Is Shopify Good for Restaurants? Costs and Limits (2026)
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In this article
Shopify is good for a restaurant that sells online pickup, local delivery, gift cards or merchandise. It is a weaker fit for table service, because Shopify’s own pages we read do not list kitchen display or table ordering. A restaurant ordering app adds those. Budget the plan from $19 a month billed yearly, plus the app.
Prices and limits below come from Shopify’s pricing page, its Help Center pages on local pickup and local delivery, and one App Store listing, all read on November 9, 2026. If you are still choosing a cash register for the dining room, start with our best POS system for a restaurant guide.
Quick verdict
Choose Shopify if you want your own ordering site for pickup or local delivery, or you sell gift cards, sauces, coffee or merch next to the menu. Add a restaurant ordering app if customers pick a time slot or order from a table.
Look elsewhere if your main need is a full dining-room system: table service, a kitchen display and tipping at the table. We found none of these listed on the Shopify pages we read, so compare a dedicated restaurant system first.
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Key takeaways
- Shopify’s Help Center describes local pickup and local delivery, with a delivery radius of up to 100 miles. Neither page mentions restaurants or food.
- Table service, kitchen display and tipping at the table are not listed on the Shopify pages we read. Zapiet Eats lists dine-in orders and reservations but not a kitchen display.
- Basic costs $25 a month, or $19 billed yearly. Zapiet Eats is listed at $29.99 a month for 100 orders, then $0.10 per extra order.
- One location on Basic with the app comes to $587.88 for 12 months in our example, before card fees, delivery costs and taxes.
- POS Pro adds $89 a month per location, billed yearly, for in-person selling. Its page does not mention restaurants.
How this was done. Public pages only, read on November 9, 2026. We opened no account and ran no restaurant on Shopify. Where a page does not mention a feature, we write “not listed on the page read”. That is not the same as “Shopify cannot”. Not checked: restaurant systems from other vendors, card fees and your country’s rules.
Can you use Shopify for a restaurant?
Yes, for selling online. Shopify works as an online store: products, a cart and a checkout. A menu can be set up as a product catalog. Customers can order for pickup or local delivery and pay at checkout. Zapiet, an app vendor, describes Shopify as “a flexible commerce platform rather than a traditional restaurant management system”. That is a vendor’s view, but it matches what the Shopify pages list.
Do restaurants use Shopify?
We found no Shopify page that says how many restaurants use it, so we give no number. The uses the pages read support are online pickup, local delivery and gift cards. If you are weighing site builders, compare them in our best restaurant website builders list.
What does Shopify cover for a restaurant, and what is not listed?
Shopify covers online pickup and local delivery in its Help Center. The table ordering features a dining room needs are not listed on the pages we read.
| Need | What the pages read say |
|---|---|
| Online pickup | Local pickup lets customers collect online orders at a location. By default, pickup is offered only when the whole order is in stock there |
| Local delivery | Delivery within a radius of up to 160 km or 100 miles, or to listed postal codes, with up to 10 zones per location |
| Delivery at checkout | Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay and PayPal do not show local delivery. Shop Pay does |
| Mixed orders | A customer cannot split one order between shipped and locally delivered items |
| Gift cards | The gift card Help Center page says you can activate gift cards to sell them as products. It does not name the plans that include them |
| Time slots, prep time, order limits per slot | Not listed on the Help Center pages read. Zapiet’s guide lists them as add-on needs |
| Table service, kitchen display | Not listed on the Shopify pages read |
| Tipping at the table | Not listed on the Shopify POS pricing page read |
One more limit to plan around: the local pickup page says you cannot change the pickup location a customer chose at checkout, and the local delivery page says you cannot rename the “Local delivery” shipping option. For a food business, the stock rule matters most. Pickup is offered by default only when the whole order is in stock at the location, so a menu item needs a stock number.
How much does Shopify cost for a restaurant?
