Free tool · No account needed
Delivery Profit Calculator
Third-party delivery adds sales — but commission, advertising, promotions and packaging quietly eat the margin. Enter your numbers to see the real contribution delivery leaves your restaurant, where every dollar goes, and what moving some orders direct could save.
Your numbers
Results update as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask.
Total gross sales through DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc.
Optional monthly costs (for a sharper estimate)
All amounts in USD. Figures are estimates based on the inputs you provide.
Estimated contribution from third-party delivery
$9,460/ month
$113,520 per year · 43% margin
- Monthly commission
- $5,500
- Total platform cost
- $5,500
- 25% of delivery sales
- Food cost
- $6,600
- Est. orders / mo
- 880
Where your delivery dollar goes
- Monthly delivery sales
- $22,000
- − Food cost
- $6,600
- − Commission
- $5,500
- − Packaging
- $440
- = Contribution before overhead
- $9,460
What if some orders moved direct?
Potential third-party commission reduction — not guaranteed savings. Add your direct-ordering costs below for a net estimate.
Optional. Your results stay on screen either way.
How to read your delivery contribution
Most restaurants track delivery by top-line sales, which hides the true cost. A $22,000 month on a 25% commission plan gives up $5,500 in commission before you count advertising, promotions, refunds and packaging. Food cost applies on top. The number that matters is what is left over — contribution before fixed overhead — because that is the money delivery actually adds toward rent, labor and profit.
When contribution is thin, the highest-leverage move is usually shifting a share of loyal, repeat orders to a direct channel you control, where you keep the commission. The direct-ordering module below estimates that opportunity from your own numbers — conservatively, as a potential reduction, until you add your direct-ordering costs.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you calculate delivery profitability?
- We start from your monthly third-party delivery sales and subtract food cost, platform commission, advertising, promotions, refunds, other platform charges, and packaging. What remains is your estimated contribution before fixed overhead. All figures are computed in exact integer cents.
- Is the calculator free?
- Yes. It is completely free, needs no account, and shows your full results on the page. We only ask for contact details if you explicitly choose to be connected with a provider that could help reduce delivery costs.
- What counts as 'contribution'?
- Contribution is what your delivery sales leave after variable costs (food, packaging) and platform costs (commission, ads, promotions, fees). It is the money available toward fixed overhead and profit — not net profit itself.
- What is the direct-ordering opportunity?
- It estimates the portion of your platform commission tied to a share of orders. If some of those orders came through your own direct channel instead, that commission could be reduced. We label it a potential reduction unless you provide your own direct-ordering costs, in which case we show estimated net savings.
Want to compare DoorDash commission plans instead? Try the DoorDash Plan Optimizer, or analyze a delivery statement.