Just Eat is one of the best food delivery app that first comes to mind when you think of a food delivery app. With catchy ads on TV and radio and an app that is always at the top of the food and drink area of the app stores, Just Eat has become the market leader for restaurants and takeout in just 20 years. Even though it’s leading the market with it’s strong presence, you can still build a food delivery app like Just Eat for restaurants.

The food delivery market in the United States is projected to grow from USD 288.84 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 505.50 billion by 2030. This data shows that the demand for food delivery app development solutions will be two-fold in the coming years. If you have made up your mind to build an app like Just Eat, then read this blog till the end.

But where do you begin? In this blog, we try to give you a solid sense of what it takes for businesses to build a food delivery app like Just Eat.

So, let’s begin!

 

What is the Just Eat App?

Just Eat is an online platform for ordering and receiving food delivery. It acts as a go-between for customers and private takeout food shops. In seven different countries, the service is known as Just Eat. Customers can use the restaurant aggregator app to look for nearby takeout businesses, place orders, and pay online.

With this food ordering app, users can also choose whether to pick up their food or have it delivered. It has also worked with about 580,000 businesses in the area. The neighborhood market is what Just Eat Takeaway focuses on. People can use the website, the iOS app, or the Google app to look for places and buy food.

 

Future Prediction & Projections of Food Delivery Market

 

 

• The Global Food Delivery App Market size is expected to be worth around USD 945.4 Billion By 2034.
• North America held a dominant market position, capturing more than a 27.3% share, holding USD 101.3 Billion revenue.
• By service, restaurant-based delivery dominates with 76.4%, showing the strength of partnerships between apps and food outlets.
• By business model, the restaurant-owned model leads with 61.2%, reflecting the preference for direct-to-customer delivery systems over aggregator-led platforms.

 

How Does Just Eat App Work?

When you build a food delivery app like Just Eat, it is important to know the working process so it helps you in knowing how users can use it. That being said, an Android app development company explained the working mechanism of a Just Eat app.

 

 

1. Sign Up the App

First, users get the Just Eat app from the app store on their phone and make an account.

 

2. Search for Restaurants

Thanks to the online food ordering system, now they can look for places near them once logged in. They can narrow down search by type of food, price, or time of delivery.

 

3. Look Through Menus

Once users find a place they like, they can look through their menu and choose what they’d like to order.

 

4. Place Your Order

It’s easy to place the order online. Once they’ve picked out their food, users can pay for it with a credit card or another way.

 

5. Track Your Delivery

After they make their order, they can use the app to keep track of its progress because of  real-time order tracking system. Users will be told when their food is ready to be delivered and when it’s on its way.

Why Should Businesses Invest in Food Delivery App Development?

Investing in Food delivery app development can be highly beneficial for businesses. Deciding to develop a best food delivery app can lead business to increased revenue, market reach expansion, enhanced customer loyalty, and more.  

 

 

1. Increased Revenue and Market Reach

A food delivery app allows businesses to expand their customer base beyond physical locations, generate more orders, increase overall sales, and explore new markets efficiently.

 

2. Data-Driven Insights

Apps gather valuable customer data, helping businesses analyze ordering patterns, preferences, and trends, which supports smarter decision-making, menu optimization, and targeted marketing strategies.

 

3. Enhanced Customer Loyalty

Personalized offers, loyalty programs, and push notification system encourage repeat orders, improving customer engagement and fostering long-term relationships that increase lifetime value.

 

4. Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings

Automation of orders, real-time delivery tracking,  auto-dispatch algorithm, and optimized routing streamline operations, reduce manual effort, minimize errors, and help cut overall operational costs.

 

5. Competitive Edge

A fast, reliable, and intuitive food delivery app differentiates your business from competitors, improves brand reputation, and attracts more customers in a crowded market.

 

Top 10 Just Eat App Alternatives to Explore in 2025

Are you looking for an app like Just Eat? If yes, take a look at the table below. The top 10 Just Eat app alternatives mentioned in the list below are among the most popular and trusted. 

 

 

 

Steps To Build a Food Delivery App like Just Eat

If you’re a beginner with little to no technical or mobile app development experience, the easiest way you can build an app like Just Eat is to hire mobile app developers. So, here is the step by step food delivery app development process that you can follow. 

