12 Best Delivery Apps to Make Extra Money in 2024

The most common side hustle in this space is food delivery. Essentially, you’ll drive to restaurants, pick up meals (which will usually already be waiting for you), and take them to your customers’ homes or offices.

While you drive, you’re free to listen to music (or a podcast or an audiobook), which many drivers cite as one of the job’s biggest perks. Overall, this is a relatively easy and low-stress side hustle, although whether right for you will come down to what apps operate in your area and how many restaurants (and hungry people) are near you.

1. Uber Eats

Uber Eats (which now includes Postmates) is one of the most popular food delivery apps. That means it gets tons of customers every day, which translates to a lot of orders. The flip side, of course, is that the app also has a lot of drivers, so the competition for work can be stiff.

What you need to know about Uber Eats

• What you’ll deliver: Mainly restaurant orders, but also groceries, pharmaceuticals, and alcohol (in some states).
• How deliveries work: You’ll usually drive to a restaurant, park, pick up a meal, and drive to the customer’s home. You may hand the order off to them or just leave it at their door (this is known as “contactless delivery,” and it’s a feature that most of these apps offer in the post-pandemic world).
• Scheduling: Flexible; you don’t need to schedule shifts and can work at will.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.
• Tips from an expert: According to Luke Kirchhoff, an experienced Uber Eats driver who we interviewed for our review of the platform, Uber Eats is worth driving for, but not as a full-time job. It’s best to keep it as a side hustle (or use it in tandem with another app, something that we strongly recommend doing regardless of which platform you pick).

Pros and cons of Uber Eats

2. DoorDash

DoorDash is another hugely popular delivery app—in fact, it’s the most popular in the US. This means that it has many of the same advantages and disadvantages as Uber Eats. In most areas, you’ll find plenty of participating restaurants, but also a lot of other drivers who are competing for work.

What you need to know about DoorDash

• What you’ll deliver: Mainly restaurant orders, but also items from grocery and convenience stores and other retail outlets.
• How deliveries work: You’ll pick up each order from the restaurant or store, drive to the customer’s home, and drop or hand it off.
• Scheduling: When you first sign up, you’ll be required to schedule shifts in advance. After working for a while, you’ll be able to deliver at will.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.
• Tips from an expert: As with Uber Eats, it’s a good idea to use DoorDash along with at least one other delivery app. That matches the advice we received from Luis Jara, a driver who uses DoorDash as his primary source of work. As he put it, “in the gig economy, time is literally money,” and the more you can decrease your downtime, the more you’ll earn.

Pros and cons of DoorDash

3. Grubhub

Grubhub was one of the earliest food delivery apps to hit the market. It was formerly a very strong presence in the industry, but its market share has slipped since 2020, and there are fewer jobs on it these days. That said, it’s still worth driving for in some neighborhoods. The only way to tell if yours is one of them is to try it for yourself.

What you need to know about Grubhub

• What you’ll deliver: Mainly restaurant orders, although you may occasionally deliver items from convenience stores (as well as liquor stores, in some states).
• How deliveries work: You’ll park at each restaurant, grab the food, and drive it to the customer’s location.
• Scheduling: You can either schedule “blocks” (shifts) in advance or pick up gigs on the fly. Grubhub offers a (neighborhood-dependent) hourly minimum wage during blocks, but no guaranteed earnings during unscheduled work.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.

Pros and cons of Grubhub

With some apps, you’ll be tasked with doing people’s grocery shopping for them or picking up packages that they ordered online.

In many cases, this will require more physical work than food delivery, as you’ll often have to walk around a store and collect the items the customer wants (rather than just picking a few bags up at a counter). You may also have to pick up heavy or bulky items from a warehouse or distribution center and load them into your car.

You’ll generally earn about the same hourly rate as you would with food delivery—you’ll just be more active while doing it, which might be a plus or a minus, depending on your perspective.

4. Instacart

Instacart is the leading grocery delivery app. It works a lot like the food delivery apps we’ve already mentioned, with the obvious difference being that you’ll collect items from grocery stores instead of restaurants.

