How Restaurant Apps Make Money? A Complete Guide to Business Models

In a Nutshell:

 

• Restaurant apps make money through subscription models, commission-based pricing, in-app advertising, surge pricing, data monetization, and loyalty programs.
• With 96% of apps free, strategic monetization is essential in a $14.70 billion market by 2030.
• Freemium models and gift cards convert free users into paying customers for sustainable revenue.
• Select the right model by evaluating requirements, analyzing alternatives, and considering budget constraints.
• Nimble AppGenie helps implement expert-driven monetization strategies from concept to launch.

Restaurant apps are no longer just digital menus; they are full-fledged revenue engines for modern food businesses.

The restaurant management software market is expected to reach USD 14.70 billion by 2030. To contribute to this growing market, you should be aware of the diversified restaurant app business models.

Restaurant apps make money via diversified models such as subscription plans, marketplace B2B model, data monetization, surge pricing, and through in-app advertising.

Hence, the question arises, “How do restaurant apps make money?”

Well, as a restaurant owner, you can make money through models such as in-app advertising, subscription plans, the B2B model, and many more. 

In this guide, we will discuss the complete list.

An Overview of Restaurant Apps

Before you learn about the top restaurant app business models, let’s learn the basics. A restaurant app is a web-based app designed for users to search for nearby or any top restaurant, reserve a table, order food, make a pickup, and join loyalty programs.

These apps are designed to enhance the user experience through digital menus, real-time tracking of food, push notifications, and table reservations.

Let’s switch to numbers and figures to evaluate the current market of restaurant apps.

• The global restaurant management software market size was estimated at USD 5.79 billion in 2024, and is further projected to grow to USD 14.70 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 17.4% from 2025 to 2030.

• When it comes to the POS restaurant management software, the estimated market is valued at USD 18.5 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 56.9 billion by 2035, that is growing at a CAGR of 11.9%.

• The key growth regions in the POS (point of sale) restaurant management system market are North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
• Additionally, if it comes to the food delivery market, it is expected to hit USD 618.36 billion by 2030.

Well, considering these stats and the growing market, you might be thinking about how to build a restaurant app with effective features and the right business model. The answer to this question is through hiring dedicated mobile app developers.

When it comes to app development, one of the major errors that one commits is finding the right restaurant app money-making strategy. Yes, many of the entrepreneurs even forget about including a restaurant app monetization model.

Are you the one confused about why monetization is needed for a restaurant app?

Then, the following section is for you.

Why Monetize Restaurant Apps in 2026?

There are many reasons to monetize a restaurant app, such as generating a source of revenue, improving users’ trust, offering operational efficiency, and opting for a competitive advantage.

Hence, prior to learning how restaurant apps make money, let’s evaluate why!

Let’s discuss all the reasons here:

► Source of Making Money

Monetizing restaurant apps offers a source of revenue that is a major and important reason to opt for monetization. The restaurant app business models can offer methods for converting non-revenue-generating assets into tangible income streams.

Whether you opt for advertising, subscription plans, or even affiliate marketing, it will open up sources of earning revenue for your business.

► Build Users’ Trust

The restaurant’s money-making models help to builds user’s trust through offering transparency, providing clear and tangible value. Monetization helps users to effectively connect with the brand through presentable business models.

These restaurant app money-making models builds user’s trust when they are implemented as an ethical and value-driven extension to the mobile apps.

► 96% of Apps Are Free

Do you know that as of September 2025, approximately 95.37% of all iOS apps were available for free, while this share is 96.99% for the Google Play Store?

Yes! And this percentage can further increase in the near future. When it comes to Google’s ad revenue, it amounts to 264.59 billion U.S dollars. The company generates advertising revenue through its Google Ad platform.

Hence, investing in money-making models is essential to contribute to this growing market of apps.

► Reach New Market Segments

Adding money-making models for restaurant apps can help you to evaluate what the audience is seeking and explore new markets.

Such as offering a small discounts while reserving seats via app can help you to bring awareness to your restaurants and then acquire new customers. There are large chains of restaurants that use these models and tactics successfully to reach new markets.

Well, after considering the reasons, are you ready for restaurant app business models?

Yes! As you are ready to avoid restaurant app development mistakes, such as ignoring money-making models.