 

 

1. Do Competitors Research

If you look into the market, you’ll see that big chains like Doordash and McDonald’s use online food delivery services. But now you need to figure out what makes those food delivery services different. For instance, an app like Doordash, a food delivery platform, has features like POS connection, menu optimization, and ways to promote products inside the app to bring in new customers.

So, to build a food delivery app like Just Eat, you can look through the reviews to find the gaps in the current apps and get a better idea of how the app works and how it’s structured. Also, do some study on what your target audience needs right now as well. You will be able to make better apps for buying food after market research.

 

2. Choose Your Food Delivery Model

After you’re done researching the market, you can move on to the second most important step to build a food delivery app like Just Eat: picking the right delivery app plan. Let’s take a look at the two different ways that food can be delivered and how they work.

 

●     Order Only Model

In simple words, in the order-only approach, food delivery companies will only be in charge of placing orders and keeping track of them.

 

●     Order And Delivery Model

The order & delivery approach adds food delivery to the food ordering method, which makes it better. That means businesses don’t have to spend money on delivery services. Instead, you can also try out the cross-city food ordering app that many use this plan in charge of both organizing orders and delivering them.

 

●     Complete Stack Model

The full stack model describes a business that delivers food and does everything itself, from making the food to sending it out online. People call these places “ghost kitchens” or “cloud kitchens.” When compared to other methods, restaurants that use the full-stack approach tend to make more money. This is because they are in charge of the whole process and work to make the food better so that it is served at its best.

 

●     Restaurant-to-Customer Model

When a restaurant sells to a customer, the business starts delivering food to the places. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s Pizza are the best examples of this. You can also go for one line and build a pizza delivery app.

 

3. Create UI/UX Design   

If you want to build a food delivery app like Just Eat that people will want to use, you need to pay attention to its UI/UX design. First, take a look at what Just Eat has done; use it as an example of how to be unique!

On the first screen of the app, food delivery app UI/UX design shows users bright pictures of the best places to get them to download it. When a person starts the app, he sees the well-known names and great places to eat, which makes him hungry and makes him order a meal.

Maybe this would make you think of something else just as interesting to do to impress people who use your on-demand food service app.

 

4. Develop An App Like Just Eat

The next thing you need to do to build a location-based food delivery app like Just Eat is write code. First, you need to hire the best mobile app developers to work on the app’s back end.

To build a food ordering app like Just Eat, you can either work with a group of workers or hire an Android or iPhone app development company. You can start the back-end process now that you’ve chosen a team.

Now you should start making an MVP of your app android right away. This will help you finish it faster and give you more time to make changes. The people who work on your code should work on both the server and the front end.

 

5. Testing and Launching 

As the apps are being built, QA engineers are in charge of testing them thoroughly at every stage. Don’t skip this step if you don’t want your app to work in strange ways.

You really want to build an app like Just Eat, but that’s not enough. To be in the market, you also need to promote your food service app and keep it up to date. For the best results, you should timely check the app with the help of a mobile app maintenance service provider.

 

 

Must-have Feature To Build a Food Delivery App like Just Eat

If you want to make an app like Just Eat, Uber Eats, or Deliveroo, you need to be more specific about the features that the app should have. The absolute features that will make the app what it is and help it succeed. That being said, let’s look at the crucial features to integrate in your Just Eat app development solution. 

 

 

1. User Panel

• Registration and Login

Users can quickly register using their desired information like social media login credentials, email address, or phone number.

 

• Restaurant Search and Filtering

Consumers may easily locate eateries by location, cuisine, ratings, and anticipated delivery time.

 

• Real-time Order Tracking

From order placement to delivery, with an app like Glovo or Just Eat, users can track the status of their orders.

 

• Notifications

Users can stay up to date on the status of your orders, promotions, and exclusive deals.

 

• Multiple Payment Options

Payment gateway integration allow users to pay using credit/debit cards, digital wallets, or cash on delivery. You can integrate multiple payment gateway options.

 

• Reviews and Ratings

To help users make wise choices, read other patrons’ reviews and share their own dining experiences.

 

2. Delivery Agent Panel

• Registration & Profile Management

A simple but secure sign-up process allows for easy onboarding and account maintenance.

 

• Order Management

With an app like Menulog or other, drivers can get real-time access to order status updates, progress tracking, and order data.

 

• Navigation

Drivers may more easily locate delivery sites with the use of an integrated map and excellent route planning.

 

• Delivery History

A list of all completed orders in chronological order, complete with order numbers, dates, and times.

