August 15, 2024
Editorial GuidelinesErica is a freelance writer and proofreader. As the owner of Words with Erica, she helps indie fantasy authors polish their...
Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world. In addition to its millions of employees, it also hires independent drivers for its delivery app, Amazon Flex.
Read our review of Amazon Flex to see how it compares to other delivery apps, such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, and whether it’s worth driving for in 2024.
Amazon Flex is a package delivery service. Drivers use their personal vehicles to deliver Amazon orders to customers.
As an Amazon Flex driver (also called a “delivery partner”), you’ll work for distinct blocks of time. These are usually 2–4 hours long, but may stretch a bit longer (up to 6 hours in some cases).
You can choose the blocks you want to work in advance. Amazon offers them on a first-come, first-served basis.
Before you choose a block, you’ll be able to see how long it will last and approximately how much you’ll earn for the deliveries you make during it.
If Amazon displays a range of possible earnings, that indicates the minimum amount that they guarantee you’ll make and how much they think you might be able to make through tips and other bonuses.
For instance, if they display a range of $36–$66 for a 2-hour block, you’re certain to net at least $18 per hour ($36 divided by 2), and their algorithm thinks that tips may boost your effective rate as high as $33 per hour ($66 divided by 2).
There are four different types of orders you may be asked to deliver on Amazon Flex:
Once you begin your block, the Flex app will direct you to a pickup location to collect your packages, then you’ll deliver each item to its destination. The app will guide you through the entire process, giving you the dropoff address, step-by-step directions, and a GPS-enabled map.
The Amazon Flex website claims that most drivers earn $18–$25 per hour. Other sites and reports from delivery partners make similar claims.
This is roughly in line with what you can earn on other delivery apps, and might be a bit above what the competition offers. Our past research has shown that in general, delivery gigs pay out around $15–$20 per hour.
Unlike some apps, Amazon guarantees that you’ll make a certain hourly base pay. According to their FAQ, this is currently $15–$19 per hour.
Your pay is affected by several factors, including:
To increase your earning potential, you can apply for a program called Amazon Flex Rewards. Once you’re part of it, you’ll be eligible for various rewards, which can cut down on your expenses and boost your effective rate.
Once you enroll in Amazon Flex Rewards, you’ll earn “points” for each delivery you make and every block you complete. Earning points lets you advance through a “level” system.
There are four levels, as shown in the table below:
| Amazon Flex Rewards level | Points required |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 (instantly available) |
| 2 | 650 |
| 3 | 3,000 |
| 4 | 6,500 |
The exact perks you’ll get with the Amazon Flex Rewards program rotate frequently. You can usually get:
These rewards scale based on your level. For instance, at level 3, you might be eligible for 4%–8% cash back on gas purchases; at level 4, you might be eligible for 6%–12% cash back, depending on what Amazon is currently offering.
Sometimes, Amazon offers temporary promotions for Flex Rewards members. For instance, in 2023, they offered 3–6 months of access to Amazon Prime for drivers at levels 3 and 4.
The number of points you get per delivery or block isn’t fixed. It’s determined by your “standing” on the Flex app, which is tied to your performance as a driver.
Here’s how many points you can earn at different standings:
| Standing | Points per delivery | Points per block |
|---|---|---|
| Fantastic | 3 | 30 |
| Great | 2 | 20 |
| Fair | 1 | 10 |
| At risk | 0 (ineligible for points; may be suspended from the app) | 0 |
Amazon doesn’t disclose what determines your standing on the platform, but reports from drivers suggest that the main factors are:
Amazon claims that most drivers maintain a rating of either “fantastic” or “great.” However, we’ve read quite a few anecdotal reports suggesting that their system can be unfair and punitive, and that a single late delivery or bad review can drop you into the “at risk” category, even if it was due to factors outside your control.
Amazon Flex will pay you on a daily or weekly basis. In contrast to many platforms, which have fixed payment schedules, you can pick your own payday (or even opt to get paid every day, if you prefer).
There are two payment methods available, which are shown in the table below:
| Option | When you’ll get paid | Associated fees | Requirements | Added benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct deposit | Flexible | None | Have a personal bank account | None |
| Amazon Flex Debit Card | Flexible | None | Reach level 2 in the Amazon Flex Rewards program | Cash back opportunities Free banking app 3 free ATM withdrawals per month |
How soon your earnings will become available to cash out will depend on when you complete each block. Here’s the earliest you can expect to see your money:
Your earnings may become available slightly earlier (by up to 6 hours) if you use the Amazon Flex Debit Card to withdraw them than if you opt for a direct deposit.
You need to meet the following requirements to become a delivery partner:
You’ll also be required to undergo a background check. This is conducted by a third-party company called Accurate.
You’ll probably be able to pass unless you have felonies or serious vehicular offenses (e.g., a DUI) on your record. It may take two to five business days to get your results.
Amazon Flex currently operates in over 100 cities in the US. You can view the list of recruiting cities on their website.
If you don’t see any openings in your city, you can still sign up to indicate your interest; they’ll update you if a position becomes available.
If you meet the requirements above, becoming a delivery driver is easy. First, download the app using one of the buttons below.
Get Amazon Flex for iOS Get Amazon Flex for Android
(Note that Amazon Flex isn’t available on the Google Play store yet, so if you have an Android device, that button will take you to a guide explaining how to get the app and not directly to a download page.)
Once you have the Flex app on your mobile device, launch it and follow the instructions to create your profile. You’ll need to provide:
As mentioned, you may have to wait a few days for your background check to clear. Once it does, you can complete your profile in the app and start delivering.
