If you buy from a broadline distributor, its ordering app is probably on your phone already. (A broadline distributor is the big truck company that carries a bit of everything: meat, produce, dry goods, paper and cleaning supplies.) The app is free and shows your own prices. So why would you pay for anything else?
This page compares the free ordering app your broadline distributor gives you with RestaurantMate. It starts with what the distributor's app does better, then shows where it stops and how to use both. We kept it generic on purpose. Every big distributor has its own app and they change often, so we describe what the apps we checked have in common, as of October 2026.
The short answer
A food distributor ordering app shows one distributor's prices and handles that distributor's orders well. RestaurantMate shows the prices of every vendor you buy from, on the same unit, before you order. It also reads every invoice from every vendor, so your food cost counts everything you bought.
Keep using the distributor's app for what it does well, such as delivery tracking. Use RestaurantMate to decide what to buy where.
What your distributor's app does well
As of October 2026, the apps we checked do a lot, and they cost you nothing:
- They are free for the distributor's customers.
- You sign in to your own account, so you see your contract price (the price agreed for your account).
- You build your usual order once as a saved list and reorder from it.
- At least one tracks your delivery in real time and sends an alert when the truck is about 30 minutes away.
- Some include inventory counts and recipe costing at no charge for their customers.
- At least one lets you pay that distributor's invoices online, up to 75 at a time.
If you buy nearly everything from one distributor, that may be all you need.
Where it stops
The app belongs to the company selling you the food. It shows that distributor's catalog at that distributor's prices. It has no reason to tell you that your produce company might sell Roma tomatoes for less, or that the club store down the road might have the same shredded mozzarella for less. That is fair, because it is their store. It does mean the app can't tell you who is cheapest for an item this week.
Food cost has the same limit. Food cost from a distributor's app only counts what you buy from that distributor. If part of your food comes from a produce company, a club store and a farmer who hands you a handwritten slip, those purchases are missing from the number. (Food cost is what your ingredients cost you, usually shown as a share of food sales.)
One week's order, seen two ways
Here is a made-up example. Juniper Kitchen buys from three vendors:
- Heartland Foodservice, a broadline distributor with its own ordering app.
- Valley Fresh Produce, a produce company that delivers.
- Club Wholesale, a club store (a membership warehouse store, where someone usually drives over and loads the car).
These are five lines from one week's order. All names and prices are fictional. Each price is shown per pound or per each (one piece), so a 25 lb case and a 5 lb bag can be compared fairly.
| Item | Needed | Heartland Foodservice | Valley Fresh Produce | Club Wholesale | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roma tomatoes | 50 lb | $1.39/lb (25 lb case, $34.75) | $1.18/lb (25 lb case, $29.50) | Not carried | Valley Fresh |
| Hass avocados | 96 | $1.30 each (48 count, $62.40) | $1.15 each (48 count, $55.20) | $1.33 each (bag of 6, $7.98) | Valley Fresh |
| Shredded mozzarella | 20 lb | $3.94/lb (4 x 5 lb, $78.80) | Not carried | $3.50/lb (5 lb bag, $17.48) | Club Wholesale |
| Boneless chicken thighs | 40 lb | $2.45/lb (40 lb case, $98.00) | Not carried | $2.79/lb (10 lb pack, $27.90) | Heartland |
| Fryer oil | 70 lb | $1.34/lb (35 lb jug, $46.90) | Not carried | $1.23/lb (35 lb jug, $42.98) | Club Wholesale |
In Heartland's app you see only the Heartland column. These five lines come to $464.90, and every price looks reasonable, because there is nothing next to it.
Put the three vendors side by side and the picture changes. Heartland is cheapest on chicken. Valley Fresh is cheaper on tomatoes and avocados, by $24.90. Club Wholesale is cheaper on cheese and oil, by $16.72. Buying each item from its cheapest vendor brings the same five lines to $423.28, a difference of $41.62 for one week.
Whether that is worth it is your call. The Valley Fresh savings are easy if the order meets their minimum (the smallest order a vendor will deliver). The Club Wholesale savings mean someone drives to the club store, which makes sense only if someone is going that week anyway. Moving four lines also takes $366.90 off the Heartland order, so check that Heartland's order still clears its own minimum.
Some weeks the distributor wins almost every line. One vendor's app can't tell you which kind of week this is.
How RestaurantMate is different
Most restaurant cost software reads your invoices after you have paid. Your distributor's app shows a price before you buy, but only its own. RestaurantMate shows every vendor's price before you buy, then reads every invoice afterward.
Every vendor's price, before you order
Every night, RestaurantMate checks the price of each item you buy at each website vendor you have connected, using your own account. You see the price that vendor shows you, contract price included. Each price is turned into a price per pound, per gallon or per each, using the pack size the vendor publishes. If a vendor leaves the pack size out, RestaurantMate asks you once instead of guessing.
For vendors without a website, prices come from their invoices and from the price sheets they email you.
