Online School Lunch Ordering Software

Smart, Simple Solutions for School Lunch Management – Join 1,000+ schools using our all-in-one solution to streamline ordering, payments, and meal operations.

How it Works

From setup to serving — manage your school lunch
program in just a few simple steps.

01. Set Up Your Account

Create your fully branded portal with custom logos, colors, and access roles for staff, vendors, and admins.

02. Build Custom Menus

Set custom cut-off times, add menu items, sizes, pricing and allergy info. Add and update in real-time.

03. Accept Orders & Payments

Parents order and pay on Web & Mobile. Pre-load money, save cards. No cash, no checks, just fast and secure transactions.

04. Track & Report with Ease

Instantly generated reports for planning, distribution, labels, finance and much more.

HotLunch.com’s online school lunch ordering system is a lunch management tool designed to automate mundane tasks through an easy to use, cost-effective interface. The features of our school lunch ordering software make it possible to manage menus in real-time, save time on data collection and compilation of reports, minimize time on managing internal tasks and external accounts. Our School Lunch Software makes the process of paying, ordering, and distributing lunches as contactless as possible. Students can receive their school lunch by simply reciting their full name or student ID number linked to their Hot Lunch Online account. Our system allows food service providers to assist students and parents with school lunch orders with minimal contact. Managers can easily administer multiple schools or campuses from a central portal. Our School Lunch Software has passed many privacy tests including the Canadian Privacy Test.

Feature Highlights

From real-time menus to reporting and payments — streamline your lunch program with our easy-to-use tools.

All-in-One Platform

Manage menus, orders, payments, and reports from one intuitive dashboard.

Customizable Menus

Create and update menus in real time with nutrition, allergy, and calorie info.

Zero Hidden Fees

No setup or per-transaction costs. Keep 100% of what you collect.

Discover how HotLunch makes school lunch management a breeze!

Our Pricing

Starter Plan

starting at $0

Perfect for schools looking for a no-cost way to manage lunch ordering.

This plan is offered at no cost to the school. A small per-student technology fee is applied annually and is typically paid by participating families.

Key Features:

Pre-Ordering Plan

starting at $399

A streamlined, all-in-one solution for schools looking to simplify lunch operations.

Everything in the Starter Plan, Plus:

Premium Plan

starting at $1160

A complete cafeteria management platform — combining pre-orders, walk-up POS, and advanced analytics.

Everything in the Pre-Ordering Plan, Plus:

Not sure which plan is right for you?
Contact us - we’ll help you find the perfect fit.

How Hotlunch Helps

HotLunch.com helps school cafeterias streamline and simplify meal management by providing an all-in-one online platform for: 

  • Online Ordering – Parents and students can pre-order meals online, reducing long lines and food waste. 
  • Menu Management – Cafeterias can easily create, update, and publish menus, including options for dietary restrictions and multiple meal types. 
  • Payment Processing – Securely handles payments online, including credit/debit cards and pre-paid balances. 
  • Reporting & Analytics – Generates detailed reports on sales, participation, and inventory to help make better decisions. 
  • Reduced Admin Work – Automates daily tasks like order tracking, cancellations, refunds, and notifications. 
  • Compliance Support – Offers features to support free/reduced meal programs and dietary compliance (e.g., allergy tracking). 
  • Custom BrandingAllows schools or districts to maintain their branding for a consistent parent experience. 

Managing school meals doesn’t have to be time-consuming. HotLunch.com helps streamline your entire lunch program—so you can focus on what matters most. 

  • Create and manage menus online 
  • Automate orders and payments 
  • Access real-time reports for compliance and planning 
  • Reduce manual admin tasks 
  • Improve parent communication with built-in tools 

HotLunch.com takes the hassle out of managing school meals. Parents can easily order, pay for, and track their child’s lunches—all in one place, from any device. 

  • Online Ordering: Place meal orders quickly from your phone, tablet, or computer. 
  • Easy Payments: Pay securely online—no need to send cash or checks to school. 
  • Meal Customization: Select meals that suit your child’s preferences or dietary needs. 
  • Reminders & Alerts: Get email or text notifications for deadlines and low balances. 
  • One Account for the Whole Family: Manage multiple students across schools with a single login. 
  • Timesaving & Convenient: Spend less time on lunch prep and more time on what matters. 
Streamline Lunch Programs with Smart Lunch Ordering Software

Ordering Hot Lunch Online through a web portal provides schools, food service providers, and offices an efficient system of managing their lunch programs. The main benefits are customized menus, user-friendly access, and most importantly, cost and time savings, with the help of a highly automated process. The Hot Lunch Online portal offers additional features to add nutrition and allergy information to keep parents better informed. Our Hot Lunch Online program is subscription-based and offered at a low per-student cost. Schools and institutions have seen a 10% increase in revenue since they have started using our program. Ordering Hot Lunch Online will reduce the time spent on managing lunch administration from days to just a couple of hours a month.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, it is a fully cloud-based School Lunch Ordering System. It completely eliminates the need for additional hardware or third-party tools to function.

Yes, HotLunch offers an option to customize your menu according to your kids’ dietary preferences. It includes options for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and allergy-friendly meals.

There is no problem even if your child has special dietary needs. All you have to do is to mention all your kids’ dietary preferences and restrictions when you place the order using HotLunch School Lunch Ordering System.

Absolutely, HotLunch is an all-inclusive School Lunch Ordering System. Everything from viewing the menu to ordering and completing payment is streamlined at HotLunch to provide a seamless lunch ordering experience to all parties involved in the process. Parents can use this system to view menus, select meals for their kids based on their dietary needs, pre-order their kids’ meals, track orders and make payments. Moreover, it lets parents customize their kids’ meals according to their specific dietary requirements and preferences. While school cafeterias can save a lot of time, effort and money by implementing this system. It completely eliminates the need for maintaining paperwork. With HotLunch, you also get detailed reports pertaining to lunch orders, most favourable and least favourable menu program, financial transactions, food waste and much more. Parents and school staff can utilize the data to make well-informed decisions.

Making payment is a breeze as our school lunch ordering system is compatible with multiple payment gateways. It supports debit/credit cards, UPI, wallets, and net banking. Also, it can be connected to more than one bank account.

That’s not a problem at all. We have a dedicated customer support team to help you integrate the system and use it to achieve optimal outcomes. Still, if you face any challenge, our representative will visit your facility to assist you as needed.

This tool is designed for ease of use, making it accessible to everyone, regardless of their technical expertise. To use this tool, all you have to do is to log in. After logging in, you will get to see a sample menu. You can select meals for your kids and place your order. You can even pre-order your child’s lunch and ensure they enjoy a timely, wholesome meal every day. Don’t forget to share your child’s specific dietary needs or allergies while placing the order.

Upon receiving the order, the system sends reports to the kitchen staff and administrators for meal preparation and order tracking.

Of course, you can! HotLunch School Lunch Ordering Software allows bulk school lunch pre-ordering to make planning easier for parents and execution for school kitchen staff.

Yes, you can. HotLunch is a fully responsive School Lunch Ordering System. It can be used across multiple devices, including smartphones, computers, tablets, and so on.

Definitely! You have the option to access detailed order history and monthly analytics for each student separately. Every party involved in the process, including parents, kitchen staff and school administrators can access the detailed order history simply by logging into the platform using their credentials.

Yes, students can also use HotLunch to order meals themselves. However, it is imperative that they obtain permission from school management prior to logging into the platform.

Testimonials

Hear how HotLunch.com is transforming lunch programs for schools and food providers across the country.

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