Over the past few years, the gig economy has been thriving. This is happening for multiple reasons, one of which is people willing to take more control of their time.
Driving apps are one of the best resources for people looking for independent gig work to make money. All you need is your car and a smartphone! There are no fixed timings, no bosses, and no targets.
Many apps can help you make money by driving. As someone who has been using them on and off since the pandemic, I found some of the best. In this article, I shall review them in detail.
So, Shall we begin?
1. Lyft
Lyft is a cab service where you get to pick up and drop people. It is among the most well-known ride-hailing services across the US and Canada. To become a driver on Lyft, you will need a valid driver’s license, go through a background check, and submit your insurance and registration details.
You will need your car, but in some cities, you can rent a car via Lyft’s Express Drive service. Here, you make money with three things – upfront pay, tips, and bonuses.
The upfront pay is decided based on the time of the ride and the distance of the ride, as well as the time and distance it will take you to reach the pickup location. Your pay will also be affected by the surge or the demand for rides in the area at the time of the booking.
There are three ways in which you can cash out from Lyft. You can get a Lyft Direct Debit card and get payments there right after every ride.
There’s an express pay option where you can get your funds any time without the card too, but you will need to pay a $0.85 fee for that. Thirdly, there are the standard weekly deposits which send you funds every Tuesday.
Key Features
- See your pay upfront before accepting a ride
- Instant cashouts using the Lyft Direct Debit Card
- Keep 100% of the tips you receive
- Drivers also get to rate riders after each ride
- Silver, Gold, and Platinum tiers for drivers reward them based on their work
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| You get to control your own schedule | Instant cashouts can cost $0.89 per transaction |
| Lots of bonuses and rewards for drivers | You bear all the costs of the car maintenance, fuel, repairs, etc |
| One of the fastest-paying ride-hailing services |
Conclusion
Having driven around Lyft for a month now, I can safely say that it is one of the best options out there if you are looking for driving-based gigs in your city.
It gives you complete control over your schedule and allows you control over the area you want to be in as well. Bonuses and rewards on the app are also pretty satisfying and better than most other apps in my opinion.
2. DoorDash
Are you not a fan of driving people around? Don’t own a four-wheeler? No worries. DoorDash is one of the top Amazon Flex alternatives that pay you for driving around the city and carrying restaurant orders as well as groceries to people who order them.
The app’s onboarding process is pretty simple, and owing to the popularity of DoorDash, you are likely to get a lot of orders too, especially in bigger cities and metros. To deliver with DoorDash, you need to have a smartphone and a vehicle.
This could be a car, bike, scooter, or a motorcycle. If you are driving a car, you will also need a valid driver’s license and insurance. The verification process takes a couple of days at most and you can start earning right after that.
In DoorDash, you make money by earning a base pay (which is essentially a combination of time, distance, and demand at the time), as well as tips and other promotions or rewards.
The app allows you to track your earnings and keep a look at your earning history. You can cash out the earnings in three ways. There’s a weekly payment setup which is the usual means of payment.
There’s also a ‘FastPay’ payment option where you can withdraw once a day (but it comes with a fee), and lastly, you can use the DasherDirect Prepaid Visa Card and get your funds instantly without any fees.
Key Features
- Multiple payment options: Weekly, Daily, or Instant
- You need only your smartphone and vehicle to start off
- Get a DoorDash Kit after first successful Dash delivery
- Keep 100% of the tips to yourself
- Track your earnings using the DoorDash dashboard
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Provides multiple options for payments – including instant cashouts | Demand might be low in smaller cities |
| Minimum requirements aren’t a tough ask | Fees for instant cashouts are higher |
| Good support for Dashers |
Conclusion
I have used DoorDash Dasher on a semi-regular basis for driving-based gig work, I find it a good solution for most of my part-time needs. However, my biggest pet peeve here is the wait time at restaurants which can be pretty long at times, especially when I have to deliver a larger order.
3. Uber
Lyft and Uber are two of the biggest options when it comes to driving for a cab-hailing service. While Lyft has a very strong presence in the US and Canada, Uber has a worldwide presence and is spread across many countries. It is the most popular ride-hailing service in the world and driving with Uber is a pretty simple process too.
There is no fixed minimum age requirement in Uber and it depends from place to place. You will also need to have a driver’s license, as well as at least a year of driving experience in the US.