What you need to know about Instacart

• What you’ll deliver: You’ll deliver groceries of all kinds.
• How deliveries work: When you become an Instacart shopper, you can choose between being a “full-service shopper” or an “in-store shopper.” In-store shoppers collect items for customers and then leave them in the store for their customers to pick up themselves, whereas full-service shoppers actually deliver the products to the customers’ homes. Most Instacart gig workers opt to become full-service shoppers.
• Scheduling: In-store shoppers work assigned hours, but full-service shoppers are free to pick up gigs whenever they like.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.
• Tips from an expert: Delivering for Instacart is a more active job than some of the others on this list, since you’ll have to wander around stores and lift (potentially heavy) bags of produce and other goods. According to Rachel Johnson, an Instacart shopper who we previously interviewed for our review, this isn’t a significant impediment to using the app—unless you’re mobility-challenged, in which case you might be happier with a different type of gig.

Pros and cons of Instacart

5. Walmart Spark

Walmart Spark is a relative newcomer to the delivery app market. It primarily tasks you with shopping for food, groceries, home goods, and everyday essentials at Walmart stores. The app also features “Walmart GoLocal” orders that may take you to other affiliated retail outlets (not owned by Walmart). It’s up to you whether or not you accept any of those.

What you need to know about Spark

• What you’ll deliver: Often groceries, but you may be asked to deliver anything sold at Walmart or one of its affiliates.
• How deliveries work: Some orders are “delivery only,” meaning the items will already have been collected for you, but many will require you to round them up in the store yourself. Occasionally, you may also see “deliveries” that consist of returning unwanted items (e.g., appliances) to the stores.
• Scheduling: Flexible; you don’t need to schedule shifts, and can pick up work at will.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly with Branch; instantly with One.

Pros and cons of Spark

6. Shipt

Shipt is owned by Target, and many of their pickups involve delivering from one of their company’s stores. However, they also contract with dozens of other retailers. Unlike most of the other gig apps on this list, Shipt maintains an “Earnings Standard,” which is a promise that the pay for each order (before tips and bonuses) will translate to an hourly rate of at least $16.

What you need to know about Shipt

• What you’ll deliver: You’ll sometimes pick up groceries, but will frequently deliver other types of packages, too.
• How deliveries work: Shipt allows you to choose between being a “shopper” (in which case you’ll go into outlets and collect items) and a “driver” (in which case you’ll sit in your car and workers will bring packages out to you).
• Scheduling: You must schedule shifts in advance.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.

Pros and cons of Shipt

7. Amazon Flex

As a driver for Amazon Flex, you’ll pick up and drop off Amazon orders in your area. To collect the packages, you’ll have to drive to an Amazon warehouse, so whether this app will be practical for you depends on how close the nearest one is. Like Shipt, Amazon Flex guarantees that you’ll make a set hourly minimum (currently $15–$19 per hour, depending on where you drive).

What you need to know about Amazon Flex

• What you’ll deliver: Highly varied; you may be called on to deliver anything that people can order on Amazon. You’ll also sometimes handle grocery deliveries from affiliated stores, like Whole Foods.
• How deliveries work: Generally, you’ll drive to an Amazon outlet, then wait in your car for workers to help you load the packages for delivery. You won’t have to walk around and collect the items yourself.
• Scheduling: You have to schedule shifts (“delivery blocks”) in advance. Each block usually lasts for 2–4 hours.
• How you’ll get paid: Daily or weekly (you can choose your own paydays).

Pros and cons of Amazon Flex

8. Roadie

Owned by UPS, Roadie bills itself as a crowdsourced package delivery platform. The app will theoretically try to match you with deliveries that will take you on routes you were likely to travel down anyway, although not all drivers seem to agree that it does so successfully.

What you need to know about Roadie

• What you’ll deliver: You may be called upon to deliver anything and everything, ranging from groceries to tools to medical supplies (although you may need to obtain a certification to deliver very large or highly specialized items).
• How deliveries work: Unlike most of the apps on this list, Roadie won’t let you claim orders at will. When you see one you’d like to deliver, you’ll have to apply for it. If Roadie thinks you’re a good match, it will direct you to the customer’s location, where you’ll pick the goods up. You may have to help the customer load the items into your car, but you won’t have to walk around a store and collect them yourself.
• Scheduling: You can apply for work at will. That said, most retail outlets that use Roadie only post gigs during normal business hours. Other businesses may operate differently (for instance, healthcare facilities usually need deliveries after 6 pm). If you use Roadie, experiment to see when the most lucrative offers show up in your area.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.
• Tips from an expert: According to Tariq Babieh, a veteran Roadie driver, this platform generally offers lower rates than most of the other platforms on this list, which means it isn’t a good choice for your primary source of gigs. However, it does see the occasional high-paying offer, so it can be a decent supplementary app.

