The Delivery App Trap: The Same Meal Costs 79.5% More

The same fast-food meal costs $11.71 picked up at the counter and $21.00 delivered through an app — a $9.30 gap on the average order.

That is what one 2025 LendingTree study found after pricing five chain meals — Buffalo Wild Wings, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Starbucks and Taco Bell — three ways in the ten largest US metros: picked up at the restaurant, delivered through DoorDash, Grubhub or Uber Eats, and cooked at home. Delivery ran 79.5% above pickup, and the markup is not the same everywhere: Atlanta averaged 92.2%, Houston 67.0%. In the survey that ran alongside it, 38% of Americans said they order delivery at least once a week. 1

The gap is not one line on the bill. It is fees and a tip riding on top of the food, plus the markup itself, none of which appears on the pickup order. California's attorney general requires a food delivery platform to advertise the full, all-in price of the delivery service it provides, so the checkout total is the number that carries the decision. 2

The film closes on the comparison a viewer can run before paying: price the same cart as pickup, and whatever the total drops by is what delivery was costing.