A Grub Direct alternative for UK takeaways and restaurants

Grub Direct is an EPOS and online ordering company based in Broxburn, near Edinburgh, and prices its plans by the week. Chefzi is an online ordering platform for UK restaurants and takeaways that prices by the month, with the till as a Pro-plan extra. This page sets the two side by side using Grub Direct's own pages (read 11 November 2026) and Chefzi's live plans. Prices change, so check each company's pricing page before you decide. Chefzi isn't affiliated with Grub Direct.

The short version

• Grub Direct (its pages, 11 Nov 2026): Online Ordering £7.50 a week, Full Takeaway POS £15 a week, Takeaway + Dine-in + Reservation £20 a week. First month free. 0% commission. Set-up and training included.
• Chefzi: Starter £9 a month billed annually (£12 monthly), Plus £19 (£22), Pro £39 (£49), per location, excluding VAT. First month free, no credit card, no set-up fee, 0% commission ever. See Chefzi pricing.

What Grub Direct publishes

From Grub Direct's pricing and home pages (read 11 November 2026):

• Online Ordering, £7.50 a week: a commission-free ordering website, a branded mobile app (iOS and Android), card payments built in, a real-time order dashboard, a menu manager with photos, and set-up and training.
• Full Takeaway POS, £15 a week (marked most popular): everything in Online Ordering plus a full EPOS till, caller ID with order history on ring, kitchen printing and routing, driver and delivery management, a customer feedback system and multi-shop support.
• Takeaway + Dine-in + Reservation, £20 a week: everything in Full Takeaway POS plus table ordering with digital waiter pads, AI-assisted table allocation, reservations with SMS and email reminders, waitlist and floor-plan management, and no-show and cancellation insights.
• Included in every plan: set-up and menu build, on-site staff training, UK support by phone, email and live chat, and a free first month. The page says there is no set-up fee.
• Contract and billing: weekly, on a rolling basis.
• Coming soon (its label): an AI ordering agent and an AI reservations agent.
• Hardware: the page says Grub Direct runs on most modern tablets, desktops and POS terminals you may already own, and can supply till, printer and card-terminal bundles.
• Not stated on the pages we read: a card processing rate, and whether weekly prices include VAT. Its own savings example excludes card charges.

What Chefzi includes

• Starter (£9 a month billed annually, £12 monthly): your ordering website on your own domain, menu management and the Chefzi Orders app, which rings on a phone or tablet you already own until someone accepts or rejects the order.
• Plus (£19, or £22 monthly): everything in Starter plus card payments through Stripe Connect, Square, Worldpay or PayPal, and SMS and email marketing.
• Pro (£39, or £49 monthly): everything in Plus plus your own branded customer app (Android) and the browser till, Chefzi POS, which is in beta and includes a kitchen display, split bills, a cash drawer and Z reports.
• Every plan: 0% commission ever, no set-up fee, a free first month with no credit card, and we move your menu for you at no charge. Cash on collection and cash on delivery work on every plan.
• Also on Chefzi: collection and delivery hours set separately, delivery zones with their own fee and minimum, QR table ordering, and table reservations that the restaurant confirms.

What Chefzi doesn't have: no caller ID, no driver management and no on-site installation visit, and the customer iOS app is coming soon rather than live. The full list is on what Chefzi does not do.

Weekly prices in monthly terms (our arithmetic)

Grub Direct bills weekly, so to compare with a monthly price, multiply by 52 and divide by 12. That's our sum, not Grub Direct's quote. £7.50 a week is about £32.50 a month, £15 a week is £65 a month (the figure Grub Direct itself prints for this plan) and £20 a week is about £86.67 a month. Chefzi's equivalent steps are £9 to £12 for ordering, £19 to £22 with card payments and marketing, and £39 to £49 with the app and the till. The plans aren't like for like: Grub Direct's till is a full EPOS with caller ID, while Chefzi's is a browser till in beta. Try your own figures in the commission calculator.

Side by side

Grub Direct might suit you if

• You want a full EPOS till with caller ID, kitchen routing and driver management in one supplier's plan.
• You're in Scotland and would value someone who can visit (its pricing page says someone can often come to you near Edinburgh).
• You want a branded iOS and Android app from the cheapest plan.
• You'd like reservations with SMS reminders and waitlist in the same system as the till.

Chefzi might suit you if

• You want a monthly price from £9 (billed annually), per location, excluding VAT.
• You mainly need online ordering on your own domain, with the Chefzi Orders app on a phone or tablet you already own.
• You want the first month free with no credit card and your menu moved for you at no charge.
• You want card payments, SMS and email marketing on Plus, without buying till hardware.

For weekly prices turned into yearly costs, see Chefzi vs Grub Direct. If the till is what you're comparing, see our takeaway EPOS system page and the Epos Now and Ezeepos alternative. For how commission-free ordering works in practice, see commission-free online ordering. More comparisons are on the alternatives page.

Sources

• Grub Direct pricing (grubdirect.co.uk/pricing), read 11 Nov 2026, prices re-checked 13 Nov 2026
• Grub Direct home page (grubdirect.co.uk), read 11 Nov 2026, prices re-checked 13 Nov 2026
• Chefzi pricing (chefzi.co.uk/pricing), read 11 Nov 2026, prices re-checked 13 Nov 2026