Ordering.co vs Shopify
Shopify is a general-purpose storefront platform: any product, any industry, with a 3-option catalog. Ordering.co is built for restaurants and local, on-demand commerce: menus with real modifiers, delivery zones and dispatch, kiosk, call center, and AI ordering on one catalog and order flow.
| Capability | Ordering.co | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Menu with modifiers, options, and add-on pricing | Included | Add-on |
| Self-ordering kiosk | Included | Add-on |
| ASAP and scheduled orders with store hours and prep times | Included | Add-on |
| Drivers, dispatch, and delivery partners | Included | Add-on |
| Kitchen and pickup displays | Included | Add-on |
Add-on: only through third-party apps or paid extensions.
Ordering.co at a glance
- years building ordering technology
- 12+
- of orders a month, on auto-scaling infrastructure
- Millions
- products across ordering channels, operations, and delivery
- 20+
- features, from catalog to dispatch
- 1,500+
Enterprise brands running on Ordering.co technology
Why restaurants and local stores choose Ordering.co over Shopify
The same five reasons come up when a restaurant or local-commerce team compares the two.
Built for restaurants
An ordering platform built for restaurants and local commerce
Shopify is a general-purpose commerce platform for any product category. Ordering.co is built specifically for restaurants and local, on-demand commerce: delivery zones with fees, pickup, curbside, ASAP and scheduled orders, store hours, and prep times are native settings, not a workaround.
No 3-option limit
Menus with real modifiers, not a product-options workaround
Shopify natively limits products to 3 option types and doesn't support optional, required, or multi-select modifier groups with add-on pricing out of the box; food and beverage sellers add a product-options app to get toppings, sizes, and add-ons with their own price. On Ordering.co, menus with modifiers and options are native to the catalog.
Native dispatch, own drivers, delivery partners
Delivery zones, your own drivers, and delivery partners on one order flow
Ordering Delivery brings delivery zones, dispatch, and driver assignment into the same workflow as the order, and connected partners such as Uber Direct, DoorDash Drive, and Lalamove sit alongside your own fleet with per-store selection and fallback rules. Shopify's native local delivery sets zones and pricing but has no driver app or dispatch of its own; courier delivery runs through separate apps.
20+ products, 1,500+ features
Kiosk, call center, and AI ordering on the same catalog
Self-ordering kiosks, a call center console, AI ordering agents, kitchen and pickup displays, and store operations run on the same catalog and order flow as your website and apps. More than 20 products and 1,500 features come from one provider, so a new channel is a configuration, not another app subscription.
API, MCP, source code
An open platform built for order operations, not only a storefront
Connect any system through the Ordering.co API and webhooks, plug AI tools into your catalog, orders, and operations through MCP, and, on eligible plans, build on the frontend source code of the storefront and apps. Shopify's MCP tools serve shopping agents on the storefront side: catalog, cart, checkout, and order tracking.
Side by side
Every row is something a restaurant or local-commerce team can run on Ordering.co.
| Capability | Ordering.co | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering channels for restaurants | ||
| Menu with modifiers, options, and add-on pricing | Modifier groups, required or optional, single or multiple choice, with per-item add-on pricing, native to the catalog. | Add-onProducts are limited to 3 native option types. Modifier groups with required or optional choices and add-on pricing need a product-options app, such as Easify or EXPO Extra Product Options. |
| Self-ordering kiosk | Ordering Kiosk: customers order and pay from tablets or large screens in the store, managed from the dashboard. | Add-onNo native kiosk. Self-service kiosks run through third-party apps, such as Kioskify. |
| Call center console | Agents find customers by phone number, take orders from the full menu, and route to the nearest store. | No phone-order console. Staff can build a manual order with Draft Orders in the Shopify admin, without customer lookup by phone number or store routing. |
| AI ordering by WhatsApp and voice | AI Ordering Agents take orders through voice, WhatsApp, chat, and web conversations on your catalog. | Add-onAgentic Storefronts list products in ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI chats. WhatsApp and voice ordering run through third-party apps. |
| Restaurant loyalty | Loyalty levels, points, wallets, and gift cards, native to the platform. | Add-onGift cards are native; a loyalty program with points or tiers requires a loyalty app, such as Smile.io. |
| Delivery, pickup, and store operations | ||
