For those who need additional income, delivery apps offer a flexible way to earn extra money. They pay people to deliver everything from fast food meals to groceries, and workers can make money during even short periods of free time.
“I can sign in and out for work as I please around my full-time job, so it’s great to fill in half an hour or more here and there when I am feeling like getting out,” says Brett Mallory of Cheboygan, Michigan. With a full-time job at the U.S. Postal Service, Mallory is familiar with his town, which makes food deliveries an easy option to earn extra cash with this side gig.
While details can vary by company, most drivers are hired 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, consider the following delivery apps, listed in alphabetical order. 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
— Favor
— Gopuff
— GrubHub
— Hungry
— Instacart
— Roadie
— Shipt
— Uber Eats/Postmates
[SEE: Best Part-Time Jobs to Pay the Bills.]
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 the company’s delivery workers are known — can also pick up groceries or goods from local drug stores, gas stations and other retailers. Dashers also deliver orders for the food delivery app Caviar, which specializes in upscale restaurants.
DoorDash is available in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Canada and Australia, meaning there are work opportunities even outside big cities. Dashers aren’t limited to working in their hometown either. They can pick up deliveries in cities they may be visiting.
“It depends on where you live if you could work for DoorDash full time, but I feel it’s worth my time when I do it,” Mallory says. He adds that how well you’re paid depends largely on the tips you receive.
Base pay ranges from $2 to more than $10 per delivery, according to the company, but workers can earn extra from tips and promotions. On average, that equals about $16.15 per hour for delivery drivers who have reported their DoorDash income to the employment website Indeed.
Favor
Austin, Texas-based Favor has been delivering items to state residents since 2013 and is now part of the grocery chain HEB. Its delivery workers are known as runners, and they bring customers more than meals. They deliver almost anything a person requests, from dry cleaning to over-the-counter medication.
Favor is only available in Texas. To be a runner, you’ll need to be at least 18, have reliable transportation and personal auto insurance, a smartphone, a bank account, a clean driving record, and pass a background check. The company offers Running 101 videos to walk new workers through the process of getting started.
Runners earn a base pay that ranges from $2 to $14, plus 100% of tips. Each order has a required minimum tip added by Favor. According to Glassdoor, pay for runners ranges from $16 to $21 per hour based on self-reported earnings from workers.
Gopuff
For those who don’t want to spend time driving to multiple restaurants or stores, Gopuff may be the best option. Drivers pick up orders at one of hundreds of micro-fulfillment centers in the U.S. and UK. Gopuff offers a variety of essential products to its customers, including snacks, groceries, health care goods and baby supplies.
Drivers, who must be at least 21 years old, manage all their deliveries through the Gopuff Driver app. The app allows drivers to reserve a block of time in which they receive a per-minute rate — known as wait pay — while waiting at a facility for orders to come through. Regardless of whether they are waiting at a fulfillment center, drivers will receive trip offers via the app, and they have 30 seconds to accept them.
Gopuff pays drivers a base rate per order as well as 100% of customer tips. There may be bonus earning opportunities as well. Overall earnings may range from $15 to $19 an hour, according to Glassdoor.
[Related:Is Consumer Services a Good Career Path?]
Grubhub
Grubhub is another major player in the world of food delivery. The company has more than 375,000 restaurant partners in more than 4,000 U.S. cities. Its membership program Grubhub+ is free for Amazon Prime members.
Drivers must be at least 18 to deliver for Grubhub, except in Las Vegas where the minimum age is 21, but no previous experience is necessary. Depending on the area, deliveries may be made via car or bike. Drivers earn a base rate for each delivery plus 100% of tips. They earn $16 to $23 per hour, according to self-reported data on Glassdoor.
Grubhub uses a scheduling method in which drivers reserve one-hour blocks in which they’d like to deliver. If orders are slow during their scheduled time, the company makes pay contributions as necessary to ensure drivers earn a minimum guaranteed rate for their area. Earnings are directly deposited each week, or drivers can request up to $500 a day using its “instant cash out” feature. A charge of 50 cents applies unless you have a Chase Bank account.
Hungry
Unlike some food apps that are designed to deliver food to consumers, Hungry was created to meet the needs of business clients. “We are a platform that is designed to connect companies with top local chefs,” says Jeff Grass, company CEO and co-founder. The company delivers catering, group orders to offices and food to replenish office pantries, among other services.
Delivery workers for Hungry are called captains. In addition to delivering meals, they may also set up and provide service. They receive pay per catering gig based on the amount of time it will take plus tips. Hungry operates in more than a dozen major U.S. cities as well as Vancouver and Toronto.
On Glassdoor, catering captains report earnings of $17 to $25 per hour.
Instacart
Instacart provides grocery pickup and delivery services at store locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Delivery 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 40 pounds and have consistent access to a smartphone that they can use effectively.
There are separate pay structures for each position. Delivery shoppers are independent contractors who can work at a time that is convenient for them. They are paid per order, known as batch pay, and receive 100% of tips. Additional pay may be available during peak times or for orders with heavy items. Meanwhile, in-store shoppers are scheduled for shifts equaling up to 29 hours per week. Indeed reports that Instacart shoppers earn an average of $26.19 per hour with this gig.
Roadie
If you order groceries for delivery from your favorite retailer, it might be a Roadie driver who brings the bags to the front door. Roadie enables delivery for major retailers and thousands of small businesses.
“Roadie covers more than 30,000 ZIP codes. It’s the largest local delivery footprint in the U.S.,” says Marc Gorlin, founder and CEO of Roadie, a UPS company. In addition to grocery deliveries, drivers can use Roadie’s platform to earn money delivering all kinds of things, from delayed luggage to big-screen TVs. “We’re cool with episodic work,” Gorlin says. “You do it when it suits your life.”
Drivers earn an average of $12 per delivery, but multiple deliveries can be combined on the same trip to earn more money per mile. Drivers can earn more on longer distance deliveries and larger items such as furniture.
Shipt
Launched in 2014, this grocery delivery service operates in more than 5,000 cities nationwide at retailers that include grocery stores, drug stores and specialty shops. Shipt shoppers select items in stores and deliver them to customers’ homes. The company also has a package delivery option for those who want to earn money without shopping.
To shop and deliver for Shipt, shoppers must be 18, have a valid driver’s license and drive a reliable vehicle that is a 1997 model year or newer. They must also be knowledgeable about produce, be able to lift 50 pounds and have a newer smartphone.
Shipt shoppers are paid per order plus tips. If an order isn’t picked up by a shopper, the company may add promotional pay to the order to encourage a shopper to claim it. According to self-reported wages on Glassdoor, Shipt shoppers earn $15 to $21 per hour.
[See: 9 Sites That Help You Find Legit Remote Jobs]
Uber Eats/Postmates
Launched by the ride-sharing company Uber in 2014, Uber Eats is available in 6,000 cities across 45 countries. The company also owns and delivers for Postmates.
To deliver by car, an Uber Eats driver must be at least 19 years old, 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 fee for picking up and dropping off meals, plus a per-mile or per-minute rate. Workers can also earn tips. The food delivery app may pay an additional amount for delivering in areas of high rider request volume or completing certain goals within a specified time period. Earnings are approximately $17 to $21 per hour, according to Glassdoor.
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9 Best Food Delivery App Companies to Work For originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/03/25: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
