The right delivery app depends on the work you want to do, the offers available near you and what you keep after expenses. Start by comparing restaurant deliveries with grocery shopping, then test a small number of shifts instead of relying on someone else’s best payday.
This guide focuses on U.S. delivery opportunities. Availability and signup requirements vary by location.
Start with the work I have actually reported
My reported $426 Spark day is the biggest single-day claim featured here; the linked account explains a mismatch with the displayed trip estimates. My catering week tells a different story: fewer deliveries spread across several days. And my Veho account shows why pickup time matters before the first package even leaves the warehouse.
| Account | Reported result | What to take from it |
|---|---|---|
| My Spark day | Reported $426 and ten hours; the mileage screenshot shows 202 work miles. October 2024. | The trip-list screenshots appear to show ten entries totaling $402.40 in estimates. The reported final payout and nine-order count are not reconciled. |
| My Uber Eats two-trip comparison | Recorded figures: $24.10 for 12.4 miles and $34.06 for 4 miles. Historical screenshot included in October 2024. | The shorter trip paid $9.96 more and took 4 minutes 14 seconds less in the recorded figures. These are individual trips, with no complete shift time or mileage, so they do not establish an hourly wage. |
| My Dlivrd catering week | $381.40 from 7 deliveries. April 2025. | A daily earnings breakdown. Complete hours and mileage are missing, so it cannot establish an hourly rate. |
| My Veho route experience | A reported 45-minute warehouse wait on the first pickup. October 2024. | A look at pickup delays and route timing, rather than a documented earnings comparison. |
These accounts cover different units of work: a Spark day, two Uber Eats trips, a catering week and a Veho pickup experience. They cannot establish which app pays best on comparable shifts. Follow each link for the underlying records and their limits, then compare your own full-shift time, miles and received pay.
Compare four delivery apps
| Platform | Work to explore | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| DoorDash | Local delivery through the Dasher app | Restaurant waits, delivery distance and access to the times you want to work |
| Uber Eats | Delivery requests through Uber’s Driver app | Pickup locations, trip details and local transport options |
| Shipt | Shop & Deliver orders | Item count, substitutions, checkout time and delivery windows |
| Spark Driver | Shopping and delivery offers | Offer type, store wait, number of stops and bulky items |
Use each platform’s official signup page to check local eligibility: DoorDash, Uber Eats, Shipt and Spark Driver. An app operating nearby does not guarantee immediate approval or a steady supply of offers.
Start with the type of work you can do well
Restaurant delivery
If you prefer picking up prepared orders to shopping aisles, restaurant delivery is a useful category to investigate. When evaluating a shift, record how long you spend waiting at restaurants and driving back toward pickup areas. A short customer trip can still take a long time overall.
Read our Uber Eats driver experience and DoorDash Earn by Time discussion. Older personal accounts describe the author’s experience at the time; check current app terms before relying on a program detail.
If you are deciding which DoorDash offers to accept, start with whether acceptance rate matters for rewards. For the specific zero-rate question, see what happens at 0% acceptance rate.
Grocery shopping and delivery
Shopping adds decisions that a mileage-only comparison misses: unfamiliar aisles, produce selection, substitutions, checkout queues and carrying groceries to the door. Before accepting, ask whether you can finish the whole order within the available time, not just whether the store is close.
Our Shipt shopper requirements and first-order guide covers applying and getting started. For communication ideas, see Shipt shopper tips.
Already approved for Shipt? Go straight to the first-order training checklist for preparation and official learning resources.
Spark shopping and delivery offers
Spark’s official site describes shopping and delivery opportunities and the ability to choose which offers to accept. Evaluate the specific offer, including your travel to the store and the final destination. A high dollar amount needs to be weighed against the complete trip.
See our reported $426 Spark day for an individual example with screenshots. It is a historical account, not an expected daily income or a guarantee.
Package routes and catering deliveries
If you are exploring work beyond restaurant pickups and grocery shopping, start with the actual delivery process. For packages, read what Veho drivers deliver alongside my warehouse experience above. Look at the pickup commitment and route instructions before deciding whether a route fits the hours you have available.
For catering, the DoorDash catering orders guide covers access and equipment. My catering alternatives account covers work outside DoorDash. These are different opportunities, so check the specific app and offer instead of assuming the same rules apply.
For the application side of catering, read my DeliverThat signup experience and wait for a first order. It covers getting started, while the Dlivrd account above covers reported completed deliveries.
Laundry work with pickup and delivery
If you are considering work that combines driving with tasks at home, read the Poplin Laundry Pro pay and costs guide. Compare the complete job: customer pickup, washing, drying, folding and returning the laundry. Include supplies, machine costs and both drives when assessing the payout.
Compare earnings using the whole shift
Use the same measurement for each app: money actually received, less operating costs, divided by all the hours you set aside for the work. Keep estimated tips separate from received tips and include waiting and repositioning time.
Illustrative comparison: One shift brings in $80 over four hours with $16 in operating costs. That leaves $64, or $16 an hour before taxes. Another brings in $90 over five hours with $20 in costs. That leaves $70, or $14 an hour before taxes. The second shift has higher gross receipts but a lower return on time. These are made-up examples, not platform earnings estimates.
For the recordkeeping side, use the driver tax and mileage recordkeeping guide. Keep your shift comparison and supporting records together so the payout, miles and costs are easy to review later.
A first-week testing plan
Download the free weekly shift tracker (Excel, 7 KB) to compare up to 14 shifts. Enter received pay, total hours, miles and tracked costs. The workbook calculates weekly rates from the totals and keeps pending pay separate. Use one row per shared multi-app shift so hours and miles count once.
- Pick a manageable starting point. Choose a platform and area that fit your vehicle, schedule and physical abilities.
- Record each shift. Note the hours, miles, completed orders, received pay, tips and costs.
- Repeat comparable times. Compare similar days and time windows before deciding one app is better.
- Review difficult orders. Identify whether waits, distance, parking or shopping made them less worthwhile.
- Adjust one thing at a time. Change your area or working hours and see whether the result improves.
Want to compare notes with other drivers? Use the shift-report template in the driver discussion room to share received pay, full-shift hours, miles and delays. The room may be quiet when you visit; reader reports are not independently verified app-pay data.
Can you use more than one app?
Having alternatives can help you compare available work, but avoid taking conflicting commitments. Once you accept an order, meet that platform’s delivery requirements before taking on work that could delay it. Park safely before reviewing offers or changing app settings. Our multi-apping discussion introduces the approach.
Which app pays the most?
There is no reliable single winner for every driver and market. Use your own completed shifts to compare earnings after costs, reliability of work and the hours you actually want to drive. A promotional offer or an exceptional screenshot is not a typical-pay forecast.