Take only the takeout orders your kitchen can handle
OrderRules sets your ordering hours, stops orders at a daily number, and lets customers pick a pickup or delivery date and slot that each have their own cap. Checkout enforces it with a Shopify Function. It's a capacity layer, not a full restaurant system: there's no ASAP ordering, no menu modifiers and no driver dispatch.
Ordering hours
One open window per day, and it can run past midnight for late kitchens. Checkout closes outside it and reopens on its own. Free.
A daily cap
Stop at the most orders your kitchen can make in a day. One number for the whole store, reset at midnight. Free up to 100 orders a day.
Pickup and delivery slots with caps
Customers pick a date and a time slot, and each slot has its own Cap/day, so the 18:00 slot can fill without closing the 19:00 one. Advanced plan.
Pre-orders and catering notice
Give catering trays 2 days' notice and close same-day orders at a cut-off in your local time. Advanced plan.
- Checked at checkout on every Shopify plan
- Free plan: ordering hours, holidays and a daily cap
- Pickup and delivery slots on Advanced
- No code
Rice Noodles and Soups: dinner orders for a set date
CustomerRice Noodles and Soups is a Vietnamese restaurant in the United States. It uses OrderRules Advanced to take delivery orders for a chosen date instead of on demand.
Its setup, as of September 2026: customers choose a delivery date with one evening slot, orders are capped at 20 a day, and a 16:00 cut-off closes same-day ordering. The kitchen gets a fixed number to cook for each evening.
Who this is for, and who it isn't
A good fit if you sell scheduled pickup or delivery, pre-orders, meal boxes or catering, run a ghost kitchen with set hours, or need online orders to stop when the kitchen is full.
Not the right tool if you need ASAP or "ready in 20 minutes" ordering, menu modifiers, a kitchen display, driver dispatch, delivery zones by postcode, or blocking orders on Shopify POS. POS sales count toward your caps but aren't blocked. Pair OrderRules with other apps for those jobs.
What happens at checkout
Every rule is checked again at checkout by a Shopify Function, so it holds through Shop Pay, Apple Pay and direct checkout links, not only on the cart page. A missing date, a closed date or a full date is blocked with your message.
The date picker sits on the product or cart page on every Shopify plan. Showing it on the checkout page itself needs Shopify Plus; the checkout check works on any plan.
Restaurant needs: what OrderRules does and doesn't do
Checked against the app on October 24, 2026.
| Need | OrderRules | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering hours | Yes. One window per day, overnight allowed | Free |
| Stop orders at a daily number | Yes. Storewide, reset at midnight | Free (up to 100 a day) |
| Close on holidays | Yes. Holiday calendar and one-off dates | Free |
| Scheduled pickup or delivery date | Yes. With lead time and a same-day cut-off | Advanced |
| Cap per pickup or delivery slot | Yes. A Cap/day on each slot | Advanced |
| Separate lunch and dinner caps | Yes, with slots: each slot has its own cap | Advanced |
| Several pickup locations | Yes. Each with its own lead time, cut-off, slots and capacity | Advanced |
| ASAP or ready-now ordering | No | β |
| Menu modifiers and add-ons | No. Use a product options app | β |
| Driver dispatch and delivery zones | No. Use Shopify local delivery or a courier app | β |
| Blocking POS orders | No. POS orders count toward caps but aren't blocked | β |
Advanced includes everything in Pro, such as weekly and monthly limits and per-customer limits.
Set it up in four steps
- 1
Set your ordering hours
In Schedule, set one open window for each day you take orders. A window can run past midnight.
- 2
Add a daily order limit
In Order Limits, enter the most orders your kitchen can make in a day and save.
- 3
Add slots with caps (Advanced)
In Delivery Dates, add a rule with lead time and a cut-off, then a time slot template with a Cap/day on each slot.
- 4
Add the picker and test
Add the date picker block to your product or cart page, then place a test order for a full slot to see checkout block it.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Set a daily order limit and checkout stops at that number until midnight. It's on the free plan up to 100 orders a day. To cap each service separately, give each pickup or delivery slot its own cap on Advanced.
No. Customers order for a date and, if you use slots, a time window. For ready-now ordering, use a restaurant ordering app alongside or instead.
POS orders count toward your caps, but OrderRules can't block them. It checks online checkout only.
Yes. You get one open window per day, and it can cross midnight, for example 18:00 to 02:00.
It's a different model: a monthly app subscription instead of a commission on every order. Our comparison of your own store and the marketplaces walks through the math.
Cook to a number you chose
Start free with ordering hours and a daily cap. Add scheduled pickup and delivery slots on Advanced.