ZiaPilot

2026 buyer's guide

The 7 best catering software platforms for restaurants, with prices

Most comparison posts in this category quietly skip the pricing, because half the vendors will not publish it. This one leads with it. Every figure below was read off the vendor's own pricing page and is dated.

Prices verified August 1, 2026 against each vendor's own pricing page

Short answer

Catering software for restaurants ranges from $0 to $229 per month. Caterease starts at $99/mo, Better Cater at $99/mo, and CaterZen at $179/mo, each adding $20 to $28 per extra user. Tripleseat does not publish pricing. ZiaPilot has a free tier and paid plans at $29 and $49 per month.

Every price, side by side

Sorted by published entry price. Vendors that do not publish pricing are listed last, which is information in itself.

PlatformEntry pricePublished tiersOn top of thatTrial
ZiaPilotUs$0Free $0, Growth $29/mo, Pro $49/moNo per-user fee, no setup feeFree plan plus a 7-day full trial, no card
Caterease$99/moExpress $99/mo, Standard $149/mo, Professional $199/mo, billed annually$28/mo per additional user, $25/mo optional modules, $200 one-time launch fee per userDemo led
Better Cater$99/moPlus $99/mo, Premium $149/mo. Annual billing drops these to $83/mo and $125/mo$20/mo per user annual, $25/mo per user monthly30-day free trial, no card
CaterZen$179/moPro $179/mo, Pro Plus $199/mo, Marketing Pro Plus $229/mo, Enterprise on request$499 one-time start-up support, plus per-use texts, calls, and direct mailFree trial, no card required
Tripleseat Not publishedNot published. Pricing is quoted per venue and per user after a sales callNot publishedDemo only
Spoonfed Not publishedNot published. Quoted after a demoNot publishedDemo only
ChowNow Catering Commission basedCatering runs on a flat commission per order rather than a monthly software feeSits on top of ChowNow's own subscription and setup costsDemo led

Sources, in table order: ziapilot.com, caterease.com, bettercater.com, caterzen.com, tripleseat.com, spoonfed.co.uk, get.chownow.com. All checked August 1, 2026.

How this was put together

  • Pricing was read directly from each vendor's own pricing page, not from review aggregators, and every entry carries the URL it came from.
  • Where a vendor does not publish pricing, this guide says so rather than repeating a third-party estimate as fact.
  • Per-user fees, setup fees, and one-time onboarding costs are listed separately, because they are the difference between the sticker price and the invoice.
  • No vendor paid for placement, and there are no affiliate links on this page.

Our conflict of interest

ZiaPilot publishes this guide and is included in it. We put our own limitations in the same column as everyone else's, and we do not claim a feature we do not ship. If you find an error in a competitor's row, tell us and we will correct it.

The seven, in detail

1. ZiaPilot

$0

Best for: Independents who lose catering leads at the inquiry stage, on WhatsApp and the website, before an order ever exists

Where it is strong

  • Answers the inquiry itself on WhatsApp and the website, then drafts the quote, rather than waiting for a lead to be typed in by hand
  • Free tier covers a branded storefront, live menu, and unlimited catering lead capture
  • AI review replies for Google, Yelp, DoorDash, and Uber Eats are in the same subscription

Where it is not

  • Not a full event-management or banquet system: no floor plans, no staffing rosters, no BEO workflow
  • Built around drop-off and large-order catering, not multi-day venue events
  • Newer product with a smaller customer base than the incumbents on this list
Pricing source

2. Caterease

$99/mo

Best for: High-volume event catering with complex banquet and staffing needs

Where it is strong

  • Deepest event-management feature set on this list, built over decades
  • Tiered so a small caterer can start on Express and grow into Professional
  • Publishes its prices, which is rarer in this category than it should be

Where it is not

  • Per-user pricing plus a $200 per-user launch fee makes a small team expensive quickly
  • Prices shown are annual billing, so the monthly commitment is higher than the headline
  • Aimed at event operations rather than capturing the inbound inquiry
Pricing source ZiaPilot vs Caterease

3. Better Cater

$99/mo

Best for: Lean single-location caterers who want core proposal and CRM tooling

Where it is strong

  • Longest no-card trial in this comparison at 30 days
  • Both plans include the same catering tools, so the upgrade is about limits rather than locked features
  • Genuinely approachable for a small team

Where it is not

  • Per-user fees add up on any team above two or three people
  • Plus plan caps lead forms at three and e-signatures at ten per month
  • No conversational capture: leads still arrive by form and get worked by hand
Pricing source

4. CaterZen

$179/mo

Best for: Drop-off, recurring, and multi-location catering operations that want sales and marketing in one hub

Where it is strong

  • Unlimited users, transactions, menus, and orders on every plan, which is unusual here
  • Built-in marketing systems, VoIP, and direct mail on the top tier
  • Strong operational tooling for drop-off catering specifically

Where it is not

  • Highest entry price in this comparison at $179/mo
  • The $499 start-up support fee is a real barrier to trying it properly
  • Marketing channels are billed per use on top of the subscription
Pricing source ZiaPilot vs CaterZen

