Can You Really Make Money With Grubhub?

If you’ve ever wanted food from your favorite restaurant, but didn’t want to go anywhere and they didn’t deliver, then you’re probably very thankful for companies like Grubhub. 

They do more than just deliver you delicious food too – they offer a way to earn money, too, by becoming a driver.

But can you make real money with Grubhub? Yes, you can earn anywhere from $10-$20 per hour as a Grubhub driver – sometimes even more. It just depends on your market, how many orders you can accept, and what tips you get.

Now, let’s take a closer look at what Grubhub is all about, how you can sign up with them, and whether or not you should.

What Is Grubhub?

GrubHub is the original food ordering and delivery marketplace, founded all the way back in 2004 by Matt Maloney and Mike Evans.

Over the years, Grubhub Inc has acquired Seamless, LevelUp, AllMenus, and MenuPages. It’s a publicly traded company, having gone public in 2014.

GrubHub also boasts having the “largest and most comprehensive network” of restaurant partners. Which make sense, because they offer delivery or takeout services from over 300,000 restaurants – 155,000 of which they’re partners with.

They operate in over 3,200 U.S. cities and in London.

They’re one of – if not the – biggest player in this space, processing over 500,000 orders per day and serving over 22 million active diners. In fact, in 2019, they brought in $6 billion in gross food sales to local restaurants.

So, if you wanted to get your feet wet in the food delivery game, GrubHub is a strong company to start with.

How Does It Work?

Most people know how it works to be a Grubhub customer: you go onto their app or website, peruse the various restaurants and their food options, fill up your cart, and place your order. Then you wait (kind of) patiently for your driver to arrive.

But what does the process look like for the other side – the driver?

As a driver, you have a special GrubHub app that not just anyone can download, only those who pass the application process get the special link to the GrubHub driver’s app.

Unlike other companies like DoorDash, you’re supposed to schedule a block of time you want to work. You still get to pick when you want to work, but if you don’t schedule in advance, those slots might get taken up by other drivers. Sometimes, though, you’ll be able to become available and take orders when you aren’t scheduled.

The reason for this is to lessen the amount of competition on the road and give everyone enough deliveries.

When you’re ready to start during your scheduled block, you simply hop on the app and become available. Then, when an order comes in, it will pop up on your screen.

It will contain details like how much you’ll get paid, what restaurant you’re going to, and things like that. You’ll have a limited time to either accept or reject the offer.

If you accept it, you’ll use the GPS to head over to the restaurant. Once there, you’ll let the app know that you’ve arrived and are waiting for the order. Once you get the order, you’ll let the app know that you’re on your way to the customer.

You’ll have the name of the customer and the address you’re delivering to. Again, you’ll use the GPS to get where you’re going. And, once you get there and drop off the food, you simply click “order complete” and await your next order.

You’ll get paid each time you complete an order, and the amount you’ve earned will get stored up in your account until payday!

How Do You Sign Up?

Signing up for Grubhub is a simple process, but they aren’t always looking for new people in every area.

You also have to meet certain qualifications, such as:

• Being at least 19 years old (unless you live in Chicago, then you must be 21)
• Have at least 2 years’ driving experience
• Have an iPhone with iOS 10 or newer or an Android with 4.0 or higher
• Have your own data plan
• A valid driver’s license and insurance (if using a car)
• Have a checking account
• Be able to pass a background check

If they are hiring, then you’ll simply go online and fill out the application. You’ll need to give them information like:

• Your name
• Email
• Phone number (the one for the phone you’ll be using when working)
• What state and city you’re in
• What type of vehicle you drive

With Grubhub, you can use your car, motorcycle, or even bike to do deliveries. Although if you are delivering on a bike, you might not be eligible for all types of deliveries.

Once you fill out all the information about yourself, you’ll have to consent to a background check. You’ll also need to give up your checking account and routing number so you can get paid, which is via direct deposit.

After you’ve applied and been accepted, the next thing you have to do is complete an onboarding process. In certain areas, there’s in-person onboarding sessions, but you can also do it online.

AFter onboarding, you’re just waiting on getting your GrubHub gear – which includes an insulated bag to keep the food warm (or cold).

Once you’ve received that, then you can officially begin taking orders and earning money!

How Much Can You Earn?

When you work with Grubhub, you’re working as an independent contractor, meaning you’re in charge of all your own expenses and taxes.

You get paid via direct deposit each Thursday. Grubhub does also offer an instant cash out feature, where you can get the money you’ve earned instantly for a small fee.

Grubhub has recently updated their pay structure to more accurately account for things like mileage and time spent.

Now, these are the factors that go into calculating your pay:

• Mileage to pickup location 
• Mileage to drop-off location
• Time spent driving and waiting 
• 100% of tip

It’s worth noting that now there is no base pay like there was before. But the mileage is now based on the estimated route instead of just a straight line. And now you get paid for how much time you spend waiting.

Like before, you get to keep 100% of the tips, which makes up a significant portion of your earnings. However, Grubhub tends to be one of the better delivery services to work for when it comes to tips, and in 2019 they sent more than $2.5 billion in tips to drivers.

The amount you earn per mile is based on which market you’re working in, as is the amount of time spent waiting and driving.

According to Glassdoor, Grubhub drivers can earn around $12 per hour. 

Personally, when I worked for Grubhub, I made around $20-$25 per hour on average. But it varies, some days you can get a lot of orders with great tips, and other days it’s really slow and you don’t earn as much.

If you team up with someone (or with your spouse, which makes it really easy), you could always sign up for two different companies (like Grubhub and Doordash). Then you could be doing both at once, making way more money.

Full disclaimer: I don’t know if you’re “supposed” to do that or not. But it earns you way more money because there aren’t really slow times. You’ll generally have at least one order coming in from one company or the other.

If you do that, though, make sure you don’t sacrifice good customer service, and you’ll find yourself rejecting a lot of orders that simply wouldn’t work – which, for Grubhub, has a slightly negative impact.

What I Like

• You can make a decent amount of money with it
• You have a flexible schedule
• They have measures in place to prevent oversaturation of drivers

What I Don’t Like

• You’re responsible for all your expenses
• It’s only available in urban areas

Summing It Up

Overall, driving for Grubhub is a great way to earn money on the side, and can even be a full time income – especially if you couple it with another driving service (which, again, I don’t know if that’s technically allowed).

From my own personal experience, I would say this is one of the best side gigs out there. Yes, you can potentially make more with some other options, but this is an all around good option.

Just remember that you’re in charge of your own expenses. And, unfortunately, this option isn’t available for everyone. So, if you live in a rural area, you might have to find something else.