The Top 5 ChowNow Alternatives for Growing Online Orders

ChowNow was one of the earliest food delivery apps. Later on, they added tools to help restaurant owners sell and fulfill orders online.

And these tools worked great for restaurants.

Then new platforms were built. These days, ChowNow is still a good option if you want commission-free online ordering.

Unfortunately, ChowNow isn't great if you want to grow your direct online orders. Through your own website and Google search—the biggest marketing channel for restaurants.

If that’s you, I have 7 modern replacements for ChowNow you can try. I’ve tried all these platforms. And I have recommendations no matter which type of restaurant you run.

Why do restaurants leave ChowNow?

You may have your own reasons for saying “Ciao!” to ChowNow.

But if you’re still undecided, here’s what our customers mention as reasons they’re ditching ChowNow

1. ChowNow is bad for getting orders from Google

Google is the #1 channel for getting new online orders.

Owner's data shows Google drives 10-15x more sales than social media. That’s why restaurant SEO is so important.

The problem is that ChowNow sends Google visitors to the ChowNow app to finish their orders.

That makes Google think the first website (yours) is bad, but the second website (ChowNow) is good.

Instead, what you want is this:

This isn’t just better for Google, it’s what customers expect.

Think about Domino's website. Or Amazon.com. Orders happen on the same domain.

Customers like checking out on the page they’re already on. Our conversion rates prove this.

2. ChowNow lacks SMS marketing and smart upsells

Regulars can make up to 65-80% of a typical restaurant’s profits. Email and SMS are the best channels to reach these customers.

ChowNow does include basic restaurant marketing automation like timed emails. But it lacks features to send SMS messages to your customers.

This takes away a huge incentive for customers to download your restaurant’s app in the first place.

ChowNow also lacks smart upsells for customers ordering from your website. Smart upsells recommend products based on what’s already in a customer’s cart.

At Owner, we’ve seen our customers raise their average ticket price just by turning this feature on.

3. ChowNow has worrying consumer reviews

ChowNow has bad reviews on consumer websites like Trustpilot. What’s going on here?

Here’s what one user had to say: “ChowNow lets you go all the way to entering payment info and then won’t confirm the order. Every time. After several tries on different dates... I quit using [it].”

You should never lose orders because your OLO frustrates customers.

While ChowNow provides great support to restaurant owners, customers get a different experience. But restaurant owners suffer the consequences too—in lost sales.

Our top picks for alternatives to ChowNow

The “best” ChowNow competitor depends on what your restaurant needs most. So we ranked and reviewed our favorite options based on their unique features.

• 🏆 Best for driving direct online orders: Owner.com
  Owner is a complete platform for growing your restaurant’s online orders. Without commissions.  
• 🍽️ Best for reservations and dine-in restaurants: BentoBox
  BentoBox offers great-looking websites for reservation and dine-in experiences.
• 🍷 Best for upscale restaurants and catering: Spothopper
  Spothopper is ideal for high-end restaurants that need photography and social media support.

1. Owner.com

Best for growing your restaurant’s direct online orders.

Websites on Owner get 2-4x more online orders than the average restaurant website.

That’s because we focus on making it easy to order from you.

There are three features that matter if you want to dramatically grow your online orders:

1. A website that ranks high on Google search

Owner builds websites that Google loves.

We do this by making your restaurant’s information easy to find. By making online ordering super convenient.

And by making sure your website doesn’t make any small (but important) Google mistakes. Like sending your customers to another OLO to finish their order.

That’s how restaurants like Saffron Indian Kitchen drive 750+ orders per month. All from Google search.  

2. An online ordering experience that converts

What do top restaurant websites like Domino’s and Chick-fil-A have in common?

Answer: You’re always just a few clicks away from finishing an order.

We designed Owner.com’s online ordering to work the exact same way. We build proven best practices from leading brands into our platform. And we use data to confirm they work.

This is a big reason why websites on Owner get 2-4x more orders than the average restaurant website.

3. A mobile app and autopilot marketing that drives repeat orders

Owner.com gives your restaurant a customer loyalty program, just like Starbucks.

Customers love collecting points and it keeps them coming back.

Our automatic marketing sends email & SMS to your customers, which helps you get more loyal customers.

Why Owner wins for modern restaurants

We believe Owner is the best in these three areas. We have the data—and the case studies—to prove it.

But, we know our product isn’t for everyone...

Compared to ChowNow, Owner does not offer the same level of customization. In fact, some of our customers even call Owner “inflexible” for website design. The tradeoff is we help prevent small mistakes that cost restaurants thousands. But, it also means we aren’t a good alternative to ChowNow if you want to control every pixel of your design.