 

• Earnings

When you build a food delivery app like Just Eat, add a clear tool for controlling payouts and keeping track of earnings.

 

3. Admin Restaurant Panel

• Registration and Profile Management

It is simple for restaurants to register and update their profile information, which includes contact data, hours of operation, and other facts.

 

• Menu and Content Management

Restaurants have complete control over their menu. For example, apps like Seamless provide the ability to add, change, or remove items as well as prices, descriptions, and photographs.

 

• Order Management

Adding order management system for restaurants is an efficient way to monitor and handle incoming orders that guarantees prompt delivery and satisfied customers.

 

• Payments

To maximize restaurant operations, you can provide a full financial reporting, data analytics, and transaction management.

 

• User Management

In order to preserve security and control, restaurants can set up and manage accounts for their employees, granting varying degrees of access.

 

 

Why Is It Important To Fix A Budget For Your Project?

Now that you know the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat, it’s crucial to grasp the significance of that budget. You can take the right steps to build your food ordering app if you make a budget first. Because of this, you should remember these things before you start to grow your food business:

 

 

1. Helps To Know Actual Requirements

If you want to give your customers what they need right now, your app development budget will help you figure it out. That way, it will be simple for you to figure out what features your app needs and pick the right ones.

 

2. Helps In Market Study  

Before you make your budget, you should check out the market to see what the going rates are. It helps in knowing the USP of your competitor apps and pain points of your target audience which can reduce the food delivery app development cost.

 

3. You Need the MVP 

This should be with you before you meet with funders. To figure out the Just Eat app development cost and time it will take to make an MVP app, you need a budget.

 

4. Budget For Post-launch Expenses

You should set aside some cash for ads. You shouldn’t think that your work and costs will end when the app is finished. Making an app still has a long way to go.

It’s not easy to get the app to the right people and get the word out about it. It’s easy to figure out the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat. It’s important to know the restaurant mobile app development cost to keep going after the app is made.

 

How Much Does it Cost to Create A Food Delivery App like Just Eat?

We aim to give you a ballpark figure of the mobile app development cost for restaurants, but there are a lot of variables that go into estimating the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat. This estimate will be close to the cost to develop an app like Zomato or other.The cost to develop a food delivery app can start from $8,000 and reach up to $25,000. 

The difference in cost range is because of factors like features, platform choice, development team’s location, hourly rates charged by developers, maintenance cost, and more.  The cost to build a food delivery app with just basic features and functionalities will be $8,000 to $15,000.

But for an advanced food delivery app with AI integration the cost may exceed $25,000.  Take a look at the table that shows the cost to develop a food delivery app like Just Eat based on the amount of difficulty.

 

 

Now you know everything you need to know about how to get into the on-demand food delivery app market and the food delivery app development solution cost.

Knowing what the future holds for the food delivery app business will help you talk to the mobile app development company you choose. Discuss the project requirement to make your app bigger in a way that gets it ready for the future of food delivery.

 

What Factors can impact the Food Delivery App Development Cost?

Now that we have learned the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat, we can proceed accordingly. In this section, we will talk about the factors that affect the food delivery app development cost:

 

 

1. Platform Choice

The first factor that affects the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat is platform choice. Developing for iOS, Android, or both impacts cost and timeline. Cross-platform frameworks like Flutter or React Native can reduce overall expenses. The table below displays the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat according to platform choice 

 

 

2. Feature Complexity

The cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat, adding advanced features like real-time tracking, in-app chat, multiple payment options, multi-restaurant aggregation, loyalty programs, and push notifications, increases development time and cost. Here’s the table showcasing the cost to create a food delivery app like Just Eat depending on feature complexity:

 

 

3. UI/UX Design

 

Mobile app development cost can also rise due to user interface design. Custom, interactive, and intuitive designs cost more than basic templates but significantly enhance user engagement, retention, and overall app experience. The table below displays the cost to develop a food delivery app like Just Eat based on design type with development timeline.

 

 

4. Backend & Tech Stack

The cost to create a food delivery app like Just eat can also depend on factors like Backend and Tech stack. Using robust technologies like Node.js, Python, AWS, or Firebase ensures scalability, reliability, and speed, influencing both  the cost of builing restaurant delivery app solution and timeline.

 

5. Maintenance & Updates

Mobile app maintenance service can increase the total development cost. Ongoing updates, bug fixes, server monitoring, and infrastructure scaling are required post-launch, creating recurring costs for smooth app performance. Take a look at the table showcasing the cost to build a food delivery app like Just Eat based on maintenance type:

 

 

 

 

How To Monetize Your Food Delivery App?

