Delivery apps have made it easy to get everything from fast food meals to weekly groceries delivered to your front door. Not only are the apps convenient for consumers, but they offer a flexible way to earn extra money.
While details can vary by company, most hire drivers as independent contractors who set their own hours. In most cases, workers must possess a valid driver’s license, pass a background check and have reliable transportation.
For good pay and plentiful work opportunities, try the following delivery apps. However, be aware that the best food delivery app to work for will depend on where you live, since not all services are available in all areas.
— DoorDash/Caviar.
— GrubHub.
— Hungry.
— Uber Eats/Postmates.
— Gopuff.
— Roadie.
— Instacart.
— Shipt.
— Bite Squad/Waitr.
— Favor.
[Read: How to Make an Extra $1,000 This Month.]
DoorDash/Caviar
If you’re looking for the best delivery service to work for, start with one of the most recognizable names in the industry. DoorDash is often associated with restaurant meal deliveries, but dashers — as their delivery workers are known — can also pick up groceries or goods from local gas stations, drug stores or other retailers. Dashers also deliver orders for the food delivery app Caviar.
DoorDash is available in 4,000 cities in the U.S., Canada and Australia, meaning there are work opportunities even outside big cities. Dashers aren’t limited to working in their hometown either. They can also pick up deliveries in cities they may be visiting.
Base pay starts at $2 to over $10 per delivery, according to the company, but workers can earn extra from tips and promotions. On average, that equals out to about $16 per hour, according to employment website Indeed.
Grubhub
Grubhub is another major player in the world of food delivery. The company has more than 300,000 restaurant partners in more than 4,000 U.S. cities. Every day, Grubhub delivers more than 745,000 orders, and it serves 33 million active diners.
Drivers must be at least 19 to deliver for Grubhub, but no previous experience is necessary. The company requires workers to use insulated bags when making deliveries, and if you don’t have your own, Grubhub can provide one. In markets in which the driver needs to pay for restaurant orders prior to delivery, a Grubhub Driver Card is issued to make payment.
Drivers earn a base rate for each delivery plus 100% of tips. They earn, on average, $26 per hour, according to self-reported data on employment website Glassdoor.
Hungry
Pre-pandemic, Hungry focused on delivering catered meals to offices and business clients. “We are a platform that is designed to connect companies with top local chefs,” says Jeff Grass, company CEO and co-founder. With the move to remote work last year, Hungry expanded its service to make meal deliveries to homes as well.
Delivery workers for Hungry fall into one of two categories: delivery captains and catering captains. Delivery captains drop off meals at homes and earn a base pay plus incentives for productivity. Catering captains not only deliver meals, but they also set up and provide service. They receive an hourly base rate plus tips. Captains receive alerts when jobs are available, and they are free to accept and decline them as they wish.
Minimum pay for Hungry is $15 per hour, but most delivery captains make $20 to $40 per hour, Grass says. “We’ve had people make $10,000 a month in Boston and New York,” he adds. Catering captains earn $24 to $30 per hour on average. Hungry operates in seven metro areas nationwide.
Uber Eats/Postmates
Launched by the ridesharing company Uber in 2014, Uber Eats has partnered with more than 500,000 restaurants worldwide. Its app is available in more than 6,000 cities, but earning opportunities for drivers may be best in large metro areas. Uber Eats also owns and delivers for Postmates.
To deliver by car, Uber Eats requires that a person be the minimum age to drive in their city, have a valid driver’s license and have a two- or four-door vehicle. Those delivering by bike or foot need to be 18 years old, while scooter delivery drivers must be 19. All deliveries are managed through the Uber Driver app.
Uber Eats pays drivers a flat fee for picking up and dropping off meals, plus workers earn tips. The food delivery app may also pay an additional amount for delivering in surge zones or completing quest goals. Average earnings are approximately $14.50 per hour, according to Indeed.
[See: Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance.]
Gopuff
For those who don’t want to spend time driving to multiple restaurants or stores, Gopuff is the best food delivery app to work for. Drivers pick up orders at one of more than 300 micro-fulfillment centers serving more than 550 cities nationwide. Gopuff offers a variety of essential products to its customers, including snacks, groceries, health care goods and baby supplies.
