Softwr

Restaurants · head to head

Deliveroo vs Otter

Deliveroo logo

Deliveroo

Restaurants

UK-headquartered food delivery marketplace connecting restaurants, riders and diners

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Otter logo

Otter

Restaurants

Delivery order consolidation and menu management across marketplaces, owned by CloudKitchens

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Deliveroo has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Deliveroo restaurant commission of roughly 20 to 30 percent is frequently passed on as higher in-app menu prices, so the displayed total is not the restaurant menu price plus a small fee, it is a marked-up menu plus a fee.; Otter the parent company operates delivery only kitchens and has run its own virtual brands, so your order and menu data sits with a business that can compete in the same delivery radius.
  • They diverge on capability: Deliveroo covers Restaurant marketplace, Otter covers Order consolidation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Deliveroo and Otter actually diverge.

Attributes where Deliveroo and Otter differ
AttributeDeliverooOtter
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree to download; delivery and service fees per order, optional subscription for reduced feesquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 Deliveroo

  • Restaurant marketplace
  • Deliveroo Plus subscription
  • Live order tracking
  • Grocery and convenience delivery
  • Group ordering
  • Deliveroo for Business

Only in Otter

  • Order consolidation
  • Menu sync
  • POS injection
  • Availability and outage control
  • Virtual brand management
  • Marketplace analytics

What people use each for

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

Deliveroo

  • Someone ordering food for delivery who values convenience over the price premium versus collectionnot Otter
  • A frequent orderer weighing whether a Deliveroo Plus subscription pays for itself at their order volumenot Otter
  • A workplace using Deliveroo for Business to give staff an expensed meal allowancenot Otter
  • A diner comparing grocery delivery speed against a supermarket own-delivery slotnot Otter

Otter

  • A kitchen running three or more delivery marketplaces that has run out of counter space for tabletsnot Deliveroo
  • An operator launching virtual brands who needs several menus maintained from one placenot Deliveroo
  • A small chain that wants store pauses and item eighty sixes applied to every channel at oncenot Deliveroo
  • A ghost kitchen tenant who needs marketplace orders landing in the POS for accurate sales reportingnot Deliveroo

Where each one falls short

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

Deliveroo

  • Restaurant commission of roughly 20 to 30 percent is frequently passed on as higher in-app menu prices, so the displayed total is not the restaurant menu price plus a small fee, it is a marked-up menu plus a fee.
  • Riders are engaged as self-employed contractors paid per delivery, a model that has faced repeated legal and regulatory challenges in the UK and EU over minimum pay and employment status.
  • Deliveroo Plus only saves money above a certain order frequency, and casual users who subscribe rarely break even on the monthly charge.
  • Availability and reliability vary sharply by city; smaller markets have fewer restaurant partners and longer, less predictable delivery windows.
  • The company has exited some international markets entirely (including Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan and Australia in prior years), so coverage has shrunk rather than grown in several regions, and a market can disappear with limited notice.

Otter

  • The parent company operates delivery only kitchens and has run its own virtual brands, so your order and menu data sits with a business that can compete in the same delivery radius.
  • Pricing scales with the number of connected channels and locations, so the cost rises exactly in step with the delivery volume that makes the tool worth having.
  • Inserting middleware between the marketplaces and the kitchen adds a failure point; when Otter has an incident, orders stop arriving even though DoorDash and Uber Eats are working normally.
  • POS integration depth varies by system, and on some point of sale platforms orders arrive as a single lumped item rather than as itemised tickets, which breaks product mix reporting.
  • Support is tiered by plan and lower tier customers report slow resolution on order routing faults, which are precisely the faults that cost money within the hour.

Pricing, plan by plan

Deliveroo

Free
  • Pay per orderFree
    • Delivery fee scaling with distance and demand
    • Service charge of a few percent on order total
    • Restaurant menu prices often marked up versus in-store
  • Deliveroo Plus$3.49/month
    • Delivery fees waived on qualifying orders above a minimum basket size
    • Service charge may still apply
    • Price varies by market and is often discounted for an introductory period

Otter

On request
  • Order Manager$undefined/year
    • Priced per location per month
    • Cost scales with the number of connected delivery channels
    • POS injection and menu sync quoted as part of the bundle
  • Otter POS and kitchen display$undefined/year
    • Point of sale and kitchen screens sold with hardware
    • Card processing quoted with the POS agreement

Which should you pick?

Choose Deliveroo if

  • You need restaurant marketplace.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want deliveroo plus subscription.
Deliveroo review

Choose Otter if

  • You need order consolidation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want menu sync.
Otter review

Questions people ask

Is Deliveroo or Otter better?
Neither clearly leads. Deliveroo starts at Free and Otter at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Deliveroo or Otter?
Deliveroo has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Deliveroo and On request for Otter.
Does Deliveroo or Otter run on more platforms?
Deliveroo runs on iOS, Android, Web. Otter runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Deliveroo for free?
Yes. Deliveroo has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Otter starts at On request.
What is Deliveroo best used for?
Deliveroo is most often used for someone ordering food for delivery who values convenience over the price premium versus collection, a frequent orderer weighing whether a deliveroo plus subscription pays for itself at their order volume, a workplace using deliveroo for business to give staff an expensed meal allowance, a diner comparing grocery delivery speed against a supermarket own-delivery slot. Of those, someone ordering food for delivery who values convenience over the price premium versus collection and a frequent orderer weighing whether a deliveroo plus subscription pays for itself at their order volume are not what Otter is typically brought in for.
What can Deliveroo do that Otter cannot?
Deliveroo covers Restaurant marketplace, Deliveroo Plus subscription, Live order tracking, Grocery and convenience delivery. Otter covers Order consolidation, Menu sync, POS injection, Availability and outage control.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Deliveroo: Is Deliveroo cheaper than collecting the food yourself?

Usually not. Menu prices in the app are frequently higher than in-restaurant prices to offset the commission Deliveroo charges, on top of the delivery and service fees.

Otter: Who owns Otter?

CloudKitchens, the City Storage Systems business founded by Travis Kalanick, which also leases delivery only kitchen space.

Deliveroo: What does Deliveroo Plus actually save?

It waives the delivery fee on qualifying orders above a minimum basket value for a flat monthly or annual charge; the service charge can still apply.

Otter: Does it reduce marketplace commission?

No. You still pay DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub their normal commission. Otter reduces tablet handling and re keying, not commission.

Deliveroo: Are Deliveroo riders employees?

No, they are engaged as self-employed contractors paid per delivery, a classification that has been challenged in UK and EU courts and regulators.

Otter: Can I keep my existing POS?

In most cases yes, but check whether the integration passes itemised orders or a single consolidated line, because that determines whether your sales mix reporting stays usable.

Otter: What happens if Otter goes down?

Orders can be worked directly on the marketplace tablets, which is why most kitchens keep them rather than returning them.

Share

Related pages

More on Deliveroo

More on Otter

Keep looking

Other head to heads