Olo launches commission-free ordering app; diners pay a 5% fee

Based on Olo's announcement and app FAQ, and reporting by Restaurant Business, Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Dive. Fees as of Nov. 5, 2026.

What happened

Olo, which runs online ordering for restaurant brands, launched the Olo App on Oct. 20, an app where diners order pickup and delivery from many restaurants in one place, the company announced. Restaurants pay no commission on Olo App orders, Olo says on its page for restaurants, which describes the app as "now live in beta." Diners pay a 5% "Olo Network Fee" on every order, plus any delivery fee the restaurant sets, according to the Olo App FAQ.

The app launched with more than 250 restaurant brands, Olo said. Those brands cover about 20,000 locations, Olo CEO Noah Glass told Restaurant Dive. For now, only restaurants that already use Olo are in the app.

Why it matters to you

Many restaurants charge more for menu items on delivery apps to cover the commission. "Because the delivery marketplaces charge the restaurants a commission, restaurants have offset that by charging a higher price on the marketplaces," Glass told Restaurant Dive.

The Olo App's pitch is the opposite: the diner sees "the restaurant's menu price with no additional markup" and pays a separate, labeled fee instead (Olo App FAQ). The open question for owners is whether diners will download one more app to get that price.

Who pays what

All terms below are Olo's, from its app FAQ and announcement, or from Olo executives as quoted by the outlets named. As of Nov. 5, 2026.

Olo says the 5% fee "covers the cost of running the Olo App," and that diners see a full price summary with every tax and fee before they order (Olo App FAQ). "We don't lump it in with taxes and service fees. We say it at the top of the menu, and we say it at checkout," Glass told Restaurant Dive.

For scale (our math). Olo says most delivery apps charge restaurants 15% to 30% commission (Olo App). At that range, $100 in food sales costs the restaurant $15 to $30 in commission; on the Olo App, the same $100 carries no commission, and the diner pays a $5 network fee if the 5% is figured on the $100 food total. Olo hasn't said what the 5% is figured on, so treat the $5 as an estimate. Your own commission rate is in your delivery-app agreement, not in Olo's range.

Olo's savings estimate. Olo says removing menu markups is "an average saving of 15-30% per menu item" for diners (announcement). That is Olo's own estimate, and Olo has an interest in the app's success. The announcement doesn't give a method. Glass told Restaurant Business that Olo App orders came out 15% to 30% cheaper than the same orders on third-party delivery apps "in tests by Olo employees." We found no independent test.

How orders reach you

Olo App orders come in like orders from the restaurant's own website. Olo tells restaurants the orders flow through "the ordering API you already use. No new dashboard, no new hardware, no new process to train on" (Olo). "The order, when it arrives, looks exactly to the restaurant as if it came through that first-party ordering platform," Glass told Restaurant Dive.

• Delivery. Olo has no couriers of its own. Its Dispatch software asks the delivery services that serve a restaurant for quotes and picks the best one, Glass told Restaurant Dive. Drivers are often from DoorDash, Uber Eats or other apps, he said. The big delivery apps have agreed to keep delivering these orders, Glass told Restaurant Business.
• Guest data. Restaurants get the customer data on app orders, and diners control how restaurants use it for marketing, Nation's Restaurant News reported.
• Problems and refunds. The FAQ tells diners to contact the restaurant directly to cancel or change an order, for a wrong, late or missing order, and for refunds (Olo App FAQ).
• Placement. Diners build a feed by following restaurants; others are ranked by distance, Restaurant Business reported. Olo won't let restaurants pay for better placement, Glass told the outlet. The app page says ads and sponsored placements don't get in diners' way (Olo App).

Who can join, and when

At launch the app lists only Olo customers. Olo's page for restaurants says it will open the app "to all restaurants eventually" and asks restaurants not on Olo to request a demo. Olo hopes to eventually add all of its 800-plus brands and about 90,000 locations, Glass told Restaurant Business.

Olo plans to start adding restaurants that don't use Olo, including local restaurants, "as early as the first quarter of next year," which is the first quarter of 2027, Restaurant Business reported Oct. 19, citing Glass. Olo's own pages give no date, as of Nov. 5, 2026.

Will diners use it?

Olo is betting on diners who find delivery apps expensive but don't want a separate app for each restaurant. Glass described "this big middle" of guests who "don't want to pay 15% to 30% more, find delivery really expensive, but do want to have the convenience" of ordering from many brands (Restaurant Dive). He said the goal is not to pull diners away from third-party apps, Restaurant Business reported.

Olo starts with a list of diners. About 40 million people have created an Olo account to order from Olo restaurants, Restaurant Business reported, and they'll get emails about the app.

Not everyone expects a fast switch. "The consumer's mind is awfully hard to change," Anna Tauzin, fractional chief marketing officer of Naf Naf Grill, which Restaurant Business said would be available on the Olo App, told Restaurant Business. Glass himself said the app is unlikely to shift industry economics right away, Restaurant Dive reported.

What the delivery apps offer

Commission-based apps sell reach, not just delivery. DoorDash says its commission covers "marketing, delivery, and support costs – helping you reach more customers," and that restaurants pay no separate card-processing fee on DoorDash app orders (DoorDash merchant page). Restaurants choose among its Basic, Plus and Premier plans and can change plans at any time.

DoorDash also ties one pickup rate to matching prices. Its 6% pickup rate requires that DoorDash pickup menu prices match in-store prices, according to the same page.

What Olo says

"It's a better experience for consumers and a more sustainable model for restaurants, with no menu price inflation," Glass said in the announcement. The release also quotes an executive of an Olo customer brand that is in the app.

Questions to ask Olo before you join

1. Who pays card processing on Olo App orders, and at what rate?
2. How is delivery priced to me, and how much of it can I pass to the diner as a delivery fee?
3. Is the 5% fee figured on the food total, or on the total with tax and delivery?
4. Do my Olo App prices have to match my website or in-store prices?
5. If I'm not on Olo, when can I join, and what would it cost?

Details may change; we'll update this piece as Olo publishes more.