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🤩 What we do well:

• Websites built for sales. Owner’s restaurant website builder uses proven best practices to help your website rank at the top of Google. Websites on Owner often see 10-15x more sales on Google than social media.
• Speed of results. Owner customers say they see results quickly after switching. “We had our first orders within hours of "going live" with our new site,” says one user on G2. “Within two weeks of launch, our Owner.com website has paid for itself 4x over.”
• Marketing on autopilot. Set up campaigns with pre-built templates. Turn on automatic email and SMS campaigns in a few clicks. And remind customers to reorder or use their loyalty points.
• Your own mobile app. Make it easy for your regulars to reorder from anywhere. Use the built-in loyalty program in your mobile app to get regulars to order more. 
• World-class support. Owner has the #1 highest-rated customer support of any restaurant software in the US. Read Owner's reviews on G2 and on the Owner website.

😕 What needs improvement: 

• Limited customization. Owner sites use tested templates to increase conversion. Some customers wish they could change more about the look and feel of their site. “There aren't quite as many customization options as we'd like to see,” says one user.
• More marketing customizations. “We can’t change the coupon amounts in their automated marketing funnels,” says one G2 user. “We’re stuck with their suggestions, which usually work well, but having the option to tweak them would be great.”
• More integrations are needed. “[More] compatibility with a broader range of systems would greatly improve its utility,” says one user. “Especially for restaurants that already rely on other digital tools.”

Real customer reviews

💬 What our customers say:

2. Spothopper

Best for upscale restaurants offering catering and events.

Spothopper is a website platform for restaurants with white-glove services on setup. Spothopper focuses more on the look and feel of your website and menu. Its online ordering experience is more of an afterthought.

Compared to ChowNow, Spothopper has a worse online ordering experience. However, Spothopper also offers professional photography and social media services. And its website designs work great for higher-end restaurants who favor reservations. Spothopper works best for dine-in restaurants. Or restaurants that do a lot of business through catering and events.

🤩 What they do well:

• Great website designs. Restaurants on Spothopper tend to really like the look and feel of their website. Websites look modern and stand out. But they also don't feel cluttered or overwhelming.
• Social media setup. Spothopper offers a unique service that helps restaurants with their social media. Spothopper sends photographers on-location to get content for your website and social profiles.
• High-quality photography. Overall, restaurant owners had great things to say about the photography. “Their contract photographer ... took some FANTASTIC pictures for the new website we're supposed to get,” says one user.

😕 What needs improvement: 

• Clunky online ordering. Spothopper’s online ordering makes it hard to find items and complete orders in just a few taps. Many restaurant owners on Spothopper link offsite to third-party apps for online orders. That eats into their profit.
• Orders happen offsite. Even orders on a Spothopper website push you to the Spothopper app. This hurts your ability to rank in Google and will almost certainly cost you traffic and sales.
• Slow and inconsistent setup. Restaurant owners mention that it takes a long time to get set up on Spothopper—over 30 days in most cases. Some restaurants also received inconsistent service. One Reddit user said the photographer never showed up to many of their locations.
• Glitchy product, long contracts. Restaurant owners say the long-term contracts were not always worth the cost. “I'd run far away … The platform glitches and it just seems like a startup that traps businesses into a contract,” says one user.

Real customer reviews

Spothopper doesn’t have many reviews available. Instead, I'd recommend checking the Reddit threads about it. Or scheduling a demo if you're interested.

3. Sauce

Best for restaurants just looking to streamline local delivery.

Sauce is a local food delivery network that offers commission-free delivery for restaurants. Sauce focuses on handling delivery, including managing disputes and refunds. You’ll need your own website and marketing channels for Sauce to work with your business. However, Sauce may be able to take delivery entirely off your plate.

Compared to ChowNow, Sauce is better suited to help streamline your local delivery operations. Sauce isn’t useful for driving website traffic and direct online orders. It doesn’t include core features like a custom website, mobile app, or marketing platform. Sauces’s flat fee per delivery might appeal to restaurants with large ticket sizes.

🤩 What they do well:

• Commission-free delivery. The main draw of Sauce is its commission-free delivery. Sauce handles delivery support and refunds, tracks orders, and more. Sauce can even fulfill larger catering orders.
• Sell on social media. Sauce features two unique sales channels. Facebook Messenger ordering and the ability for customers to place orders via Instagram. This can be valuable if you already have a following on these platforms or sell to community groups.
• 24/7 phone agents. Sauce provides 24/7 phone coverage to help customers fulfill their online orders. This helps reduce the time you spend on administrative work related to online orders.

😕 What needs improvement:

• Won’t help you sell. Sauce is best for restaurants that already have a website with existing orders coming in. Sauce lacks too many key features (or they’re too basic) to help drive new sales. Especially for new restaurants.
• No branded mobile app. No mobile app also means Sauce lacks the most effective way to encourage your regulars to buy more.
• No automated marketing. Sauce does make sales channels like Facebook and Instagram available. However, Sauce lacks automated marketing features. Like email, SMS, or auto-upsells that put your marketing campaigns on autopilot.
• Only replaces delivery. Sauce isn’t an OLO or marketing platform and its website feature is extremely basic. That makes it hard to use Sauce as a replacement for more robust products like ChowNow or Owner.