| Delivery zones with per-zone fees, pickup, and curbside pickup | Delivery zones with fees, pickup, and curbside pickup, tied to store hours and order type on the same order flow. | Native local delivery by postal code or a distance radius, up to 10 zones per location with price-based rules per zone, plus native local pickup and curbside pickup. |
| ASAP and scheduled orders with store hours and prep times | Customers choose ASAP or a scheduled time, based on the store hours and prep times your team sets. | Add-onNot in Shopify's native local delivery. Scheduled delivery is available through the Uber Direct app at checkout, or through a scheduling app such as Zapiet. |
| Drivers, dispatch, and delivery partners | Driver App and Ordering Delivery for your own fleet, plus connected partners such as Uber Direct, DoorDash Drive, and Lalamove, with per-store selection and fallback rules. | Add-onNo native driver app or dispatch. Courier delivery runs through separate apps in the Shopify App Store, such as Uber Direct (Shopify Plus plan only, limited regions), while the DoorDash app lists your products on the DoorDash marketplace. |
| Multi-store ordering with its own catalog per store | Every location gets its own menu, hours, and fulfillment context inside one ordering journey. | Location-level catalogs are not native to online ordering; teams use Markets or separate stores. |
| Kitchen and pickup displays | Send accepted orders to a kitchen display and show customers which orders are ready for pickup. | Add-onNo native kitchen display. Kitchen displays run through third-party apps, such as Larkis KDS or Simmer. |
| Build and extend | ||
| API and webhooks | The Ordering.co API and webhooks, included in every plan. | Admin API, Storefront API, and webhooks. |
| MCP for AI tools | Connect compatible AI tools to your Ordering.co account, catalog, orders, and operations, through MCP. | Storefront, Cart, Checkout, and Order MCP tools let AI shopping agents search, buy, and track orders, plus a Dev MCP for coding tools. |
| Frontend source code license | On eligible plans, source code for the web storefront, customer apps, Merchant App, and Driver App. | Theme code is editable, but the platform is managed SaaS; there is no source-code license for self-hosting the storefront or admin. |
| Custom features | Build them yourself on the API and source code, or with a dedicated Ordering.co team. | Build with Shopify Functions and the Admin API, or add one of the apps in the Shopify App Store. |
“Not listed” means the capability does not appear in Shopify's product lineup. Confirm scope and terms with each provider.
Where Shopify stops for a restaurant or local-commerce operation
What restaurant and local-commerce teams run into on Shopify.
A card-processing fee on every plan
Shopify Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction on the Basic plan (2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced), and any other payment processor adds a further 2% Shopify fee on Basic, down to 0.6% on Advanced.
Restaurant operations are a stack of separate apps
Menu modifiers, delivery scheduling, kitchen displays, kiosks, and loyalty are not in the base platform. Each is its own app and subscription: a loyalty app like Smile.io has paid plans from $15 a month, and a kitchen-display app like Larkis KDS starts at $19 a month, on top of the Shopify plan.
Native courier delivery is Shopify Plus only
The Uber Direct app, which adds scheduled courier delivery at checkout, is available only on the Plus plan, from $2,300 a month, and availability varies by region.
No driver app or dispatch of your own
Shopify's native local delivery sets zones and per-zone pricing, but there is no driver app or route dispatch for a fleet you run yourself; a restaurant that wants its own drivers needs a separate delivery-management app.
Proven with enterprise brands.
The platform you would run on already runs ordering for Alsea, a multi-brand restaurant group with more than 4,000 locations.
Alsea runs WOW+ and ten restaurant brands on one ordering platform.Domino's, Starbucks, Burger King, Vips, and six more brands share one app, one website, call centers, and a delivery operation that assigns drivers automatically.10 brands on WOW+4,262 locationsMexico and ColombiaRead the Alsea storyHow to move from Shopify to Ordering.co
A Shopify move for a restaurant or local-commerce operation is a menu and operations migration, not a theme swap. Build and test the new ordering flow while Shopify stays live, then switch the domain and apps once the checks pass.
What moves
Catalog and menus
Products, categories, prices, and images from your Shopify export, plus the modifier groups and add-ons currently configured in a product-options app, checked on one representative menu before the full import.
Customers and order history
Customer records and order history that your Shopify export contains and that your data rights allow.
Delivery, pickup, and store operations
Delivery zones and pricing, pickup and curbside settings, and store hours, rebuilt as Ordering Delivery zones, ASAP and scheduled windows, and prep times, replacing any delivery-scheduling, kiosk, or kitchen-display apps you run today.
