Best Food Delivery Apps in 2026: 8 Apps Compared

DoorDash is the default choice for most people, and the reason is simple coverage. It lists more restaurants than any rival in the United States, and it holds up better than the others in suburbs and smaller towns where rival apps thin out. If you live outside a dense city center, DoorDash is usually the app that actually has your favorite local spots. It also goes beyond restaurants, with grocery, convenience and retail delivery in the same app, plus a feature that lets you add items from a second store to one order without a second delivery fee.

The catch is cost. Delivery fees, service fees and menu markups stack up, and a single order can easily run 30 percent or more above the restaurant menu price once tip is included. DashPass, at $9.99 per month or $96 per year, removes delivery fees and lowers service fees on eligible orders over $12, and it includes a free trial period. If you order twice a month or more, it is worth doing the math on your own orders. For everyone else, the free app with occasional promo codes still works fine.

Uber Eats is the closest rival to DoorDash and the better pick in many big cities, where its restaurant lineup is deep and its delivery times are competitive. The app itself is clean and fast, with live tracking, scheduled delivery and group orders that let friends add their own items to one cart. It also handles grocery and alcohol delivery in many markets, so it can cover more than dinner.

The real draw is Uber One. At $9.99 per month, it gives members no delivery fee on eligible food orders, up to 10 percent off eligible orders, and 5 percent off eligible Uber rides. If you already use Uber for rides, that bundle is hard to beat, and it is the main reason to pick Uber Eats over DoorDash when both cover your area. Without a membership, though, Uber Eats delivery fees can be on the high side, so compare the checkout total before you commit.

Grubhub has been around longer than its rivals, and it still wins on price in the cities where it is strong, including New York and Chicago. Independent cost comparisons have repeatedly found Grubhub cheapest in more states than any other app, and its Perks tab surfaces direct restaurant deals that the bigger apps do not always match. Pickup is free, and Grubhub+ members earn credit back on pickup orders.

Grubhub+ costs $9.99 per month and removes delivery fees on eligible orders, but the best deal is for Amazon Prime members, who get Grubhub+ at no extra cost. That alone can make Grubhub the cheapest app in your rotation. The weakness is coverage. Outside its strong cities, the restaurant list gets thin, and in some suburbs you may find only a handful of options. Keep it installed alongside DoorDash and check both before ordering.

Seamless is Grubhub's sibling app, and it shares the same restaurants, the same Grubhub+ membership and the same ordering system. Its roots are in corporate and office ordering, and it still shines there, with group ordering tools that make it easy for a team to build one order from one restaurant. If your office already orders through Seamless, there is no reason to switch.

For most home diners, Seamless is a matter of habit and location. It is strongest in New York, where it started, and in a handful of other cities. Elsewhere, the Grubhub app gives you the same food with a wider footprint. There is no penalty for having both, and if you already have a Grubhub+ membership through Prime, it works in Seamless too.

ChowNow takes a different approach from the big three. Instead of charging restaurants a commission on every order, it sells restaurants ordering software and lets diners order direct, which means more of your money reaches the restaurant. For diners, the app is free, and ordering through a restaurant's own ChowNow-powered page often shows menu prices closer to what you would pay in person.

The trade-off is selection. ChowNow lists far fewer restaurants than DoorDash or Uber Eats, and in some towns you may find only a few options. Delivery is also handled by third-party partners in many areas rather than by ChowNow itself, so speed can vary. Still, if your favorite local restaurant offers ChowNow ordering, it is worth using for that spot, both for the price and for the principle.

Slice does one thing and does it well: pizza from local, independent pizzerias. The app lets you customize pies down to half-and-half toppings, track the order from oven to door, and reorder a saved favorite in a couple of taps. Its rewards program gives a point for every $15 spent, with a free large cheese pizza at eight points, which adds up fast for a weekly pizza household.

Because Slice works only with independent shops, you will not find the big chains here, and in some towns the list is short. That focus is also the point. Local pizzerias keep more of each order than they do on the big apps, and the menus tend to be complete and accurate. If pizza night is a regular event in your house, Slice earns its place on your home screen next to a general app.

Instacart is best known for groceries, but it also delivers from restaurants in many markets, which makes it a useful second app if you already shop through it. The same account covers hundreds of grocery and retail partners, and restaurant orders over $25 qualify for free delivery with an Instacart+ membership. That combination suits households that want one delivery account for both the weekly shop and Friday dinner.

Instacart+ costs $99 per year or $9.99 per month, and it lowers but does not remove the service fee, which is a real difference from DashPass and Uber One. Item prices on Instacart can also run above store prices, since each retailer sets its own pricing. For restaurant orders alone, the big three usually offer a deeper menu, but as an all-in-one household app, Instacart is hard to match.

GoPuff is not a restaurant app, but it belongs on a food delivery list because of how people actually use it: the 10 pm snack run. It stocks its own micro-fulfillment centers with snacks, drinks, groceries and household items, and it delivers in as little as 15 minutes in many cities. That owned-inventory model is why it can be faster than a courier picking up from a store.

The app is free, and delivery fees are low compared with restaurant delivery, though a membership option exists for frequent users. The limits are clear: you cannot order a hot meal from your favorite restaurant here, and alcohol is only available in select markets to customers aged 21 and over. Think of GoPuff as the complement to a restaurant app, not a replacement for one.