Real customer reviews

Sauce doesn’t have many online reviews available. Instead, I'd recommending trialing the product or booking a demo if interesed.

4. Bentobox

Best for fine-dining restaurants that need a stylish design.

Bentobox is a ChowNow alternative that’s good for upscale restaurants. They excel in solutions for dine-in customers. But their online ordering system isn’t optimized for takeout like some of the other options on this list.

Compared to ChowNow, Bentobox targets fine-dining restaurants. Those who want a website that looks custom-built, but who don’t care as much about online ordering. Bentobox offers more support for websites than ChowNow. But lacks a lot of basic marketing features like SMS.

🤩 What they do well:

• Great-looking website. Restaurant owners tend to like the look and feel of their Bentobox website. You can't customize the website but they have a professional look right out of the box.
• Full-service design. Bentobox offers custom design support. Their team will build a site tailored to your needs—depending on the package you choose. You can also pay for ongoing support and even redesigns of your website.
• Pick and choose features. Bentobox lets you select individual features or custom packages. That might help you lower your costs. Since you can leave out some features you don't need.
• Friendly for non-geeks. Bentobox reviews note that it’s easy to get a very simple website set up. Even if you aren’t all that tech-savvy.

😕 What needs improvement: 

• Not built for delivery growth. Bentobox sites look great but don’t focus the experience on conversion. It takes too many clicks to place an order. Photos of menu items are small and display poorly on mobile. And the website animations, while fun, slow ordering down to a crawl.
• No branded mobile app. Bentobox does not provide a custom mobile app for your restaurant. That makes it harder to cater to long-time, repeat customers. Bentobox does include a loyalty program. But, it’s harder for customers to redeem and track progress without an app.
• Bare-bones marketing features. Bentobox includes basic marketing tools out of the box. However, it lacks key features like built-in SEO and accelerated checkout options.
• Confusing pricing and support. Restaurant owners find the many pricing tiers and bundles confusing. “I was sold the product at one price and billed a much higher price,” says one user. “I [also] received … the most confusing and terrible customer service I've experienced.”

Real customer reviews

5. Menufy

Best for new restaurants who need a cheap, no-frills solution.

Menufy is a BentoBox alternative that also puts restaurants in front of customers. Menufy is much less popular than other third-party marketplaces. Some may find Menufy’s features too basic or frustrating to get value from.

Compared to ChowNow, most of Menufy’s appeal comes from the fact that it’s free to start using. You get what you pay for, however, and Menufy requires a number of compromises. The app itself isn’t great with far fewer customers than DoorDash. The websites offered are basic with no marketing features. Delivery will cost you a 12.5% commission on every order.

🤩 What they do well:

• Low-cost solution. Restaurant owners primarily like Menufy’s accessible pricing. Outside the online payment fees, it is cheap or near-free to get started. Of course, this changes if you decide to use their food delivery service (covered below).
• Access to a marketplace. Your restaurant is listed on the Menufy after signing up, which gets you in front of local customers. However, if you do a search in your area you’ll find there aren’t all that many restaurants listed.

😕 What needs improvement: 

• Commissions on delivery. Menufy charges 12.5% commissions on food delivery. But it's not nearly as popular as marketplaces like DoorDash or UberEats.
• Poor app experience. Branded mobile apps aren’t available on Menufy. Instead, customers must use the Menufy app which has bad reviews. “Menufy is archaic and not great,” says one user. And the reviews for Menufy support aren’t any better.
• Websites don’t convert. Menufy offers a basic website that isn’t built to drive traffic from Google searches. Or guide customers through a simple, accelerated checkout. That could result in customers heading back to third-party apps.
• No marketing features. Other marketing features are also absent. No SEO, loyalty programs, or SMS/email. And no flyers, either. You instead rely on potential sales from the app.

Real customer reviews

Menufy doesn’t have many third-party ratings from Capterra or similar sites. However, it does have reviews from consumers on the App Store.

Pick the ChowNow alternative that truly fits.

What’s the best item on your menu?

As I’m sure you tell people, it all depends on what you’re looking for. The “best” product depends on your needs, whether you’re picking software or deciding on lunch.

If it’s time to “graduate” from ChowNow, first think about what your restaurant needs most.

Do you need advanced reservation or dine-in features?
Or do you need to convert traffic into online orders? 

Do you need to make more posts on social media?
Or do you need Google to drive predictable sales?

In our experience, it’s better to go with the product that’s best-in-class in the areas that matter to your business. It’s rarely useful to have an “OK” product that does it all.

And if you want, I’d be happy to take you through our platform, Owner.com. Join me for a quick, no-pressure demo to see how Owner works.

👋 Book a 20-minute demo with our team here →

Here’s what we cover:

• How Owner’s online ordering converts 2-4x better.
• How we rebuild your website to rank high in Google.
• How Owner’s mobile apps get regulars to order 50% more.

See you there?