GloriaFood: what the free tier really includes
GloriaFood's ordering widget is genuinely free and genuinely commission-free, which is rare and worth saying plainly. Two caveats: the parts most restaurants end up wanting — card payments, a real website, promotions — are paid add-ons, and the platform is widely reported to be closing in April 2027. If you are choosing a system today, that second point matters more than the first.
What is free, and what is not
| Cost | |
|---|---|
| Online ordering widget for your site or Facebook page | Free |
| Table reservations | Free |
| Unlimited orders, no commission per order | Free |
| A hosted website with SEO and hosting | ~$9 / month |
| Card payments online | ~$29 / month |
| Advanced promotions and customer segmentation | ~$19 / month |
| Branded iOS and Android app | ~$59 / month |
Add-on prices as reported by software directories, September 2026. GloriaFood's own pricing page advertises the free tier without listing add-on prices.
A pizzeria that wants customers to pay by card on a site of its own is therefore looking at roughly $38 a month, not zero — still far below any commission model, but not the headline.
The widget model, and what it means
GloriaFood is an ordering widget you embed, not a website. That is a real strength if you already have a site you like: you keep your pages and bolt ordering on. It is a weakness if you do not, because the menu then lives inside the widget rather than as pages a search engine can read — the dishes and prices are not really your content in a way that helps you get found.
When GloriaFood is the better choice
- You already have a website you are happy with. Embedding ordering into it is less disruptive than moving.
- You want commission-free ordering today, for nothing. The free tier is real, and for cash-on-collection takeaways it can be all you need.
- You take reservations as well as orders. Both are included.
All three are weighed against a reported end-of-life date. If it is right, work taken on now has to be redone before April 2027.
What to ask of any "free" ordering system
- What does card payment cost, on top of card processing?
- Is the menu content on my own domain, in pages a search engine can index?
- If I leave, can I export my menu and my customer list — and in what format?
- Who owns the customer relationship: the email, the phone number, the order history?
- What is the notice period, and has anything been announced about the product's future?
The last two are the ones people skip, and they are the ones that hurt when a product is discontinued.