Coronavirus Update
Under normal circumstances, the best cheap food delivery service is the one that satisfies all our culinary whims and appetites. But as we adapt to the changes brought on by the coronavirus, priorities could shift from searching for the tastiest, trendiest food to simply finding the most reliable and affordable online food delivery services.
Our goal in the list above is to strike a balance between quality and convenience. While the most important thing is simply having access to food, enjoyment should not be overlooked, as in times like these it is important to find pleasure where we can. The best food delivery services, like the ones we've listed above, are those that provide ample access to great restaurants and establishments while remaining reliable, affordable, and accessible in cities large and small.
These are the 10 best online food delivery companies we ranked:
1. Best Overall. Grubhub
2. Best for snacks and packaged goods. Postmates:
3. Best for variety. seamless:
4. Best for dinner with wine. Doordash:
5. Best for exclusive meals. caviar
6. Best for fast delivery. UberEats:
7. Best for hidden gems. Delivery.com
8. Best for local eats. BeyondMenu:
9. Best for Global Cuisine. Zomato:
10. Best in reliability. Domino's
How We Tested
We took many factors into consideration to determine our top 10 food delivery apps. These include cities served, delivery variety, restaurant selection and diversity, affordability, service fees, and delivery speed.
If you are exhausted after a long day at work or just want a pizza without having to leave the house, food delivery apps are your salvation. You're no longer restricted to just one restaurant or have to know exactly what you want to eat before ordering delivery or takeaway – food delivery apps allow you to choose from and get your hands on a wide range of the most popular takeaways. delivered to your door without even having to talk to anyone. These are the main aspects to consider when choosing which food app should be your hero.
Available Cities
Unfortunately, not all US citizens can still access a food delivery app. Most food delivery apps are still restricted to urban areas, so the first thing you should do is find out which apps cover your area. GrubHub and Postmates are the most likely to list your city, as each app delivers to over 1,000 cities in the US from over 30,000 restaurants. However, if you live in a major hub like New York City, Los Angeles, or Chicago, you can choose from dozens of food delivery apps.
Delivery Fee
You know that food delivery apps have to make money somewhere, but you still don't want to pay more than you have to to get your food. Seamless and Delivery.com stand out here because there is no shipping fee. That said, Delivery.com warns that some restaurants may charge their own delivery fee. Although Caviar's food tends to be on the higher end of the menu, delivery starts at $0 and increases depending on the distance from the restaurant. It also adds an 18% service fee to your total so you can pay the entire cost up front. Uber also makes it easy to pay with a flat $5 delivery fee and all tips are included in the cost of your order.
At the other end of the scale, Postmates charges a shipping fee for each order and can also add Blitz Pricing at peak times. If you use the service regularly, you can join the Plus Unlimited service for $10 a month to get free delivery and service from local partner merchants on orders over $25. DoorDash is another more expensive service with delivery fees that vary depending on your location and a “selection fee” on top of the menu price of each dish. You'll also have to pay a tip and add $1 if your order is less than $10.
Food Range
You can choose your food delivery app based on what you want to eat. Some of the bigger services, like GrubHub and Seamless, have tens of thousands of in-app menus that you can order directly from. With GrubHub, you can browse or search by city, address, cuisine, or menu item.
Postmates and Delivery.com are shared delivery apps that will pick up your order from almost any restaurant in your area, as well as get your laundry or more toilet paper from the store. They are also one of the few delivery apps that allow you to order alcohol.
Some food delivery apps operate in a completely different way, for example Zomato is only available in a few major cities, serving its chef-prepared menu through the app rather than serving dishes from local restaurants.
Pre-Order
Whether you're getting your cheeseburger delivered 5 minutes after you get home from work or ordering pizza for a party of 12 days before a gathering, ordering ahead can be very convenient. UberEats and Caviar are among the food delivery apps that allow you to order several days in advance, while GrubHub allows you to order up to 4 days in advance.
Ratings:
If you're visiting a new city or just aren't sure what you want to eat, it can be extremely helpful to refer to customer reviews of restaurants and dishes. Doordash stands out with its helpful Delight Score, which evaluates food quality and restaurant popularity, along with delivery times and customer satisfaction. Seamless and Caviar both help you choose by displaying high-quality food photos along with prices and reviews.
Order Delivery Time
Sometimes you want to order early, but sometimes what you need most is to get your food fast. Caviar has a FastBites service in select cities that will deliver your food to you within 15 minutes. Uber Eats has a less than 30-minute delivery promise in certain cities, whereby it will refund a portion of your total delivery if your food arrives late.
Payment Options
Does anyone pay cash anymore? When it comes to ordering food, the cashless payment process is much easier and safer. Many food delivery apps integrate digital payment options; For example, GrubHub, Seamless, and Uber Eats all accept PayPal or credit card payments. They also integrate with contactless mobile payments such as Android Pay, Uber Eats also allows you to pay via Apple Pay. If you order through Grubhub, you can pay through the app by taking a photo of your credit card and get cashback bonuses regardless of payment method. But if you really need to pay in cash, only Uber Eats makes it impossible.
Delivery Tracker
When you're hungry waiting for your meal, every second is an hour. Food delivery apps with accurate delivery tracking make waiting easier because you know how long it will take to arrive. Amazon Restaurants has excellent delivery tracking that allows you to follow your driver's item through the streets until it arrives at your door. Doordash, Caviar, and Seamless also show the progress of your meal with in-app trackers, while GrubHub sends you notifications when the status of your order changes.
Satisfy Your Food Craving Immediately!
Whether you want a quick Taco or a romantic meal together for 2, food delivery apps can get the food you want and deliver it to your door. It doesn't matter if you know exactly what you want or need to browse thousands of menus to make a decision, you can easily fill your stomach with a food delivery app.