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The best food delivery app of 2023 depends on what you are ordering and where you live. DoorDash was the strongest general-purpose choice for many U.S. users, while Uber Eats and Grubhub were strong restaurant alternatives, Instacart led for groceries, Gopuff suited convenience items, and Too Good To Go offered surplus-food bargains rather than conventional delivery.

No delivery platform was cheapest, fastest, or best everywhere. Restaurant coverage, delivery radius, estimated times, fees, menu prices, substitutions, promotions, and membership benefits varied by ZIP code, restaurant, order size, time of day, and market. This U.S.-focused comparison separates restaurant marketplaces from grocery, convenience, direct-ordering, and food-rescue services so the recommendations remain useful.

Key takeaways

  • DoorDash was the best overall restaurant-delivery default for many U.S. customers in 2023 because it combined broad restaurant coverage with pickup, scheduling, grocery, and retail options.
  • Uber Eats was a strong alternative for existing Uber customers, while Grubhub stood out for restaurant selection, pickup, catering, and established local partnerships.
  • Instacart was a grocery-delivery marketplace rather than a direct equivalent to restaurant apps, and Gopuff focused on convenience products such as snacks, drinks, and household supplies.
  • No app was permanently cheapest because menu markups, delivery fees, service fees, minimums, taxes, tips, promotions, and memberships changed the final total.
  • Too Good To Go offered discounted surplus food with limited selection and usually fixed pickup windows, so it was a value and food-waste option rather than a normal on-demand meal-delivery service.

What were the best food delivery apps of 2023?

For prepared restaurant meals, DoorDash was the best overall practical pick for many U.S. users, Uber Eats was the best alternative for people already using Uber, and Grubhub was especially useful for restaurant selection, pickup, and catering. The best specialist services were Instacart for groceries, Gopuff for convenience items, Caviar for curated or higher-end restaurants in supported markets, ChowNow for restaurant-direct ordering, and Too Good To Go for surplus-food bargains.

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The recommendations are category winners, not a universal ranking. Instacart, Gopuff, and Too Good To Go solve different problems from DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. A grocery marketplace should not be ranked beside a prepared-meal marketplace without explaining the difference.

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Need Best 2023 pick Why it fit Main limitation
Overall restaurant delivery DoorDash Broad restaurant coverage plus pickup, scheduling, grocery, and retail expansion Not automatically the cheapest or best in every ZIP code
Uber customer or live tracking Uber Eats Restaurant marketplace, detailed sorting, order tracking, and Uber-account integration Fees, prices, and coverage varied by restaurant and market
Selection, pickup, and catering Grubhub Established restaurant relationships, pickup, deals, and catering options Coverage could be uneven outside major markets
Groceries Instacart Multiple supermarket and specialty-retail partners with personal shoppers Substitutions, service fees, item-price differences, and delivery charges
Convenience items Gopuff Snacks, drinks, ice, household products, and small urgent orders Catalog model rather than a broad local-restaurant marketplace
Curated or higher-end restaurants Caviar More selective restaurant positioning in markets with strong coverage Smaller, market-dependent selection and potentially higher fees
Broad non-restaurant delivery Postmates Food, convenience, grocery, retail, and other local-delivery categories Increasing overlap with the Uber Eats experience
Surplus-food value Too Good To Go Discounted unsold food from participating businesses Limited choice and fixed pickup windows; usually not delivery
Restaurant-direct ordering ChowNow or the restaurant’s own site Direct restaurant relationship, loyalty programs, and potentially clearer pricing Smaller network and separate accounts across restaurants

How were the apps evaluated?

The useful question was not simply which app was most popular. The useful question was which service best completed a particular ordering job in a particular market. The comparison considered the following editorial criteria:

Criterion Weight What it means
Local restaurant coverage 25% Available restaurants, cuisines, independent businesses, chains, late-night options, and delivery radius
Total cost 20% Final checkout total, including menu-price differences, service fees, minimums, promotions, membership effects, taxes, and tip
Reliability and transparency 15% Estimated times, fee disclosure, status updates, missing-item handling, refunds, and support
Ordering experience 15% Search, filters, reordering, scheduling, pickup, dietary information, addresses, and payment management
Membership value 10% Eligible merchants, delivery-fee savings, order minimums, and additional grocery or retail benefits
Beyond-restaurant coverage 10% Groceries, convenience products, pharmacy, pet supplies, and household goods
Restaurant-direct and worker considerations 5% Whether direct ordering may provide a better restaurant relationship and whether tip presentation is clear

This is an editorial decision framework, not the result of controlled test orders. Historical 2023 list coverage was useful for identifying features and services, but it did not establish a permanent winner or universal pricing. One contemporary list was published under a 2023 page context even though it originally appeared in February 2022, which is another reason not to treat its fee examples as authoritative 2023 prices. See the contemporary service comparison for that historical context.

