Did you know that over 80% of customers research a restaurant online before deciding where to dine or order?

A strong online presence isn’t just important—it’s the key to winning more customers. But as your restaurant grows, your technology needs to grow with you.

This is where BentoBox falls short. While it helps well-established restaurants enhance their brand presence, it struggles to keep up with scaling businesses due to rigid website templates, security concerns, and high costs. Many restaurant owners find themselves frustrated with limited flexibility and the inability to seamlessly manage multiple locations or integrate with their existing systems.

So, what’s the solution?

If you’re looking for a platform that does more than just branding—one that truly supports your restaurant’s growth—there are better alternatives. Platforms like RestoLabs offer custom branding, seamless POS integrations, multi-location management, and advanced customer engagement tools to help restaurants of all sizes succeed.

In this blog, we break down the best BentoBox alternatives to help you choose the right platform for your business. Ready to find a better fit? Let’s dive in.

Features to Look for in BentoBox Alternatives

Does a great website with visually appealing menu items alone drive more sales? Think again! While it paves the way for a great start, your growing restaurant might need more than that.  Here are some must-have features to consider while searching for the best BentoBox alternatives.

1. Order and delivery management

A great BentoBox alternative should integrate easily with your restaurant's operations to ensure smooth order operations and a user-friendly customer experience. Look for platforms that allow automatic order management, flexible delivery zones, and integration with your POS system to streamline your ordering and delivery processes.

2. White Glove Setup 

Many restaurant owners struggle with setting up and maintaining a website. A white-glove setup is a service offered by certain vendors that handles the entire setup for your restaurant website, making it professional and customized to your needs. Ensure your platform provides a white-glove setup to help enhance your online presence without the need for technical knowledge. 

3. Easy Integration

BentoBox comes with integration limitations, so opt for an alternative that seamlessly connects with:

• POS systems for real-time order, inventory, and payment synchronization
• Multiple payment gateways to enable flexible transactions
• Automated menu syncing to keep items updated across platforms
• Sales tools like loyalty programs and customer feedback to drive growth

4. Menu Setup

While choosing the best alternative to BentoBox, look for platforms that allow you to update your menu as and when needed and showcase seasonal specials. Some key menu features include:

• Visual displays to make dishes more appealing
• Customizable sections to tailor the menu to your needs
• Price adjustment tools for real-time changes
• Easy add-ons and upselling options to boost sales

5. Mobile Optimization

With an increasing number of customers ordering from their smartphones, your website must be fully mobile-optimized. A great BentoBox alternative should ensure that the website is responsive and mobile-friendly so that customers can place orders or reservations directly from their phones.

6. Customer Insights

Data-driven decision-making is key to growing your restaurant. The best BentoBox alternative should offer robust analytics that provides insights into customer behavior, sales, and website performance. These will help you identify the best-selling items on the menu and customize customer preferences. They will also help you track marketing efforts and devise them strategically to drive more new customers.

Now that you know what to look for, we'll tell you where to look. 

Top BentoBox Alternatives for Restaurant Websites

Let's get to the main picture of BentoBox vs competitor platforms. Here's a list of top alternatives to help you choose the best from the lot.

RestoLabs - Best for Growth and Multi-Location Management with 100% Commission-Free Orders.

Managing a small restaurant with limited customers is no big task. You know your customers by name; your orders can be handled with minimum staff. Everything goes well. But what happens when your restaurant grows? Handling large orders during peak hours, managing multiple delivery channels, and keeping up with customer expectations can become overwhelming.

That's where RestoLabs steps in, making it one of the best BentoBox alternatives. Whether expanding to multiple locations, planning to run ghost kitchens, or just starting, RestoLabs provides the tools to help you grow your business online within a week. 