Pros and cons of Roadie

9. Gopuff

Although customers use this app to order everyday essentials and groceries, Gopuff works more like a package delivery gig than a shop-and-deliver app like Instacart. Instead of going to a store yourself to grab the goods, you’ll collect deliveries from a centralized pickup facility (a warehouse).

What you need to know about Gopuff

• What you’ll deliver: You’ll mainly deliver groceries and other everyday items.
• How deliveries work: You’ll drive to a designated warehouse, load groceries into your car, and drive them to the delivery location. As with most of the apps on this list, deliveries may be in-person or contact-free.
• Scheduling: At some Gopuff facilities, you’ll schedule shifts in advance (every Thursday morning). At other warehouses, this isn’t an option, and you’ll mark yourself available in the app whenever you want to start working.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.

Pros and cons of Gopuff

10. Curri

Curri is an unusual app that facilitates the delivery of construction supplies. This means you’ll need a large vehicle (a van or pickup truck is ideal). Curri’s rates can be quite variable; some jobs pay surprisingly little and others are quite lucrative, so if you use this app, it’s best to be a bit choosy about what gigs you accept.

What you need to know about Curri

• What you’ll deliver: You’ll deliver construction equipment (such as tools and machinery) and supplies (pipes, siding, etc.).
• How deliveries work: Curri is similar to Roadie in that you don’t always get jobs you apply for. Curri will automatically evaluate you for each order you request. If you get the job, you’ll be responsible for loading and securing anything under 50 lb yourself. When items are larger than that, the customer is theoretically supposed to help you, although reportedly, this doesn’t always happen. (If a customer refuses to help, call Curri’s support line.)
• Scheduling: Flexible (you can pick up gigs at will).
• How you’ll get paid: Within 1–3 business days, or instantly for a fee.

Pros and cons of Curri

There are several other delivery apps that are worth mentioning, but they’re restricted to a limited area. Additionally, they’re smaller players in the delivery space, and they may have lower rates or less work than the other apps we’ve listed.

It’s unlikely any of these will be big earners for you, but if one happens to be available in your area, it might still be worth experimenting with—as a supplemental app, at least.

11. Favor

If you sign up for the Texas-exclusive Favor app, you’ll be considered a “runner”—something the company likens to a personal assistant—rather than a delivery driver. As such, you’ll place orders for people according to their instructions (instead of the app placing them for you). Then, you’ll go and pick up the goods for them.

You’ll earn a flat $2.10 for most orders (plus tips), or a minimum hourly wage of $9 during scheduled shifts. That’s one of the lowest rates of any app on this list, but some drivers still use Favor as a supplemental app for when the competition gets too fierce on more popular apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

What you need to know about Favor

• Where it operates: Texas
• What you’ll deliver: You may be sent on errands and deliveries for just about anything, ranging from food and groceries to dry cleaning and medication.
• How deliveries work: You’ll generally call businesses and place an order for the items the customer wants, then drive over and pick them up. You may have to stand in line, which will make gigs take longer and cut down on your earnings.
• Scheduling: You can pick up work “on demand” (whenever you’re free), but you can also schedule shifts in advance. It’s better to do that if at all possible, since you’re only eligible for the hourly minimum when doing scheduled work.
• How you’ll get paid: Weekly, with same-day pay available for a fee.

Pros and cons of Favor

12. Delivery.com

Originally based in New York, Delivery.com now operates in over 2,000 cities across 30+ US states. Although this is the longest-running delivery app on this list, it’s one of the least popular, so we recommend using it in conjunction with another app to maximize the orders you get.

What you need to know about Delivery.com

• Where it operates: Major cities in around 30 states (see the full list of cities where Delivery.com operates on their website)
• What you’ll deliver: Delivery.com is a catch-all delivery service, offering food, groceries, alcohol, dry cleaning, and more.
• How deliveries work: This is a minor app, and there isn’t much publicly available information on what most orders are like. It’s possible that some (e.g., grocery deliveries) will require you to collect the items in the store, the way you have to do for apps like Instacart.
• Scheduling: You’re free to pick up gigs whenever you want to, but Delivery.com requires you to choose roughly what time of day you want to work (e.g., mornings, evenings, etc.) to avoid over-scheduling its workers.
• How you’ll get paid: Probably weekly, although Delivery.com doesn’t disclose this.

Pros and cons of Delivery.com