Let’s discover them all in the preceding section.

How Do Restaurant Apps Make Money?

There are many strategies through which restaurant apps can make money, such as subscription plans, advertising, in-app purchases, etc. These money-making models can even help you to cover the complete cost to make a restaurant app.

Here is a list of the top restaurant app monetization models:

1. Subscription Model

One of the core restaurant app monetization models is a subscription strategy. A subscription model is all about a loyalty program where the customers pay a recurring fee for accessing the app continuously.

This model can be a recurring money-making model for your restaurant app. It creates predictable, stable, compounding revenue rather than relying on one-time sales.

The subscription model increases customer lifetime value (CLV), fosters long-term loyalty, and allows for an accurate financial forecasting for your restaurant app.

2. Commission-Based Model

This is a popular restaurant app money-making model for your app. Here, you can charge a commission fee from the restaurants and from the diners to be on your platform.

Here, you will act as a third-party platform that will charge restaurants a commission percentage based on bookings and availability on the platform.

On the other hand, you can charge the users a convenience fee for booking the tables in the restaurants. This can be a regular earning restaurant app revenue model if you are into such a type of business.

3. In-App Advertising

Here, you can connect with other brands that are not in your domain to promote their businesses on your app. In exchange, you can charge a regular fee that will act as a restaurant app money-making source.

In this model, you can display third-party ads to the users, generating revenue via clicks, impressions, and actions.

This is a great way to begin with generating revenue; however, this business model can provide additional income only. This model can work only if you have a desired number of followers and effective contacts with other brands.

4. Surge Pricing

This is a suitable supply and demand-based restaurant app revenue model. Here, you can increase the prices of booking a table in your restaurant with an increase in demand, and vice versa.

This pricing model automatically raises prices for the tables in real-time when demand is high. You can use AI-driven algorithms to monetize this restaurant app monetization model.

It is an advanced strategy that will help you to maximize your profit margins when the demand is high. This surge pricing balances demand, reducing or encouraging overall order volume during specific times.

It is a money-making model that helps companies to earn more during periods of high demand.

5. Freemium Model

Basically, the freemium model involves giving away a base product for free, but charging for more advanced versions. This model drives user acquisition by offering free essential services such as digital menus, basic ordering, and reservation booking.

While charging on the premium features such as fast delivery, exclusive discounts, and advanced loyalty programs.

This can be a recurring revenue-generating model for restaurant apps, which helps to acquire target users, further helps to build a large user base, and can be further converted to paid customers.

The economics of freemium is not to convert all the customers into paying ones, yet it’s about connecting more users, even the ones who do not subscribe to premiums brings value to the restaurant apps indirectly.

6. Sponsorship and Partnerships

The restaurants earn through sponsorships by securing financial, in-kind, or marketing support from vendors and local businesses, in exchange for brand visibility and exclusive rights.

While in same cases, when the app’s user base is large, it makes much more sense not to charge the app users for using the app to partner with the company that will compensate the app’s owner.

This monetization model will drive revenue through increasing visibility of other brands and partners on your restaurant app. It is a model that works well only when your app has a designated number of users, as it can provide you with an additional source of revenue.

7. Data Monetization

Data monetization works well only when the restaurant apps take permission from the users to monetize their data. This restaurant app’s money-making model turns the user behavior, ordering history, and location data into revenue via internal optimization.

It is a restaurant app monetization model where company-generated data is traded against revenue. It can provide you with an additional source of revenue by monetizing the user’s data via reports to other brands and companies in exchange for money.

8. Loyalty Programs and Gift Cards

Loyalty programs and gift cards are among the best restaurant app monetization models where you can boost user retention. Here, you can offer loyalty programs and gift cards to the users or even extra discounts to retain the customer in the long run.

These models are strategic tools that are designed to earn an extra source of revenue by offering perks to consumers for repeat purchases.

Here, these restaurant apps reward customers with points, discounts, and exclusive access while providing businesses with valuable data to personalize marketing and increase profitability.

Now, following these restaurant app monetization models, let’s get ahead with how the top restaurant apps generate revenue, in the following sections.

How Top Restaurant Apps Generate Revenue?

If you are considering a business model like OpenTable, the brand follows a B2B model that charges restaurants, rather than diners, using a combination of monthly fees for its restaurant management software. Similarly, many apps have their own revenue-generating model.

