Top 5 Food Delivery Apps With Stay Safe Initiatives

Food delivery apps were always destined for success considering how everything is accessible right from our smartphones. You could be lying on your couch and without even having to call someone, you can get your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant delivered right to your doorstep. And with everyone quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these services that initially might have been considered superfluous are now officially considered essential. So to help you stay safe and stay well-fed during these trying times we’ve compiled a list of the top 5 food delivery apps with stay safe initiatives.

Top Food Delivery Apps

Instacart

Instacart is a food and grocery delivery-on-demand service. You will be able to get your favorite products and even fresh produce from neighborhood stores delivered on the same day (sometimes within the hour). All you have to do is just add items to your cart and your personal shopper will select your items based on your preferences. Products include groceries, produce, liquor, and household items (including that precious TP) from more than 20,000 retailers in North America.

Location: Instacart delivers to 5,500 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

Fee: The fee varies and is set by retailers for items delivered on Instacart. Delivery fees depend on the size of your order and the delivery time. Some stores opt for a flat percentage to cover the cost of the service. The order minimum is $10.

Stay safe initiatives: To avoid any unnecessary contact, Instacart has added a “leave at my door” delivery choice for those in quarantine or those who just don’t want to put pants on. Instacart is also abiding by new health and safety guidelines as well as providing sick pay for employees and encouraging customers to tip delivery workers because of the increased demand and risk.

DoorDash

DoorDash is a service that delivers you food from your favorite restaurants right to your door. Whatever neighborhood food you’re craving, all you have to do is choose from over 300,000 local and national favorites across the U.S. and Canada. One of DoorDash’s unique features is the “Delight Score” which factors in food quality, restaurant popularity, delivery time, and customer satisfaction to recommend the best restaurants in your area.

Location: DoorDash is available in 800+ cities in the U.S. and Canada.

Fee: The fee varies and is set by the restaurant. Some restaurants charge additional service fees.

Stay safe initiatives: DoorDash offers contact-free delivery options to customers and you can even pick up orders yourself from restaurants to minimize contact. DoorDash is also following health and safety guidelines, including providing couriers with hand sanitizers and gloves.

Grubhub

Grubhub helps you find and order food from wherever you are. From the app, you just add an address and GrubHub will tell you the restaurants that deliver to that address. GrubHub will also show you the pickup restaurants that are next to you. There is also the option of searching by cuisine, restaurant name or menu item. When you find what you’re looking for, you can place your order from the app.

Location: Grubhub is available in more than 3,200 U.S. cities and London.

Fee: The fee varies and is set by the restaurant for the delivery fee and some have a minimum order amount. GrubHub+ is a subscription service where participating restaurants offer unlimited deliveries for a $10 per month subscription.

Stay safe initiatives: Grubhub offers contact-free delivery options to customers and you can even pick up orders yourself from restaurants to minimize exposure. Customers can select the delivery option at checkout and instruct the driver to leave food at their preferred location.

UberEats

Uber is a household name around the globe for its ride-sharing service. UberEats is a standalone app and service that helps you order food from the restaurants around you. It shares a lot of the same features as the normal Uber app and anyone that has used it will find UberEats to be familiar.

The apps featured on this list mostly focus on North American cities, but UberEats uses its international reach to be available in most of the big cities around the world. They also recently announced that in an initiative to support independent restaurants they will be waiving delivery fees for those tagged with the Eat Local banner.

Location: UberEats is available in 500+ cities in 24 countries, including cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Fee: UberEats fees vary from country to another, but in the U.S. it charges a service fee of 15% of an order’s subtotal and a minimum order subtotal of $10. Fees may also vary based on restaurant and location.

Stay safe initiatives: UberEats offers a contact-less delivery option and provides its delivery people with sanitization equipment. They also follow CDC-issued guidelines to ensure food is sealed in tamper-proof packaging and offer financial assistance to delivery people and drivers that fall ill from the COVID-19 virus.

Postmates

Unlike the rest of the food delivery services on our list, Postmates isn’t about getting a specific order from a specific restaurant. You can order groceries, liquor, and food from multiple restaurants all to your liking. The app connects you with a courier that can visit multiple destinations to get you your entire order and it is only limited by your location.

Location: Postmates is available in more than 4,200 cities throughout the U.S.

Fee: For every order, there is a fee added, and rates can sometimes be higher in peak hours. Postmates also offers a subscription service “Plus Unlimited” for $10 a month, which gets you free delivery from select stores and restaurants on orders of more than $12.

Stay safe initiatives: Postmates offers a contact-free delivery choice. The company offers fleet members who tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks of paid sick leave from a relief fund.