For most U.S. restaurants, the delivery decision comes down to a three-way choice, and the trade-offs are real: DoorDash brings the largest customer base but sits at the top of the commission range, Uber Eats offers metro strength and tiered pricing, and Grubhub charges the lowest headline commission while adding a separate delivery fee. Card-transaction data from Earnest Analytics put DoorDash at 60.7% of U.S. food delivery sales at the end of 2024, with Uber Eats at 26.1% and Grubhub at 6.3%. Here are the four considerations that should drive your choice, plus a framework for evaluating any platform you're weighing.
Understanding the Landscape: Top Delivery Platforms
The U.S. restaurant delivery market is effectively a DoorDash-led duopoly, according to the MakeMyReceipt Research Team's analysis of Earnest Analytics card-transaction data. DoorDash's 60.7% share of sales at the end of 2024 means it reaches the most ordering customers; Uber Eats' 26.1% concentrates in large metro areas, and Grubhub's 6.3% skews toward urban markets. Market share figures can vary slightly by reporting source and period, so treat them as directional rather than exact.
Reach is not the same as relevance, though. As OrderOut's Thibault Le Conte puts it, "A service that's a giant nationally might be a ghost in your local area." Before committing, ask each platform for real data on its user base and order volume in your immediate neighborhood, not just its national footprint.
