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Restaurants · head to head

ChowNow vs Craftable

ChowNow logo

ChowNow

Restaurants

Commission-free online ordering

From
$249/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Craftable logo

Craftable

Restaurants

Back of house inventory, invoice processing and costing built first for beverage led venues

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: ChowNow limited website customization with only pre-built Squarespace templates available; Craftable beverage and food are separately licensed modules, so a venue with a full bar and a full kitchen is quoted twice for the same address and the effective per venue cost is roughly double the headline.
  • They diverge on capability: ChowNow covers Branded ordering, Craftable covers Weight based bottle counting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ChowNow and Craftable actually diverge.

Attributes where ChowNow and Craftable differ
AttributeChowNowCraftable
Starting price$249/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Restaurants).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ChowNow

  • Branded ordering
  • Website integration
  • Mobile app
  • Customer database
  • Marketing tools
  • Delivery integration
  • DoorDash Drive
  • Google

Only in Craftable

  • Weight based bottle counting
  • Invoice digitisation
  • Recipe and plate costing
  • Variance reporting
  • Purchasing and ordering
  • Accounts payable export

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ChowNow

  • Point of Salenot Craftable
  • Order Managementnot Craftable
  • Inventory Controlnot Craftable
  • Staff Schedulingnot Craftable

Craftable

  • A cocktail bar where liquor shrinkage is material and eyeballed bottle counts are not accurate enoughnot ChowNow
  • A hotel food and beverage department running several outlets and one central storenot ChowNow
  • A restaurant group that needs supplier invoices coded and exported to Sage Intacct without manual entrynot ChowNow
  • An operator who wants pour cost variance reported by bartender rather than only by venuenot ChowNow

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ChowNow

  • Limited website customization with only pre-built Squarespace templates available
  • No multi-language support, limiting service to non-English speaking customer bases
  • Multi-location management requires separate dashboard for each location
  • Delivery reliability issues with reported order delays and non-arrivals
  • Limited customer support responsiveness with long phone wait times

Craftable

  • Beverage and food are separately licensed modules, so a venue with a full bar and a full kitchen is quoted twice for the same address and the effective per venue cost is roughly double the headline.
  • Invoice digitisation only helps if your suppliers are covered and their documents are legible; a venue buying from small local producers with handwritten dockets will still key those in by hand.
  • Accurate variance depends on counting on a fixed cadence, and venues that slip from weekly to monthly counts get numbers too stale to act on, which is the most common reason implementations quietly fail.
  • Weight based counting needs connected scales at each venue, an unbudgeted hardware cost that grows with the number of bars in the building.
  • Implementation requires mapping every item to supplier catalogue codes and building recipes before the first useful report, typically several weeks of a manager time that nobody has allocated.

Pricing, plan by plan

ChowNow

$249/month
  • Launch$249/month
    • Commission-free ordering
    • Website and mobile app
    • Basic POS integrations
  • Grow$349/month
    • All Launch features
    • Advanced marketing tools
    • Email and SMS campaigns
  • Elevate$449/month
    • All Grow features
    • Advanced reporting
    • Priority support

Craftable

On request
  • Beverage module$undefined/year
    • Bar inventory, pour costing and variance by product
    • Priced per venue
    • Scale hardware quoted separately
  • Food module$undefined/year
    • Kitchen inventory, plate costing and purchasing
    • Priced per venue and quoted in addition to the beverage module
  • Invoice and accounts payable$undefined/year
    • Invoice digitisation with line item detail
    • Ledger coding and export to the accounting system
    • Volume of invoices affects the quote

Which should you pick?

Choose ChowNow if

  • You need branded ordering.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want website integration.
ChowNow review

Choose Craftable if

  • You need weight based bottle counting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want invoice digitisation.
Craftable review

Questions people ask

Is ChowNow or Craftable better?
Neither clearly leads. ChowNow starts at $249/month and Craftable at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ChowNow or Craftable?
ChowNow starts at $249/month and Craftable at On request.
Does ChowNow or Craftable run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is ChowNow best used for?
ChowNow is most often used for point of sale, order management, inventory control, staff scheduling. Of those, point of sale and order management are not what Craftable is typically brought in for.
What can ChowNow do that Craftable cannot?
ChowNow covers Branded ordering, Website integration, Mobile app, Customer database. Craftable covers Weight based bottle counting, Invoice digitisation, Recipe and plate costing, Variance reporting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ChowNow: Is ChowNow truly commission-free?

Yes, ChowNow charges no commission on orders placed through your website, app, or marketplace channels. However, you pay a monthly subscription ($249-$449), payment processing fees (2.95% plus $0.29 per transaction), and optional delivery fees ($7.98 per order with Flex Delivery).

Source
Craftable: Is Craftable the same product as Bevager and Foodager?

Yes. Those were the beverage and food product names before the platform was consolidated under the Craftable brand; they are now modules rather than separate products.

ChowNow: Does ChowNow integrate with my POS system?

Yes. ChowNow integrates with over 45 POS systems including Toast, Square, Clover, and Revel. Orders are automatically synced to your POS and kitchen printers without manual entry.

Source
Craftable: Does it replace my accounting system?

No. It codes and exports invoices into an existing ledger such as QuickBooks or Sage Intacct rather than becoming the ledger.

ChowNow: Can I use ChowNow with delivery platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats?

ChowNow handles direct orders but also supports order aggregation from third-party delivery platforms including DoorDash, UberEats, and Grubhub through integrations.

Source
Craftable: Do I need the scale hardware?

Only for beverage. Weighing partial bottles is what makes liquor variance reliable; without it you are back to tenth of a bottle estimates.

ChowNow: How much does ChowNow cost?

ChowNow plans start at $249/month (Launch), $349/month (Grow), and $449/month (Elevate) when billed monthly. Annual billing saves 8-9%. Additional fees include payment processing (2.95% plus $0.29 per transaction), setup fees ($119-$499), and optional delivery charges.

Source
Craftable: Can it handle multiple venues under one group?

Yes, with consolidated reporting across venues, but each venue is priced individually.

ChowNow: What platforms are supported by ChowNow?

ChowNow is available on web, iOS, and Android. Restaurants get a website ordering interface and can offer a branded mobile app. Customers discover restaurants through Google Maps, Apple Maps, Yelp, and the ChowNow Marketplace.

Source
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