Is DoorDash the best overall food delivery app?

DoorDash was the strongest general-purpose restaurant-delivery choice for many U.S. users in 2023 because the service combined a broad restaurant marketplace with pickup, scheduled orders, grocery delivery, convenience products, pet supplies, and other retail categories. DoorDash was also a practical default when a customer wanted one app for more than prepared meals. The DoorDash service remains the appropriate place to check actual local availability, fees, and eligible merchants.

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Why choose DoorDash

  • It often offered a large mix of chain and independent restaurants.
  • Pickup could be used instead of delivery when saving money mattered more than convenience.
  • Scheduling helped with planned meals rather than only immediate orders.
  • Grocery and retail expansion made the service broader than a restaurant-only marketplace.
  • DashPass could make sense for frequent eligible orders, but delivery-fee waivers did not necessarily remove service fees, taxes, tips, menu markups, or order minimums.

Who should choose another app?

Customers should compare Uber Eats, Grubhub, and the restaurant’s own ordering page when the preferred restaurant appears on multiple services. DoorDash was a practical default, not a guarantee of the lowest delivered total, shortest wait, best customer support, or strongest local restaurant coverage.

Is Uber Eats better than DoorDash?

Uber Eats was better than DoorDash for some customers, particularly people who already used Uber and valued a connected account, familiar tracking, and a broad restaurant marketplace. Uber Eats offered filters and sorting for factors such as price, rating, delivery time, delivery fee, and dietary needs in 2023 coverage, while real-time order tracking was a notable part of the experience. The official Uber Eats marketplace is the place to verify which features and merchants are available in a specific location.

Choose Uber Eats when… Compare another service when…
You already use Uber and prefer one account and payment relationship. The same restaurant has lower menu prices or a better promotion elsewhere.
You value map-based status tracking and detailed restaurant filters. The displayed estimate is important during peak demand, bad weather, or a large order.
Your local Uber Eats marketplace has the restaurants you want. Your preferred independent restaurants are better represented on DoorDash, Grubhub, or a direct site.
An eligible Uber membership reduces the total for your normal order pattern. You do not order often enough to recover the membership cost.

Uber Eats was described in 2023 coverage as operating across hundreds of cities globally, but that historical description should not be treated as a permanent specification for every country or city. Restaurant participation, delivery quality, fees, and membership eligibility remained market-specific.

Is Grubhub still worth using?

Grubhub was worth checking in 2023 when restaurant selection, pickup, catering, local partnerships, or platform-specific deals mattered. Grubhub had long-standing relationships with restaurants and was described by contemporary coverage as one of the oldest major services. The Grubhub marketplace should be checked by ZIP code because a large directory did not mean every listed restaurant offered delivery in every location.

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  • Restaurant selection: Grubhub could be particularly useful for local restaurants and established neighborhood partnerships.
  • Pickup: Pickup was a practical way to use the directory without paying for delivery.
  • Catering: The service was a reasonable option for larger group orders and catering searches.
  • Deals: Coupons, loyalty benefits, and restaurant-specific promotions could change the value calculation.
  • Limitations: Fees, estimated totals, delivery availability, and restaurant pricing still required a checkout comparison.

Seamless also overlapped with Grubhub in markets where the brands operated together. Customers should focus on the actual restaurants, total price, and available support rather than assuming that a separate brand necessarily means a separate local network.

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Which food delivery app was cheapest?

No food delivery app was permanently cheapest. The cheapest option was the service with the lowest final delivered total for the exact restaurant, basket, address, time, and membership status. A $0 delivery promotion could still lead to a higher bill because of menu-price differences, service fees, small-order charges, taxes, priority charges, or a required minimum.

What can appear in the final total?

