Coronavirus Update
In normal circumstances, the best affordable food delivery service is the one that satisfies all our culinary desires. However, as we adapt to the changes brought about by the coronavirus, priorities may have shifted: instead of looking for the tastiest and trendiest food, we may be focusing on finding the most reliable and affordable online food delivery services.
Our goal in the above list is to strike a balance between quality and convenience. While food accessibility is paramount, we shouldn’t forget about pleasure, as it’s important to find satisfaction wherever possible in these times. The best food delivery services, as we mentioned, are those that provide broad access to excellent restaurants and establishments while remaining reliable, affordable, and available in cities of all sizes.
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 Wine Pairing: DoorDash
5. Best for Fine Dining: Caviar
6. Best for Fast Delivery: Uber Eats
7. Best for Discovering Hidden Gems: Delivery.com
8. Best for Local Food: BeyondMenu
9. Best for International Cuisine: Zomato
10. Most Reliable: Domino’s
How We Tested
We considered a variety of factors to determine our top 10 food delivery apps. These include the cities we serve, the variety of delivery options, the selection and variety of restaurants, price, service fees, and delivery speed.
Whether you’re tired after a long day at work or just want pizza without leaving your home, food delivery apps are a lifesaver. You’re no longer limited to one restaurant, nor do you have to know exactly what you want to eat before you order for delivery or takeout; food delivery apps allow you to choose and enjoy a wide variety of popular dishes delivered right to your door without having to talk to anyone. Here are some key things to consider when choosing the perfect food delivery app.
Available Cities
Unfortunately, not all U.S. residents have access to a food delivery app. Most of these apps are still limited to urban areas, so the first thing you need to do is find out which apps cover your area. GrubHub and Postmates are likely to have your city covered, as each app delivers to over 1,000 cities in the U.S. from over 30,000 restaurants. However, if you live in a major metropolis like New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, you have dozens of food delivery apps to choose from.
Delivery Fee
You know that food delivery apps need to make money, but you still don’t want to overpay for your food. Seamless and Delivery.com excel in this area because they don’t charge a delivery fee. However, Delivery.com warns that some restaurants may charge their own delivery fees. While Caviar’s food is usually top-notch, delivery starts at $0 and goes up depending on the distance from the restaurant. They also add an 18% service charge to the total, so you can pay in full upfront. Uber also makes it easy to pay with a flat $5 delivery fee, and all tips are included in the price of the order.
Postmates, on the other hand, charges a delivery fee per order and may also offer special rates during peak hours. If you use the service frequently, you can sign up for the Plus Unlimited plan for $10 per month to get free delivery and service from local partner businesses on orders over $25. DoorDash is another, more expensive service, with delivery fees that vary depending on your location, and an additional pickup fee on top of the price of each item. You’ll also need to tip and add a $1 gratuity if your order is under $10.
Food Range
You can choose your food delivery app based on what you want to eat. Some of the larger services, like GrubHub and Seamless, have tens of thousands of menus on their apps that you can order directly from. With GrubHub, you can search by city, address, cuisine, or dish.
Postmates and Delivery.com are both delivery apps that pick up your order from almost any restaurant in your area, and they also deliver laundry or toilet paper to the store. They’re also one of the few delivery apps that let you order alcohol.
Some food delivery apps work in a completely different way. For example, Zomato is only available in a few major cities and offers its own menu, prepared by chefs through the app, rather than dishes sourced from local restaurants.
Pre-Order
Whether you want your cheeseburger delivered 5 minutes after you get home from work or you want to order pizza for a party 12 days in advance, pre-ordering is incredibly convenient. Uber Eats and Caviar are a few food delivery apps that let you order a few days in advance, while Grubhub lets you order up to 4 days in advance.
Ratings:
If you’re visiting a new city or just not sure what to eat, checking out customer reviews of restaurants and dishes can be a big help. DoorDash stands out with its helpful satisfaction score, which measures the quality of the food and the popularity of the restaurant, as well as delivery time and customer satisfaction. Seamless and Caviar help you make choices by displaying high-quality food photos, as well as prices and reviews.
Order Delivery Time
Sometimes you want to order ahead, but other times you need your food to arrive quickly. Caviar offers FastBites in select cities, which will deliver your food in 15 minutes. Uber Eats guarantees delivery in under 30 minutes in select cities and refunds a portion of the total price if your food is late.
Payment Options
Today, everyone pays with cash. It’s much easier and safer to pay cashless when ordering food. Many food delivery apps integrate digital payment options—for example, Grubhub, Seamless, and Uber Eats accept PayPal or credit cards. They also integrate with contactless mobile payments like Android Pay, and Uber Eats also lets you pay with Apple Pay. If you order through Grubhub, you can pay in the app by taking a picture of your credit card and get a refund regardless of the payment method. But if you really need to pay with cash, only Uber Eats makes it impossible.
Delivery Tracker
When you’re hungry and waiting for your food, every second feels like an hour. Food delivery apps with accurate tracking make the wait easier because you know exactly how long it will take for delivery. Amazon Restaurants offers an excellent tracking system that lets you follow your delivery driver’s progress until it reaches your door. DoorDash, Caviar, and Seamless also show you the progress of your order via in-app trackers, while GrubHub sends you notifications when your order status changes.
Satisfy Your Food Craving Immediately!
Whether you’re craving a quick taco or a romantic dinner for two, food delivery apps will bring what you want right to your door. Whether you know exactly what you want or have to browse thousands of menus to decide, you can easily satisfy your craving with a food delivery app.
