Over the past decade and a half, third-party food delivery services have become a regular part of American mealtimes. The smartphone made ordering food from an app easier than browsing multiple websites to see which might deliver. Services such as Uber Eats grew out of the networking capacities of drivers’ always-on devices — seemingly taking the effort out of putting hot, tasty food on the table.
Today, some 28.2% of Americans — including nearly four in 10 Millennials and Zoomers — use these services weekly. DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats have emerged as the big three of the industry. But which of the big three manages to keep prices the lowest?
It depends on where you live.
To help consumers save and find the best option for their budget, online lender NetCredit analyzed data across the U.S. We compared the prices of the most popular takeout chains on Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash, and by doing this we uncovered the least expensive service in every state and major city.
What we did.
We sourced the price of a set list of popular items from Subway, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Popeyes, Burger King and Taco Bell on Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash, in each of America’s 100 most populous cities and the five largest in each state. Then, we summed the prices of all items for every chain in each location to determine the cheapest service. Please find our full methodology, including the item lists, at the end of this article.
Key Findings: DoorDash vs. Uber Eats vs. Grubhub.
- Grubhub is the most affordable food delivery service in 24 states, including Florida and New York.
- DoorDash is the cheapest delivery service in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, among other major cities.
- Uber Eats is the cheapest delivery option for McDonald’s in Phoenix and Seattle, while DoorDash and Grubhub are equally affordable in both Indianapolis and New York City.
Grubhub is the cheapest major food delivery app in nearly half of America’s states.
First, we identified the most affordable food delivery app in each state. We found that Grubhub is cheapest in 24 states, while DoorDash and Uber Eats are cheapest in 13 states each. The states where Grubhub is the cheapest include New York, Florida and the Carolinas.
A pair of developers working at Apartments.com founded Grubhub in 2004, driven by their own frustrations with takeout. “We were hungry, and sick of ordering the same pizza all the time,” founder Matt Maloney told Business Insider in 2012. “It’s kind of funny that it really was hunger that inspired [GrubHub].”
European food ordering company Just Eat acquired Grubhub for $7.3 billion in 2021 but quickly sold it at a massive loss as post-pandemic eating trends rocked the market, and Grubhub fell behind DoorDash and Uber Eats. However, the firm remains a major presence, delivering food from 375,000 outlets in over 4,000 U.S. cities.
DoorDash leads in California — but not in every CA city.
Next, we checked the pricing of a fixed set of takeout orders in America’s major cities. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, the cheapest app is DoorDash, which is the cheapest in California overall. However, the Californian cities of San Diego and San Jose buck the trend. In San Diego, Grubhub is the most affordable option, while in San Jose, it’s Uber Eats.
In New York City, we found Grubhub to be around 8.4-12.4% cheaper than DoorDash and Uber Eats overall. However, the company has struggled in the city in recent years, despite buying up legendary local online delivery service Seamless in 2013. Grubhub’s short-term owners, Just Eat, erased Seamless’s branding during a post-pandemic overhaul, but it seems likely to return under Grubhub’s new owners — the innovative, New York City-based restaurant and delivery service Wonder.
DoorDash has partnered with McDonald’s, but it is not always the cheapest option.
When we looked at how these food delivery services compare when buying McDonald’s, we found that Grubhub is still the cheapest option in 24 states — plus Rhode Island, where our order cost the same whether delivering from Grubhub or DoorDash.
DoorDash performs better when analyzing McDonald’s orders alone than when aggregating multiple outlets: for McD’s, DoorDash is cheaper than Grubhub or Uber Eats in 18 states and ties with Grubhub in Rhode Island.
We also found that DoorDash is the cheapest in more major cities when looking at McDonald’s orders alone: nine, plus Indianapolis and New York City, where it ties with Grubhub.
McDonald’s has recently partnered with DoorDash to allow customers to order directly through a DoorDash-powered McDonald’s site.
“We’re making it easy for customers to order McDonald’s wherever they are,” says Shanna Prevé, VP of Enterprise Sales & Business Development at DoorDash.
“With millions of customers visiting McDonalds.com each month, this channel extends our reach, offering a seamless and convenient way to have their McDonald’s favorites delivered,” said Tim Snyder, McDonald’s USA’s head of delivery. “It reflects our continued commitment to meeting customer demands and strengthening accessibility across all touchpoints.”
DoorDash now fulfills delivery orders made through McDonald’s channels or, of course, its own app. Customers can still order from Grubhub or Uber Eats and may save money by doing so in cities like Denver, Chicago, Phoenix or Seattle.
How to save money on takeout delivery.
Pressed for time in a challenging economy, consumers are paying increasing premiums to have their takeout food delivered — a route that not only puts another company and gig worker between you and your meal, but involves a dark micro-economy whereby services adjust tipping norms and fees to try to balance driver availability with demand.
However, there are ways to keep your bill down when ordering food for delivery. To begin with, we have arranged our data into this interactive table so you can quickly identify the cheapest food delivery service in your state or any of America’s 185 biggest cities.
You might also consider the following tips:
- Set family rules on food delivery. Restrict orders to specific days and meal times, order from only one service at a time, and set a weekly or monthly budget to reduce spending.
- Team up with neighbors. If others on your block frequently use delivery services, consider a splinter group from your neighborhood WhatsApp group to save money (and vehicle emissions) when ordering together.
- Order at quiet times and reheat. Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes are among the periods when restaurants offer special prices due to slow business.
- If you have Amazon Prime, use Grubhub. Amazon Prime members can access lower delivery and service fee costs by signing up for Prime Grubhub+.
- Rethink home cooking. Skip deliveries altogether by planning home-cooked meals in advance and prepping ingredients before work or in a quiet moment so it’s easy to cook when you’re hungry.
Takeout delivery can get you out of a bind and make a fantastic treat on a long day. But for the budget-conscious, it’s helpful to remember that it is a luxury convenience — and there are plenty of alternative ways to fill that hunger gap.
Methodology
To discover the most affordable food delivery service by state and city, we compared the prices of the most popular takeout chains on Uber Eats, Grubhub and DoorDash.
First, we curated a list of the 100 largest U.S. cities by population, as well as the top five largest in each state. Then, for each location, we sourced the prices of a set list of favorites at seven major chains using each delivery service. Here are the menus we used:
– Subway: Tuna, B.L.T., Meatball Marinara.
– McDonald’s: Big Mac, French Fries, 10-piece Chicken McNuggets.
– Pizza Hut: Meat Lovers Pizza, Veggie Lovers Pizza, Pepperoni Lovers Pizza.
– KFC: Secret Recipe Fries, 8-piece Chicken Only, Spicy Chicken Sandwich Combo.
– Popeyes: 2-piece Signature Chicken Combo, Spicy Chicken Sandwich Combo, 5-piece Handcrafted Tenders.
– Burger King: Whopper, French Fries, Bacon Double Cheeseburger.
– Taco Bell: Crunchwrap Supreme, Crunchy Taco Supreme, Burrito Supreme.
If a restaurant didn’t have prices for all three items, it was filtered from the dataset. If a chain didn’t have prices for all three delivery services, it was also filtered from the dataset.
We then summed the prices of all items for every chain in each location to determine the cheapest service locally.
Data is correct as of September 2025.
DISCLAIMER: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, tax or legal advice.
