Restaurant Mobile App vs. Website: Which Is Best for Online Ordering?

 As online ordering becomes ubiquitous in the restaurant industry, owners face a pivotal question: should we invest in a dedicated mobile app or rely on a mobile-friendly website for customers to order food? The stakes are high—digital ordering and delivery have grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014, and 60% of U.S. consumers now order takeout or delivery at least once a week. Diners increasingly want to order directly from restaurants; in fact, 40% of consumers prefer placing orders via a restaurant’s own app or website (versus only 13% who favor third-party apps).

With such demand for convenient, first-party online ordering, it’s crucial for restaurateurs to choose the right platform. Below, we compare restaurant mobile apps and mobile websites across key areas – from user experience and cost to reach and loyalty – to determine which solution is best for most restaurants.

Customer Experience: UX, Friction, and Accessibility

Delivering a smooth customer experience is essential for digital ordering. A mobile website offers an immediate, frictionless way for customers to browse the menu and order without any barriers. There’s no need to download anything – users can simply tap an “Order Online” link or scan a QR code and start ordering in their mobile browser. This low-friction access is especially important for first-time or occasional customers. In contrast, a mobile app must be found in an app store, downloaded, and often requires account creation before the first order – steps that add significant friction for new users.

It’s no surprise that mobile apps are generally geared toward regular, loyal customers rather than first-time visitors. Unless your restaurant has a large base of repeat patrons (think of Starbucks’ or McDonald’s loyal app users), many people will be reluctant to install a separate app just to order food from a single restaurant.

From a UX perspective, well-designed mobile websites today can be just as intuitive as apps. Modern responsive web design ensures your ordering page adapts to any screen size and looks great on a phone. Customers can easily tap through menu categories, customize items, and pay securely on a mobile site – all within a familiar browser interface. A native app might offer slightly snappier interactions or fancy animations, but the difference in user experience has narrowed greatly. Both platforms can provide features like saving favorite orders or secure one-click reorders (web browsers can store login and payment info too).

The key UX differentiator is actually convenience: accessibility. A mobile website is accessible to anyone with an internet connection and a browser, across mobile or desktop devices, with no extra steps. Apps, on the other hand, only reach users who not only have smartphones, but who have proactively installed the app. In summary, a mobile website casts a wider net with minimal friction, while an app can offer a fine-tuned experience for a smaller segment of power-users.

Cost and Development Time

For most restaurants, budget and time-to-market are major considerations. Building and maintaining a native mobile app is typically far more expensive and time-consuming than setting up a mobile web ordering system. Native apps require separate development for at least two platforms (iOS and Android), specialized programming skills, and ongoing updates to remain compatible with new operating system versions. In contrast, a web-based ordering solution usually involves a single development effort (one codebase) that works universally across devices. The up-front cost to develop a restaurant app can be tens of thousands of dollars (plus the ongoing expense of updates and app store fees), whereas adding online ordering to your website can often be done at a fraction of that cost – sometimes even by using ready-made platforms or plugins.

Industry experts note that a website is “less expensive, easier to build” and faster to launch, whereas a custom app is “more expensive and slower to build”. Speed matters: a web ordering page can be up and running in days or weeks, allowing you to start taking orders and generating revenue quickly. A native app might take months of development and app store approval delays before your customers ever see it. For a small or mid-sized restaurant, those months of lost opportunity (not to mention the hefty development bill) can be hard to justify.

Simply put, the ROI on a mobile website is often much higher, because you can implement it quickly and at lower cost. Even as your business grows, a website’s single codebase makes adding new features or updating information (like menu changes) much simpler than coordinating an app update across multiple platforms. When considering cost and development time, the mobile website is the clear winner for most restaurants’ needs.

Scalability and Reach

Another critical factor is how each option helps you reach more customers and scale your online ordering business. Mobile websites have the advantage of discoverability. They can be indexed by search engines (SEO), linked on Google Maps and review sites, and shared on social media – all of which funnel new customers to your ordering page. A well-optimized website can attract diners who search for “[Your Restaurant] menu” or “[Cuisine] delivery near me” on Google. This organic reach simply isn’t available with a standalone app, since apps don’t show up in Google search results and aren’t as easily shareable. In the early stages of building online presence, focusing on a website is recommended: “If your focus is on getting discovered and building your brand early on, a fast-food restaurant website is the way to go. It’s faster and easier to launch than an app, and it’s discoverable on search engines.” In other words, a mobile site helps you cast a wider net to attract new customers.