There are a lot of ways that Just Eat gets money like delivery fees, restaurant costs, and more. That being said, if you want to create an app like Just Eat, you should learn how it makes money. Let’s take a close look at the Just Eat revenue plan and use it in your app.

 

 

1. Restaurant Commissions

Just Eat Takeaways gets most of its money from restaurants because it charges them a fee for each order. Commissions at restaurants vary based on a number of factors, such as where the business is located and other factors as well. 10 to 15% of the money restaurants make through Just Eat goes to the company. So, you can also utilize this model to earn a huge revenue from your food delivery app.

 

2. Delivery and Services Fees

People who order from Just Eat also have to pay transport and service fees. The app like Deliveroo or Just Eat charges anywhere from £0 to £4.50 per delivery, depending on how far away the delivery is. As an extra fee, Just Eat asks around £1.99 or more. This is the best model if you are new to this industry.

 

3. Sponsored Placements Within The Platform

Promoted spots are a way for Just Eat partners to get more attention. It’s a way to advertise that puts a restaurant in the first five results on its blog and app. Cost Per Click is another way that the delivery giant charges. This means that when a customer clicks on an ad, the restaurant has to pay a small fee.

 

4. Interchange Fees

In 2021, Just Eat Takeaway teamed up with Adyen, a company that helps tech companies accept funds online. They made the Takeaway Pay Card, a bank card that comes with money already on it that workers can use to pay for meals.

Bonus Read: Cost to Develop an App Like KFC

The card lets all workers buy things and get services at over a thousand restaurants and stores that take Mastercard and Maestro. It can be a bit costly, but if you have funds you can try out this model.

 

Why Post-Launch Support Is Vital For Just Eat-like App’s Success? 

A Just Eat-like app’s success depends heavily on post-launch support, which is sometimes ignored. When you create a mobile app, you must go through the below main three reasons that entail the importance of post-launch support.

 

 

1. Feature Enhancement

With post-launch support, you may get user input and add features that meet their needs. By doing this, you can maintain your competitiveness and offer a better service.

 

2. User Experience

The food delivery app maintenance services provider assures a flawless experience for users. Bugs, glitches, and technical concerns can be quickly fixed to keep users satisfied and promote repeat use.

 

3. Security Updates

Update your app frequently to keep vulnerabilities from affecting user data and your app itself. With post-launch assistance, you can take care of possible threats and apply security fixes.

 

 

Ready To Make A Food Delivery App like Just Eat

The food ordering business online is a trend that’s growing too quickly to be ignored by any restaurant or café. Just Eat and other food delivery apps like Swiggy will become even more valuable as the technology behind them like the Internet and phones keeps getting better.

So, if you are planning to build a food delivery app like Just Eat, you need to think about every part and make sure it meets the wants of everyone involved. It would be best to consult a food delivery app development company who offer mobile app development services that are tailored to your business if you don’t know how to do the second thing.

 

FAQs

Q1. How Much Does It Cost to Build a Food Ordering App For Reservations?

The cost to build a restaurant app like Just Eat changes depending on the type of app and the features it has. But it can cost between $10,000 and $25,000 to make a professional app for food delivery that isn’t too expensive.

 

Q2. How to Build a Food Ordering App for Beginners?

If you’re new to mobile app development and don’t know much about technology, you should hire dedicated developers. It is the easiest way to build an app like Just Eat. It can include the below steps:

• Research market
• Know your competitors
• Create a feature list
• Design UI/UX
• Develop the app’s backend
• Test and launch

Q3. How Do Restaurant Apps Similar to Just Eat Make Money?

Other apps like Just Eat make money by taking a cut of the sales from places that are listed in the app. When you build your app, you can do the same thing like

• In-app advertisement
• Freemium model
• Deliver and service fees
• Sponsored placements within the app
• Restaurant commissions

Q4. How Long Does It Take To Build A Food Delivery App Like Just Eat?

The time to build an app like Just Eat can take 2-7 months. It can fluctuate with many factors and complexity. So, it is best to talk to an expert about your project idea.

 

Q5. What Are the Top Food Ordering Apps?

Here are the top food delivery app you must check out:

• Doordash
• Swiggy
• Deliveroo
• Glovo
• Zomato

 

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