Lastly, you will need a four-door vehicle to drive an Uber. Besides these, you would also need vehicle insurance as well as proof of residence, and a high-quality driver profile photo. Once you have submitted everything you will be taken through an online screening test.
The basic formula to calculate your earnings is the sum of the fares, promotions, and tips. In some cities, it depends on the distance and time it takes, while in other places it’s a flat upfront earning that you are shown at the beginning of the ride.
Uber sends you free weekly bank deposits which take up to 3 days to reach your account. Other than that, there’s an instant cashout option that charges a fee (variable from place to place), and lastly, you can take an Uber Pro Debit Card where you can get instant transfers as well as discounts on various pumps and gas stations.
Key Features
- No need for an internet connection to start or end trips
- Alerts you about busy streets so you can find more passengers
- The tracking dashboard lets you track all your earnings with ease
- 24×7 support for drivers over call
- Drivers can keep 100% of their tips
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Constant demand for cabs – you will always find work on Uber | Very elaborate sign-up process |
| Uber Pro Debit Card gives good discounts on gas and fuel | Earning rules and sign-up process varies from place to place |
| People tip higher on Uber, especially on long-distance rides |
Conclusion
As someone who has been a driver on Uber for an extended period, I find the app to be pretty fascinating. I would admit that signing up on it can be a pretty long process and sometimes Uber will show you a fare that’s higher than your actual payout, but other than that, in terms of the demand there’s nothing that can beat Uber!
4. Instacart Shopper
Instacart Shopper is a great app for people who are looking forward to working gigs that involve delivering groceries, but not restaurant orders.
The app has tie-ups with many major stores across the US including Walmart, Costco, Sprouts, Kroger, 7Eleven, etc. All you need to do here is to accept an order from a list of orders, pick up stuff, and deliver it to the customer.
There are two options here. You can choose to be either an in-store shopper, or you can choose to be a delivery shopper. Here, I am talking specifically about the latter.
You will need to be at least 18 years of age and have legal permission to work in the US. Lastly, you will need a car and a smartphone. There are no fixed hours, and you get further income with the help of promotions and tips.
You will get paid based on every order that you deliver. Your earnings depend on the order size, as well as the time it takes you to reach there, and lastly on the effort it takes you to shop and deliver. You can also keep 100% of your tips here. The money can be cashed out weekly, or in 2 hours via an instant cashout with a fee of 50 cents.
Key Features
- You can chat with the customer for any questions/changes
- Choose your own schedule to work on
- The choice to accept orders of your preference
- Supports 80,000 stores across the US
- Extra incentives and promotions from time to time
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Lets you keep 100% of the tips | Order demand might be lower in non-peak hours |
| Quick instant payments at a low cost | Customers might be unresponsive or slow over chat |
| Easy sign-up process |
Conclusion
I tried out Instacart shopper for a good few months and while I liked the app overall, it does require quite a bit of physical work. At times you might have to carry big orders upstairs and that’s physically daunting at times.
Sometimes you also get to hear customers scream at you if you are running a little late. However, it is a net positive as I’ve had many good orders too.
5. Shipt
Shipt is another great app to sign up with if you are looking forward to getting paid for just delivering groceries! The app allows you to take complete control of your hours and become your boss.
The app allows you to set your hours, and claim different orders between these hours. Shipt has no limits on the hours you can work or the number of orders you can deliver.
The app pays you based on a simple formula – Base Pay (fixed) + Bonuses (variable) + Tips (variable). The base pay is shown upfront and it varies based on the distance, time, and effort. However, bonuses may or may not be available at all times, and people may choose whether or not to tip you.
Direct deposits to bank accounts are made every Friday, but this is for the work you’ve done last week through Monday to Sunday. You can also choose to receive an instant payment via Stripe which can be accessed daily with a small fee on top.
You need to be at least 18 years old to deliver with Shipt. You also need to have a valid US driver’s license and a four-door car. You also need a smartphone.
Key Features
- Create your schedule and work your own hours
- Minimum offers of $16 per hour
- Keep 100% of the tips you get
- Also offers a package delivery service apart from grocery shopping
- You can choose the area (zone) in which you have to deliver
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great UI, easy-to-use app for delivery partners | Lack of orders, especially in the parcel delivery service |
| Complete control over not just time, but area as well | Payments for a week’s work reach you a week later |
| Minimum requirements aren’t too strict |
Conclusion
Shipt is a great option for people looking to gain maximum control over time. It doesn’t matter if you use it once an hour or once a week, you can do as much or as little as you want with Shipt. The app also promises $16 an hour at the least.