Scalability is also more straightforward with a website. As your traffic grows, you can upgrade your hosting or optimize your site – a process familiar to any web developer. You’re managing one platform. With apps, you’d need to ensure both iOS and Android versions scale well (e.g., handling new users or spikes in orders), potentially requiring more complex infrastructure. Moreover, rolling out improvements or new features can be done once on the web (instantly for all users), whereas app updates must be coded separately for each platform, then pushed to users via app store updates. If you plan to expand to multiple locations or rapidly add functionality, a web solution will typically accommodate these changes faster.

Reach is ultimately about how many people can access your ordering channel: a mobile website can reach essentially anyone with a phone, tablet, or computer. A mobile app’s reach is limited to those who not only have a compatible device, but also know about your app and decide it’s worth the download. For a small chain or independent restaurant, persuading every potential customer to download your app is a tall order – many will simply move on to a competitor’s site or a third-party app if they can’t quickly order from you on the web. Thus, for maximizing reach and being scalable to large audiences, mobile websites have a strong edge.

Updates and Maintenance

Consider the ongoing effort needed to keep your online ordering solution running smoothly. With a mobile website, updates are generally easy and immediate. If you need to change a price, add a new menu item, or post a holiday closure, you (or your web provider) can update it in one place, and the changes go live to everyone instantly. There’s no need for customers to take any action; the next time they refresh or visit your site, they see the latest information. Maintenance of a website tends to be straightforward – most of it involves updating content or ensuring the server and security certificates are in order. If you use a third-party online ordering platform that’s web-based, they will handle a lot of the technical maintenance and improvements in the background, so you always have an up-to-date system with minimal effort on your part.

Maintaining a mobile app, on the other hand, is a more complex commitment. Updates to an app must go through the app store process (Apple App Store, Google Play) which can involve developer submission, waiting for approval, and requiring users to download the new version. If a critical bug or menu change needs to be fixed, you’re at the mercy of these gatekeepers and whether users promptly update their apps. This means delays in delivering fixes or new features, and the possibility that some customers will be using an out-of-date version with incorrect info. Additionally, you’ll need developers to continuously maintain the app, ensure compatibility with the latest iOS/Android releases, and possibly run separate maintenance for each platform. This ongoing work translates to ongoing costs as well. For a busy restaurant owner, the simplicity of a web solution – where updates are under your control and happen in real time – is a major advantage. It lets you focus on your menu and service, not on software versioning. In summary, websites are easier to keep current, while apps demand more maintenance effort and coordination.

Data Ownership and Customer Loyalty

Restaurants thrive on repeat business, so owning the customer relationship is key. One of the biggest downsides of relying on third-party ordering apps (like DoorDash or Uber Eats) is that they often withhold customer data, making it hard for you to re-market to those customers or understand their ordering habits. Whether you choose a mobile app or a mobile website, using a first-party platform (your own channel) ensures that you capture valuable customer information like names, email addresses, phone numbers, and order history. With a first-party online ordering system – either an app or website that you control – the restaurant owns the entire customer experience and data. You keep 100% of the revenue (no commissions) and you get to see and utilize the customer’s info for your marketing and loyalty efforts. This is crucial for building a database of frequent customers whom you can reward and directly communicate with.

That said, when comparing a branded app vs a mobile website for loyalty, there are a few nuances. Mobile apps excel at fostering loyalty among your top customers. Because an app lives on the customer’s phone, it can encourage repeat engagement through push notifications, in-app messages, and integrated loyalty programs (points, rewards, etc.). For example, a cafe’s app might send a 10% off coupon on a slow afternoon, or a pizzeria’s app might ping the user about a special deal before game day. These direct notifications can drive repeat orders – but only if the customer has your app installed and has enabled notifications. This is why apps are described as being great for personalization and engagement for loyal users. However, this strength is also a weakness: if relatively few customers adopt the app, your pool for loyalty marketing is limited. Restaurants like major coffee chains or fast-food brands can achieve huge app user bases, but a single-location bistro might struggle to get even a few dozen app downloads.