Let’s discuss how the top restaurant apps earn revenue, below:

♦ OpenTable

Let’s begin with understanding the revenue model of OpenTable. The brand facilitates the transactions between diners and the restaurant.

It do provides a streamlined booking experience for the users and a robust backend system for the restaurant owners so that they can optimize seating and gather customer insights.

You can build an app like OpenTable by following the right strategies and including the valuable money-making models.

♦ TheFork

TheFork can be considered as a competitor for OpenTable. The company earns money via a marketplace model by connecting diners and restaurants while charging the restaurants for bookings, software, and marketing services.

You can create a restaurant app like TheFork by opting for a marketplace model and connecting with effective developers to help you design it successfully. The company allows restaurants to handle reservations, manage floor plans, and reduce no-shows.

♦ Resy

Resy is a popular restaurant app and website that allows users to discover nearby restaurants and then book tables at thousands of restaurants.

One of the prime restaurant app revenue-generating models that Resy uses is monthly subscription fees that are charged to restaurants.

The brand generates revenue through monthly subscriptions that includes transaction-fees for prepaid reservations, event tickets, and enhanced data-driven marketing tools.

♦ Eat

An Eat app is a comprehensive cloud-based restaurant management system that helps to connect restaurants and their users. The app facilitates real-time online restaurant reservations for restaurants and diners.

Eat app earns money through a SaaS and subscription-based model by earning commissions and charging users based on their reservations. The app do uses freemium models and provides discounts to the users on first bookings.

Now, after discussing the top apps, are you ready to adopt the right restaurant app business model for your business?

If yes, then in the following section, we have discussed the complete list of steps to select the top restaurant app monetization model for your business.

Steps to Select the Best Restaurant Business Model For Your App

The diversified steps to select the best restaurant business model begin with market research and ends on selecting the right model.

Let’s figure out all the steps below:

➤ Evaluating the Requirements of the App

Every app is different, hence selecting the right restaurant app business model depends on evaluating your core requirements based on the app and the target audience. This is your first step towards selecting the business model.

➤ Analyse All the Alternatives

Now, you should identify the what are the different alternatives available for your restaurant app. Here, you need to learn about every restaurant app revenue model in detail, its pros and cons, to shortlist them for your app.

➤ Consider the Budget

Implementing the right business model will require a budget; it’s significant for you to evaluate every aspect of your revenue. Along with this, you should identify more options and then customize them all as per your budget.

➤ Connect with a Reputable Company

You should connect with a leading mobile app development company to implement the business model in your restaurant app. You can even discuss the complete plan and ways to customize the business strategy as per your business.

➤ Select and Implement the Strategy

Now, you need to select and implement the right restaurant app money-making strategy as per the requirements of your app.

Build Your Restaurant App With Nimble AppGenie’s Proven Expertise

Still confused about which restaurant app model to select?

Well, connect with Nimble AppGenie, a top rated Restaurat App Development Company that understands businesses’ needs and then customize the app according to your needs.

Our experienced development team specializes in creating custom solutions that drive customer engagement, streamline operations, and boost revenue. From concept to launch, we deliver reliable, scalable restaurant apps backed by industry expertise and a proven track record of success.

We offer specialization, whether it comes to monetization strategies or core functionality. Our developers discuss with you all the expected ideas and provide solutions for every possible issue.

Conclusion

The restaurant app monetization is all about selecting the right model for your restaurant. There are a diverse number of monetization strategies that you can consider, such as data monetization, subscription model, commission-based model, and surge pricing.

There are various top restaurant apps, such as TheFork, OpenTable, Resy, and Eat, using subscription models, commission models, and a B2B marketplace model for acquiring customers. Hence you can be one of them after selecting suitable money-making model.

Here, you should go through the complete series of steps to select the right money-making models that begin with identifying the core requirements for your app, evaluating the alternatives, the freemium model, and in-app advertising.

FAQs

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma, CTO, Nimble AppGenie, is a tech enthusiast with more than a decade of experience in delivering high-value solutions that allow a brand to penetrate the market easily. With a strong hold on mobile app development, he is actively working to help businesses identify the potential of digital transformation by sharing insightful statistics, guides & blogs.