Order volume by city
- Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai: Swiggy usually leads.
- Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Tier-2 cities: Zomato usually leads.
- Late-night orders (11pm–3am): Swiggy tends to have more active riders.
Commission structure
- Zomato: 18–25% per order, plus payment gateway fee.
- Swiggy: 18–28% per order, higher in dense delivery zones.
- Both charge extra for optional ads, priority listing and Gold/One membership visibility.
Payout cycle
- Zomato: weekly payout, typically Monday.
- Swiggy: weekly payout, typically Tuesday. Some kitchens see next-day settlement in metros.
Search visibility
Both aggregators rank kitchens on a mix of rating, preparation time, distance and ad spend. A rating above 4.2 and prep time under 20 minutes is table-stakes on both. Swiggy's algorithm gives slightly more weight to delivery time; Zomato weights ratings and reviews a bit more.
Support experience
- Zomato: dedicated partner dashboard, in-app chat, slower email support.
- Swiggy: partner app is snappier, on-ground area managers in metros, phone support.
Which one should a new cloud kitchen pick first?
List on both from day one. Onboarding is free and the marginal effort of adding the second platform is small. Watch which one delivers more orders in your specific pincode after 30 days and double down on ads there. Also list on Cloud Kitchen Adda so customers searching outside the aggregators (Google, "cloud kitchens near me", WhatsApp) can find you too — those orders carry no commission.
Direct orders — the missing profit lever
Every direct order (WhatsApp, phone, own website, Cloud Kitchen Adda) saves you 18–28% commission. Most successful cloud kitchens aim for a 70/30 split — 70% aggregator, 30% direct — within their first year.
Run a cloud kitchen? Get listed.
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