Here’s how RestoLabs outperforms BentoBox: 

• With intelligent order throttling and order scheduling, RestoLabs helps you accept orders based on your schedules and limits orders during peak hours to have a hassle-free workflow. It also allows customers to schedule their orders in advance.
• RestoLabs allows you to accept orders from your website, mobile app, QR codes, or social media channels like Facebook/Instagram to cater to a broader customer base.
• It helps you build a professional online presence and ranking with branded URLs, customizable templates, and high-quality menu images to help increase order value and attract new customers.
• Automates order-taking, kitchen communication, and payment processing by integrating it with POS systems, KDS, Printers and Delivery Partners, thereby increasing efficiency and minimizing staff dependency.
• RestoLabs offers a white-glove setup for restaurateurs seeking a hassle-free, custom website design experience.
• Reduces checkout time by 50% with no sign-up option.
• Offers push notifications to update customers about order status, promotions, or offers to keep customers engaged and coming back. Send your kitchen regular order updates.
• Supports over ten languages, catering to diverse customer demographics, helping you widen your audience.
• Integration with 50+ payment gateways, offering secure options like credit/debit cards, digital wallets, and cash.

Where RestoLabs Could Improve:

• Marketing and loyalty programs could be enhanced and expanded. 

Pricing:

RestoLabs provides a 30-day free trial, allowing growing restaurants to explore its full suite of features risk-free.

ChowNow - Best to Increase Visibility on Review Sites

ChowNow helps address most of the common challenges restaurants face by streamlining the ordering process and offering a wide range of tools that encourage restaurants to easily handle online ordering while building stronger connections with their customers. 

What ChowNow gets Right:

• Unlike many apps that charge more commissions, ChowNow’s commission-free marketplace lets you keep 100% of your online sales to maximize your profits and can reinvest more into your business.
• ChowNow makes it easier for your restaurant to be discovered by syncing your menu to multiple sales channels. This increases your visibility on popular platforms like Yelp, OpenTable, TripAdvisor, and more, helping attract new customers.
• Its custom-branded mobile app and integrated online ordering offer your customers the convenience of placing orders directly from their phone.

Where ChowNow could Improve: 

• Though ChowNow's marketplace is commission-free, it competes directly with a restaurant’s website. ChowNow’s commission-free marketplace uses restaurant customers to grow its own user base, ultimately funneling them into its direct ordering platform. This reduces traffic to the restaurant's website, lowering its ranking on Google over time. 
• It offers basic email marketing automation, it lacks SMS marketing capabilities and advanced upselling features during the ordering process. 
• ChowNow only offers a simple digital punch card with no broader loyalty features or integrations with external platforms.
• ChownNow’s app has been reported to malfunction at times with no way for customers to reach out to support teams. 
• ChowNow’s 8-mile delivery range limits restaurant reach, and it lacks built-in tools to support self-delivery.

Pricing

Additional fees include: 

Setup fee - $119 - $499
Transaction fee - 2.95% + $0.29
Annual developer fee - $99 (Paid directly to Apple for branded mobile apps)
Printing - $250 - $375
Delivery orders with ChowNow’s Flex Delivery - $3.99 per order

PopMenu - Best for Automated Phone Orders

PopMenu is a cloud-based restaurant management platform designed to simplify operations, enhance customer engagement, and boost workflow efficiency. Popmenu's unique interactive menu technology and marketing tools make it an excellent choice for restaurants looking to improve their customer engagement and online presence. 

What PopMenu gets Right:

• Helps engage customers with menus that are visually appealing, not just a simple list of food items.
• Reach your customers directly through text messages with promotions, updates, or special offers.
• Improve service quality and customer satisfaction with features like waitlisting, automated phone ordering and curbside pickup 

Where Popmenu could Improve: 

• The absence of a loyalty program means missing out on opportunities to encourage repeat business
• Its limited functional design and clunky user interface can lead to poor user experiences for customers.
• Popmenu locks restaurants into lengthy contracts, and exiting the agreement can be costly due to expensive buyout options.
• Customers have faced issues with credit card card transactions and chargebacks

Pricing

Popmenu doesn't offer a free trial. 

Toast: Best for POS First Ordering System

Toast is a POS-driven system that simplifies restaurant operations by integrating online and in-house orders into a single dashboard. It helps manage dine-in, takeout, and delivery efficiently while offering real-time menu updates and inventory tracking to prevent stockouts. However, key features like loyalty programs and marketing tools are paid add-ons, and its pricing can add up quickly.

