01 — The verdictThe 30-second answer
- There is no single cheapest app everywhere. Multiple 2026 comparisons that priced identical orders across all 50 states found Grubhub the lowest-cost option in roughly half the country, DoorDash leading on the West Coast, and Uber Eats winning in a smaller cluster of states in between.
- The cheapest app for you depends on your order type. Slice consistently undercuts the big three on pizza. Gopuff wins on small, late-night convenience orders. Instacart and Walmart+ beat all of them on grocery.
- Subscriptions only pay off past a threshold. Roughly 2 to 3 orders a month is the break-even point for DashPass, Uber One, or Grubhub+. Below that, you're paying more, not less.
- "Free delivery" isn't free. Someone pays for it, and it's usually the restaurant, through commission. That's covered in full further down.
Which App Is Cheapest, by State and City
No single platform wins nationally, and the split isn't random.
Grubhub tends to come out cheapest in roughly half of US states, particularly in the Northeast and parts of the South, where it has the deepest, longest-standing restaurant relationships and can offer lower baseline delivery fees in dense markets it's operated in for years.
DoorDash leads on price in most West Coast states and in suburban and Sun Belt markets, where its larger driver network keeps delivery fees lower through higher order density per driver.
Uber Eats wins in a smaller cluster of states, generally urban and tech-forward markets, where competition among restaurants is highest and surge pricing is rarer.
One city-level comparison that priced 500+ identical orders across 20 major US cities found Uber Eats came out cheapest roughly six times out of ten overall, with the widest savings gaps in San Francisco and Chicago, while DoorDash held an edge in cities with fewer restaurant options per app.
The practical takeaway: check the total at checkout on two apps before you order, especially for a new restaurant or a city you don't order in often. A five-minute comparison on a $30 order can be the difference between paying menu price plus $6 and menu price plus $12.
Full Fee Breakdown: Delivery Fee vs. Service Fee vs. Small-Order Fee
Every major app charges the same three types of fee, just in different proportions, which is exactly why the "cheapest" app changes order to order.
Delivery fee. Distance-based, typically $0 to $8, and usually waived entirely with a subscription. This is the fee most people think about and the one apps advertise waiving, but it's rarely the biggest line item on the receipt.
Service fee. Usually 10 to 15% of your subtotal, charged regardless of subscription status on most platforms. This is where apps quietly make up the difference on "free delivery" orders, and it's the fee most people don't notice until they check the receipt breakdown.
Small-order fee. Charged when your subtotal falls below a threshold, typically $10 to $12, ranging from $1 to $3. If you're ordering solo, this fee alone can turn a "cheap" small order into one of the more expensive ways to eat.
| Fee type | Typical range | Waived by subscription? |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery fee | $0 to $8 | Usually yes |
| Service fee | 10 to 15% of subtotal | Rarely fully waived |
| Small-order fee | $1 to $3 | No |
The apps that look cheapest on the delivery fee line are often average or worse on the service fee line. Comparing only the delivery fee, which is what most price comparisons do, is why the "cheapest app" question gets a different answer depending on who's asking it.
Niche Cheapest Picks: Pizza, Late-Night, and Grocery Crossover
The big three aren't always the cheapest option for every category of order.
For pizza specifically: Slice. It charges a flat delivery fee, generally around $2.99, regardless of distance or order size, with no surge pricing and no stacking service fees. It connects you directly with independent pizzerias rather than routing through a large platform's markup, which is why it consistently beats DoorDash and Grubhub on pizza orders.
For late-night and small convenience orders: Gopuff. A flat delivery fee, generally around $3.95, with no minimum order size, makes it the cheapest option for a single item at 1am in a way none of the restaurant-delivery apps can match, since their small-order fees punish exactly that kind of order.
For grocery crossover: Walmart+ and Instacart. If part of what you're comparing is grocery delivery alongside restaurant delivery, Walmart+ tends to beat Instacart on total cost for everyday staples, since it doesn't mark up individual item prices the way many Instacart retail partners do. Instacart wins on store selection if you need access to multiple retail banners in one app.
Subscription Math: When DashPass, Uber One, or Grubhub+ Actually Pays Off
All three major subscriptions price at $9.99/month. The math on whether that's worth it comes down to order frequency, not brand loyalty.
At roughly 2 to 3 orders per month, the delivery fee savings alone (typically $3 to $6 per order) start to outweigh the subscription cost. Below that frequency, you're paying $9.99 for convenience you're not using enough to break even on. Above it, particularly at 4+ orders a month, the subscription becomes the cheaper path regardless of which app you're on.
The subscriptions aren't identical once you're past break-even, though. Grubhub+ is the only one of the three offering cashback, typically 10% on eligible orders, which matters more the larger your average order is. Uber One bundles in rideshare discounts, which only adds value if you're already an Uber rider. DashPass's edge is breadth: the largest restaurant network to apply the waived fee to, plus grocery and retail perks through DashMart.
Rule of thumb: if you order fewer than 2 times a month, skip the subscription and compare fees at checkout instead. If you order 3 or more times a month on one app consistently, the subscription for that specific app is very likely the cheaper path.