  • Restaurant menu-price markup compared with in-store or direct-ordering prices
  • Delivery fee
  • Service fee
  • Small-order fee
  • Expanded-range or distance-related fee
  • Priority-delivery fee
  • Taxes
  • Tip
  • Membership charge or membership discount
  • Promotional credit or restaurant-specific discount

How to compare the same order

  1. Open the restaurant’s own website or app first.
  2. Build the identical order on DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub.
  3. Compare the complete total before adding a tip.
  4. Check whether pickup removes delivery or other charges.
  5. Apply any existing membership or promotion and compare again.
  6. Review the estimated time, customization, cancellation terms, and support options before choosing the lowest total.

Prices can differ between a restaurant’s website, an app marketplace, the in-store menu, and pickup versus delivery. Comparing the complete total is more meaningful than comparing a headline delivery fee.

Are food delivery memberships worth it?

A delivery membership is worthwhile only when the savings on eligible orders exceed the monthly or annual plan price. DashPass, Uber’s applicable 2023 membership structure, Grubhub+, Instacart+, Gopuff Fam, and eligible Amazon Prime grocery benefits were relevant membership options in 2023, but historical plan prices and benefits should not be mistaken for current pricing.

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Historical 2023 coverage commonly cited approximately $9.99-per-month pricing for several major memberships, including DashPass and Grubhub+, but the amount depended on the specific plan and publication context. Check the provider before subscribing; the 2023 comparison source is historical rather than a current price sheet.

Break-even orders per month = monthly membership cost ÷ average delivery-fee savings per eligible order.

For example, if a plan cost $9.99 in the relevant 2023 offer and saved an average of $3 in delivery fees on each eligible order, the simple break-even point was $9.99 ÷ $3, or 3.33 orders. That means the customer would need at least four qualifying orders in a month before considering other fees and benefits. This calculation was only a framework: memberships could leave service fees, taxes, tips, menu markups, minimum-order requirements, and nonparticipating merchants unchanged.

Membership question Why it matters
Does the user order frequently? One or two orders per month may not recover the plan cost.
Are the usual restaurants eligible? A membership cannot save delivery fees on merchants outside its benefit network.
Does the order meet the minimum? Delivery-fee waivers often depend on an order threshold.
Are grocery or retail benefits included? Additional categories can change the calculation for frequent multi-purpose users.
What fees remain? A waived delivery fee does not mean a free order.

Which app was best for groceries?

Instacart was the principal grocery-delivery recommendation because one marketplace connected customers with multiple supermarket, specialty-retail, pharmacy, pet-supply, and other retailers, using personal shoppers to select items. The Instacart marketplace also supported delivery and pickup in participating areas.

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Instacart strengths

  • Multiple supermarket chains could be available through one account.
  • Personal shoppers could communicate about unavailable products and substitutions.
  • Same-day delivery was available in participating areas, although grocery delivery windows were not equivalent to restaurant delivery times.
  • Pickup could avoid some delivery costs.
  • Grocery, pharmacy, pet-supply, and specialty-retail categories expanded its usefulness.

Instacart limitations

  • Delivery fees, service fees, order minimums, and item-price differences could materially increase the bill.
  • Out-of-stock items could lead to unwanted substitutions or refunds.
  • Produce quality and weighted-item prices could vary.
  • Shopper communication and delivery windows could be less predictable than a simple restaurant pickup.

Set substitution preferences before submitting an order, monitor shopper messages, and review replacements promptly. Customers with strict dietary or allergy requirements should confirm ingredients directly with the retailer or manufacturer; app filters and menu listings are not a safety guarantee.

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What about Amazon Fresh?

Amazon Fresh was a grocery and household-item alternative for eligible Amazon customers, not a direct restaurant-delivery competitor. Existing Prime members could find the integration convenient where Amazon Fresh operated, but regional availability, delivery-fee rules, minimums, and product selection varied. Check the Amazon Fresh service entry point and confirm local eligibility before relying on it.

Which app was best for convenience-store items?

Gopuff was the strongest specialist choice for convenience delivery in supported markets, particularly for snacks, drinks, ice, household supplies, basic personal-care items, and late-night small baskets. Gopuff primarily presented its own catalog rather than asking customers to choose among many local restaurants. The Gopuff marketplace is the appropriate source for the local catalog, hours, fees, and delivery availability.

