What Is Grubhub?
Grubhub is a food delivery service that was founded in 2004 by Matthew Maloney and Michael Evans, two software developers who were looking for an alternative to paper menus.
In 2013, the company merged with food delivery pioneer Seamless, and today they work together with over 80,000 restaurant partners to provide food delivery in over 1,600 cities across the U.S. and U.K.
As a note, since both Grubhub and Seamless are working together, if you become a driver for GrubHub, you also drive for Seamless.
Today, Grubhub functions as an app that customers can use to place orders from local restaurants.
They download the app, put in their payment information, and place their order.
All payment is handled through the app, including tips for drivers.
On the surface level, this process appears to be fairly straightforward.
Behind the scenes, there is a lot more going on. Especially for GrubHub drivers. But we will come back to that in a minute.
Several restaurants working in collaboration with GrubHub have their own in-house delivery drivers.’
But there are plenty of restaurants that rely on third-party drivers to complete deliveries.
In those locations, GrubHub has started to hire drivers in mass quantities to meet their food delivery needs.
Related: check out these Grubhub alternatives if you’re looking to expand beyond this service alone.
How Grubhub Works for Drivers
Just like drivers for any other food delivery service, Grubhub drivers have two primary responsibilities: picking up food from local restaurants and delivering it straight to customers.
This process can be completed through the Grubhub for Drivers app.
While this may not sound very interesting, the Grubhub driver experience is actually unique from other platforms in a few ways.
First, drivers are eligible to receive requests from customers on not one, but two food delivery apps.
This is because Grubhub also owns Seamless, a lookalike platform that has a couple million more users in need of delivery services.
When Seamless users submit food orders, the request actually goes straight to Grubhub drivers.
This means if you drive in a market shared by Seamless and Grubhub, you could get far more requests than on any other food delivery app for drivers.
Second, Grubhub drivers can actually schedule delivery blocks in addition to logging on whenever they want.
Drivers still have a completely flexible schedule, but by driving in pre-selected blocks, they can automatically get more requests as well as higher earnings.
Lastly, drivers in some regions can qualify for an hourly pay guarantee by meeting local requirements, which may include working a set amount of scheduled blocks and accepting a specific percentage of orders.
This means that you may be able to make decent money even when demand drops incredibly low.
Why Should I Deliver for Grubhub?
Of all the food delivery services out there, why should you choose Grubhub?
Aside from the general benefits of being able to set your own hours and work for yourself, Grubhub has a few specific benefits that make it stand out:
- Lower minimum age requirement than Uber or Lyft — To be a rideshare driver for Uber or Lyft, you need to be at least 21 (or 23 in some markets). A Grubhub driver, in contrast, only needs to be 19 (with the exception of Chicago, where drivers must be 21 or older). This makes it a valuable opportunity for younger drivers who aren’t able to drive for Uber or Lyft.
- Well-established company — Grubhub has been around for a while, and it has the reputation and recognition that come with that. While nothing is certain, Grubhub is likely to be more stable than other smaller food delivery startups that could fold overnight (or be acquired by a larger company like Grubhub).
- Most total orders of all the food delivery apps — According to Grubhub’s driver page, they receive “more orders than any other order platform.” This means you have more total opportunities to make deliveries, which translates into a higher earning potential.
How Much Money Do Grubhub Drivers Make?
Speaking of earnings, how much can you make as a Grubhub driver?
The precise amount varies depending on your city.
In some cities, for example, local laws set a minimum amount that you must be paid per hour, regardless of the number of deliveries you complete.
These laws are designed to protect drivers from the volatility that can come from slow days.
To see if this applies to your city, consult the “Grubhub Payment Terms” email that you’ll receive during the onboarding process (more on this below).
In general, however, Grubhub determines pay using the following formula:
Per order rate + $0.50 per mile from the restaurant to the customer + 100% of your tips
The per order rate varies based on the market.
Cities with a higher cost of living will tend to have a higher per order rate.
As a general rule though, when you drive for Grubhub, you can expect to make approximately $12 per hour before tips.