Current First-Order and Promo Codes by App
Promo codes change frequently and the specific codes below may no longer be active by the time you're reading this, so treat this section as a snapshot rather than a permanent reference, and check the app directly for what's currently live.
As a general pattern across all three major apps: new users typically see a percentage off their first order (commonly 40 to 50%, capped at $10 to $15), referral codes that reward both the referrer and new user with credit, and periodic free-delivery windows tied to specific restaurants or order minimums. Grubhub in particular runs frequent restaurant-specific free-delivery promotions in its core metro markets. DoorDash's most reliable recurring offer is the first-order percentage discount. Uber Eats tends to run the most aggressive short-window promotional pricing during off-peak hours in dense urban markets.
The most durable savings tactic isn't chasing individual codes, it's stacking a first-order code on whichever app you haven't used yet against your regular app's subscription savings, and rotating which app gets your order based on which one is running the best active promotion that week.
For Restaurant Owners: What "Cheapest for Customers" Costs You
Every fee waived for a customer has to come from somewhere, and it isn't the platform's profit margin.
When a customer sees "free delivery," that cost is typically absorbed in one of two ways: the platform funds it as customer acquisition spend, which it recoups over time through commission on every order that customer places afterward, or the restaurant is required to subsidize the promotion directly as a condition of participating in featured placement. Either way, the restaurant ends up paying for the customer's "free" experience, just not on the receipt the customer sees.
This is the part of the delivery economy that rarely gets covered in "cheapest app" comparisons, because those comparisons are written for the person placing the order, not the business fulfilling it. But if you're a restaurant owner deciding which platforms to list on, the fee structure that makes an app look cheap to customers is often the same structure that makes it expensive for you: aggressive first-order discounts and free-delivery promotions are frequently funded through the standard 15 to 30% commission tiers, meaning the busier those promotions make you, the more of that new volume you're giving away in commission.
This is exactly why a growing number of restaurant owners are building their own on demand delivery solutions instead of relying entirely on third-party apps to acquire and retain customers. A restaurant online ordering system you control lets you run your own promotions funded from your own margin, rather than paying a platform to run promotions that are funded from yours.
Which Should You Use?
If you order occasionally and want the lowest price per order: compare the total at checkout on two apps before ordering, rather than defaulting to one. The five-minute habit saves more than any single subscription or code.
If you order 3+ times a month on one app: the subscription for that specific app almost certainly pays for itself. Pick based on which app has the best restaurant selection where you live, then subscribe to that one.
If you're ordering pizza or a single late-night item: skip the big three entirely and check Slice or Gopuff first.
If you're a restaurant owner: the "cheapest app" question your customers are asking isn't the same question you should be asking. Their answer changes by state and by order. Yours should be about which commission structure and promotion model you're actually willing to fund indefinitely.
The Option None of These Apps Will Tell You About
Every app on this list gets cheaper for the customer by making the order more expensive for the restaurant, one way or another. Free delivery, first-order discounts, and cashback subscriptions are all funded, directly or indirectly, out of the commission a restaurant pays on every single order.
The restaurants that come out ahead in this system aren't the ones offering the deepest discounts on third-party apps. They're the ones using those apps to acquire new customers, then giving repeat customers a reason to order directly instead, where there's no 15 to 30% commission eating the margin on every transaction.
The apps compete on who can make ordering cheaper for the customer. Restaurants that win long-term compete on who can make repeat ordering nearly free for themselves.
This is exactly the gap OwnDeliv was built to close. Instead of funding another round of "free delivery" promotions through commission on a third-party app, restaurants use a food delivery app solution built on white label restaurant online ordering, a branded ordering experience with your name on it, so repeat customers order directly from you at a flat monthly cost instead of a percentage cut on every sale.
Stop renting your customers. Start owning them.
OwnDeliv gives you a branded web ordering site, native iOS and Android apps, a rider dispatch system, and a merchant dashboard – all for a flat monthly fee, no per-order commission. You keep the customer data. You keep the margin. You keep your brand.
FAQThe questions everyone asks
There isn't one universal answer. Grubhub tends to be cheapest in roughly half of US states, DoorDash leads on the West Coast and in suburban markets, and Uber Eats wins in a smaller cluster of states, mostly dense urban markets. Comparing checkout totals on two apps before ordering is more reliable than defaulting to a single "cheapest" app.
It depends on your city and order. Uber Eats has come out ahead in broad multi-city price testing more often than DoorDash, but DoorDash frequently wins in suburban and Sun Belt markets where its driver density keeps delivery fees lower.
Only past a certain order frequency, roughly 2 to 3 orders per month. Below that, the $9.99 monthly cost typically exceeds the delivery fee savings. Above it, a subscription for whichever app you use most is usually the cheaper path.
Because delivery fee, service fee, and small-order fee are calculated differently on each platform, and vary further by your subscription status, distance from the restaurant, and current demand. The menu price is rarely the only variable.
Compare checkout totals across two apps before ordering, subscribe only to the one app you use 3+ times a month, and use category specialists like Slice for pizza or Gopuff for small convenience orders instead of defaulting to a general delivery app for every order type.
Yes, in almost every case, either directly through required promotional funding or indirectly through the standard commission that platforms use to recoup customer acquisition costs. The discount a customer sees rarely comes out of the platform's own margin