The 5 Best Restaurant Apps to Automate Growth in 2025
2025年1月9日
Running a restaurant is a constant balancing act. Between managing staff, perfecting menus, and ensuring every guest has a five-star experience, who has time for marketing? Yet, in today's digital world, a strong online presence isn't just a nice-to-have; it's essential for survival and growth.
Your website, social media, and email list are your most powerful tools for attracting new customers and turning them into loyal regulars. But managing them all can feel like a second full-time job.
Fortunately, the right technology can do the heavy lifting. We've reviewed dozens of platforms to find the best apps that help you streamline operations and, most importantly, grow your revenue. This list cuts through the noise to show you which tools are actually worth your time and investment.
Here are the 5 best apps to help you take back your time and automate your restaurant's growth.
1. Toast
Core Advantage | All-in-one POS and restaurant management hardware/software. |
|---|---|
Pricing | Tiered plans. "Starter Kit" from $0/mo (hardware costs separate), but most users will need paid tiers with payment processing fees. Marketing/online ordering are add-ons. |
Free Trial | No, but offers custom demos. |
Toast is a dominant force in the restaurant tech world, and for good reason. It offers a powerful, integrated Point of Sale (POS) system that connects front-of-house and back-of-house operations seamlessly. From taking orders to managing inventory, Toast aims to be the central nervous system of your restaurant.
While its operational capabilities are top-tier, its marketing and website tools are typically sold as add-on modules. They are functional but can feel less specialized than dedicated marketing platforms.
Pros 👍 | Cons 👎 |
Extremely robust and reliable POS system. | Can become very expensive with necessary add-ons. |
Deep reporting on sales and operations. | Often requires long-term contracts. |
Integrates with a vast ecosystem of apps. | Marketing tools are not its core strength. |
2. Mailchimp
Core Advantage | Industry-leading email marketing and simple automation. |
|---|---|
Pricing | Freemium model available. Paid plans start at $20/mo and scale based on the number of contacts. |
Free Trial | Yes, a free plan is available for up to 500 contacts. |
Mailchimp is a name almost everyone recognizes. It’s a fantastic tool for what it was built for: creating and sending beautiful emails. For a restaurant owner just starting with email marketing, its intuitive drag-and-drop builder and reliable delivery are a great entry point.
The challenge, however, is that Mailchimp is a generic tool. It isn't built with a restaurant's unique needs in mind. You'll spend significant time manually importing customer lists and trying to segment audiences without direct integration into your sales or reservation data.
Pros 👍 | Cons 👎 |
Very easy to use, even for beginners. | Not designed specifically for restaurants. |
Excellent email templates and design tools. | No POS or online ordering integration. |
Great analytics on email performance. | Requires manual work to manage customer lists. |
3. BentoBox
Core Advantage | Beautifully designed websites and marketing tools built for restaurants. |
|---|---|
Pricing | Subscription-based, starting from around $149/mo. |
Free Trial | No, but offers live demos. |
BentoBox specializes in giving restaurants a premium online look. They are masters at creating stunning, mobile-friendly websites that are optimized for search engines (SEO). Their platform includes tools for managing online ordering, catering requests, and ticketed events, all integrated into your branded website.
BentoBox is an excellent choice for established brands that prioritize aesthetics and need a powerful web presence. However, the platform focuses more on providing the tools for marketing (like email campaigns and forms) rather than automating the strategy and content creation itself.
Pros 👍 | Cons 👎 |
Best-in-class website design. | Higher price point than other website builders. |
Strong focus on SEO to help customers find you. | Marketing automation is limited to email. |
Integrates ordering and event management. | You still have to create all your own content. |
4. Owner.com
Core Advantage | An all-in-one platform for independent restaurants with commission-free ordering. |
|---|---|
Pricing | Flat monthly fee, no commissions. |
Free Trial | No, but offers a 100% ROI guarantee. |
Owner.com has gained significant popularity by directly addressing a major pain point: third-party delivery app commissions. Their core offering is a commission-free online ordering system integrated into a professional website, combined with automated email and SMS marketing campaigns designed to drive repeat business.
It's a powerful, cost-effective solution for owners who want to consolidate their web presence and ordering system. The platform excels at turning existing customers into regulars but is less focused on generating the social media content needed to attract new customers in the first place.
Pros 👍 | Cons 👎 |
Saves thousands in commission fees. | Primarily focused on customer retention. |
Strong email and SMS automation for re-orders. | Lacks advanced social media marketing tools. |
Full suite of tools for one predictable fee. | Less emphasis on new customer acquisition. |
5. Yingrest
Core Advantage | An intelligent platform that automates your entire digital marketing, from social media content to ad campaigns. |
|---|---|
Pricing | Transparent monthly subscription. |
Free Trial | No, but offers a personalized, free demo. |
Yingrest is built on a simple but powerful premise: what if a platform could act as your restaurant's dedicated marketing manager? It provides a beautiful website and online ordering system, but its true power lies in its intelligent marketing engine.
This engine learns about your brand, menu, and promotions, and then proactively creates and schedules social media posts, email newsletters, and even digital ad campaigns for you. It solves the biggest problem restaurant owners face: not having the time or expertise to create engaging marketing content consistently. While other platforms give you the tools, Yingrest does the work for you, turning your online presence into a customer-generating machine.
Pros 👍 | Cons 👎 |
True Marketing Automation: Creates & posts social media content for you. | Best for those with a digital-first growth strategy. |
All-in-One Growth Hub: Website, ordering, CRM, and marketing in one place. | As a newer player, has fewer third-party integrations. |
Drives New Customers: Actively creates content to attract new followers. | |
Data-Driven: Marketing gets smarter as it learns from sales data. |
Summary Comparison Table
Feature | Yingrest | Owner.com | BentoBox | Toast | Mailchimp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Key Focus | Automated Marketing | Commission-Free Ordering | Premium Websites | POS & Operations | Email Marketing |
Website & Ordering | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Email & SMS Marketing | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Add-on | ✅ (Email only) |
Automated Social Marketing | ✅ (Creates & Posts) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Ease of Use | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★★ |
Best For | Owners who want to automate growth | Owners focused on cutting delivery fees | Brands that need a high-end web presence | Large operations needing a robust POS | Simple email campaigns |
How to Choose the Right App for Your Restaurant
Choosing the right technology can feel overwhelming, but it comes down to your primary goal.
If you need to overhaul your entire in-house operation with a powerful POS, Toast is the industry standard.
If you just want a beautiful website and have the time to handle marketing yourself, BentoBox is a superb choice.
If your biggest pain point is commission fees and you want a solid all-in-one ordering system, Owner.com is a fantastic solution.
But if your goal is to stop spending time on marketing and start getting results from it, then one platform clearly stands out. If you want a system that not only gives you a great online presence but also actively works to fill your tables by creating and executing a professional marketing strategy for you, then there is only one choice.
Put Your Growth on Autopilot
Imagine having an expert marketing manager on your team, working 24/7 to grow your brand. That's the power of Yingrest. Stop worrying about what to post on Instagram or when to send your next email campaign. It's time to focus on what you do best: running an amazing restaurant.
Ready to see how an intelligent marketing platform can transform your restaurant? Schedule a free, no-obligation demo of Yingrest today and let us show you how to automate your growth.