Basic costs $25 a month, or $19 a month billed yearly, as of November 2026. Add an ordering app and, for the counter, POS Pro at $89 a month per location.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly, per month | Staff accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $25 | $19 | None |
| Grow | $65 | $49 | Up to 5 |
| Advanced | $399 | $299 | Up to 15 |
| Plus | From $2,300 | Not listed | Unlimited |
Zapiet Eats is the restaurant ordering app we checked. Its App Store listing shows one plan at $29.99 a month that includes 100 orders a month, then $0.10 for each additional order, with no commission fees. The listing names ASAP or scheduled pickup, delivery, dine-in orders, table reservations and order handling from Shopify POS. It does not mention a kitchen display. Other apps exist, and we did not price them.
Hypothetical year. One location, Shopify Basic billed yearly, Zapiet Eats, 300 online orders a month. Card fees, delivery costs, domain, taxes and any POS hardware are left out. This is arithmetic on listed prices.
| Item | Arithmetic | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic, billed yearly | 12 x $19 | $228.00 |
| Zapiet Eats plan | 12 x $29.99 | $359.88 |
| Total at 100 orders a month | $228.00 + $359.88 | $587.88 |
| Extra orders at 300 a month | 200 x $0.10 = $20 a month, 12 x $20 | $240.00 |
| Total at 300 orders a month | $587.88 + $240.00 | $827.88 |
At 300 orders a month, the app costs $29.99 + $20 = $49.99 a month, which is $0.17 an order ($49.99 / 300, rounded). We did not compare this with other ordering platforms, so it says nothing about whether Shopify costs more or less than they do.
Do you need Shopify POS for a restaurant?
Only if you also sell in person through Shopify. For online orders alone, you do not. POS Pro is a $89 a month add-on for each location, billed yearly, and the POS pricing page does not mention restaurants, table service, kitchen display or tipping. For counter sales of retail items, see our Shopify POS system cost breakdown and the hardware for Shopify POS guide.
Which restaurants fit Shopify, and which do not?
Fit depends on where your orders come from. Shopify suits a business that sells through its own site; it is a poor choice if most revenue comes from seated guests.
| Business type | Lean toward | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bakery, cafe or takeaway with pickup orders | Shopify | Local pickup and local delivery are in the Help Center |
| Restaurant selling gift cards, sauces or merch online | Shopify | A store sells products online; the gift card page covers gift cards |
| Pickup with time slots or order caps | Shopify plus an ordering app | Slots and caps are not listed on the Shopify pages read |
| Full-service dining room | A dedicated restaurant system | Table service and kitchen display are not listed on the Shopify pages read |
If you want a site only, see the themes in our best restaurant Shopify themes post, and for takeaway-first shops our best POS system for takeaway guide. If you sell in the shop and online, read how to sell online and in store with Shopify.
Compare Shopify plans and prices
FAQs
Is Shopify good for restaurants?
Yes for online pickup, local delivery, gift cards and merchandise. For table service and a kitchen display, those features are not listed on the Shopify pages we read, so check a dedicated restaurant system.
Can you take online orders for a restaurant on Shopify?
Yes. Shopify offers local pickup and local delivery at checkout. Delivery works within a radius of up to 100 miles or a list of postal codes. For time slots or order limits, add an ordering app.
How much does an ordering app cost?
Zapiet Eats is listed at $29.99 a month with 100 orders included, then $0.10 per extra order, as of November 2026. Other apps price differently, so read each listing.
Does Shopify have a kitchen display?
It is not listed on the Shopify pages we read. The Zapiet Eats listing does not mention one either, so check before you rely on a screen in the kitchen.
Which Shopify plan should a small restaurant start with?
Basic is the cheapest plan at $19 a month billed yearly. Grow lists up to 5 staff accounts and Basic lists none, so a team that shares the admin may need Grow.
Sources
- Shopify pricing, US (read 2026-11-09)
- Shopify POS pricing (read 2026-11-09)
- Shopify Help Center, local delivery and local pickup (read 2026-11-09)
- Shopify Help Center, gift cards (read 2026-11-09)
- Zapiet Eats App Store listing (read 2026-11-09)
- Zapiet, Shopify for Restaurants guide, a vendor page (read 2026-11-09)
