Hotplate alternative · Reviewed September 2026

Hotplate fees and pricing, and how MyPorch compares

Short answer

Hotplate has no monthly subscription, no setup cost, and no contract, so opening an account costs nothing. Selling through it is not free. Every order adds a 5% + $0.55 checkout fee and 2.9% + $0.30 in card processing. On a $20 order that is $1.55 at checkout and $0.88 in processing.

Below is the full per-order math, who pays which fee, and an honest read on when Hotplate is the better tool. Hotplate is strong at demand-building drops, SMS, waitlists, and loyalty. MyPorch is built for cottage-bakery batches, porch pickup, bake lists, and supported-state label printing.

Try MyPorch free

How much does Hotplate charge?

Hotplate lists no monthly subscription. Sellers pay card processing; the checkout also shows a Hotplate fee that can be passed to customers or paid by the seller. Those are two different charges, and it is worth keeping them straight before you price a menu.

Customer-facing Hotplate fee

5% + $0.55 on the subtotal

Hotplate’s primary pricing example puts this amount on the customer’s checkout. Its FAQ says the seller can choose to absorb it instead.

Seller payment processing

2.9% + $0.30 per order

This is the standard card-processing charge shown by Hotplate. MyPorch also uses Stripe, so card processing still applies even though MyPorch adds no per-order platform fee.

Hotplate fee examples for common order subtotals
Order subtotal	Hotplate checkout fee	Customer total before tax/tip	Seller processing
$20.00	$1.55	$21.55	$0.88
$30.00	$2.05	$32.05	$1.17
$50.00	$3.05	$53.05	$1.75

Examples exclude tax and tip. Seller-processing examples apply Hotplate’s published 2.9% + $0.30 rate to the subtotal. Actual payout calculations can include other order details.

Is Hotplate free?

Not quite, and the distinction matters. There is no plan fee, so Hotplate costs nothing to open and nothing to keep open during a slow month. That is genuinely different from a subscription tool. But every completed order carries the 5% + $0.55 checkout fee, and someone pays it — either your customer sees a higher total, or you absorb it and take home less. Card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 applies on top of that either way.

So the honest framing is that Hotplate is free to start and priced per order. Whether that beats a flat monthly fee depends entirely on your volume. At a handful of orders a month, paying per order is usually cheaper. As a weekly batch grows, the percentage starts compounding against you — which is the point in a bakery’s life when the math is worth redoing.

Feature-by-feature comparison

“Unknown” means the reviewed first-party page did not verify the capability. It does not mean the platform lacks it.

Decision point	MyPorch	Hotplate
Pricing model	Free for 10 paid orders per month; Baker is $12/month and Bakehouse is $24/month.	No monthly subscription, setup cost, or contract.
Platform fee	No per-order MyPorch platform fee.	Customers see 5% + $0.55 on the order subtotal at checkout.
Payment processing	Stripe card-processing fees still apply.	Sellers pay 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing.
Preorder workflow	Included	Timed drops with a clear preorder window
Production workflow	Batch bake lists and pickup operations	Prep lists and order tickets
Customer communication	Order confirmations, pickup reminders, and paid-plan batch announcements	Automatic SMS alerts, reminders, inbox, reviews, and loyalty
Cottage-food labels	Supported-state label rules, batch printing, and a label copy kept with each order	Not verified in reviewed source

Choose Hotplate if

You sell occasionally, not every week

Per-order pricing is genuinely the right shape when you sell rarely. A quiet month costs you nothing, and if you run a drop every few weeks the 5% + $0.55 never amounts to much. Hotplate is also the stronger tool if the selling itself is the event you are building.

Timed drops with countdowns and live demand
Automatic SMS alerts and reminders
Waitlists, prep lists, reviews, and loyalty tools

The trade-off is that the fee sits on your customer’s checkout and grows with every order you take.

Choose MyPorch if

You sell every week and want your customer’s total left alone

Sell more than about 7 orders a month and Hotplate’s per-order fees already cost more than MyPorch’s entire plan. That is under two orders a week.

Hotplate

$648

a year in checkout fees

MyPorch Baker

$144

a year, flat

Based on 30 orders a month at $25 — a gap of $504 a year. Someone absorbs Hotplate’s fee: your customers if you pass it on, your margin if you do not.

Weekly batch and porch-pickup workflow
Order-linked cottage-food labels for supported states
Bake lists that turn paid orders into a prep plan
Every order keeps the exact label it was sold with

MyPorch adds no per-order fee, so the price you set is the price your customer pays. Card processing still applies on both.

Build your first batch

Labels vary by state

Supported-state rules, with a safe fallback

Cottage-food label requirements are not universal. MyPorch automates label rules only for states whose requirements have been reviewed and implemented. Other states use a clearly identified generic fallback that the baker must verify—not a promise of legal certification.

Try the free manual label generator Read the labeling guide

Hotplate pricing FAQs

Is Hotplate free?

Hotplate has no monthly subscription, no setup cost, and no contract, so nothing is charged to open an account. Selling through it is not free, though. Every order carries a 5% + $0.55 checkout fee plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing, and one of you absorbs it.

How much does Hotplate charge?

Hotplate lists no monthly subscription. Its pricing page says sellers pay 2.9% + $0.30 for payment processing, while customers see 5% + $0.55 added to the subtotal at checkout. Those are two separate charges on the same order.

How much does Hotplate cost on a $20 order?

On a $20 order the Hotplate checkout fee is $1.55, which is 5% plus $0.55 and matches the example on Hotplate’s own pricing page. If you pass that fee along, the customer pays $21.55 before tax and tip. You separately pay $0.88 in card processing.

Who pays the Hotplate transaction fee?

Hotplate says the 5% + $0.55 checkout fee can be paid by the seller or passed to customers. Its main pricing example shows that fee on the customer checkout total.

Does Hotplate support preorders?

Yes. Hotplate calls its timed preorder windows drops and includes inventory reservations, waitlists, prep lists, reminders, and order tickets.

Is MyPorch or Hotplate better for a home bakery?

Hotplate is a strong fit for demand-building drops, SMS, waitlists, and loyalty. MyPorch is purpose-built for recurring cottage-bakery batches, porch pickup, bake lists, and supported-state label printing.

Sources · Reviewed September 2026

Pricing and features change. Verify current terms on each provider’s site before deciding.

Ready for calmer pickup days?

Start with 10 paid orders per month free. Stripe processing still applies; MyPorch adds no per-order platform fee.

Start free on MyPorch

Still comparing? Weigh it against the other per-order platform in Bakesy vs Hotplate, or read the best order-management tools for home bakers.