Waayu for Restaurants (2026): The Subscription, the Terms and the Order Numbers

Waayu is a food delivery app from Pune that takes no commission on orders. It charges restaurants a subscription instead: its registration page currently lists a 12 month package at ₹12,000 plus GST, marked down from ₹24,000. The zero commission part holds up in every report since its 2023 launch. The open question is how many orders the subscription buys, and on Waayu's own figures the average is small.

This guide reads Waayu's published terms, tracks how its fees have changed since launch, and works out how many orders a month you need before the subscription costs less than a commission app.

Key takeaways

• No commission, a fixed fee instead. Waayu's current package is ₹12,000 plus GST for 12 months, with no separate registration fee. Earlier plans charged ₹1,200 or ₹2,000 a month per outlet.
• The published terms are general. Waayu's terms and conditions cover customers and restaurants together. They make you responsible for keeping your subscription active and say nothing about delivery costs, penalties or ranking.
• ONDC drove its growth. Waayu joined the government-backed network in September 2024, and its founders said users grew from about 1 to 1.5 lakh to 10 lakh after that.
• Orders per outlet look thin. In May 2025 the founders reported 1,000+ orders a day across 5,000+ restaurants, about 6 orders per restaurant a month.
• Break-even is about 12 orders a month. At the current offer price, Waayu costs less than a 22 percent commission app once you take about 137 orders of ₹400 a year through it.

What Waayu is

Waayu launched in Mumbai on 8 May 2023. It was built by Anirudha Kotgire and Mandar Lande, whose company had earlier run Meri Dukaan, a zero commission app for grocery shops. The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), Mumbai's restaurant body, backed the launch, and actor Suniel Shetty told Mint he is "an equity holder in WAAYU as well as its brand ambassador".

The founders told BW Retail World in May 2025 that Waayu was bootstrapped and planned to stay that way. Its registration page names the developer as WAAYU Private Limited, with an office in Kharadi, Pune.

Waayu now sells far more than delivery. Its site lists a POS, a QR menu called Ezee Menu, WhatsApp ordering and Restaurant Mandi, a supplier marketplace launched in January 2026. It also expands through local franchisees, who sign up restaurants in their territory. So the person who pitches Waayu to you may be a franchisee rather than Waayu staff.

How big it is

Waayu's franchise page claims 200+ cities, 35 franchises and 1,00,000+ restaurants. Those numbers have grown fast, as the table shows.

Waayu's own customer app shows 50,000+ downloads on Google Play. That is small next to a lakh restaurants, and suggests many customers reach Waayu restaurants through other apps on ONDC. The lakh may also count restaurants using Waayu's POS or other tools rather than taking delivery orders. Waayu hasn't published an order figure since May 2025.

What Waayu charges, and how that has changed

Waayu has never charged commission, but its fixed fee has changed three times.

The current package bundles more than delivery. Waayu says it includes "8 Business Softwares", consultation, outlet branding and "Flipkart Integration". The registration FAQ says "There is no separate registration fee" and that onboarding and setup are included.

Kotgire put the pitch simply in 2025: Waayu sells "flat software subscription irrespective of the volume of business". That is the trade. You pay the same whether you get 5 orders a month or 500.

What the published terms say

Waayu doesn't publish a separate restaurant agreement the way some delivery apps do. Its terms and conditions page covers everyone who uses the platform. These are the clauses that matter to a restaurant.

Waayu's refund policy says confirmed orders are "strictly non-refundable". It allows refunds only if the restaurant can't fulfil the order, a delivery partner makes a verified error, or the customer gets the wrong order. The decision is "at the sole discretion of WAAYU". The policy doesn't say whether the refund comes out of your money or Waayu's.

What the terms leave out

The terms are silent on three things that decide your margin:

• Who pays for delivery. Waayu's founders told Inc42 in November 2024 that an AI system matches each order with a delivery partner's live rate, "similar to how ride-hailing apps like Ola or Uber assign a fare". Your own riders can take nearby orders. The published terms don't say whether the restaurant or the customer pays the fare.
• Fees on ONDC orders. On ONDC, the app the customer orders from charges its own fee. ONDC seller app Mystore says this "Buyer App Fee will vary based on which buyer app the order was placed through". Waayu's zero commission covers its own cut. Ask whether buyer app fees come out of orders that arrive through other apps.
• Penalties and ranking. Unlike Ownly's restaurant terms, Waayu's say nothing about cancellation penalties or paid placement. That may mean there are none, or that they sit in a document you sign at onboarding.

Ask for the onboarding agreement in writing before you pay, and check which company is billing you. Business Standard reported in 2024 that Waayu was operated by Destek Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, while today's terms name WAAYU Pvt. Ltd.