Drivers with Gopuff manage all their deliveries through the goDrive app. The app allows drivers to reserve a delivery slot and earn an hourly subsidy. However, signing up for a specific time is not required to fulfill orders through the app.
Gopuff pays drivers a base rate for orders as well as 100% of customer tips. There may be bonus earning opportunities as well. Average earnings equal $15 per hour, according to Glassdoor.
Roadie
When someone orders groceries for delivery from Walmart, it might be a Roadie driver who brings the bags to the front door. Walmart is one of the delivery app company’s biggest partners, but Roadie also works with other grocers, retailers and scores of small businesses.
“We (deliver to) more ZIP codes than DoorDash,” says Marc Gorlin, founder and CEO of Roadie. In addition to food deliveries, Roadie workers can earn money delivering a variety of other goods, from lost luggage to big screen TVs. “We’re cool with episodic work,” Gorlin says. “You do it when it suits your life.”
Roadie pays about $13 per local gig, according to Gorlin, but multiple deliveries can be combined on the same trip to increase a person’s hourly rate. Larger delivery items, such as furniture, may garner more money as well.
Instacart
For groceries, Instacart is the best delivery app to work for in many people’s minds. The company provides grocery pickup and delivery services at 40,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities.
Full-service shoppers with Instacart both shop for and deliver groceries to customers while in-store shoppers are responsible for selecting a customer’s order and staging it for pickup. For both roles, shoppers must be able to lift 50 pounds.
There are separate pay structures for each position. Full-service shoppers are independent contractors who can work at whatever time is convenient for them. They are paid per order and receive 100% of tips. Meanwhile, in-store shoppers are scheduled for shifts equaling up to 29 hours per week. Indeed reports personal shoppers with Instacart earn just shy of $15 per hour.
Shipt
Shipt was launched in 2014, and the grocery delivery service operates in more than 5,000 cities nationwide. Shipt shoppers must be 18, have a valid driver’s license and drive a reliable vehicle built no earlier than 1997. They must also be knowledgeable about produce and be able to lift 40 pounds.
“I personally loved it,” says Austin Cornell, a resident of Holland, Michigan, who delivered for Shipt as a side gig during the pandemic. “I could make my own hours (and) I could look at the orders and pick what I wanted.” Plus, the opportunity to go into the store to shop made it preferable to other food delivery apps that focused on meal deliveries and required significantly more time behind the wheel.
Shipt shoppers are paid per order plus tips. If an order wasn’t picked up by a shopper, the company would sometimes add promo pay of $1 to $10 to the order, Cornell says. According to Shipt, experienced shoppers average $22 per hour in earnings.
Bite Squad/Waitr
Operating in 14 and 12 states respectively, Bite Squad and Waitr are owned by the same company and have smaller footprints than other apps. Still, they are among the best food delivery service to work for, offering flexible scheduling and making daily cashouts available.
Delivery Logistics handles scheduling for both apps and requires drivers be 18 or older, have a valid driver’s license, an insured vehicle, a smartphone and an insulated bag. Those who don’t have a bag can purchase one from Delivery Logistics. Drivers then use an app to select time blocks to work at their convenience.
Drivers earn a base payment plus tips plus any surge pay or incentives attached to an order. A 3% credit card processing fee is deducted from the tip, however. Glassdoor reports Bite Squad drivers typically earn $16 per hour.
Favor
Austin-based Favor has been delivering items to state residents since 2013. Its delivery workers are known as runners, and they bring customers more than meals. They may deliver almost anything a person requests, from dry cleaning to over-the-counter medication.
Favor is only available in Texas, and runners in most cities will need a car. However, Austin runners can deliver via bicycle in the downtown area. After applying, there is a 10-minute online orientation before people can begin scheduling themselves for work.
Runners earn 35% of the delivery fee for orders and 100% of tips. Favor says it offers hourly guarantees of $9 to $10 per hour, but during peak times in busy areas, average income is closer to $12 to $18 per hour.
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Best Food Delivery App Companies to Work For originally appeared on usnews.com