The vendors you already use
RestaurantMate works with the vendors you buy from today. No vendor has to sign up for anything. Vendors with a website connect with your own login. Vendors who only send email connect through your RestaurantMate inbox, an address of your own that collects their invoices and price sheets. Your vendor logins are stored privately, used only to sign in to that vendor, and never shown back. We connect to any vendor you buy from. If we haven't connected one yet, we build it for you, usually within days.
One cart, split by vendor
You build one order for the week. RestaurantMate groups it by vendor and shows each vendor's minimum, so you can see when moving an item would drop an order below it. If another of your vendors sells an item for less, the cart tells you on that line.
When the order is ready, you send it to every vendor's online cart from one place. RestaurantMate fills each cart and checks every line, so you can review and check out. Your staff can build the order, and only the people you choose can send it. For vendors without an online cart, you order the way you do now.
Every invoice, including the handwritten ones
Invoices from vendor websites are pulled in every day. PDF invoices your vendors email to your RestaurantMate inbox are read as they arrive. For club store receipts and handwritten slips, snap a photo or drop up to 20 files at a time, and RestaurantMate reads the vendor, date, number and total. Every purchase from every vendor ends up in one list, where you can mark items that came in damaged, short or wrong.
Because every invoice is read, your counts are valued at what you paid each vendor, and your recipe costs come from real invoice prices. RestaurantMate never guesses a price.
The RestaurantMate device
The RestaurantMate device is a small box plugged into your restaurant's router. It does the vendor logins from your restaurant's own internet connection, because vendor websites block logins from cloud servers. Most of its work happens overnight, and it needs no screen. It costs a $300 refundable deposit, and one device covers up to two locations.
At a glance
| Your distributor's app | RestaurantMate | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free for that distributor's customers | 60 days free, then $99 a month per location, plus a $300 refundable device deposit |
| Whose prices you see | One distributor, your account's price | Every vendor you connect, your account's prices, on the same unit |
| When you see them | Live, before you order | Before you order; website vendors are checked every night |
| Saved order lists | Yes | Your order guide (the list of everything you buy), built from your invoices |
| Cart | That distributor only | One cart split by vendor, each minimum shown |
| Delivery tracking | Real-time tracking and arrival alerts in at least one app | Order status for vendors that share it; every purchase tracked from the invoice on. No truck map |
| Inventory counts and recipe costing | Free in some apps; counts only that distributor's purchases | Counts and recipes valued at what you paid every vendor |
| Invoices it reads | That distributor's | Every vendor's, including club store receipts and handwritten slips |
| Paying invoices | At least one app, for that distributor's invoices | Not offered |
Keep the distributor's app for what it does well
You don't have to choose. Keep the distributor's app on your phone for delivery tracking and for paying that distributor's bills if you already do it there. If you change an order in the distributor's app, RestaurantMate still reads the invoice, so the change lands in your food cost.
Use RestaurantMate to decide which vendor gets each item this week, and to see your food cost across every vendor.
Who should pick which
The distributor's app alone is enough if:
- You buy nearly everything from one distributor and you're happy with its prices.
- You rarely buy from a club store, a produce company or a local supplier.
- You'd rather not spend $99 a month per location right now.
Add RestaurantMate if:
- You buy from three or more vendors and have wondered which one is cheaper for an item.
- Checking prices by hand takes hours, so it happens once a month at best.
- You want food cost that counts every invoice, including club store receipts and handwritten slips.
- You want one order for the week instead of one app per vendor.
What it costs
The distributor's app costs nothing, and that is a real advantage.
RestaurantMate is free for 60 days, and no card is required to start. After that it is $99 a month per location. The device is a $300 refundable deposit and covers up to two locations. Setup is $0 and done with you. You can leave whenever you like.
Miguel is a multi-location owner in Los Angeles. RestaurantMate has cut his food purchases by about 10%, and by 20 to 30% on some items where he switched vendors, and his manager gets back 4 to 5 hours a week.
Questions owners ask
Do I have to stop using my distributor or my rep? No. Keep your distributor, your rep and your contract prices. RestaurantMate shows you the prices side by side, and you decide where to buy.
Will RestaurantMate order without me? No. RestaurantMate does not place orders. Someone you have allowed presses Send, then RestaurantMate fills each vendor's online cart and checks every line. You review and check out.
Are these my prices or list prices? Your own. RestaurantMate signs in with your login, so it sees the same price you would see, contract pricing included.
What if one of my vendors has no website? Have them email invoices and price sheets to your RestaurantMate inbox, or snap a photo of the receipt. Their prices and purchases are tracked with everyone else's.
Try it
Get started to create an account, or Try the live demo to click through a sample restaurant with fictional vendors first.
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Distributor app facts are as of October 2026, from two national broadline distributors' own websites. Features vary by distributor and change often. RestaurantMate is not affiliated with any food distributor or club store. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.