How to make an app for your restaurant in 2026: three ways and what each costs

Q: Step by step: getting a restaurant app live

Count your orders. How many a week come by phone, marketplace and walk-in, and what the marketplaces cost you (commission calculator). That number decides what the app is worth. Pick the route from the three above. Under about 20 locations, that means a platform. Send the menu, logo and hours. A spreadsheet or a photo of the printed menu is enough; on Clover or Square the platform can often pull i

By the Nomback team, who build ordering apps for independent restaurants. Updated October 20, 2026. Sources

There are three ways to get a restaurant app: hire a developer to build one (about $15,000 to $50,000 for a simple ordering app, more for payments and loyalty), build it yourself on a no-code app builder ($25 to $440 a month plus your time, and you still have to solve ordering, payments and kitchen printing), or use a white-label ordering platform that publishes an app under your restaurant's name for a monthly fee ($99 to $499 a month). Whichever route, Apple charges $99 a year for a developer account and Google charges $25 once, and Apple reviews 90% of apps within 48 hours. For a single independent restaurant the third route is almost always the one that makes sense, and this page explains why, and what to check before you sign.

What does a restaurant app need to do?

Before picking a route, write down the list, because the cost is in the list. A restaurant app that earns its keep has to show the menu with modifiers and prices, take the order and the payment, send the order to the kitchen in a way staff can't miss (a printer, a tablet, or straight onto the POS), handle pickup times and delivery, and give regulars a reason to open it again: a stamp card or points, and push notifications for a slow Tuesday. Then it has to be in the App Store and Google Play under your name, and kept there through every iOS update. Each item on that list is cheap in a platform and expensive to build.

Option 1: hire a developer to build a custom app

Agencies and freelancers price by hours. Clutch's 2026 survey puts most app projects in the $10,000 to $49,999 band with an average of about $90,000 and a typical timeline near 11 months (Clutch). Netguru lists a simple app at $15,000 to $50,000, moderate at $50,000 to $150,000, with US senior developers at $160 to $220 an hour (Netguru); MobiLoud says $15,000 to $40,000 for a simple app over three to six months, then 15% to 20% of the build cost every year in maintenance (MobiLoud). An ordering app with payments, a printer connection and loyalty is not "simple". Expect $40,000 and up, plus someone to fix it when Apple changes something. This route makes sense for a chain with twenty locations, not a pizzeria.

Option 2: build it on a no-code app builder

Glide is $25 to $125 a month (Glide), Adalo $36 to $160 a month billed annually (Adalo) and BuildFire $165 to $440 a month (BuildFire). They are real tools and you can get a menu on a screen in a weekend. What they don't give you is the restaurant part: a checkout that handles modifiers and tips correctly, Stripe or Square payments wired to your bank, an order that prints in the kitchen, a stamp card that can't be gamed, and the ongoing App Store work. You also publish under your own developer accounts, so Apple's $99 a year and the review process are yours to manage. Owners who go this way usually end up with an app that shows the menu and a phone number.

Option 3: a white-label ordering platform

Companies that build one ordering app and publish a copy for each restaurant, with that restaurant's name, logo and menu. You send the menu and logo, they do the rest, and you pay monthly. From published prices in October 2026: Nomback $99 a month and $399 setup, ChowNow $229 to $249 a month with a $119 to $499 setup, UpMenu $49 to $169 plus $49 for the app, Owner.com $499 a month with a 5% fee charged to guests (restaurant app costs compared). Ordering, payments, printing, loyalty and the store listings are already built and already approved. For an independent restaurant this is the only route where the app pays for itself in the first month: one regular moved off a 25% marketplace at $40 a week covers $40 of the fee on their own.

How do you get the app into the App Store and Google Play?

Apple's developer program is $99 a year (Apple) and Google Play's registration is $25 once (Google). Apple says it reviews at least half of submissions within 24 hours and 90% within 48 (Apple). The rule that trips up template apps is guideline 4.2.6: apps "created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app's content", and Apple's 4.3 spam rule rejects near-identical copies (App Store guidelines). A white-label platform that has been through this is worth paying for; one that hasn't will cost you weeks of rejections. Ask any platform for a live restaurant app in the App Store before you sign. Nomback's is Anthony's Pizzeria Rewards.

Step by step: getting a restaurant app live

Count your orders. How many a week come by phone, marketplace and walk-in, and what the marketplaces cost you (commission calculator). That number decides what the app is worth.
Pick the route from the three above. Under about 20 locations, that means a platform.
Send the menu, logo and hours. A spreadsheet or a photo of the printed menu is enough; on Clover or Square the platform can often pull it from the POS.
Decide how orders reach the kitchen. Printer, tablet, or straight onto the POS (how it works on Clover).
Set the rewards. A stamp card with a free item at five to ten stamps is simple and works. Anthony's uses five stamps for a free pizza.
Wait for the store listings. Usually one to two weeks, including Apple's review.
Tell your customers. A QR code on the counter, a card in every bag with a first-order reward, and a note on the marketplace menus (how to move regulars).

What should a restaurant app cost per month?

Between $99 and $250 a month all in is normal for an independent in 2026, plus card processing of about 2.9% + 30 cents on each order, which you would pay on any channel. Be careful of per-order charges ($1 to $3 an order adds up fast at 600 orders) and fees charged to your guests, which show up at checkout and push people back to the phone. The full breakdown is on the restaurant app cost page.

Three routes, year one, for one restaurant

Original Nomback estimate from the sources above, October 2026. Processing is left out because every route pays it.

Route	Up front	Monthly	Year one	You handle
Custom build, simple ordering app	$40,000+	Maintenance about $500+	$46,000+	Hiring, App Store accounts, fixes
No-code builder	$124 in store fees	$25 to $440 plus your hours	$424 to $5,400 plus your time	Everything: payments, printing, loyalty, review
White-label platform (Nomback)	$399	$99	$1,587	Sending the menu and telling customers

Want your own app without the per-order math? Nomback is $99 a month and $399 to set up, no commission and no per-order fee, with a stamp card built in. Type your restaurant's name into the 10 second demo to see it.

Sources

Prices and fees were checked on October 20, 2026. They change, so check the source before you decide.