However, I have often found that some orders can be pretty heavy or big, and delivering them can be quite a task, so watch out for that. For every other reason, I’d recommend Shipt!
6. HopSkipDrive
When it comes to cab apps and ride-hailing apps, there are many options out there, but HopSkipDrive serves a special purpose. It is a service designed for the safe transportation of kids. If you choose to drive for HopSkipDrive, you’d be driving kids around and you would be called a ‘Caregiver on Wheels’.
Not only does the app allow you to work your own schedule and make some money on the side, but it also helps you make a difference in society and helps ensure that kids in the society around you are safe.
The app works across 25+ cities in the US and has a very rigorous background check process – including a minimum of 5 years of previous caregiving experience.
You also need to be at least 23 years old, have a 4-door vehicle which is a maximum of 10 years old, and have a good driving record. Besides that, the app will then run a background check on you and take your fingerprints as well. Since this is a service for keeping kids safe, all of this is important.
Drivers on HopSkipDrive are paid every week and the money is sent via a direct bank deposit.
Key Features
- Allows you to set your own work schedule
- Know the pickup and drop locations before accepting rides
- Accept scheduled rides in advance
- Dashboard to track earnings
- Earn up to $50 per ride with HopSkipDrive
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Helps you make the community safer | Requirements to join as a CareDriver are strict, but understandably so |
| Regular promotions that help drivers earn more | Operates only in limited locations |
| Good customer support |
Conclusion
HopSkipDrive is a unique and fulfilling app because not only does it help me make some extra cash on the side, but it also helps me work towards making my local community a safer space for kids. It is quite a rewarding experience both, monetarily as well as emotionally.
7. GoPuff Driver
Gopuff is a unique service in the shopping space as it runs its dark stores where drivers can directly get the groceries or alcohol from, and deliver straight to the buyers.
It saves waiting time and ensures drivers don’t have to drive all over the city to get orders. It also eliminates wait time at restaurants and also ensures more orders every day given the fast nature of the task.
Much like every other app on my list here, Gopuff also allows you to set your schedule and work only on the hours you want to.
To become a driver here, you need to be at least 21 years of age and have a driver’s license in the US. You also need vehicle insurance as well as a smartphone. The minimum requirements aren’t that high and you can easily sign up.
GoPuff has a variable base pay, which depends on the time and effort it takes for you to deliver an order. Besides that, you get to keep all the tips you get. There’s a third factor too – boosts.
Sometimes, during peak hours, you can make an extra dollar per delivery. GoPuff pays you every Tuesday for the earnings made over the previous week. It can take up to 3 days to reach you. There’s also an instant pay option with a fee of $1.99
Key Features
- Choose your own block to work in
- Better control over the time you want to work
- Stores offer parking as well as restrooms
- You can keep 100% of your tips
- Centralized pickup locations
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| You don’t have to move around a lot | A lot of people compete for the same store |
| User-friendly UI in the partner app | Sign-ups aren’t always open |
| Supports instant payments |
Conclusion
In my experience with Gopuff Driver, what I really loved was the fact that unlike ride-hailing or food delivery services, I don’t have to move from location to location and then on to a third location.
The store is centralized and that’s where all the orders are delivered from. This makes the entire process pretty quick and efficient. However, it would be nicer if the order frequency was higher.
Frequently Asked Questions
Apps do not pay you ‘just’ for driving, but for a task associated with driving. These can range from picking up and dropping off passengers to delivering food orders to dropping off parcels.
Lyft, Uber, and Doordash Dasher are among some of the apps that help you make a decent amount of money while driving.
The answer depends on where you are living. In most places, you will need your car, but in some cities, Lyft offers an ‘Express Drive’ program where you can rent a vehicle to drive on Lyft.
Wrap Up!
I have included a fair mix of apps here which include both, dropping parcels and food orders, as well as dropping off passengers from place to place. These are based on my personal experience but different users might have different experiences. I hope these apps help you find your dream gig.
While there’s no such thing as ‘easy money’, driving around your city and performing basic tasks like delivering stuff or dropping off passengers is as easy as it gets. It also helps you know your city better, and meet new people on the way.
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