restaurant online ordering system

ChowNow vs BentoBox

ChowNow and BentoBox both help an independent take orders on a channel it owns rather than surrendering the effective 30 to 40% of revenue a marketplace order costs once marketing and refunds are counted, on a business where off-premises is now nearly three-quarters of traffic. Both keep the guest and the data a delivery app would keep for itself, which is why direct ordering guests attach to loyalty at 41% versus 3% for marketplace customers. Where they diverge is what each one actually is, and one big constraint that changed in 2026.

ChowNow is the focused, long-running ordering specialist: commission-free online ordering and a branded app, on a flat monthly fee, that bolts onto the website and POS you already run. BentoBox is a design-led website and direct-commerce platform, strong on beautiful, hosted restaurant sites plus ordering, catering, gift cards, events, and merch. The catch is ownership: BentoBox was acquired by Fiserv and folded into Clover, and as of 2026 it is sold only to Clover POS customers, so adopting it now means adopting a register. For a comparison that lands on staying POS-agnostic, that is the decisive line.

ChowNow compared with BentoBox, dimension by dimension
	ChowNow	BentoBox
What each is at heart	ChowNowA focused direct-ordering channel and branded app. It adds commission-free ordering and marketing to the web presence and register you already have, without trying to become your whole storefront.	BentoBoxA design-forward website and direct-commerce platform. The hallmark is a premium, hosted restaurant site, with ordering, catering, gift cards, event ticketing, merch, and QR dine-in built around it.
POS lock-in	ChowNowPOS-agnostic. It runs alongside whatever register you use, so adding it does not touch your point of sale.	BentoBoxNow tied to Clover. After the Fiserv acquisition, BentoBox is sold only to Clover POS customers as of 2026, so a new operator must adopt Clover to use it. That is exactly the vendor lock-in an independent trying to stay flexible has to weigh.
Pricing model	ChowNowA flat monthly subscription with no per-order marketplace commission, the model that made it a fixture for independents. One predictable fee instead of a cut of every ticket.	BentoBoxLayered: website plans from roughly $119 per month, online ordering as an add-on around $49 per month plus about $0.99 per order and card processing, and the Clover POS commitment on top. Confirm current terms with the vendor.
Website and design	ChowNowOrdering-first. ChowNow focuses on the order flow and app rather than building your site, so you keep (or bring) your own web presence and add commission-free ordering to it.	BentoBoxIts core strength. Design-led, hosted websites are the reason operators pick BentoBox, which matters when 62% of diners find restaurants through Google and the site is the first impression.
Breadth of revenue tools	ChowNowOrdering plus a branded app and marketing tools. Deliberately contained around the ordering channel rather than a broad commerce suite.	BentoBoxBroad direct commerce: alongside ordering it sells catering, gift cards, event tickets, and merch from your own site, useful for a full-service room with multiple revenue lines.
AI features	ChowNowAI-assisted audience and marketing tools plus ordering optimization: a light automation layer around the ordering channel.	BentoBoxMarketing automation rather than genuine AI: automated email campaigns, guest email capture, and built-in SEO fields. The strength is design, hosting, and commerce tooling, not machine learning.
Best fit	ChowNowAn operator who wants a proven, commission-free ordering channel and app to add to the site and register they already run, and who wants to stay POS-agnostic.	BentoBoxAn operator who wants a premium, design-led website with broad direct commerce (catering, gift cards, events) and is willing to run Clover POS to get it.

ChowNow profile BentoBox profile Online ordering buyer guide

The verdict

Which one, and the catch either way.

Bottom line

The honest read is a fit, not a winner, and one constraint decides a lot of it. Choose ChowNow if you want a proven, commission-free ordering channel and branded app to bolt onto the website and register you already run, and you want to keep your POS choice open. Choose BentoBox if a premium, design-led website with broad direct commerce (catering, gift cards, events, and merch) is the priority, and you are willing to adopt Clover POS, which it now requires, to get it. Both beat the marketplaces on margin and on owning the guest relationship, which is the whole point on a 3-5% net margin business.

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Questions

What buyers ask.

What is the main difference between ChowNow and BentoBox?

Scope and lock-in. ChowNow is a focused, POS-agnostic ordering channel and branded app on a flat monthly fee that adds to the site and register you already have. BentoBox is a design-led website and direct-commerce platform (ordering, catering, gift cards, events, merch) that, after the Fiserv acquisition, is now sold only to Clover POS customers. ChowNow layers onto your stack; BentoBox asks you to adopt a register.

Does BentoBox really require Clover POS now?

As of 2026, yes for new customers: BentoBox was folded into Clover after Fiserv acquired it, and its products are sold to Clover POS customers. That does not make it a bad website platform, its design and direct-commerce tooling are genuinely strong, but if staying free to choose or change your register matters to you, it is the single biggest thing to weigh. Confirm the current terms with the vendor before committing.

Do ChowNow or BentoBox handle the rest of my operation?

Only add another tool when a specific job is missing from your current setup. Check the exact plan, add-ons, and supported connections for the products compared here; features can overlap. Walk through one real booking, order, or guest follow-up before committing, and compare the full recurring cost. More software is not automatically a better operation.

Keep comparing

Other online ordering matchups.

ChowNow vs Owner.com DoorDash for Merchants vs Uber Eats for Merchants DoorDash for Merchants vs Grubhub for Restaurants Uber Eats for Merchants vs Grubhub for Restaurants ChowNow vs Slice Owner.com vs Slice Owner.com vs BentoBox Owner.com vs Flipdish ChowNow vs Flipdish GloriaFood vs Menufy Otter vs Deliverect Olo vs Checkmate Owner.com vs UpMenu

References

Every figure on this page drills down.

5 sourced statistics cited here across 5 publications. Each number links to the research hub, and each entry there links out to its primary source.

Term Third-party delivery Term First-party ordering Term Point of sale (POS)Term First-party data Tool ChowNow Tool BentoBox

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