4 of the Best Food Delivery Apps to Work For
During the Coronavirus quarantine, I was not able to perform house tours for home buyers due to the stay-at-home order in Colorado. That meant I wasn’t going to be making any money. And even though we have a fully-funded emergency fund for times like these, I didn’t want to go without an income if I didn’t have to because that would put us a little of course from reaching financial independence!
That’s why I decided to try driving for these 4 different food delivery apps. It has been fun testing out the different food delivery apps to work for. I have had an enjoyable experience delivering with them and wanted to share my observations of the different apps.
Food Delivery Apps to Work For
- Postmates (use the code FL-BCDQJ for a sign-up bonus)
- DoorDash
- Uber Eats (use the code katief262 for a sign-up bonus)
- GrubHub
These are in the order that I started driving for them. This was mainly due to the fact that Postmates was the easiest to get started with, and GrubHub put me on a waitlist until I could start delivering.
What is the Best Food Delivery App to Work For?
- Uber Eats
- DoorDash
- GrubHub
- Postmates
Of all the food delivery apps to work for, it is my personal opinion that Uber Eats is the best. Each one has its own benefits and downfalls. Check out why I think Uber Eats is the best to deliver for below.
4 of the Best Food Delivery Apps to Work For
Here is an overview of each of the food delivery apps to work for. Things that I like and don’t like about each as well as a look into what their sign up process is like.
Uber Eats
Of all the food delivery apps to work for, Uber Eats needed the most personal information out of the 4. They required my license, auto insurance, and my vehicle registration to sign up.
Onboarding wasn’t very great. I wasn’t sure what app to download and had a difficult time figuring a few things out. I felt like I was continuously guessing if I was approved or not.
Things I Like About the App
- You never have to leave the app. They do navigation within the app.
- It is easy to go back and see previous trip details.
- Their base pay on average has been higher than other delivery apps.
- They add on a Trip Supplement to a lot of the deliveries – this helps to cover longer distance drives.
- You are given an estimate on how long the delivery might take you to complete, and you can go back and see how long a specific delivery actually took you.
- You can easily cancel orders if needed.
Things I Don’t Like About the App
- You can’t see the areas that are giving surge bonuses after you start delivering.
- They don’t send you hot bag
Other Observations
- You can send thank-yous to customers for their tips!
- They have a 12-hour maximum drive time available for new drivers. In order for the 12 hours to “recharge” you need 6 hours of offline time.
- They offer a cool security feature called Follow My Ride where you can easily share your trips with family and friends. That way your people can check up on you to make sure you have not run into any emergencies.
Doordash
It took about a day to sign up and get approved to deliver with DoorDash. I did not need to provide my car insurance to them and I did fill out a W9 form.
I was able to start doing deliveries before receiving my Doordash hot bag and prepaid card. However, my sister signed up to do Doordash in California and she had to wait for her hot bag and prepaid card before she could start doing deliveries.
Things I Like About the App
- It is very clear how much you will make for a delivery. DoorDash includes the tip amount into the total before you accept to take an order. They also show you the mileage.
- There are bonuses for doing deliveries during peak hours in certain locations. You can see upcoming bonuses as well.
- It shows me how much I will be making on the current order as I am in the process of delivering it.
- It also shows me how much I have made so far since I started that day.
- You can see how long you were Active (available for deliveries) and how long you were actually Dashing (picking up or dropping off a delivery). Therefore you can easily calculate your hourly rate.
- They have great bonuses almost every day!
Things I Don’t Like About the App
- I’ve had the most issues with the actual app compared to the rest – crashes, freezing, not letting me close deliveries out.
- It is very difficult to cancel a delivery if needed.
- Customer support takes a long time to reach (this may be due to the Coronavirus).
Other Observations
- They offered 10 free face masks, 2 hand sanitizers, and a pack of plastic gloves to their drivers for free, although I needed to pay for shipping. This was better than each of the others offered me.
GrubHub
I was put on a waitlist at first, but roughly a week later got an email saying they are hiring more drivers in my area.
Out of all the delivery apps, GrubHub required the most information from me – driver’s license, car insurance, and car registration. I did fill out a W9 form, and it was challenging to fill it out from their Docusign form.
Things I Like About the App
- I can still see all the information within the app while I’m doing deliveries.
- They show you potential parking places near the restaurants you will be picking up from based off of previous drivers’ activity for that restaurant.
- They gave me 2 Hot Bags instead of just one. They are 2 different sizes and the best compared to the other delivery apps.
- You also receive a sign to put in your car that tells people you are delivering food (in case you park illegally for a second – but still be careful if you do that)
Things I Don’t Like About the App
- They do not share with you how long you have been out delivering food. So you can’t easily calculate your hourly rate.
