There was a time when getting food delivered meant finding a paper menu, locating a landline, and hoping the restaurant could understand “no onions, please” through a crackling phone connection. Today, your phone can deliver burgers, sushi, groceries, ice cream, and the emergency chips you suddenly need at 10:48 p.m.
However, choosing the best food delivery app is not always simple. Every platform has different restaurants, fees, memberships, delivery zones, and special perks. Some are great for restaurant meals, while others shine when you need a full grocery order or want to support a local independent restaurant.
This guide compares five of the best food delivery apps in the United States: DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart, and ChowNow. Each one has a different strength, so your ideal app may depend on your neighborhood, your budget, and how often your kitchen mysteriously runs out of food.
At a Glance: Best Food Delivery Apps
| App | Best For | Why It Stands Out |
|---|---|---|
| DoorDash | Everyday food delivery | Restaurants, groceries, convenience items, and group ordering |
| Uber Eats | Uber users and travelers | Restaurant discovery, grocery delivery, and Uber One benefits |
| Grubhub | Amazon Prime members | Grubhub+ benefits can be included with eligible Prime memberships |
| Instacart | Groceries and household orders | Store shopping, substitutions, and large grocery carts |
| ChowNow | Independent local restaurants | Commission-free marketplace focused on neighborhood businesses |
How We Chose the Best Food Delivery Apps
The best food delivery service is not always the app with the biggest logo or the loudest commercial. A useful app should have strong restaurant coverage in your neighborhood, clear delivery estimates, easy order tracking, helpful filters, and a checkout process that does not suddenly reveal more fees than a vacation resort.
We also considered grocery delivery, pickup options, subscriptions, group ordering, local restaurant support, and overall convenience. Keep in mind that restaurant availability can vary dramatically by ZIP code. An app that looks amazing in downtown Chicago may have a much smaller selection in a suburban neighborhood.
Before subscribing to any delivery service, enter your address, search for a few restaurants you already enjoy, and compare delivery times and final checkout totals. The best app is the one that can actually deliver your favorite meal without turning a $15 burrito into a budgeting seminar.
1. DoorDash: Best Overall Food Delivery App
DoorDash is one of the most versatile food delivery apps available in the United States. It is no longer just for restaurant meals. Depending on your location, DoorDash can also deliver groceries, snacks, convenience-store items, flowers, pharmacy basics, and household essentials.
That flexibility makes DoorDash a strong choice for busy households. You might order Thai food for dinner, add sparkling water and cookies from a nearby store, and avoid making a second trip to the grocery store. It is especially useful on nights when everyone is hungry, nobody wants to cook, and the refrigerator contains one lonely pickle and a bottle of hot sauce.
Why DoorDash Stands Out
DoorDash offers a wide mix of restaurants, from national chains to neighborhood favorites. The app makes it easy to filter by cuisine, price, delivery time, ratings, dietary preferences, and promotions. It also offers group-order features, which can be helpful for office lunches, family gatherings, game nights, or any event where five people want five different meals.
DashPass may offer reduced delivery costs and special savings on eligible orders. It can be worthwhile for frequent users, but always check the restaurant, order minimum, and available benefits before assuming your entire order qualifies.
Best For
DoorDash is best for people who want one app for restaurants, groceries, convenience items, and group meals. It is a strong all-purpose choice for families, remote workers, busy professionals, and anyone who has ever realized they ran out of toilet paper while ordering dinner.
Watch Out For
Delivery fees, service fees, taxes, tips, and optional priority delivery can change the final price quickly. Always review your cart before placing the order, especially when a promotion promises “free delivery.” Free delivery does not always mean free everything else.
2. Uber Eats: Best for People Who Already Use Uber
Uber Eats is a natural choice for people who already use Uber for rides. The app combines restaurant delivery, grocery delivery, pickup orders, and retail essentials in many markets. It is especially convenient if you like having transportation and food delivery connected through one account.
Uber Eats can be particularly useful for travelers. You can enter your hotel address, browse nearby restaurants, and order meals without needing to understand the local restaurant landscape immediately. That can be a lifesaver after a delayed flight, especially when the hotel vending machine offers only crackers, mystery cookies, and one suspiciously expensive bottle of water.
Why Uber Eats Stands Out
Uber Eats has strong restaurant discovery tools, allowing users to browse by cuisine, delivery time, price, popularity, and special offers. Pickup is also available in many areas, which can help reduce delivery-related costs when you are close enough to grab your food yourself.
