Which Delivery App Pays More? DoorDash vs Uber Eats Calculator
Compare what two delivery apps really pay you per hour, after fuel, vehicle wear and self-employment tax. Put in one real shift from each and see which one actually wins.
Built by Toolsque Team · last updated September 21, 2026 · checked against our testing process
Which app actually pays you more?
National averages will not tell you this. Put in your own numbers from a real shift on each app.
| Per shift | App 1 | App 2 |
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How to compare two delivery apps
- Pick a real shift from each app: enter the gross the app paid you, the hours you were online, and the miles you drove. Use full shifts from the same week, not your best day against an average one.
- Count all your miles: from leaving home to getting back, not just the paid miles. Deadhead miles burn the same fuel.
- Set your car: your real mpg, what you actually pay for gas, and a cents per mile figure for wear. An old paid off car is cheaper to run than a financed new one.
- Pick the half of 2026 the shift fell in: the IRS mileage rate is 72.5 cents through June and 76 cents from July.
- Read the take home per hour row: that is the line that matters. If it disagrees with gross per hour, miles are eating your pay.
Which delivery app pays the most? It depends on your market
Every article on this question gives you a national average. Those averages are real, but they are not your answer, because the gap between the apps swings hard by city and by how you drive. Gridwise, which tracks real driver earnings, put the H1 2026 medians at about $15.95 an hour for DoorDash and $14.16 for Uber Eats gross. On per delivery it flips: Uber Eats averaged around $10.00 a task against DoorDash at $8.49. In dense cities like New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago, Uber Eats runs well ahead per hour. In the suburbs DoorDash gets more orders per hour and pulls back in front.
So the honest answer is that it depends on where you drive, how far each order takes you and what your car costs to run. That is a calculation, not a paragraph, which is why this page is a tool.
Why gross pay per hour is the wrong number
The app shows you gross. Gross is what the platform pays out, before the car takes its cut. Two shifts can pay the same and leave you with very different money, because miles are the hidden cost.
Here is a real shape of the problem. One app pays you $120 over five hours but runs you 180 miles. The other pays $100 over five hours for 40 miles. On the screen the first looks better, $24 an hour against $20. Put a 25 mpg car and $3.20 gas against it and the first shift burns $23 in fuel and $36 of wear, the second burns $5 and $8. Take home lands at $12.19 an hour against $15.25. The app that looked 20 percent better actually paid you 20 percent worse.
This is the single most common way drivers lose money without noticing, and no comparison article can catch it because it depends entirely on your own miles.
What the calculator does with your numbers
It takes one real shift from each app and works the money all the way down.
- Fuel is your miles divided by your mpg, times your gas price. Money that left your pocket during the shift.
- Wear and depreciation is your miles times a cents per mile figure you set. Tyres, brakes, servicing, and the value the car quietly loses. The default of 20 cents is a starting point, not a law. An older paid off car is cheaper, a financed newer one is dearer.
- Self-employment tax is 15.3 percent, which is 12.4 percent Social Security plus 2.9 percent Medicare. It is charged on your profit after the IRS mileage deduction, not on gross, which is why that line comes out smaller than you expect.
The IRS standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents a mile through 30 June and 76 cents from 1 July, so pick the half your shift fell in. That rate is a tax allowance, not a running cost, so it only ever touches the tax line here. Counting it as an expense as well would double count the fuel that was already subtracted.
Federal and state income tax are deliberately left out. Those depend on your total household income, your filing status and your other work, none of which this page knows. For that, use the 1099 tax calculator, or the DoorDash tax calculator if delivery is your only income.
How to get an answer you can trust
Use one full shift from each app, not your best day on one and an average day on the other. Same week if you can, because demand moves. Log your miles from the moment you leave home to the moment you get back, not just the miles the app paid you for, since deadhead miles cost you exactly the same in fuel and wear.
Run it again after a month. Markets shift, promotions come and go, and the app that wins in January is not always the one that wins in June.
Where these figures come from
Hourly and per delivery medians are from Gridwise driver earnings data for H1 2026. Mileage rates are the IRS standard rates for 2026. The self-employment rate of 15.3 percent is the standard SECA rate. Every other number on this page comes from what you typed.
These results are an estimate to plan with, not tax advice. See our disclaimer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which delivery app pays the most?
There is no single answer, which is why this is a calculator. On H1 2026 medians DoorDash paid more per hour gross, about $15.95 against Uber Eats at $14.16, but Uber Eats paid more per delivery, about $10.00 against $8.49. In dense cities Uber Eats often pays 20 to 35 percent more per hour, while DoorDash gets more orders per hour in the suburbs. Your own miles decide it.
Why is my take home so much lower than what the app showed?
Because the app shows gross. Fuel, wear and self-employment tax all come out afterwards, and they scale with miles rather than with earnings. A long low paying order can cost you more to deliver than it pays.
Does the app with higher pay per hour always win?
No, and that is the point of the tool. A shift paying $24 an hour over 180 miles can leave you with less than one paying $20 an hour over 40 miles. When that happens the calculator says so directly.
What should I use for wear per mile?
Twenty cents is a reasonable starting point for an ordinary car, covering tyres, brakes, servicing and depreciation. Use less for an older paid off car you maintain yourself, more for a financed newer one. It is your figure, not ours, so change it.
Is the 15.3 percent tax the whole tax bill?
No. That is self-employment tax only, which is Social Security and Medicare. Federal and state income tax sit on top and depend on your total household income and filing status, so they are not included here. Use the 1099 tax calculator for the full picture.
Why is the tax line smaller than 15.3 percent of my earnings?
Because self-employment tax is charged on profit, not gross, and the IRS standard mileage deduction reduces that profit. At 76 cents a mile, 100 miles takes $76 off the amount you are taxed on.
Should I count the miles driving to my start point?
For working out what a shift really paid you, yes. Those miles cost you fuel and wear exactly the same. Whether they are tax deductible is a separate question that depends on where your tax home is, so ask an accountant about that part.