Where Waayu's orders come from

Waayu joined ONDC as a seller marketplace in September 2024. That put its restaurants on buyer apps such as Paytm, Ola and Tata Neu. The founders told Inc42 that restaurants on Waayu grew from 500 to 3,000 after the switch.

Buyer apps come and go, so that reach moves around. Ola paused food delivery on its own app and on ONDC in December 2025, MediaNama reported. Waayu's current package advertises a Flipkart integration, but Waayu hasn't said how that works or what it costs per order.

The practical point is that a Waayu listing isn't one app. It's a feed into whichever buyer apps are active in your city, plus Waayu's own app, with fees and volume that change with them.

A worked example: how many orders pay for Waayu?

Take the current offer: ₹12,000 plus 18 percent GST, which is ₹14,160 for the year, or ₹1,180 a month. Most restaurants charge 5 percent GST and can't claim input tax credit, so the GST is a real cost.

Compare it with one ₹400 order on a commission app at 22 percent, a rate inside the range in our Zomato and Swiggy commission guide.

₹14,160 divided by ₹103.84 is 136.4. So at 137 orders a year, about 12 a month, Waayu costs less than the commission app. At the full list price of ₹24,000 plus GST (₹28,320), break-even is 273 orders a year, about 23 a month.

Now set that against Waayu's own numbers. In May 2025 the founders reported 1,000+ orders a day across 5,000+ restaurants, about 6 orders per restaurant a month. Their target for March 2026 was 25,000 to 30,000 orders a day across a lakh restaurants, which is still only 7.5 to 9 a month each.

These are averages. Busy outlets in Waayu's strong cities will do far better than 6 a month, and a new listing may do worse. The example also leaves out delivery charges and payment gateway fees, which you'd pay in some form on either kind of app.

When Waayu is worth it

Waayu makes sense in these cases:

• You already get ONDC demand in your area. Mumbai, where AHAR backed the launch, has the longest track record.
• You want the software anyway. If the POS and QR menu in the package would replace tools you pay for, the delivery orders are a bonus rather than the whole case.
• You want your customer data. Waayu says restaurants get full access to their data, so a guest who orders once can be reached again. Confirm what fields you actually receive.
• You want a channel with no per-order cut. Every extra order after break-even keeps its full price.

It is a poor fit if you need volume from day one. On Waayu's figures, a typical outlet gets a handful of orders a month, so treat it as a second channel next to Zomato and Swiggy, not a replacement. Before you pay, ask the person signing you up for order counts from restaurants near you, in writing.

Here is how it compares with the other apps:

For the details, see Ownly for restaurants and magicpin for restaurants, which also runs on ONDC.

FAQ

Does Waayu charge restaurants commission?

No. Waayu has charged a fixed subscription instead of commission since its 2023 launch. Its registration page currently lists a 12 month package at ₹12,000 plus GST, down from ₹24,000, with no separate registration fee. Earlier plans cost ₹1,200 or ₹2,000 a month per outlet, and the terms don't cover delivery or buyer app fees.

How do I register my restaurant on Waayu?

Go to Waayu's registration page, choose a plan, enter your restaurant details and pay the subscription. A Waayu coordinator then handles onboarding, which Waayu says usually takes 24 to 48 hours. You need a PAN card, FSSAI licence, bank details, your menu and a GST certificate if you have one.

Is Waayu part of ONDC?

Yes. Waayu joined ONDC as a seller marketplace in September 2024, so its restaurants can receive orders from buyer apps on the network as well as from Waayu's own app. Buyer apps change: Ola paused food delivery on ONDC in December 2025. Ask Waayu which apps currently send orders in your city.

How many orders will I get from Waayu?

Waayu doesn't publish a current figure. In May 2025 its founders reported 1,000+ orders a day across 5,000+ restaurants, which averages about 6 orders per restaurant a month. Results vary by city and outlet. At the current offer price, you need about 12 orders of ₹400 a month to beat a 22 percent commission app.

Who owns Waayu?

Waayu was founded by Anirudha Kotgire and Mandar Lande and is based in Pune. Actor Suniel Shetty is an equity holder and brand ambassador, and Mumbai's restaurant body AHAR backed its launch. The founders said in 2025 that it was bootstrapped. Its registration page names WAAYU Private Limited as the developer.

What to do next

Ask Waayu, or the franchisee who contacts you, for three things in writing: the onboarding agreement, who pays delivery, and order counts from outlets near you. If the numbers clear about 12 orders a month, list your top dishes at dine-in prices and review the channel after 60 days.

Delivery apps bring new customers, but your dine-in guests are already yours. dineomAI lets them order and pay from a QR code at the table, on your own system, for a flat monthly fee. We build it, and Waayu sells a competing QR menu, so weigh that accordingly. Book a short demo to see it.