same online ordering. Catering orders come through your branded storefront, not a separate marketplace.
- 0% commission, $0 a month for online ordering; the guest pays 5% at checkout (pricing).
- Advance scheduling and bulk pricing for large catering orders (online ordering).
- Same menu as the POS and table QR self-service when you run Ser.vi end to end, so you update once.
- Delivery is optional. Delivery fees go to the delivery provider, not Ser.vi, starting at $6.50 plus tip.
- No software contract on online ordering or POS software (hardware separate).
- Optional marketing if you want help driving demand ($249 / $449 / $749 a month).
If you need a separate catering-only site, tray or per-person package builders, deposits, house accounts, or production sheets on day one, tell us on the demo and compare feature lists honestly.
Worked math on a $1,200 catering order
Example math for illustration, not a quote. One $1,200 catering order placed online:
- Delivery-app commission at 25–30%: the restaurant pays $300–$360 to the platform. Guest and delivery fees are separate and vary by app.
- Ser.vi direct: the restaurant pays $0 commission. The guest pays 5%, or $60, at checkout, which covers processing and the platform. You keep the $1,200 order total.
- Owner.com Flat Rate: no per-order restaurant fee, but a $499 monthly subscription, and the guest still pays Owner.com's 5% order support fee.
- FlashCater: $99 a month plus its payment processing, with 0% platform commission.
If you do even a few large catering tickets a month, marketplace cuts usually dwarf a flat software fee, but only if you can bring in the direct demand (website, Google, email to offices). Direct platforms take the orders; they don't create the demand.
Who commission-free catering fits
A strong fit for Ser.vi
Maybe not yet
Questions restaurants ask
- What is commission-free catering ordering?
- It is taking catering and large-group orders on your own branded ordering page so the platform does not take a marketplace-style percentage of the ticket. Costs still exist (card and platform fees, optional software, delivery). With Ser.vi, the restaurant pays 0% commission and $0 a month for online ordering; the guest pays 5% at checkout.
- Does Ser.vi support catering orders?
- Yes. Ser.vi supports large catering orders with advance scheduling and bulk pricing, through the same online ordering as your everyday orders. Book a demo to walk through how your catering menu should be set up.
- Is there a different fee for catering orders?
- No. Catering orders placed online carry the same flat 5% the guest pays at checkout on any Ser.vi online order. There is no separate catering rate and no commission to the restaurant.
- How is this different from delivery-app catering?
- Delivery apps typically charge the restaurant a commission in the 25–30% range on orders they handle, and they often keep the customer relationship. Direct catering keeps the order and the guest data on your channel.
- How does Ser.vi compare to Owner.com for catering?
- Owner.com includes catering in its subscription and states it is commission-free, with configurable minimums and lead times (owner.com/catering, read October 14, 2026). Owner.com's published plans are $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee, or $499 a month flat, and guests pay a 5% order support fee. Ser.vi online ordering is $0 a month and 0% commission to the restaurant, with the guest paying 5%, and catering runs as large orders with advance scheduling and bulk pricing on that channel.
- How does Ser.vi compare to FlashCater?
- FlashCater is catering-specialized software at a published $99 a month with 0% commission (read October 14, 2026). Ser.vi is a full restaurant stack (POS, online ordering, table QR) where catering runs on the commission-free online ordering channel. If you only need a catering site and already have another POS, FlashCater may be a narrower fit; if you want one menu across POS and direct ordering, compare Ser.vi on a demo.
- Is online catering free?
- Free usually means free of marketplace commission and free of a monthly ordering fee, not free of card or platform fees or food cost. On Ser.vi, online ordering is free to the restaurant at 0% commission; the guest pays 5% at checkout. Hardware and optional marketing are separate.
See catering on your menu
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