The Best Delivery Services To Work For (Based On My Real Life Experience)

When it comes to the best delivery services to work for, most of it will depend on where you live and what kind of deliveries you prefer to do. I’ve always preferred food delivery, primarily because I find it fun, it pays well for where I live and work, and I can do my deliveries using my ebike or electric scooter. That being said, while food delivery is probably the most obvious option for delivery services, there are many other types of delivery services available (common examples include grocery delivery and package delivery). 

I’ve been delivering for just about all of these delivery services for nearly a decade now. It’s allowed me to earn a good amount of extra income every month. Even just a little bit of extra income each month from these apps can make a big difference over the long run.

In this post, I want to discuss some of the best delivery services you can work for and provide my first-hand experience delivering for these different apps. One very important thing to note, however, is that you aren’t limited to working for just one delivery service. So, while some delivery services may be better than others, you should never limit yourself to working for only one of them. Instead, the best way to maximize your earnings is to work for multiple delivery services at the same time (i.e. multiapping). By doing this, you’ll maximize your earnings.

The Best Delivery Services To Work For

Below are the best delivery services to work for based on my experience with each app. I’m ordering them by how often I deliver for these different apps, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that any particular delivery service is objectively better than another. Which delivery service is best for you will likely depend on your specific situation.

That being said, here are the delivery services I’ve worked for and what my experience has been like:

1. DoorDash

DoorDash is one of the most popular food delivery apps and is probably the app I’ve used the most when it comes to food delivery apps. I like DoorDash because it’s generally busy in my area, I make a decent amount with it, and it allows me do my deliveries using an ebike or electric scooter.

For most people, DoorDash is an excellent option and the first delivery app I recommend to most people. It operates in a lot of markets, so you’ll probably have access to it wherever you live. DoorDash also has a large market share when it comes to food delivery, so you’ll generally be able to stay busy with it.

Perhaps most important for me, in most markets, you can do DoorDash deliveries using any type of vehicle you want, including ebikes and electric scooters. Having the flexibility to deliver without a car is very important for me. Less talked about, but also nice, is that DoorDash allows Dashers to work in any market in which they operate. This makes for a nice way to earn extra money with DoorDash even when you’re traveling.

One downside with DoorDash is that, depending on your market, you might have to schedule yourself in advance to be able to do deliveries. DoorDash has a “Dash Now” feature which allows you to Dash whenever you want, but some markets have so many Dashers working that DoorDash will sometimes limit how many Dashers are able to log in. I usually have no issue Dashing whenever I want where I live, but it is something to know about, especially in some high-demand markets.

2. Uber Eats

Uber Eats is another large food delivery app that most people know about. Like DoorDash, Uber Eats has a large market share and should keep you busy in most markets. It also lets you deliver using most types of vehicles, including ebikes and electric scooters. And like DoorDash, Uber Eats allows you to work in any market they operate in, making it so you can deliver for Uber Eats even while you’re traveling.

There are a few notable things about Uber Eats that differentiate it from DoorDash. First, Uber Eats does not have a scheduling system – Uber Eats drivers can simply log in whenever they want. This could be considered an advantage compared to DoorDash, as not having to schedule in advance does give you more flexibility. The downside is that if a lot of drivers are logged in, you might not get many delivery requests.

Second, Uber Eats allows customers to change their tip after the order is delivered. This leads to the possibility of tip baiting, where a customer offers a delivery driver a high tip and then removes it after the order is delivered. This is in contrast to DoorDash, where you are guaranteed to make whatever DoorDash offers you when accept an order. It’s important to note that tip baiting doesn’t happen often – I’ve delivered for Uber Eats for nearly 10 years and have only had it happen to me a handful of times. That being said, it can happen and the fact that you can make less than what you were initially offered is something worth knowing.

Of all the delivery services I work for, DoorDash and Uber Eats are the two that I focus on the most.

3. Grubhub

Grubhub is the third major food delivery app, although it has a much smaller market share compared to DoorDash and Uber Eats. That being said, it’s always worth signing up for all three of the major food delivery apps if you can.