Domain and apps
Your ordering domain points to the new storefront. With the same developer accounts and app listing, the new build can ship as an update under the existing app icon.
Payments and delivery partners
Payment gateway, POS, and delivery-partner connections such as Uber Direct or DoorDash, reconfigured against your existing provider accounts where the provider supports it.
How the move runs
Export your Shopify data
Download products, customers, and orders from the Shopify admin as CSV, and keep that file as your own backup. Record the settings your export may not include, such as modifier-app configurations, delivery-zone rules, and loyalty-app balances.
Map apps to native Ordering.co products
Match your product-options app to menu modifiers, your delivery-scheduling or courier apps to Ordering Delivery and connected partners, your kitchen-display app to Ordering's kitchen display, and your loyalty app to Ordering.co's loyalty levels. Add kiosk, call center, or AI agents only if the operation needs them.
Import and configure
Import the catalog and menus, style the storefront, and configure delivery zones, store hours, prep times, and payment connections. Test one store or location before you run the full batch.
Test with real orders
Run real orders end to end at one to three locations you trust: menu selection with modifiers, checkout, dispatch or courier handoff, and payment settlement. Train your team on the new tools before customers see them.
Cut over and tell people
In a low-volume window, point your domain to the new storefront and release any app update. Tell customers and staff what changes, then cancel the Shopify apps you no longer need once the new setup is running.
Duration depends on menu complexity, the number of apps currently in use, payments, delivery, and app-store access, so the scope, responsibilities, and timing are set in your project plan. Apple and Google decide app review and approval.
Questions from Shopify merchants
Why choose Ordering.co over Shopify for a restaurant or local-commerce business?
Shopify is a general-purpose commerce platform; Ordering.co is built for restaurants and local, on-demand commerce. Menus with modifiers, delivery zones and fees, ASAP and scheduled orders, store hours, prep times, kiosk, call center, and AI ordering are native, on the same catalog and order flow, instead of a stack of separate apps.
Does Shopify support restaurant-style menus with modifiers?
Not natively. Shopify limits products to 3 option types with no required or optional modifier groups out of the box, so food and beverage sellers add a product-options app to offer toppings, sizes, and add-ons with their own price. Ordering.co's menu system supports modifiers natively.
How does delivery compare between the two platforms?
Shopify's native local delivery sets zones by postal code or radius with per-zone pricing, plus local pickup and curbside pickup, but has no driver app or dispatch of its own; courier delivery runs through separate apps such as Uber Direct, with Uber Direct's native integration limited to the Shopify Plus plan, while the DoorDash app lists your products on the DoorDash marketplace. Ordering.co runs your own drivers and connected delivery partners, with fallback rules, on the same order flow as the rest of your operation.
How does pricing compare?
Shopify's Basic plan starts at $29 a month billed yearly, plus card-processing fees from 2.9% + 30¢, before adding the apps a restaurant typically needs for modifiers, scheduling, kitchen displays, or loyalty. Ordering.co's restaurant plan starts from $99 a month per active location, with menus, loyalty, and ordering channels included; AI and delivery usage are billed separately. Compare the two at your own menu and order volume.
Can I keep a kiosk or kitchen display if I switch?
Ordering Kiosk and the kitchen display are native to Ordering.co, so a Shopify kiosk or kitchen-display app is replaced by a built-in product instead of a separate subscription.
Will my customers need to download a new app?
Not if you keep the same developer accounts and app listing. The Ordering.co build can then ship as an app-store update under the existing icon. That path needs your Apple and Google access, a reviewed build, and store approval, which Ordering.co does not control.
What happens to my Shopify data?
Shopify's admin exports products, customers, and orders as CSV. Keep that export as your backup. Ordering.co can import the records those files contain and that your rights allow; the fit for modifier and app-specific settings is confirmed during the project, not assumed.
How long does a move from Shopify take?
It depends on menu complexity, how many apps are currently stitched together, payments, delivery, and app-store access. There is no standard timeline; the plan for your operation sets the sequence, responsibilities, and dates.
Shopify and every other product name on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. Ordering.co is not affiliated with Shopify.
Run your restaurant or local store on a platform built for it.
Bring your Shopify catalog, the apps you currently stitch together, and your delivery model. We'll show you the native Ordering.co setup and the move in a live demo.