Uber and Uber Eats are some of the first options people consider when they need to make some extra money.
But which one is better? Which one will make you more money and is the best option for you? This is what we found…
Uber Vs Uber Eats: Which Is Best For Drivers?
If you ask an Uber driver, or as Uber calls them, an Uber Partner, which is the best Uber gig, you’ll probably find that the answer depends on the driver: some favor driving, others prefer the Uber Eat deliveries, and other drivers will happily work both options.
This article takes a look at the Uber services (Driving vs Eats) and which one is the superior job: we look at what the services involve, how much you can earn, and the pros and cons of each one.
Uber Eats
The Uber Eats earning per delivery is made up of your base pay, trip supplement, promotions, and tips. The base pay is determined by the time, pickup, drop off, and distance travelled. How much you earn will depend on how many trips are available to you when you’re on call.
An Uber Eats driver can earn anything from $10 to $25 per hour, but this rate is influenced by a range of outside factors, most of which are beyond the driver’s control.
Uber Eats guarantees higher rates for delivering in specific areas and times in order to balance driver demand and supply.
Uber Eats drivers keep 100% of their tips, and tips can be paid in the app or cash when you deliver. The Trip Supplement, according to Uber, is a little extra to make a perceived ‘flat’ job a little more worthwhile.
There are two driving promotions: Surge and Boost. These multiply the amount a driver can make during certain demand and supply conditions. These are located in the app during busier times. If there’s more than one of these promotions available for an order, the driver is paid the higher of the two.
Uber Eats drivers, like Uber passenger drivers, are likely to earn far less in rural areas compared to busy city areas.
Uber Eats drivers are considered independent contractors, and so are responsible for withholding money for taxes. Uber will send a 1099-MISC form for use at tax time.
Read: Does Uber Eats Pay More Than DoorDash?
Uber
Uber drivers earn a base fare plus amounts for how long and how far they are willing to drive. Per-minute and per-mile rates vary by city. Drivers who are available where and when rider demand is high earn more on top of their standard fare.
Driver pay is calculated according to location, time of day and frequency of work. This means that pay will vary on a day-to-day basis, regardless of how many hours of work a driver commits to each week.
Independent analysis states that the hourly earnings of a typical Uber driver are between $15 and $28 per hour, but with that final amount based on a great many variables, including season, location, time of day, demand, and so on.
Like Uber Eats drivers, Uber passenger drivers keep 100% of tips, and are financially responsible for fuel, car registration, insurance, maintenance, and cleaning.
Read: Can You Make $500 A Day With Uber?
Uber Vs Uber Eats Drivers: Who Earns The Most?
According to the data, Uber Eats drivers and Uber passenger drivers can earn pretty much the same income when taking location, demand, and driver expenses into consideration, but in practice, Uber Eats drivers take home less pay.
Both types are drivers lose a hefty portion of their income to Uber in service fees. However, there is also a difference in income between experienced drivers and drivers just starting out.
Experienced drivers consistently report that:
- Where you drive is important – your location is easily the most important factor in determining your earnings as an Uber and Uber Eats driver. Generally, you earn more in urban areas and less in rural areas.
- When you drive is important – driving when demand is high improves your earnings through surge pricing and promotions. You can earn more if you’re willing to forgo some of the flexibility of driving on your own terms.
- How often you drive – drive as much as you can to earn more. Strategizing to improve your earnings per trip and per hour will not yield much if you aren’t spending enough time behind the wheel.
- Consider committing to an area with few other drivers or a region that becomes intensely busy at certain times of the season. Set up your vehicle to carry specialist equipment.
- Avoid accepting long trips which bring ‘dead miles’ (where the driver returns from a rural area without passengers)
- Never forget your ongoing vehicle costs, which include:
- vehicle financing or rental costs
- registration and licensing costs
- vehicle maintenance
- vehicle repair and cleaning costs
- vehicle depreciation costs
- phone bill, taxes, insurance, and other operating expenses
- medical expenses
- rising cost of fuel
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Working Uber And Uber Eats?
The most useful answers regarding pros and cons around working for Uber come directly from the Uber employees (or ‘partners’) themselves. These driver responses are direct, honest, and based on direct experience. They are not strictly divided into ‘pros’ and ‘cons’, but are instead, mixed responses to both experiences.
You’ll see that driver experience is heavily influenced by where they drive, when, and by the chaotic nature of the job, in that drivers learn to expect anything and everything when on shift. Consider the following:
‘Uber drivers make more money than Uber Eats because we Uber Eats couriers only get a set amount per delivery whereas I believe Uber drivers earn so much per kilometer. This means you need nights of continual close deliveries to make anything decent. It hardly happens.’
‘If you’re working for Uber Eats, unless the deliveries dovetail and are in the same direction travel time (costs) can spiral up for the same amount of money, so you earn less per hour if deliveries are long. But with Uber drivers, the longer the trip the more money.’
‘If you work Uber Eats, only take jobs close by. This way you can optimise your income. Time is money in this job!’
‘I work for both, so I know that with Uber Eats, not so much fuel is used, and I keep costs down by using a bike or scooter. You can’t do that when you’re driving people.’
‘With Uber Eats, couriers lose money when they return empty to the base instead of doing a return delivery on the way back. A night of doing this means you can end up making nothing.’
‘The best thing about Eats though is that you can drive in any city nationwide and if you’re in a rental with your car in the shop nobody is going to care what car you’re driving their food in. You also don’t have to be as meticulous about cleaning if you’re not driving passengers around. This saves time and money.’
‘Uber Eats is safer. You never have to deal with sick, stupid, or aggressive passengers in your car.’
‘Much better to carry Passengers. By a lot. I usually average (non-COVID times) $20–25/hr in Las Vegas (after expenses) driving passengers. But Uber Eats is around $10–15.’
‘Have to work incredibly hard with either job. Uber corporate is the all-round winnerr here.’
‘During Covid, I’m making $25–40/hr with passengers and around $20/hr with Eats. But Eats is a great supplement to have, so I keep with both.’
‘Personally I make more doing passengers than food. I did Uber Eats for about a year, but the work involved and the timing with food made me less money per hour than with passengers. But I still do both.’
‘I thought I would get more in tips for Uber Eats but that never worked out. So I stopped doing Uber Eats. it didn’t make financial nor work sense.’
‘The only time Uber Eats beats rideshare pay is when clients gives a generous tip, which can sometimes happen. The advantage of Uber Eats, is that you don’t have somebody looking over your shoulder judging you, during the trip’
Uber partners in both roles found that:
- What you earn depends on demand and availability of bonuses
- You really need the tips
- Increasing expenses have not been acknowledged by Uber
- Driving for Uber is higher income but higher expenses than Uber Eats
- Uber Eats is good for starting out only
- You need to do your research and move around until you’ve created a niche for yourself
- Being able to pick your own hours is good
- Pay is fast
- Passengers and food customers can be difficult. You need good people skills.
Read: Do Uber Drivers Make More At Night?
Summary
Potential Uber employees often ask which job is better: the Uber driver or the Uber Eats delivery. Neither job is easy, and drivers must work consistently and hard if they want to make any money.
Neither job is simple, and both demand a range of conflict resolution skills, the ability to make quick decisions, solve problems, be flexible and prepared for anything, and to know what you’re doing.
Some Uber partners say that neither is better than the other, and that increasing expenses are making both options inviable. However, Uber as a service is in more demand than ever before.