A Free Online Ordering System Still Sends a Bill
Owners who search for a free online ordering system are usually trying to stop a marketplace from taking a large cut. The word free is the offer. The bill is the question. A $0 monthly price can still charge per order, mark up the card rate, raise the menu the guest sees, or unlock the useful parts later.
This page is that bill, spoken generally. It does not assign a secret rate to a named company. Your contract beats any range here. The admin after someone pays is restaurant ordering software. Modifiers, pickup times, and zones are online ordering platform. The published lines are pricing.
Per-order fees are the usual catch
A free online ordering system often advertises no monthly fee and then takes a piece of each ticket. Sometimes that piece is a percentage. Sometimes it is a flat amount per order. Sometimes it is both. Ask for the number in writing before you move the button on your site.
Marketplaces often land in a 15 to 30% band. That is a stress test, not a quote. On a $40 order, 5% is $2 and 30% is $12. On MicroSky Food the percentage is net storefront sales after refunds and voids. Ask the other quote which total it uses.
Card processing is a separate line
Free ordering still moves a card. Sometimes you bring your own processor. Sometimes the vendor's rate is marked up and called included. Included is not zero. Ask whether the rate is yours, theirs, or a blend.
You bring Stripe, Authorize.net, or Electronic Payments. That card rate stays on the processor's bill. Cash on delivery can cover a merchant application in process. Apple Pay is on Growth and Growth Plus, through Authorize.net, and not on Standard. Checkout does not add a tip prompt.
Menu markups move the fee onto the guest
Some free setups expect the online menu to cost more than the counter. A $16 plate that is $14 in the room can fund the vendor. The guest pays it, so it is easy to forget. It is still a cost.
MicroSky Food does not raise your prices. The storefront shows the price you type. If you charge more online, write that gap on the ordering line. Do not call it free.
Add-ons that show up after the word free
A monthly zero often covers a narrow slice. Your domain, a printer, texts, or a phone line may arrive later. Ask which are in the offer.
The ordering website is on every plan, including Standard. A branded iOS app is on Growth and Growth Plus, after 3 months on Standard. There is no Android app. Email and SMS are on Growth Plus only. Hardware is $500 once if you need a print server and a receipt printer. Admin runs in the browser on a computer you already have.
You set the delivery zone, the radius, and the fee. MicroSky Food does not dispatch drivers, run a fleet, track drivers, or offer geofencing.
The MicroSky Food bill, written out
Use the published lines. On Standard, choose $249 per month plus 5% of net sales, or $499 per month flat. Only that $499 per month Standard option leaves off the percentage of net sales. Growth is $499 per month plus 7% and adds a branded iOS app, a website redesign, app push, and monthly SEO for 5 keywords. Growth Plus is $999 per month plus 10% and adds email, SMS, segmentation, and monthly SEO for 10 keywords. Both require 3 months on Standard.
A 30-day free trial prints a real ticket before the first paid month. It does not remove the fees forever. There is no long-term contract. If this page and a sales call disagree, pricing wins. The marketing line beside this bill is how much should a restaurant spend on marketing.
What the paid plan includes on day one
Standard is the storefront on your domain: modifiers, a running subtotal, pickup, and delivery zones you set. Hours open and close the cart. Accounts, saved orders, and loyalty are on every plan. A paid ticket can print on the printer you already use.
Sky AI takes inbound pickup or delivery calls and prints a paid ticket, with no per-minute fee, after you enable it under Integrations. Reports for orders, revenue, average ticket, and best-sellers are in restaurant admin. Whose name is on checkout is white label online ordering.
How to compare a quote this week
Write four lines for every offer, including ours: the monthly amount, any per-order percent or flat fee, the card rate and who sets it, and anything that changes the menu or arrives later. If a line says included, ask what funds it.
Run last month's online sales through each percentage. A quiet shop feels $249 or $499 first. A busy shop feels the percent first. Only the $499 per month Standard option drops that percent. Online ordering for restaurants is the wider buying pass.
- Monthly fee, including a zero.
- Percent of the sale, flat fee per order, or both.
- Card rate, and whether you can bring a processor.
- Menu markup, hardware, SMS, and branding removal.
- Whether you can leave without a term.
Place one paid test order
Start the 30-day free trial. The wizard covers profile, menu, hours, delivery zones, and billing. A site can be up in about 10 minutes, and you still read every imported item. How it works is that short version. Pay for one pickup and one order inside the zone. If the paper matches the plate, you have a real cost to compare.
Restaurants already on the platform are on clients. Click a storefront in the live demo. If a quote still says free and will not list the four lines, call and read it out loud. Questions go through contact. Start 30 Day Free Trial. Call (888) 960-1359.