Grubhub works similarly to DoorDash and Uber Eats, with the main caveat that in most places, they only allow you to sign up to deliver using a car. Of the three major food delivery apps, I find that Grubhub tends to pay the most per delivery. The downside is that Grubhub typically is the least busy of the three delivery apps. The distances you have to travel also seem to be longer than the other food delivery apps, which can cut into your earnings.

While Grubhub typically only allows delivery people to sign up to deliver using their car, one workaround that I’ve done is to sign up as a car driver, and then do my deliveries using my bike. The trick with doing this is you have to reject orders that are going too far and only accept short-distance orders that you know you can do on a bike. I’ve had no issues doing my Grubhub deliveries this way.

The other thing to note with Grubhub is that you can’t automatically work in other markets. Instead, if you are in a different city and want to deliver for Grubhub, you have to contact Grubhub and have them switch your market for you. This is generally too much of a hassle for me to do, so I only deliver for Grubhub in my city.

4. Instacart

Instacart is a grocery delivery service where Instacart Shoppers deliver groceries to customers. The majority of stores on Instacart are grocery stores, although there are also some convenience stores as well. Like with the food delivery apps, when you’re logged into the Instacart Shopper app, Instacart will send you delivery offers. You’ll see how much you’ll make for each delivery, as well as the pickup and drop-off locations for the order.

The big difference with grocery delivery apps like Instacart is that you have to both shop for and deliver the orders. Shopping for orders can be time-consuming, especially if the customer orders a lot of items. If you’re like me, your efficiency can also be bad if you don’t know where things usually are in the grocery store. That being said, Instacart orders typically pay higher than food delivery because of the added time it takes to shop for the orders.

I don’t often do Instacart deliveries and when I do them, I’ll usually only do small orders. This is because I’m not particularly good at shopping for Instacart orders and the added time it takes me to find everything dramatically reduces my earnings. This isn’t to say Instacart can’t work for you, but for me, Instacart has never been the best fit.

Another thing to note is that while you do technically need a car to deliver for Instacart, it is possible to deliver Instacart orders without a car if you either only accept small orders or have a cargo bike that you can use to carry groceries. I do both – accept only small orders and I have an electric cargo bike I use to carry groceries.

One final thing to note is that Instacart does allow you to work in any market that they operate in, so it is possible to deliver Instacart orders while you’re traveling. I’ve done this a few times and had some success with it.

5. Shipt

Shipt is another grocery delivery app. Like with Instacart, Shipt Shoppers are responsible for both shopping for and delivering orders. Shipt partners with many grocery stores, but primarily focuses on Target stores since it was purchased by Target back in 2017.

One notable thing with Shipt is that rather than sending you orders, Shipt puts orders into a general pool that anyone can grab. I like this system, as it lets me look at the different orders and see if any orders make sense for me, rather than having to wait for orders to get sent to me.

Like with Instacart, I don’t do a ton of Shipt deliveries because I find it difficult to make money since I’m not an efficient shopper. I know some people do well with Shipt, so your experience will vary.

6. Roadie

Roadie is a delivery app that focuses on delivering orders from big box stores, prescription deliveries from pharmacies, and lost luggage deliveries from the airport. This differs from the other delivery apps which focus on food or grocery delivery. Roadie initially started as a peer-to-peer delivery service where people could list items to get delivered to people in other cities, but after UPS bought Roadie in 2021, the app now focuses primarily on consumer deliveries.

The big box store orders are typically from places like Home Depot and Best Buy. Pharmacy deliveries are from places like Walgreens or CVS. Roadie also does lost luggage delivery where airlines have Roadie drivers deliver lost luggage to passengers. 

Roadie does require you to have a car, but depending on what you’re delivering, it’s still possible to deliver things with a bike. I only deliver Roadie orders using a bike and generally find that most orders, even Home Depot orders, are small enough that I can easily carry them on a bike. Here’s a YouTube Short of me delivering a Roadie order using my bike:

Unlike food delivery apps that send orders to nearby drivers, Roadie works on a first-come, first-serve basis. Available orders are shown on a map and you can select any available orders. Roadie will show you what you’ll get paid and where the order is going, so you can decide whether an order makes sense for you.

7. TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit isn’t a delivery app per se, but you can offer to do delivery services with TaskRabbit. Customers have hired me on TaskRabbit to run small delivery errands like delivering flowers and picking up wine or food. One time, a client hired me to buy and deliver a laptop power cord for them.

TaskRabbit is different from traditional delivery apps because you create your own profile and set your own rates. Customers can then view your profile and select you if they’d like to hire you for a task. This is very different from other delivery apps where customers don’t choose who does the delivery for them. In addition, being able to set your own rate is nice since it gives you more control and allows you to set a rate that makes the work worthwhile for you.

8. Amazon Flex

Amazon Flex is a delivery app that I’ve occasionally used, although I haven’t delivered with Amazon Flex in a while. In the past, Amazon Flex had a food delivery service, so I could get the occasional food delivery orders, but these days they only do package delivery. 

For the most part, Amazon Flex works on a scheduling system where you sign up to work a specific shift. You then get a route and deliver packages on that route, getting paid a set amount for the time you’re scheduled to work. Packages are picked up at a central Amazon package facility. The routes can often be long distances, so you will need to use a car to deliver for Amazon Flex. Amazon Flex also has delivery routes with Whole Foods, so you could be delivering groceries as well, although you won’t have to shop for the groceries.

Amazon Flex also has an instant offer option where you can log into the app, set yourself as available, and receive instant order requests. In my experience, there aren’t many instant offer requests, but occasionally, you can get an instant offer that is worthwhile to accept. 

9. GoPuff

GoPuff is another delivery service, but the main difference between GoPuff from other delivery services is that you’re delivering orders from the GoPuff store, rather than from regular stores.

In essence, GoPuff is like a virtual convenience store or gas station store. Customers order things they want on the GoPuff app (usually the same types of things you’d get at a convenience store or gas station – think chips, soda, etc). The order gets sent to the local GoPuff warehouse, which then puts the order together. GoPuff delivery drivers then pick up those orders from the warehouse and deliver them to drivers.

I attempted to sign up for GoPuff many years ago, but my application ended up stuck in limbo and whenever I attempt to sign up again, it tells me I already have an application in process. A friend of mine was able to get his application through but discovered that GoPuff wanted drivers to schedule shifts in advance, which removed a lot of flexibility and made it look a lot like a regular delivery job.

Their website does say they allow drivers to do on-demand deliveries as well, so if that’s the case, that would make it similar to DoorDash and Uber Eats. 

10. Favor

Favor is another food delivery app that used to have a larger presence in the United States, but is now limited to only Texas. This app works similarly to the other food delivery apps, so if you’re located in Texas, it would be worth signing up for it. Whether Favor will have staying power is unclear since DoorDash and Uber Eats have such a large market share, but there’s nothing to lose by signing up for Favor as well if you’re in a market that it operates in.

11. Walmart Spark

Walmart Spark is a lot like Amazon Flex, except you’re delivering order for Walmart. They offer delivery orders (where you pick up orders from Walmart and deliver them), shopping orders (where you shop for orders at Walmart), and return orders (where you return orders to Walmart). 

Walmart Spark does require you to use a car, so you will need a car if you want to sign up for it. You’ll receive details about each order request and can decide if the order makes sense for you. Walmart Spark operates pretty much everywhere in the US, so it’s worth signing up for if you’re looking for delivery apps to work for.

Final Thoughts

There are many delivery services out there and this list is not exhaustive, as there are probably more local delivery services that I am not aware of. Still, this list looks at some of the major on-demand delivery services that you can work for.

My general advice is to sign up for as many of these delivery apps as you can. You can then get a sense of which delivery apps work best for you.

For me, I’ve had the best success (and the most fun) doing DoorDash and Uber Eats using my bike. But what works for me will likely differ from you, so try everything out and see what’s best for you.