A restaurant website in Orange County costs anywhere from $0 a month on a free builder to $12,000 or more for a custom build with online ordering. One Irvine agency quotes $3,000 to $10,000 for a custom business site. Platform sites like Toast and Popmenu run $75 to $499 a month plus fees. Owner.com is $249 or $499 a month. The sticker price is only part of it. Per-order fees, contract length and who owns the site matter more over two years. Here is how the options compare, with a worked example for a restaurant doing 300 online orders a month.

Three ways to get a restaurant website

Template builders. Square Online is free to start, with paid plans at $49 and $149 a month per location. You build it yourself. Online orders cost 3.3% plus 30 cents on the free plan and 2.9% plus 30 cents on paid plans.

Restaurant platforms. These bundle the site with ordering, and often the point of sale.

  • Toast Websites is $75 a month. Toast Digital Ordering is another $75 a month. Online orders process at 3.39% plus 15 cents on the starter kit. Toast contracts typically run one to three years, with an early termination fee.
  • Popmenu plans are $179, $299 and $499 a month. Online ordering adds about $50 a month per location. Guests pay $1 per order. Onboarding is about $1,300.
  • Owner.com is $249 a month plus a 5% restaurant fee per order, or $499 a month flat. Guests also pay a 5% order support fee. Billing is month to month.

Custom builds. A local studio builds a site you own. One Irvine agency puts a straightforward custom business site at $3,000 to $5,000 and a more involved one at $5,000 to $10,000. Another Irvine studio lists sites from $1,500, $3,500 and $5,500 by size. A third Orange County studio charges $750 once plus $129 a month for hosting and updates. Nationally, Project Cost Estimator puts a restaurant site with online ordering at $6,000 to $12,000.

What it costs over two years

Say your restaurant does 300 online orders a month at $30 each. That is 7,200 orders and $216,000 in online sales over 24 months. The $30 ticket is our assumption. Figures are rounded and count only what each pricing page lists; card processing may be extra on some platforms.

Option Fixed fees, 2 years Order fees, 2 years Total
Square Online Free $0 ~$9,300 (3.3% + 30¢) ~$9,300
Toast Websites + Digital Ordering $3,600 ~$8,400 (3.39% + 15¢) ~$12,000
Owner.com Flat Rate ~$12,000 $0 to you; guests pay 5% ~$12,000
Owner.com Flexible ~$6,000 ~$10,800 (5%) ~$16,800
Popmenu Starter + ordering ~$6,800 with onboarding $0 to you; guests pay $1/order; processing not listed ~$6,800 + processing
Custom site + Square Free ordering $6,000–12,000 build + $1,800–7,200 upkeep ~$9,300 ~$17,000–28,500

Four things stand out. At this volume, Owner’s flat plan beats its flexible plan; Owner’s own page says flat is best above $5,000 a month in online sales. Square’s free plan beats its $49 plan; the lower rate saves about $860, but the plan costs $1,176. A custom site costs the most in the first two years. After that, the build is paid off and there is no contract, so what is left is upkeep plus order fees. And any of these beats leaning on delivery apps: DoorDash takes 15%, 25% or 30% on delivery orders, so even the 15% plan is $32,400 on $216,000 in sales.

What drives the price up

Online ordering. On a custom site, wiring in an ordering system runs $2,000 to $6,000, or you use one of the platforms above. Project Cost Estimator says integrations, not design, are the biggest cost driver.

Reservations. Connecting a booking system adds $500 to $2,000. A site with reservations has a median build cost of $6,000, meaning half cost more and half cost less.

A second language. One Los Angeles studio that builds bilingual sites says doing it properly adds roughly 30 to 50%. That means separate pages and copy written by a native speaker. A translate button costs less, but it is not the same thing.

Photography. Food photography runs $800 to $3,000. Project Cost Estimator calls it a huge difference versus stock photos.

Words. Content writing adds $500 to $2,000 on a custom build.

Upkeep. Hosting runs $29 to $300 a month and maintenance $50 to $200 a month, per one Orange County pricing guide. Another local studio puts ongoing maintenance at $75 to $300 a month.

What to ask before you sign

Who owns the domain? It should be registered in your name, in an account you can log into.

Who owns the design and code? On a platform, you rent. Cancel and the site goes away. On a custom build, get it in writing that the files are yours.

Who owns the data? Customer names, emails and order history. Ask if you can export it and whether it comes with you when you leave.

How long is the contract? Toast runs one to three years with an early termination fee. Owner is month to month. The Popmenu pricing page we used notes some customers report trouble canceling, so get the term in writing.

What is the all-in cost per order? Ask for the plan fee, per-order fee, card processing and any guest-paid fee on one line. Guest fees raise the price your customers see.

Can I switch the ordering tool later? A site you own lets you change ordering vendors without rebuilding.

What we would do

We build restaurant sites the owner keeps: your domain, your files, your customer list, with the ordering tool that fits your volume. Our website service covers the build, and we shoot the menu so the site does not launch with stock photos.

Already have a site? Book a free 20-minute audit and you get three written findings within two business days.

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