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Protect ProfitGuide6 min read

Grab Commission Fees: What Restaurants Really Pay, and How to Keep the Margin

How Grab commission works, what sits on top of it, how it applies to discounted orders, and how to keep a margin on every GrabFood order.

A receipt roll from a box under a magnifier, one line in orange: what Grab's commission takes from each order

Grab's commission on a GrabFood order is a percentage of the order value set in each restaurant's merchant agreement: Grab Thailand has stated an average of 15% to 30% (2021), and in Singapore Grab cited 25% to 30% (2020).

Commission is the price of the demand Grab brings you. It is not a reason to leave the platform, and it is not something to ignore either. What matters is whether each order still leaves you money once everything is taken out. This guide shows what Grab takes, what can sit on top of it, and how to check your margin order by order.

The commission itself

Grab takes a percentage of the value of each food order. The rate is not published as a single figure, because it is set merchant by merchant in your contract. The public numbers are only indications:

  • Grab Thailand has stated an average of 15% to 30% of the order value (2021).
  • In Singapore, Grab cited 25% to 30% (2020).
  • In Vietnam, press reports put it at 20% to 25%, up to 30% for larger vendors.
  • In Indonesia, recent third-party guides put it at around 20% to 30%.

Treat these as a range, not as your rate. Your rate is the one written in your merchant agreement, and the one you can see deducted on your statements.

What can sit on top of the commission

The commission is the largest cost, but not always the only one. Depending on what you use and where you operate:

  • Campaign fees. Some Grab-led campaigns charge a marketing fee on each successful order, on top of the discount you fund.
  • Advertising. Search ads, banners and rank boosters are billed separately, per click, per thousand views or per order.
  • Taxes on the service fee. In some markets, tax is charged on the commission itself. In Indonesia, third-party guides cite 11%.

None of these show up in the headline rate. Your payout statement is the only place where you see all of them together, so read it at least once a month.

How commission works on a discounted order

This is the part most restaurants get wrong. In Singapore, Grab's merchant terms define the price used for your payout as the price after the discount you fund. In practice, commission is charged on the discounted value, not on the full menu price.

Take a S$30 order with S$3 off, funded by you, at 30% commission:

  • Without the discount: S$30 minus 30% leaves you S$21.00.
  • With the discount: S$27 minus 30% leaves you S$18.90.

The discount cost you S$2.10, not S$3. The formula is simple: real cost of a discount = discount x (1 minus your commission rate). This is documented for Singapore. In other markets, check one discounted order on your statement before relying on it.

Do the math on one order

Before changing anything, take one typical order and follow the money. Illustrative example, not a real account:

LineAmount
Menu price on Grab200
Discount you fund0
Commission at 30%60
Food and packaging cost90
Left for rent, staff and profit50

Now change one line at a time. A 20% discount on the same order drops the price to 160, the commission to 48, and what is left to 22. The order looks the same in the dashboard. The money is not.

The guide's example order with and without a discount: the commission shrinks a little, food and packaging stay, what is left shrinks most
The example order in the table, drawn to scale: with a discount, the commission falls a little and what is left falls most

Run this for your three best-selling items. It tells you more than any average.

Pricing for delivery

There is no official rule for how much higher your Grab prices should be than in store. You set them, and Grab's terms require the prices you list to be the ones you provided and kept up to date. Price differences between apps and in-store menus are common: one 2020 Singapore report found an order costing much more on delivery than bought directly, with markups set by the merchant.

The useful question is not "what do others charge" but "what does this dish need to leave me". Work back from it:

  1. Take the food and packaging cost of the dish.
  2. Decide what you need it to leave you after commission.
  3. Price = (cost + what it must leave) / (1 minus commission rate).

Then compare the result with what nearby restaurants charge for the same dish. If you are far above them, the problem is the dish cost or the portion, not the price.

Make each order bigger

A bigger basket carries the commission better, because your food cost does not grow as fast as the order value. Grab itself points merchants to three tools:

  • Combos and bundles. Grab Malaysia states that combo meals and bundles increase how much customers spend per order.
  • Add-ons and options. Option groups let customers add sides, drinks or extras to an item. Put your highest-margin extras there.
  • Free or discounted delivery above a minimum order. Grab lets merchants set a delivery fee discount with a minimum order, which gives customers a reason to add one more item.

Check the effect on your statements: average order value before and after, and the margin per order, not only the order count.

Your rate, and what you control

Your rate is part of your merchant contract, and Grab does not publish a standard route to change it. What you control is what each order earns you: your prices, the size of each basket and the offers you choose, all covered above.

Grab does run time-limited programs. In Thailand, for example, new merchants were offered a 90-day commission waiver and advertising credit until the end of August 2025. Programs like this come and go and vary by market, so check what is current in your app or with Grab support before planning around one.

A Kontimo screen reading what stays with the restaurant of each order, all costs in
In Kontimo's demo account, with invented figures: what each order leaves the restaurant once everything is taken out

Questions people ask

How much commission does Grab take from restaurants?

Public figures range from about 15% to 30% of the order value depending on the market and the merchant. Your own rate is in your merchant agreement.

Is Grab commission charged before or after a discount?

In Singapore, Grab's merchant terms indicate it is charged on the price after the discount you fund. Check one discounted order on your statement to confirm how it works in your market.

Should my Grab prices be higher than in store?

Many restaurants price higher on delivery, and you are free to. Set the price from what each dish must leave you after commission, rather than from a fixed percentage.

Are there other fees besides commission?

Possibly: campaign marketing fees, advertising and taxes on the service fee, depending on what you use and where. Your payout statement shows them all.

Keep reading: Campaign checklist: keep, adjust or stop · Best-Selling Items on Grab · Low Orders on Grab

Sources

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