Ele.me vs Meituan Waimai

Ele.me (饿了么) is a Chinese food delivery marketplace that was rebranded in 2025 as Taobao Shangou (淘宝闪购), Alibaba's instant-retail service. Meituan is a Chinese local-services company whose Meituan Waimai app is a food delivery marketplace. Both are listed under Delivery Marketplace. They differ in audience, platforms and company background.

Key differences

  • audience

    The audiences they list differ. Listed for one product only, for example: Ele.me: Restaurants selling delivery in mainland China; Meituan Waimai: Restaurants in China wanting delivery orders.

  • platforms

    Platform support differs. Ele.me: Web; Meituan Waimai: iOS, Android.

  • company background

    Founding years: Ele.me, 2008; Meituan Waimai, 2010.

Side by side

Ele.me vs Meituan Waimai: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldEle.meMeituan Waimai
What it isEle.me (饿了么) is a Chinese food delivery marketplace that was rebranded in 2025 as Taobao Shangou (淘宝闪购), Alibaba's instant-retail service.Meituan is a Chinese local-services company whose Meituan Waimai app is a food delivery marketplace.
Best forRestaurants selling delivery in mainland China; Restaurant chainsRestaurants in China wanting delivery orders; Restaurants wanting dine-in traffic; Small restaurants that want outsourced operations
Pricing modelNot publishedPercentage of sales
Starting priceNot publishedNot published
Free planNot publishedNot published
Free trialNot publishedNot published
ContractNot publishedNot published
PlatformsWebiOS, Android
CountriesChinaChina
LanguagesChineseEnglish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Number of integrationsNot published1
CertificationsNot publishedNot published
Security practicesNot publishedNot published
Founded20082010
HeadquartersShanghai, ChinaNot published
OwnerAlibaba (acquired in 2018; joined the Alibaba e-commerce group and rebranded to Taobao Shangou in 2025)Not published
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

No partner appears in every list.

Named only by Ele.me

Ele.me does not name any integrations in the material we reviewed.

Named only by Meituan Waimai

  • Dianping

Which to choose

Ele.me

Choose Ele.me if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Restaurants selling delivery in mainland China; Restaurant chains.

Meituan Waimai

Choose Meituan Waimai if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Restaurants in China wanting delivery orders; Restaurants wanting dine-in traffic; Small restaurants that want outsourced operations.

What we could not confirm

Ele.me

  • Commission or fee levels for restaurants
  • Merchant app and POS integrations
  • Merchant app store listings
  • Security certifications
  • Employee count
  • Funding rounds

Meituan Waimai

  • Commission rates and delivery fee schedule
  • Contract terms
  • Headquarters city
  • Employee count
  • Merchant app details
  • Third-party integrations
  • Security certifications
  • Countries beyond mainland China

Sources

Facts on this page come from the pages below. Prices and features change, so confirm with each vendor before you buy.

Ele.me, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Homepage after redirect from www.ele.me; rebrandhttps://taobaoshangou.ele.me/
  2. Merchant offershttps://taobaoshangou.ele.me/business-cooperation
  3. History, scale, coveragehttps://taobaoshangou.ele.me/about
  4. News list including chain AI systemhttps://taobaoshangou.ele.me/news
  5. Food safety label programmehttps://taobaoshangou.ele.me/news/110
  6. Rider services announcementhttps://taobaoshangou.ele.me/news/109

Meituan Waimai, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Home pagehttps://www.meituan.com/
  2. Founding and listinghttps://www.meituan.com/en-US/about-us
  3. Merchant onboarding and systemshttps://www.meituan.com/win-together
  4. Fees and Waimai Managerhttps://www.meituan.com/csr/industry/small-businesses
  5. Rankings and merchant supporthttps://www.meituan.com/csr/industry/market
  6. Time-honoured brand programme and customer quoteshttps://www.meituan.com/csr/industry/time-honored
  7. CatPaw AI agenthttps://www.meituan.com/technology
  8. Merchant ecosystem reportshttps://www.meituan.com/newsroom/merchants-ecology