Gopuff’s 2023 positioning included food, beverages, household goods, electronics, and other convenience products. Rapid-delivery claims depended on inventory, operating hours, driver availability, traffic, and market. Gopuff was a poor substitute for a planned restaurant dinner or a full supermarket shop, but it was useful when a customer wanted a small number of everyday items without making a store trip.

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What are Caviar and Postmates best for?

Caviar: curated and higher-end restaurants

Caviar was best viewed as a curated restaurant option rather than a universal delivery winner. In markets with strong coverage, Caviar could appeal to customers seeking independent, upscale, or destination restaurants. The Caviar marketplace should be checked locally because selection and fees were market-specific.

Contemporary 2023 coverage positioned Caviar around higher-end restaurants and described it within the DashPass ecosystem. Caviar’s relationship to DoorDash meant readers should not assume that Caviar was entirely independent, and a smaller selection or higher fee could make DoorDash or direct ordering more practical for the same restaurant.

Postmates: broad local delivery categories

Postmates was useful for customers who wanted restaurant meals alongside convenience products, groceries, retail items, and alcohol where permitted. The Postmates marketplace represented breadth across local-delivery categories, although the Postmates and Uber Eats experiences increasingly overlapped.

Alcohol and other regulated-item availability depended on state and local law, store licensing, delivery hours, and age verification. No U.S.-wide claim about alcohol availability should be inferred from the presence of the category in one market.

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Should Too Good To Go be included?

Too Good To Go belonged in a separate “best for food-waste savings” category because its core model was discounted surplus food, not conventional on-demand delivery. Customers generally bought a limited-selection or surprise bag from a participating bakery, restaurant, café, or store, often for pickup during a specified window. The Too Good To Go marketplace explains the service’s local availability.

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Too Good To Go is good for… Too Good To Go is not good for…
Low-cost food bargains Choosing a specific entrée or ingredient
Reducing food waste Guaranteeing a particular cuisine or portion
Trying local bakeries, cafés, restaurants, and stores Replacing a scheduled family meal
Flexible customers who can collect food at a fixed time Anyone who needs normal delivery tracking or immediate dispatch

Selection was not fully controlled, availability depended on participating businesses, and pickup times were usually fixed. Too Good To Go could be the best bargain option without being the best answer for a customer who needed a specific meal delivered to the door.

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Is ordering directly from a restaurant better?

Ordering from a restaurant’s own website or app was an important alternative to every marketplace. Direct ordering could provide restaurant-specific promotions, loyalty points, clearer communication, and potentially lower or more transparent fees. Direct ordering could also give the restaurant a more direct customer relationship, although restaurants’ contracts and delivery arrangements differed, so direct ordering did not always guarantee a lower cost or a larger restaurant share.

ChowNow was a useful direct-ordering platform in participating markets. The ChowNow platform focused on restaurant-direct ordering rather than offering the universal marketplace coverage of DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub. Coverage was less universal, and customers might still need separate accounts for different restaurants.

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Ordering through a marketplace Ordering directly
Compare many restaurants in one app Restaurant-specific site, app, or phone channel
Consistent search, payment, and tracking tools Experience varies by restaurant
May offer membership benefits and centralized support May offer better loyalty rewards or direct promotions
May include menu markups and multiple platform fees May have lower or clearer pricing, but not always
Convenient for discovering and comparing options Useful when ordering repeatedly from a favorite restaurant

Before placing an expensive or repeat order, check the restaurant’s own website. Pickup is also worth checking because it may eliminate delivery fees and some delivery-related charges.

Which app should you use for common ordering situations?

Situation Best starting point What to check
One restaurant meal tonight DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub Final total, estimated time, customization, and restaurant-direct pricing
Favorite independent restaurant Restaurant website or ChowNow Loyalty rewards, delivery radius, support, and total price
Frequent orders from eligible restaurants Membership attached to the app used most often Break-even orders, minimums, eligible merchants, and remaining fees
Weekly supermarket shop Instacart or a local grocer’s own service Item prices, substitutions, delivery window, pickup, and service fees
Late-night snacks or drinks Gopuff, DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Postmates Operating hours, inventory, minimum basket, and total fees
Upscale or destination restaurant Caviar where available Local selection, delivery radius, fees, and direct-ordering option
Cheap, flexible food pickup Too Good To Go Surprise-bag contents, pickup window, and participating business
Large group or event Grubhub, restaurant-direct ordering, or catering page Lead time, item availability, delivery instructions, and support

What problems should you expect with delivery apps?

