After GloriaFood, “commission-free” and “own your data” turn up on every restaurant-ordering website going. They’ve become slogans. Here’s what they actually mean, and how to work out who means them.
”Commission-free”: the real test
Commission-free should mean the platform takes no percentage of your orders, full stop. Three questions sort the real ones from the rest.
- Do payments run through your account? Your money should settle straight to you, not pass through the platform on the way.
- Is the payment processor your choice? A forced processor that takes a cut is a commission wearing a different hat.
- Does “free” stay free? Some plans are free until orders actually flow, then reappear as per-order fees. Read what happens at volume, not what happens on day one.
If your money touches the platform’s account and comes out smaller, it isn’t commission-free, whatever the homepage says.
”Own your data”: the real test
Owning your data means you can get it out yourself, whenever you want. Not in a farewell email once you’ve cancelled. Again, three questions.
- Can you export the menu, customers and orders on demand? GloriaFood’s shutdown showed everyone what happens when you can’t.
- Is the format usable? A real export is machine-readable, JSON or CSV. A screenshot is not an export.
- Is it self-serve? If you have to email support and wait, that isn’t ownership. That’s permission.
Why this matters more after GloriaFood
The lesson of the shutdown wasn’t “GloriaFood was bad”. People liked it. The lesson was dependency. When the platform holds your data and somebody flips the switch, you’re stuck. The fix is to only trust a platform you could walk away from tomorrow, because the ability to leave is the thing that keeps it honest.
At Ontabee that’s the deal in writing. No commission ever, month to month with no lock-in, and a real export of everything whenever you ask for it. You can read how we handle it on our security page, or start free and try it yourself.