When you evaluate whether or not driving for Amazon Flex is worth your time, you have to consider:
We’ll look at both of these questions below.
You already know that you can earn $18–$25 per hour on Amazon Flex. Unfortunately, you won’t pocket all of that money as profit; any driving-based side hustle that uses your own car (or requires renting one) will feature fairly high operating costs, such as fuel expenses, and you’ll have to pay those yourself. Amazon won’t take care of them for you.
Your exact expenses depend on many factors, particularly how fuel-efficient your car is. However, as a rough estimate, expect the following expenses:
All told, that will eat into your earnings by 35%, leaving you with just 65% of your gross pay. That means your effective rate will be more like $11.70–$16.25 per hour (rather than $18–$25).
That isn’t a terrible wage by any means, particularly for a job that almost anyone can do. It’s considerably higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. However, if your pay ends up being on the lower end (closer to $11.70), it’ll be below the minimum wage in 22 states and the District of Columbia (as of February 2024). 1
The takeaway is that driving for Amazon Flex is a reasonably well-paid side hustle, but it’s not as lucrative as it appears at first glance. The pay is comparable to what you’ll find at many retail positions and other entry-level gigs.
Of course, your take-home pay on Amazon Flex is only one piece of the puzzle. It’s also important to evaluate what the work is actually like.
At Side Hustles, we’ve talked to several delivery drivers about what they like and dislike about their work (see our review of DoorDash and Uber Eats for a few examples of these interviews). In general, here’s what the people who do this kind of work say about it:
That three-point summary tells you most of what you need to know about the job, but in case you’re still on the fence, we’ll take a look at what actual workers have to say about Amazon Flex.
In the words of one Reddit user, Amazon Flex is the “easiest gig ever.”
They single out one stressful aspect—the tight 15-minute windows that you’ll be given at Amazon’s warehouses to load the packages. They also note that Amazon’s initially lucrative offers will probably “taper off” to the hourly base pay after a while. However, they still believe that the gig is worth your time.
Their advice for making the most of Amazon Flex is to:
Another user is more ambivalent about Amazon Flex, although they don’t go quite so far as to say that it’s not worth it.
They point out that compared to other delivery apps, such as Uber Eats, Flex gives you less freedom to choose where you deliver.
If the app assigns you an undesirable route—”think downtown apartments at very bad times or very rural routes”—you’re locked into it unless you outright decline it, and if you do that “more than a few times,” you risk having your account deactivated.
This matches the reports of Flex’s punitive rating system that we mentioned above, and it’s a significantly harsher system than most delivery apps feature. Uber Eats and DoorDash, for instance, do not penalize drivers for rejecting orders.
In this user’s view, Flex is only worth it if you’re able to take advantage of price surges (temporary pay hikes that Amazon uses to incentivize drivers to work during busy times). Ultimately, they’re ambivalent about the app, because the unpredictable earnings and the chance that you’ll get locked into an unfavorable route makes driving for it “risky.” There’s no guarantee you’ll make enough money for it to be worth your time.
A third user recommends Amazon Flex to people who are looking for a side income, but they don’t recommend it as a full-time gig.
Interestingly, they claim that in their area, Amazon Flex pays less than Instacart (and, in a later comment, they make the same claim about DoorDash). That doesn’t match our research, which suggests that Flex is one of the highest-paying delivery apps, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. The pay for courier work varies widely by location, and some apps are more worthwhile in certain areas than others.
They also offer a scrap of common-sense advice: just try it out. As they note, you might love it and you might hate it. There’s no way to know until you get behind the wheel for your first shift.
This is something that more than a few delivery drivers have pointed out to us. Driving-based gig apps generally have very low barriers to entry and don’t require long-term commitments.
You can download as many of them as you like and experiment to see which (if any) are worthwhile in your area. If one doesn’t work out, you don’t have to drive for it any longer than you want. The stakes are very low, so if you’re curious about Amazon Flex, you have nothing to lose by trying it.
Amazon Flex is comparable to the other big-name apps in the delivery space, but how does it stack up against other types of app-based work that anyone can do?
Here’s a comparison of the rates that different gigs offer:
| Side Hustle | Popular Apps | Base Pay (Hourly) |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery driving | Uber Eats DoorDash Grubhub Instacart Postmates | $20 |
| Ridesharing (providing taxi services) | Uber Lyft | $20–$44 |
| Helping people move | Dolly Bellhops Lugg | $30–$50 |
| Lawn care | LawnGuru Handy TaskRabbit | $40–$50 |
| Microtasking (taking online surveys, etc) | Swagbucks | Under minimum wage |
| Mystery shopping | iSecretShop | $15 |
| Pet sitting | Wag! Rover Care.com | $12–$19 |
| Teaching or tutoring online | Wyzant Preply | $10–15+ |
| Walking dogs | Wag! Rover | $10–$17 |
These are rough estimates, not exact figures (to learn how we obtained them, read about our side hustle pricing methodology). However, they do reflect broad trends in the gig economy.
As you can see, courier work like Amazon Flex is in the middle of the pack as far as pay goes. It pays a bit less than either rideshare driving (i.e., ferrying passengers on Uber or Lyft) or manual labor (e.g., lawn care). That’s because it doesn’t involve interacting with customers or demanding physical work, so more people are willing to do it.
If you want an app-based gig and your main consideration is money, you might be better off with one of those side hustles instead. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something easy and low-stress, Amazon Flex is a decent bet. Again, if you’re on the fence, give it a try and see whether it suits you.
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