The platform enables customers to search for local takeaway restaurants, place orders and pay online, and to choose from pick-up or delivery options.

Five Danish entrepreneurs, including Jesper Buch, founded Just Eat in Denmark and launched the service in August 2001.

[5] In 2005 the technology entrepreneur Bo Bendtsen (co-founder) bought out all the founders and initial investors apart from Jesper Buch and moved the company to the UK.

[17] The funds were partly used to launch the Don't Cook rebranding campaign in the UK and to acquire in October its main competitor in Spain, SinDelantal.

[19] After nearly five years at the helm of Just Eat, the group CEO Klaus Nyengaard stepped down in February 2013[20] and was replaced in May by former UK MD David Buttress.

[26] In May 2015, Just Eat announced that it would buy Menulog, an Australian food ordering company for A$855 million, and would fund the deal by issuing new shares.

[27] In July 2015, Just Eat acquired Orderit.ca, a Canadian online food ordering company, further solidifying its presence in Canada.

[30] In December 2016, Just Eat announced that it was acquiring Hungryhouse from Delivery Hero for £200m (with the possibility of a further £40m if the company hit performance targets), and Canada's SkipTheDishes for C$110m (£66m).

[32] In February 2017, Buttress announced he would be leaving as CEO after four years, due to urgent family matters, continuing to be a non executive director.

[33] His departure was noted by industry commentators as a "significant loss" for the business, with Buttress having been "one of the UK's stand out entrepreneurs of the last decade".

[40] On 22 April 2020, The UK's Competition and Markets Authority announced it was unconditionally approving Just Eat's merger with Takeaway.com, following an investigation.

[41] On 2 March 2022, in a response to its announcement of losses, Just Eat Takeaway revealed plans to exit from Portugal, Romania and Norway from 1 April 2022.

Skip was present in a limited number of American cities including St. Louis, Omaha, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, but exited the US market in 2019.

In April 2012, a third round of investment[65] saw Vitruvian Partners and existing backers Index Ventures, Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures invest a further £40 million in Just Eat Holdings Ltd.[66] In January 2019, the company bought Flyt, the startup with software for restaurants and food suppliers, for £22 million.

At the start of 2011, a second wave of "Belly and Brain" TV adverts ran, titled "Listen and Learn"[71] and "Boxing Clever".

[79] In October 2023, American rapper Latto and singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera were introduced in a new promotional advertisement for Just Eat, taking over from Perry.

[86] Starting in 22 March 2021, Just Eat became the sponsors of the UEFA club competitions along with the other Just Eat Takeaway subsidiaries worldwide starting in the 2021 to 2024 cycle for the UK, French, Spanish, Swiss, Italian and the Irish markets, after being awarded the first-ever confederation-wide sponsorship contract in the UEFA Euro 2020.

[87] In the UK, Just Eat charges restaurants £699 to join the service,[88] plus a 13–14% commission for each order placed through the website or mobile app.

[91] In October 2018, a BBC investigation found that half of the takeaway outlets in England rated zero for hygiene by the Food Standards Agency in Manchester, Bristol and London appeared on the Just Eat app.

[94] As of June 2022, the Just Eat brand operated in Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.