Choosing tools
Bakery Food Delivery App: A Fair Roundup for Home Bakers
You will know the difference between a delivery app and your own order page, and how to pick without giving away your margin.
On this page
If you sell from your kitchen, you have probably typed “bakery food delivery app” into your phone at least once, usually late at night, usually after someone asked if you deliver. It sounds like one decision. It is really two, and they cost very different amounts of money.
Two different things get called a bakery food delivery app
The first is a delivery marketplace. Customers open the app, order from a list of local spots, and a driver brings the food. You get discovered by people who were not looking for you. That reach is what you are paying for.
The second is your own order page. Someone finds you through a friend, a market stall, or a post, taps through to your shop, picks the box of cookies, and pays. You or a family member runs the box over, or the customer picks it up. Nobody takes a percentage of the sale.
Both are real. The question is which one earns you more per batch, and that depends on your prices.
How the money works when a delivery app brings the order
Delivery marketplaces make their money per order. DoorDash, for example, charges restaurants a commission on each order, and that commission is calculated as a percentage of the subtotal rather than a flat rate (DoorDash merchant pricing).
On a 40 dollar box of cupcakes, a percentage cut is real money. It comes out of the same dollars that paid for the butter, the eggs, the boxes, and the ribbon. If your prices were set before you factored in a commission, a delivery app can turn a good order into a thin one.
What to check before you sign up for any delivery app
What to remember
- Ask for the full fee sheet in writing, including the commission and any per order charge.
- Ask who handles a refund, a missing box, or a complaint, and who eats the cost.
- Ask how you get paid and how long it takes.
- Ask whether the customer list and reviews are yours or theirs. This matters more than the fee when you leave.
- Ask what happens to your photos, your menu, and your order history if you stop.
- Read your local cottage food rules. Selling through a delivery app may count differently than selling face to face.
None of this means delivery apps are bad. They bring people through the door who would never have found you. It means you should go in with your eyes open rather than finding out from a statement three weeks later.
Why home bakers pick Brevl instead
Brevl is the alternative home bakers choose when they want to take orders themselves without giving up a slice of every sale.
It is one flat 20 dollars a month, with no cut of your sales at all. There is a 14 day free trial and you do not need a card to start. You take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash, so the money lands with you and you only pay your processor’s usual fee.
Your shop is yours to customize, with your photos, your colors, and your own web address. It works on a computer and on a phone, so you can add a bake from the kitchen counter and print an order sheet from the desk. Recipes come with real costing, ingredient inventory, and a weekly planner, which is how you know a delivery order still makes money before you accept it. We set it up with you and move your old shop over, products, photos, reviews, and dates included. A real person answers, usually within minutes.
If you are weighing the two side by side, Brevl vs Bakesy lays out the difference plainly. If you already have orders somewhere else and want them in one place, Switch walks you through moving them.
The short version
A delivery marketplace buys you reach and charges you for it, per order. Your own shop buys you margin and asks you to do the finding. Most home bakers who sell steadily end up with both, and the ones who stay profitable are the ones who priced for the commission before they said yes.
Start with the route that costs you the least to try. How to sell cookies from home and home bakery app both walk through the first steps, and bakery software for small business and payment software for small bakeries go deeper if you want to compare before you commit.
Start your 14 day free trial
Free, no signup.
Common questions
Do I need a delivery app to sell my bakes?
No. Plenty of home bakers take orders through their own shop and hand the boxes to the customer or a local driver. A delivery app is one way to get found, not the only way.
How much do delivery apps take from each order?
It depends on the app and your agreement. DoorDash, for example, charges restaurants a commission on each order, calculated as a percentage of the subtotal rather than a flat rate. Read the fee sheet before you sign anything.
Can I take card payments without a delivery app?
Yes. With Brevl you take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. You keep the whole sale and only pay your card processor's usual fee.
What is the cheapest way to start?
Start with the smallest setup that lets you take an order and get paid. Brevl is one flat 20 dollars a month with no cut of your sales, and the first 14 days are free with
Sources
This guide is general information about how delivery apps price their services. It is not financial or legal advice. Check your own numbers, your agreement terms, and your local cottage food rules before you sign up for anything.