Uber One combines benefits for eligible Uber rides and eligible Uber Eats orders. Depending on your location and membership terms, users may receive lower delivery-related costs, discounts on qualifying orders, and other perks. This makes Uber Eats especially attractive for people who already use Uber transportation services regularly.
Best For
Uber Eats is best for frequent Uber users, travelers, city residents, and people who like ordering food from different neighborhoods. It is also useful for users who want restaurant delivery and everyday essentials in one place.
Watch Out For
A membership is not automatically a bargain. If you only order occasionally, the monthly cost may outweigh the savings. Before subscribing, estimate how often you realistically order from eligible restaurants, not how often you imagine ordering during a late-night pizza craving.
3. Grubhub: Best Food Delivery App for Amazon Prime Members
Grubhub is a particularly smart option for eligible Amazon Prime members. Prime members can activate Grubhub+ benefits without paying for a separate Grubhub+ subscription, giving them access to lower delivery-related costs and exclusive offers on eligible orders.
This is important because the easiest money-saving strategy is often using a benefit you already have. If Amazon Prime is already part of your household budget, Grubhub may become one of the first apps worth checking before ordering from another platform.
Why Grubhub Stands Out
Grubhub offers restaurant delivery and pickup options, making it useful whether you want food brought to your door or prefer to collect it yourself. Pickup can be especially helpful when the restaurant is nearby and you want to avoid delivery charges.
For Prime members, Grubhub+ may provide $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible restaurant orders that meet the required subtotal. Some users may also receive offers or pickup-related rewards, depending on availability and location.
Best For
Grubhub is best for Amazon Prime members, value-focused diners, and people who like using pickup to save money. It is also a good backup app when another platform has higher fees for the same restaurant.
Watch Out For
Not every restaurant qualifies for Grubhub+ perks, and additional fees, taxes, and tips can still apply. Look for the Grubhub+ label before placing your order. Otherwise, you may discover that your “savings” bought you approximately half a side of fries.
4. Instacart: Best for Grocery Delivery and Household Orders
Instacart is different from the restaurant-first delivery apps because it is designed mainly for grocery shopping. It is one of the best choices when you need ingredients, snacks, drinks, household products, and other essentials delivered in one organized order.
Sometimes dinner is not a restaurant meal. Sometimes dinner is a rotisserie chicken, salad kit, sparkling water, fruit, coffee, and enough snacks to survive a busy week. Instacart is built for those moments.
Why Instacart Stands Out
Instacart lets users shop from grocery stores, warehouse clubs, pharmacies, retailers, and other local merchants. You can choose replacement preferences, communicate with shoppers, and approve substitutions when an item is unavailable.
Instacart+ may offer reduced delivery costs on eligible grocery, retail, Costco, and restaurant orders that meet certain minimums. It can be worthwhile for households that use grocery delivery frequently, especially families, caregivers, and people with limited time for store runs.
Best For
Instacart is best for weekly grocery orders, large family shopping lists, entertaining, meal prep, and busy households. It is also useful when visiting multiple stores would take hours, require parking-lot patience, and test your faith in humanity.
Watch Out For
Grocery prices may differ from in-store pricing, and substitutions can affect the final total. Set replacement preferences before checkout, choose acceptable alternatives, and respond quickly if your shopper sends a message. A good substitute is a different pasta brand. A bad substitute is dish soap instead of lemons.
5. ChowNow: Best for Supporting Local Independent Restaurants
ChowNow is worth considering if you care about ordering from independent restaurants. The platform describes itself as a commission-free marketplace for restaurants, offering pickup and delivery options based on each local restaurant’s setup.
Its selection may not be as massive as DoorDash or Uber Eats, but that can be part of the appeal. ChowNow focuses on local restaurants, including neighborhood bakeries, family-owned cafes, independent pizza shops, and small restaurants that may not want to rely heavily on traditional high-commission marketplaces.
Why ChowNow Stands Out
When one of your favorite local restaurants is on ChowNow, the app can be a convenient way to order while supporting a more restaurant-friendly system. You can browse menus, place pickup or delivery orders, save favorites, and reorder meals without digging through old text messages or forgotten bookmarks.
ChowNow can be especially useful for pickup orders. You place the order ahead of time, walk in, grab your food, and leave feeling more organized than you probably are.