What Toast gets Right:

• Toast offers a centralized dashboard for all orders simplifying your backend operations and reducing complexity even for restaurants operating in multiple locations. 
• With Toast, you can customize your menus and update items in real-time. This makes it easy to adjust for inventory changes or introduce seasonal specials.
• Toast also provides tools for employee scheduling, payroll, and overall staff management

Where Toast Could Improve:

• Toast is primarily a POS platform, with online ordering as an added feature. This lack of focus results in product glitches and subpar customer support.
• With Toast, restaurants have minimal flexibility to go with a competitively-priced payment processor as the platform dictates their own processing fees and terms.
• While custom plans are available for growing restaurants, growing restaurants may find it challenging to purchase them.
• Their free starter plan often comes with costly processing rates, which may not suit small-scale restaurants.
• Many customers report poor customer support. 
• At times, updates made to the platform result in a complete reset to default settings without the user’s knowledge.

Pricing: 

Toast offers several pricing tiers tailored to your business’ needs and may include additional pricing for hardware, add-ons, and payment processing. 

Owner.com - Best for Search Engine-Optimized Sites

Owner.com's online ordering platform is designed to help restaurants boost sales and reach new customers. The platform provides restaurants with SEO-optimized and automated tools to manage orders efficiently. 

What Owner.com gets Right:

• With Owner.com, your restaurant gets its custom mobile app. You can send the customers push notifications about new menu items, special promotions, or exclusive discounts
• Owner.com sends out SMS, email reminders, and special promotions about your restaurant to attract new customers
• From personalized website designs to loyalty programs, Owner.com ensures every channel reflects your brand identity

Where Owner.com Could Improve:

• Limitations in promotional features, including reward programs, marketing campaigns, customization, and website design templates.
• Integrating with existing POS systems is tough and involves consistent manual updates, which could lead to order errors. 
• Their high setup fees may not be suitable for all establishments. Additionally, the 5% commission on all orders, charged directly to customers, could affect customer retention for restaurants.

Pricing

GloriaFood: Best for Basic Online Ordering Solution

GloriaFood is a commission-free, budget-friendly online ordering platform designed for small and independent restaurants. With its intuitive interface and mobile-friendly tools, GloriaFood makes it easy for restaurants to establish an online presence while keeping costs low. 

What GloriaFoods gets Right:

• It is a mobile-friendly platform that enables customers to place orders directly from their phones and tablets, enhancing convenience
• The platform offers a $0 cost platform for cash pickup.Restaurants cannot accept online payments or make deliveries without paying their monthly subscription fee.  
• GloriaFood's optional promo codes and loyalty programs helps retain customers and encourage repeat business.
• Its reservations tool helps customers with food pre-ordering options.

Where GloriaFood Could Improve:

• Without paying the $30 subscription cost, restaurants can’t take online orders for delivery and process payments, making their free pricing marketing deceptive. 
• Since it’s a closed system, it is mostly compatible with Oracle POS and integrating it with other POS systems can be difficult. 
• It has limited loyalty features that may impact customer engagement and comes with an additional cost of $19/month.
• It has a clunky UI/UX which is dated and needs to be improved to give customers a good user experience.

Pricing

So which Bentobox alternative is right for you? Each online ordering platform has its strengths and limitations. Popmenu focuses on visually appealing menus, while GloriaFood appeals to budget-conscious restaurants. ChowNow and Owner.com offer similar features to RestoLabs but at a significantly higher price, and Toast provides online ordering primarily as an add-on to its POS system, rather than a dedicated solution. 

RestoLabs strikes the right balance—offering branding flexibility, operational efficiency, and ease of use—making it a strong choice for restaurants looking for a streamlined and cost-effective solution.

Why RestoLabs is the Best Fit For Your Restaurant?

RestoLabs helps restaurants create a seamless online ordering experience while ensuring their brand identity remains intact. Unlike platforms that limit design flexibility or charge commissions, RestoLabs provides:

• Custom-branded ordering: A white-labeled platform that keeps your restaurant’s identity front and center.
• Operational efficiency: Easy integrations with existing POS systems and third-party services to minimize manual work.
• Data-driven insights: Track sales, cash flow, and customer behavior through an intuitive dashboard.
• Flexible pricing: Transparent plans designed to scale with your business needs.

For restaurants seeking a simple, yet powerful alternative to BentoBox, RestoLabs offers a competitively priced, customizable, and easy-to-manage solution. So why wait to take your restaurant to the next level? Try our 30-day free trial today to see how RestoLabs can optimize your operations.