5. Tripleseat

Not published

Best for: Venues, hotels, and restaurant groups running booked events at scale

Where it is strong

  • The category's most established event and banquet platform
  • Large integration ecosystem and a deep venue feature set
  • Well suited to multi-venue groups with dedicated event staff

Where it is not

  • No public pricing, so a small operator cannot qualify themselves in or out without a sales call
  • Priced and built for venues, which usually makes it oversized for a restaurant doing drop-off catering
  • Third-party figures circulate widely but are not confirmed by the vendor, so this guide does not repeat them as fact
Pricing source ZiaPilot vs Tripleseat

6. Spoonfed

Not published

Best for: Drop-off catering teams that want delivery and production scheduling handled

Where it is strong

  • Purpose-built for drop-off rather than adapted from venue events
  • Strong production, packing, and delivery scheduling
  • Clear focus on repeat corporate ordering

Where it is not

  • No public pricing
  • Operations first: the inbound inquiry is still handled by a person
  • Narrower fit for restaurants where catering is a side of the main business
Pricing source ZiaPilot vs Spoonfed

7. ChowNow Catering

Commission based

Best for: Restaurants that already use ChowNow for direct online ordering

Where it is strong

  • Orders flow through the restaurant's own branded ordering site
  • Much cheaper per order than the delivery marketplaces
  • Natural fit if the direct ordering stack is already ChowNow

Where it is not

  • Commission scales with revenue, so success gets progressively more expensive
  • Catering is a module on an ordering platform, not a catering system
  • Little help with the quote-and-negotiate stage that large orders actually need
Pricing source ZiaPilot vs ChowNow Catering

How to choose

Decide whether you are buying event management or lead capture

This is the split that decides everything else. Caterease, Tripleseat, and CaterZen are strongest once an order exists: proposals, BEOs, production, staffing, delivery. They assume someone has already typed the lead in. If your actual leak is inquiries that sit unanswered on WhatsApp, a form, or voicemail until the customer books elsewhere, a heavier event system will not fix it, because the failure happens before the first screen of that product.

Price the software the way it will actually be invoiced

The sticker price is rarely the bill. Caterease adds $28 per extra user and a $200 per-user launch fee. Better Cater adds $20 to $25 per user. CaterZen adds a $499 start-up support fee plus per-use messaging. A three-person team on a $99 plan can land closer to $200 a month once seats and setup are counted. Multiply by your real headcount before comparing anything.

Treat hidden pricing as information, not an obstacle

Tripleseat and Spoonfed do not publish prices. That is a legitimate enterprise motion, but it tells you who the product is built for. Vendors that price for small operators generally publish, because they need self-serve to work. If you are a single-location restaurant and a vendor will not show you a number without a call, that is usually the product telling you its floor is above you.

Check what happens at 9pm on a Saturday

Catering inquiries do not arrive during office hours. Ask each vendor what the customer experiences when they send a message outside your working hours. On most of this list the honest answer is nothing until Monday. That gap is the whole reason response-time tooling exists, and it is worth testing during a trial rather than taking on trust.

Insist on a trial you can run with your own menu

Generic demos flatter every product in this category. A catering system either handles your tray sizes, per-head pricing, and minimums, or it does not, and you cannot tell from a scripted walkthrough. Better Cater gives 30 days without a card, CaterZen offers a no-card trial, and ZiaPilot has a free tier. Use them with your real menu and your five most common inquiries.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest catering software for restaurants?

ZiaPilot has a free tier at $0 with paid plans at $29 and $49 per month. Among the dedicated event-catering systems, Caterease Express and Better Cater Plus are the joint cheapest published entry points at $99 per month, though both add per-user fees on top. Prices checked 1 August 2026.

How much does catering software cost per month?

Published entry prices in this category run from $0 to $179 per month. Caterease starts at $99, Better Cater at $99, and CaterZen at $179. Per-user fees of $20 to $28 and setup fees of $200 to $499 are common on top. Tripleseat and Spoonfed do not publish pricing.

Why do some catering software companies hide their pricing?

Quote-only pricing usually signals an enterprise sales motion aimed at venues and multi-location groups, where deals are sized per venue and per user. It is not inherently a red flag, but it does indicate the product's floor sits above a typical single-location restaurant.

Do I need catering software if I only do a few catering orders a month?

Probably not a full event-management system. At low volume the constraint is response speed, not operational complexity, so a free tier or a lead-capture tool is a better fit than a $99 to $199 per month platform with per-user fees. Revisit once you are regularly turning down work or losing track of orders.

What is the difference between catering software and a catering marketplace?

Catering software is the system you use to take and run orders from your own customers. A marketplace such as ezCater or DoorDash for Business sits between you and the buyer and charges a commission on each order. Software is a fixed cost that keeps the customer relationship; a marketplace is a variable cost that rents you demand.

How often is this comparison updated?

Pricing was last verified on 1 August 2026 against each vendor's own pricing page, and every row links to the page it was read from. Vendors change prices without notice, so check the linked source before making a decision, and tell us if you find a figure that has moved.

Test the cheapest one first

ZiaPilot's free tier costs nothing and takes your real menu. Run your five most common catering inquiries through it before you book a single demo, then compare plans.

Start free, no card See how ZiaPilot works

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