Best For
ChowNow is best for diners who want to support local restaurants, prefer independent food businesses, and are happy to use a second app for neighborhood favorites.
Watch Out For
Availability is highly local. Some cities have a strong list of participating restaurants, while others may have fewer choices. Think of ChowNow as a useful specialty app rather than necessarily the only delivery app on your phone.
How to Save Money on Food Delivery
- Compare the same restaurant across two apps. Menu prices, delivery fees, promotions, and estimated times can vary.
- Use pickup when possible. Pickup may help you avoid delivery-related charges while still ordering ahead.
- Only join memberships you will use. A subscription makes sense only when you regularly order from eligible restaurants or stores.
- Build one practical order. Combining dinner with needed snacks or essentials may be better than placing two small delivery orders.
- Tip fairly and leave clear delivery instructions. Helpful notes can make deliveries smoother for drivers navigating apartment buildings, gates, elevators, and confusing parking areas.
Which Food Delivery App Is Right for You?
Choose DoorDash if you want broad everyday coverage. Pick Uber Eats if you already use Uber or travel frequently. Try Grubhub first if you have Amazon Prime. Use Instacart for groceries and large household orders. Keep ChowNow on your phone for independent restaurants you want to support.
For many people, the best strategy is using two delivery apps: one primary app with the strongest selection near home and one backup app with better membership perks or favorite local restaurants. Compare checkout totals, watch for promotions, and occasionally inspect your refrigerator before ordering a second dinner because you forgot you already had leftovers.
What Food Delivery Apps Feel Like in Real Life
The “Everyone Wants Something Different” Friday Night
Imagine a Friday night with three adults, two kids, one vegetarian, and one person who believes fries are not a side dish but a lifestyle. DoorDash can be useful because its broad selection and group-order tools help everyone add their own meal to one shared order. Instead of collecting screenshots and messages like “No pickles, extra ketchup, wait, actually make that nuggets,” people can add items themselves. It will not eliminate dinner debates completely, because no technology has yet defeated human indecision, but it can make the ordering process less chaotic.
The “I Landed Late and My Hotel Has One Vending Machine” Evening
Uber Eats can be especially helpful while traveling. You arrive at a hotel after a delayed flight, the airport food court is closed, and the vending machine offers pretzels that may have been there since 2019. You can enter the hotel address, browse nearby restaurants, and order dinner using an account and payment method you already know. Meeting the courier in the lobby is often easier than asking them to navigate elevators and room-number rules. It is faster, simpler, and less likely to lead to a phone call beginning with, “I am standing near a fountain. Does that help?”
The “Already Paying for Prime” Weeknight
Grubhub can feel like an easy win for households that already have Amazon Prime. On a busy weeknight, you can check Grubhub first, find an eligible restaurant, and use available Grubhub+ benefits without adding another separate subscription. The advantage is not necessarily finding the cheapest meal in the universe. It is using a benefit you already have before paying more somewhere else. That small habit can be more useful than downloading another coupon app that sends sixteen notifications about smoothies before breakfast.
The “We Need Actual Groceries, Not Just Tacos” Sunday
Instacart is at its best when the kitchen needs a full reset. You can order fruit, yogurt, coffee, sandwich ingredients, detergent, snacks, and enough sparkling water to make the refrigerator look unusually sophisticated. The real benefit is avoiding a crowded parking lot, long checkout lines, and the discovery that you forgot eggs after unloading the entire car. Good substitution settings matter. Mark must-have items clearly, approve acceptable replacements, and keep an eye on shopper messages. A little planning can make the order feel like a helpful grocery run rather than a surprise box hosted by a cucumber.
The “Local Restaurant You Want to Keep Around” Order
ChowNow feels most rewarding when you have a favorite independent restaurant in the neighborhood. Maybe it is the family-run Thai spot with perfect basil noodles, the bakery that remembers your favorite pastry, or the small sandwich shop that somehow makes a turkey club feel like a major event. When that restaurant is available on ChowNow, pickup or delivery can combine convenience with a more local-first choice. The experience is often simple: search for a favorite, order confidently, and get on with your evening. Your dinner still arrives in a bag, but the choice can feel a little more connected to the neighborhood around you.
Note: Restaurant availability, delivery zones, fees, memberships, promotions, estimated times, and eligible benefits can vary by location and change over time. Always review the complete checkout total and delivery details before placing an order.
