Zomato vs Swiggy for Restaurant Owners: Fees, Reach and Payouts

Zomato vs Swiggy for restaurant owners is a question most people ask expecting one clear winner, and there is not one. The two platforms charge in the same way, pay out on similar cycles, run similar ad products and similar membership programmes, and both own the customer relationship rather than you. The useful comparison is not which app is better in general. It is which app brings you more profitable orders in your locality, and how much of your business you want either of them to control.

This guide goes line by line through fees, reach, payouts, ads and operations, then gives you a 60-day test to find your own answer. It ends with the third option that neither app offers: taking the repeat orders on your own WhatsApp number, where the commission is zero.

Fees: the commission models side by side

Both platforms charge a percentage of the order value as commission. The rate is negotiated per restaurant and depends on city, cuisine category, volume and listing history. Commission on the two apps is commonly reported in the band of 18 to 30 percent, and most restaurants find the two platforms land within a few points of each other once the account manager has finished the conversation. If you want the detail on each, read the breakdowns of Zomato commission rates and what Swiggy charges per order.

On top of commission, both deduct GST on their commission invoice, a payment processing charge on online-paid orders, and whatever promotional costs you have agreed to fund. The table below compares the structure rather than the exact rates, because the rates in your contract are the only ones that matter.

The honest summary: on fees, the two are structurally identical. Any difference you see is the result of your own negotiation and which promotions you switched on, and the gap can flip the next time either contract is renewed.

Reach: which app brings more orders in your area

This is where the answer actually varies. Both apps are present in every major city and most tier-2 cities, but the share of customers using each one differs by city, by neighbourhood and even by cuisine. A biryani kitchen in one part of Hyderabad may see twice the volume from one app; a cafe in Pune may see the opposite. Nobody outside the two companies has reliable local numbers, and the ones that circulate on forums are usually a year old.

So treat reach as something you measure rather than something you read about. The 60-day test later in this post is built for that. What you can say in general is that both apps give new customers a way to find you, and that this discovery is the real value of either listing. The repeat order from a customer who already knows you is where the commission hurts most, because the app is not adding anything on that order.

Payouts: when the money reaches your account

Both platforms settle on a cycle rather than per order. Weekly settlement, with a short lag, is the common pattern, though the exact day and the lag depend on your agreement and can change. Each settlement comes with a statement that nets out commission, GST, processing charges, refunds, funded discounts and any ad spend before the amount is transferred.

The cash-flow effect is the same on both: you buy ingredients today and get paid for the order next week or the week after. For a restaurant doing most of its sales through apps, that lag is a standing loan you give the platform. We cover the mechanics in how the Zomato payout cycle works, and Swiggy's cycle follows the same shape. Direct orders paid by UPI, by contrast, settle to your account on a payment gateway's T+1 or T+2 schedule, which most owners find noticeably easier to manage.

Ads, discounts and the programmes that eat margin

Both apps sell visibility. You set a budget, your listing appears higher or in a promoted slot, and you pay for the clicks or the placement. Both also run membership programmes for customers, Zomato Gold and Swiggy One, where subscribers get discounts or free delivery at partner restaurants. In many of these arrangements the restaurant funds some or all of the customer benefit, so read the terms before you opt in.

The trap on both platforms is the same. Ads bring new customers, and that is worth paying for. But ads and funded discounts also apply to customers who would have ordered anyway, and on those orders you are paying commission, a discount and an ad fee for a sale you already had. Separate the two in your head: discovery spend is marketing, repeat-order spend is leakage.

Operations: riders, rejections and ratings

Both apps assign their own delivery partners, and in both cases you have no control over who arrives or when. Rider delays, unassigned orders during rain, and food sitting on the counter for twenty minutes happen on both. Both penalise rejections and cancellations by lowering your visibility, and both show a rating that customers rely on.

Day to day, most owners find the two dashboards comparable. The differences are in small things: how menu changes are approved, how quickly support responds to a dispute, how refunds for wrong or missing items are decided. These vary by city team more than by company, and they change. If one platform's local support is consistently slow for you, that is a real cost and a fair reason to lean towards the other.

A 60-day test to find your own answer

Instead of choosing on reputation, run both for two months and record the following for each app every week.

1. Orders and total order value, and the share that are first-time customers if the app shows it.
2. Net payout divided by gross order value, which gives your effective cost rate for that week.
3. Ad spend and funded discounts, kept separate from commission.
4. Cancellations, rider-related complaints and refunds charged to you.
5. Average rating and any visibility warnings.

At the end of 60 days you will know three things: which app brings more orders, which app leaves you more money per order, and which one costs you more in operational headaches. Often one app wins on volume and the other on margin. In that case, keep both for discovery and work on the repeat orders separately, which is the logic behind the 30/70 rule.

The option neither app gives you

Whichever app wins your test, it will still own the customer. You do not get phone numbers, you cannot message past customers, and the relationship ends at the payout. The highest-margin channel in your restaurant is the one where a customer who already likes your food orders again without a platform taking a quarter of the bill. That is direct ordering, and in India it mostly runs on WhatsApp.

The practical model many restaurants settle on: stay on one or both apps for new customers, and give every one of those customers an easy way to order from you directly next time. A QR code on the box, a store link in your Google listing, and a reason to switch such as free delivery above a threshold.

What this looks like on Tezzu

Tezzu runs the direct channel. Customers order on your own WhatsApp number through an ordering bot, or on a free store page at tezzu.in/store/your-name, without installing an app. Orders arrive in a live dashboard and on the staff app with new-order alerts, so the kitchen sees them next to the app orders.

The fee structure is the opposite of an aggregator: a monthly plan from ₹999, unlimited orders, a flat ₹10 per order and zero commission. UPI and card payments go through Razorpay, and you can connect your own Razorpay account so there is no platform fee on payments. Cash on delivery is supported. Delivery zones with distance-based charges and a per-zone free-delivery threshold give you the incentive to move regulars over, and WhatsApp campaigns let you message customers who have ordered from you, which no aggregator allows.

Setup takes about 30 minutes, the WhatsApp Business API connection is handled through Meta's embedded signup, and you keep your own number. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and there are details on the restaurant solutions page.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better for restaurants, Zomato or Swiggy?

Neither is better in general. Fees are structured the same way and negotiated per restaurant, payouts run on similar cycles, and both sell ads and run membership programmes. What differs is local reach, which varies by city, area and cuisine, and the quality of the local support team. Run both for 60 days, track orders and effective cost per app, and decide from your own numbers.

Is Swiggy commission lower than Zomato commission?

Not consistently. Both platforms charge a negotiated percentage of order value, commonly reported between 18 and 30 percent, and the rate you get depends on your city, category, volume and history more than on which company you are talking to. Two restaurants on the same street can have different rates on the same app. Compare your effective rate after GST, processing charges and funded discounts, since that is the number that reaches your bank.

Can a restaurant be on both Zomato and Swiggy?

Yes, and most restaurants in cities with both apps are listed on both. Neither platform requires exclusivity for a standard listing, though some promotional programmes may come with conditions, so read the terms before opting in. Being on both widens discovery. The cost is managing two dashboards, two sets of menu updates and two rider queues, which is a good reason to keep your menu simple.

How often do Zomato and Swiggy pay restaurants?

Both settle on a cycle, most commonly weekly with a short lag, rather than per order. Each payout nets out commission, GST on commission, payment processing, refunds, funded discounts and ad charges before the transfer. Check your partner agreement for the exact day and lag, since these vary and can change. Direct orders paid through a payment gateway typically settle faster, on a T+1 or T+2 basis.