A mobile website can absolutely support loyalty efforts too, albeit in different ways. While you can’t send native push notifications to everyone (unless they opt into browser notifications or you build a Progressive Web App), you can integrate email marketing, SMS text alerts, or a web-based loyalty program. For instance, your website’s ordering flow can prompt customers to sign up for a rewards account or enter their email for a discount on their next order. That way, you still gather contact info and can send promotions (“Join our VIP club for weekly specials!”). Many web ordering platforms (like Sauce) even offer automated re-targeting tools – capturing customer data and enabling you to send follow-up offers via text or email to drive repeat business. So while a pure app has an edge in immediacy of engagement (push alerts), a web system paired with good marketing can be very effective in building loyalty and re-engaging customers over time. Another benefit: all customers who order via your website are automatically in your database (no middleman). Given that 70% of consumers would rather order directly from a restaurant to support it, providing an easy web ordering option helps meet that preference and lets you capture those valuable relationships for the long term.

Winner on data & loyalty: Both apps and mobile websites will give you ownership of customer data if they are first-party. Apps offer more built-in tools for loyalty (e.g. points, push notifications), but those tools only matter if customers use the app regularly. A mobile website coupled with email/SMS outreach and a simple loyalty program can achieve much of the same effect, and it applies to 100% of your online customers, not just app users. Importantly, any first-party channel will vastly outperform third-party marketplaces when it comes to data and building loyalty, since third-party services keep the data and customer relationship for themselves. Thus, unless you have the scale to drive massive app adoption, a mobile web approach combined with smart marketing is usually the most pragmatic way to nurture loyalty.

Mobile Website: The Ideal Solution for Most Restaurants

After weighing the pros and cons, a mobile-optimized website is the recommended online ordering solution for the majority of restaurants – especially small to mid-sized businesses. The mobile web route provides a lower-cost, faster launch, broader reach, and easier maintenance compared to a custom app. It removes barriers for customers, enabling anyone to order with a tap of a link, which is vital for capturing new business. For many independent restaurateurs, a website with online ordering will deliver 90% of the benefits of a native app (direct ordering convenience, branded experience, customer data capture), at perhaps 10% of the cost and effort. Unless your restaurant already enjoys a very high volume of repeat orders and has the resources to invest in app development, the website-first approach is usually the smarter choice.

Consider that even large chains often start with enhancing their mobile web ordering before diving into apps, because the website is the first touchpoint for discovery and conversion. A polished web ordering page acts as your digital storefront, building trust with first-time visitors and converting them into customers with minimal friction. Later on, if your business grows significantly and you develop a strong base of repeat customers who would benefit from an app (for example, a coffee shop where patrons order daily might use an app for quick reorders and loyalty rewards), you can add an app as a complementary channel. In fact, experts suggest an app makes sense only when you’re at the point of having an established loyal following ready to download it, and when you want to offer advanced features like immersive personalization or on-device capabilities (e.g. AR menus, voice ordering). It’s an “add-on” for scalability in the future, not a starting point for most. In the meantime, your mobile website can more than handle online ordering needs.

Leverage Sauce’s Web-Based Ordering Solution (An Example)

To illustrate why a mobile website is often best, consider Sauce’s commission-free, web-based online ordering platform. Sauce provides restaurants with a turnkey mobile web ordering system that is fully branded for your business and integrates seamlessly with your existing operations. The beauty of Sauce’s approach is that it combines the reach and ease of a website with many of the engagement benefits of an app – without requiring your customers to download anything. For instance, Sauce’s platform can embed an ordering interface on your site or even allow ordering through popular social channels (like an ordering chat on Facebook/Instagram), so customers can order directly through platforms they already use. The customer experiences a smooth, app-like interaction but “doesn’t need to download any special app” to order, eliminating friction.

From the restaurant’s perspective, Sauce’s solution comes with powerful perks: it’s a commission-free system, meaning you keep all your revenue instead of paying 20-30% per order to third-party apps. It also integrates with top POS systems, so online orders flow right into your kitchen without manual entry, and your inventory and sales data stay unified. Plus, you get full ownership of customer data and built-in tools to re-target diners (for example, Sauce can automatically capture customer info and help you send tailored promotions to bring them back).

In short, a platform like Sauce demonstrates how a mobile website solution can deliver the best of both worlds: broad accessibility for customers and robust functionality for the restaurant.

It’s a prime example of why we recommend a web-first online ordering strategy. (Interested readers can learn more about Sauce’s online ordering system or even try a demo to see how it works.)