Why are delivery times sometimes wrong?

Displayed delivery times were estimates, not guarantees. Restaurant preparation, driver availability, stacked deliveries, traffic, weather, large orders, incorrect addresses, and apartment or gated-community access could all cause delays. Customers ordering during peak demand should treat a short estimate as a forecast rather than a promise.

Why is a $0 delivery fee not free delivery?

A $0 delivery fee can coexist with service fees, taxes, small-order fees, higher marketplace menu prices, a tip, and priority charges. The complete checkout total—not the delivery-fee label—determines what the order costs.

What are the main grocery-delivery failure points?

Grocery orders can fail through out-of-stock items, unwanted substitutions, produce-quality variation, weighted-item price changes, missing products, or shopper communication problems. Set substitution rules, respond to shopper messages, and inspect the order soon after delivery.

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Are allergy filters reliable?

Marketplace dietary filters and restaurant listings may be incomplete or outdated. Customers with severe allergies should contact the restaurant directly and confirm preparation practices instead of treating an app label as a safety guarantee.

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What do delivery fees include for workers?

A delivery fee is a platform or order charge and should not automatically be treated as a driver tip. Customers should review the app’s fee labels, distinguish the optional tip from mandatory charges, and avoid assuming that a fee description proves how much a worker receives.

How can you choose the right food delivery app?

  1. Define the order: Decide whether you need a prepared meal, groceries, convenience items, a curated restaurant, direct ordering, or surplus food.
  2. Enter the exact address: Local restaurant participation, delivery radius, operating hours, and regulated-item rules depend on location.
  3. Compare two or three services: Use the same restaurant and identical basket where possible.
  4. Check the restaurant directly: Compare its website or app, particularly for repeat orders, pickup, loyalty rewards, and large meals.
  5. Read the final total: Include menu-price differences, delivery, service, small-order, range, priority, tax, tip, and promotion effects.
  6. Test membership eligibility: Calculate the break-even point only for the restaurants and order minimums you actually use.
  7. Review the estimate and policies: Check delivery versus pickup, substitutions, cancellation, support, and delivery instructions.

Keeping two restaurant apps can be practical when the same restaurants appear on both. The best strategy is not loyalty to one brand; it is comparing the service, total, and delivery conditions for the order in front of you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which food delivery app had the most restaurants in 2023?

DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub were the major restaurant marketplaces with broad U.S. coverage in 2023, but no single service had the most useful selection in every ZIP code. Actual availability depended on local restaurant participation, delivery radius, and operating hours.

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Was Uber Eats cheaper than DoorDash in 2023?

Uber Eats was not consistently cheaper than DoorDash in 2023. The lower-cost choice depended on the restaurant, menu prices, delivery and service fees, promotions, order minimums, taxes, tip, and membership status.

Was DashPass worth it in 2023?

DashPass was worth considering for frequent orders from eligible merchants when delivery-fee savings exceeded the plan cost. A membership could still leave service fees, taxes, tips, menu-price differences, and order minimums, so users needed to calculate their own break-even point.

Is Instacart a restaurant-delivery app?

Instacart is primarily a grocery and retail-delivery marketplace, not a direct equivalent to DoorDash, Uber Eats, or Grubhub’s prepared-restaurant services. Instacart connected customers with supermarkets and other retailers through personal shoppers, with substitutions and grocery-specific fees to consider.

Can you avoid food delivery app markups?

You may reduce or avoid marketplace markups by checking the restaurant’s own website or app and comparing pickup with delivery. Direct ordering does not guarantee a lower price because restaurants set their own prices and delivery arrangements, but checking directly is worthwhile for repeat or expensive orders.

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The Bottom Line

For a U.S. consumer choosing among the best food delivery apps of 2023, start with DoorDash for broad restaurant and retail coverage, compare Uber Eats and Grubhub for the same meal, and check the restaurant’s own site before paying. Use Instacart for groceries, Gopuff for convenience items, Caviar for curated restaurants where available, and Too Good To Go for flexible surplus-food bargains. Always compare the final checkout total and verify local availability.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.