- Nor do they easily show you how many deliveries you have made.
- There is no way to cancel a task if needed.
- I haven’t had a need to experience their Driver Support, however, my father-in-law drove for them in the past and had a terrible experience with their support system.
- The “New Offer” notification noise isn’t very loud and I have missed it before.
Other Observations
- They had the most in-depth onboarding process.
- I don’t really understand their delivery region map. It says that I have a primary region for delivering, but I often go outside of it.
- They have different program levels. I have not figured them out completely. But you need to do 20 deliveries before you receive a program level.
- They prioritize giving deliveries to those who have scheduled a time block. So if you’re looking to make lots of money, make sure to schedule a time block before going out.
Postmates
I was able to sign up and get approved within a day for Postmates. I was also able to start doing deliveries before receiving my Postmates hot bag and prepaid card.
Postmates is not as popular as Doordash and Grubhub in our area and that has become even clearer as a driver. I get very few deliveries from them and I feel like the ones I have gotten have typically been far away from my current location.
Things I Like About the App
- It was very easy to sign up to deliver with Postmates.
- When you’re ready to start delivering all you need to do is hit “Go Online.”
- They notify you when you have received a tip on a completed delivery.
- They give you the exact breakdown to see how your earnings are calculated.
- You can easily cancel an order if there is an issue.
Things I Don’t Like About the App
- I have earned the least amount of money per hour with this app. This may be due to the fact that I don’t receive as many deliveries, and that their base pay is a bit lower.
- You don’t get to see the estimated amount you will make for a delivery before you accept it.
- They don’t have very good bonuses.
- I tend to drive very far to pick up deliveries for Postmates.
Other Observations
- I did not fill out a W9 form for them before starting to drive.
- So far it is the only delivery app that I have used my Postmate’s prepaid card with.
- It is also the only app that I have delivered tobacco products with.
- They don’t have any sort of block scheduling for working with them.
- Postmates offered me 1 free facemask.
I have had the most issues with deliveries with Postmates. I’ve gone to a restaurant that was closed, gone to a place that tried canceling the customer’s order because there was an issue with their payment, but it didn’t get canceled on my end. Once I had a to go order at a restaurant only to find out that the food they ordered hadn’t been on their menu for 2 years!
What is the best food delivery app to work for?
Out of these 4 food delivery apps to work for, I enjoy delivering for Uber Eats the most. Their app is the best overall and not to mention that for the past month, my hourly rate has been a lot higher than the rest of the delivery apps.
My second favorite food delivery app to work for is a toss up between DoorDash and GrubHub. I think both of them are great for different reasons.
I believe that your favorite delivery app to drive for will be highly influenced by your location. For example, Postmates in my area is not very popular. Therefore, I don’t get a lot of deliveries through that app.
Is Being a Food Delivery Driver Worth It?
Yes!
Typically a 1 hour session of deliveries will cover enough for a tank of gas and money to save for future car maintenance. Everything after that has been pure profit.
Doing deliveries is very easy work and for us, it has been a great way to make extra money to save and invest for our future. We get to drive when we want for however long we want.
If you do not want to drive very far, you have the option to decline deliveries that take you far away from home.
An extra perk for my husband and I has been that we get to listen to audiobooks and podcasts as we drive around, which has made it even more enjoyable.
Not only that, but from a real estate perspective as we drive around town to places we may not have before, we are getting to know our local market even better.
How Much Can You Make as a Food Delivery Driver?
It will depend on which food delivery app you work for. My husband and I both started delivering during the Coronavirus quarantine and have made over $3500 in just a few weeks.
These are my averages for the past month for each food delivery app. How much you make as a food delivery driver will depend on the app you use and how popular it is in your location.
Average Hourly Rate for Delivering Food
Postmates: $17-20
DoorDash: $25-29
Uber Eats: $27-32
GrubHub: $25-29
The Hardest Thing About Doing Deliveries
Many people have asked me what the hardest thing about doing deliveries is. Even though it is a relatively easy way to make money it does come with it’s own challenges.
The hardest thing tends to be apartment complexes. Some are very straightforward and easy to navigate, however, others are the complete opposite. If the customer doesn’t put in good notes on how to find their unit, you could be driving around the complex for a bit looking for their building.
The other challenging thing is more a test of patience. Sometimes when I arrive at a restaurant to pick up an order, the food is not ready. There have been a handful of times where I have had to wait upwards of 45 minutes for food.
So here are my questions for you –
Have you tried delivering food for any of these apps before?
Which one has been your favorite food delivery app to work for?
Have you thought about delivering food before? What is holding you back?
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