Restaurants · alternatives
Alternatives to ChowNow
24 restaurants tools sit alongside ChowNow in this directory. Below is what separates each from ChowNow on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 4
- Cheaper to start
- 4
- ChowNow starts at
- $249/month
Why people look past ChowNow
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the ChowNow entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is no free tier
The record for ChowNow carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 4 of the 24 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
All-in-one restaurant management platform
- Starts $249 a month cheaper, at Free.
Restaurant tech that works as hard as you
- Starts $249 a month cheaper, at Free.
- 2 tiers to ChowNow's 3.
Digital ordering and delivery platform
- Starts $249 a month cheaper, at Free.
- 1 tier to ChowNow's 3.
Restaurant websites and marketing platform
- Starts $150 a month cheaper, at $99/month.
UK-headquartered food delivery marketplace connecting restaurants, riders and diners
- Can be used without paying; ChowNow cannot.
- 2 tiers to ChowNow's 3.
Indian food delivery marketplace with Instamart quick commerce grocery built in
- Can be used without paying; ChowNow cannot.
- 2 tiers to ChowNow's 3.
Every ChowNow alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChowNow (this page) | $249/month | - | 3 | |
| Toast POSFull POS system with integrated online ordering, better for restaurants already on Toast or those wanting unified POS and ordering in one platform. | Free | Subscription | 3 | vs ChowNow |
| SpotOnRestaurant management platform offering POS and online ordering, competing directly on all-in-one operational solutions for independent restaurants. | Free | - | 2 | vs ChowNow |
| OloEnterprise digital ordering platform with 400+ integrations, designed for large multi-location restaurant brands seeking scalable ordering infrastructure. | Free | Subscription | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| BentoBoxRestaurant website and online ordering platform focused on design-forward presence and direct customer ordering without third-party marketplace exposure. | $99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs ChowNow |
| Deliveroo | Free | Free to download; delivery and service fees per order, optional subscription for reduced fees | 2 | vs ChowNow |
| Swiggy | Free | Free to download; delivery and platform fees per order, optional paid membership | 2 | vs ChowNow |
| Just Eat | Free | Free to download; delivery and service fees per order, set by restaurant and market | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Zomato | Free | Free to download; delivery and platform fees per order, optional paid membership | 2 | vs ChowNow |
| Petpooja | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Nory | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Restroworks | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Flipdish | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Foodics | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| PAR Brink POS | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Deliverect | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Epos Now | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Lunchbox | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Otter | On request | Quote | 2 | vs ChowNow |
| UrbanPiper | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Craftable | On request | Quote | 3 | vs ChowNow |
| Oracle MICROS Simphony | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| WISK | On request | Quote | 1 | vs ChowNow |
| Slice | On request | Quote | 2 | vs ChowNow |
| Galley Solutions | $300/month | Subscription | 2 | vs ChowNow |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the ChowNow badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
What you would be giving up
ChowNow is most often brought in for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If ChowNow is broadly right and the question is cost, the ChowNow pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Restaurants category lists everything the directory holds, and best restaurants tools ranks them.
ChowNow runs on web, ios, android. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about ChowNow alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to ChowNow?
- 24 other restaurants tools are listed in this directory, led by Toast POS, SpotOn, Olo, BentoBox. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to ChowNow?
- 4 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Deliveroo, Swiggy, Just Eat, Zomato.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to ChowNow?
- Yes. 4 of the alternatives below start under ChowNow's $249/month: Toast POS at Free, SpotOn at Free, Olo at Free, BentoBox at $99/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to ChowNow?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from ChowNow?
- ChowNow is most often brought in for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to ChowNow?
- None of the restaurants tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these ChowNow alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Restaurants, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare ChowNow against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against ChowNow covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every restaurants tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Restaurants category, 24 tools beside ChowNow. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.