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Do I really need a mobile app for my restaurant’s online ordering?

 In most cases, no – a mobile app is not a necessity for offering online ordering. What you do need is a convenient digital ordering channel, but a mobile-optimized website can serve that purpose for the vast majority of restaurants. A responsive web ordering page allows customers to order directly from their phone or computer without downloading anything, which is usually sufficient (and often preferred by customers). Mobile apps tend to make sense only for larger brands or those with very frequent repeat business (e.g. coffee chains) where a dedicated app can provide added value like stored payment, loyalty rewards, or offline functionality. For most independent restaurants, an easy-to-use web ordering system will cover all your bases and capture more users than a standalone app.

Are mobile websites as good as apps for user experience and speed?

Yes. A well-designed mobile web ordering site can offer an excellent user experience that rivals a native app. Features like fast page loads, clear menu layout, mobile-friendly buttons, and secure payment are all achievable on a mobile website. In many cases, customers won’t notice a significant difference – they tap items, add to cart, and checkout smoothly on the web. Modern web technologies (like progressive web apps) even allow things like home-screen icons, offline access for menus, and nearly instantaneous page transitions, which make the web experience very “app-like.” Unless an app is extremely well-built, users won’t find it markedly faster or easier than a good mobile website. In fact, the ease of access on the web (no install required) often means the overall experience is better: the customer gets to ordering faster. As long as your web ordering page is optimized for mobile, you can deliver a top-notch experience without the complexity of an app.

What are the cost differences between developing a restaurant app vs a mobile web ordering system?

Developing a custom restaurant ordering app is typically much more expensive than setting up a mobile web ordering system. A native app for iOS/Android can cost anywhere from $10,000 to well over $50,000 in development, plus ongoing maintenance and update costs. You’ll need developers (and possibly two separate codebases for Apple and Android) and have to budget for updates, bug fixes, and app store fees annually. In contrast, adding online ordering to your website can be done for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on whether you use an existing platform or build a simple custom page. Many restaurants opt for subscription-based online ordering services (like Sauce) which charge a low monthly fee or a flat setup fee but no hefty commissions, making it very cost-effective. From a time perspective, a website solution can be launched in days or weeks, whereas an app could take months to develop and publish. Thus, for cost and speed, mobile websites have a clear advantage.

Can I have a loyalty program and customer rewards without a mobile app?

 Absolutely. While mobile apps often highlight loyalty features (since the app can store points and send push notifications about rewards), you can implement an effective loyalty program via your website as well. For example, you can have customers create an account on your ordering site where they accumulate points for each purchase, which they can redeem for discounts or free items on future orders. The site can show their point balance and reward options during checkout. Many online ordering platforms support built-in loyalty or integrate with popular loyalty programs – all through the web interface. Additionally, you can use email or SMS to notify customers of rewards (“You earned a free dessert!”) in lieu of app push notifications. This way, even without an app, your customers stay engaged and rewarded. What’s key is capturing customer data (via account signup or at least getting their email/number when they order) – once you have that, you can run a loyalty program and send promotions effectively. In summary, a mobile app is not required for customer loyalty; a well-designed web ordering system can drive repeat business through loyalty incentives and smart marketing communications.

How do I start offering online ordering on my website (and is it integrated with my POS)?

To start offering online ordering via your website, you have a few options: you can use an online ordering platform/service or build a custom ordering page. Most restaurant owners choose a platform like Sauce, Toast, GloriaFood, etc., which provides a ready-made ordering interface you can brand and embed on your site (or use as a standalone ordering page if you don’t have a site). These platforms handle the menu display, shopping cart, and payment processing for you. Setup usually involves signing up, configuring your menu and pricing, and then adding an “Order Online” button or link on your website and social media pages. Crucially, modern online ordering systems often integrate with your restaurant’s POS. Integration means that when an order is placed online, it is automatically transmitted to your POS and appears on your kitchen ticket or order stream just like a regular in-person order. This keeps your inventory, sales, and reporting unified and saves your staff from re-entering orders. Sauce, for instance, integrates with top POS solutions to sync orders and data. In short, getting started is simpler than ever: choose a reliable online ordering provider, connect it to your website (and POS if supported), and you can be taking direct online orders in no time – without writing any code or building a custom app.