Deliveroo vs Just Eat: real £/mile by city (and is delivery worth it vs rideshare?)

Deliveroo or Just Eat? It's the question most independent delivery drivers face in the UK. Like ride-hailing drivers choosing between Uber and Bolt, there's no universal answer — it depends on your city, your hours, and your vehicle type. This guide sets out the available data without taking sides.

How each platform pays: understanding the model

Before comparing the two, it's important to understand that they don't pay the same way. You're not earning a commission on the customer's order value — you're paid per delivery, calculated using a formula that combines several variables.

Deliveroo: the per-delivery model

Deliveroo pays per delivery based on: a fixed pickup fee, a per-mile rate for distance covered, and boosts during peak hours. The exact formula varies by city and changes regularly — Deliveroo doesn't always publish it transparently.

Just Eat: per-delivery or employed depending on your contract

Just Eat operates two models in the UK. In some areas, couriers work as employees or workers with guaranteed hourly pay. In others, they're self-employed and paid per delivery, similar to Deliveroo's model. If you're self-employed on Just Eat, the pay structure is broadly similar to Deliveroo with its own parameters.

The real £/mile: what actually matters

To compare the two platforms properly, you need to reduce each delivery to its real net £/mile — after deducting your vehicle costs. Three elements to track:

• →Total distance per delivery (ride to restaurant + delivery to customer), not just the drop-off distance
• →Waiting time at the restaurant (unpaid time with vehicle wear continuing)
• →Your actual per-mile vehicle costs (fuel, wear, insurance)

What drivers observe by city

Based on feedback from couriers across UK cities, here are the trends generally observed in 2025. These are indicative and can vary by local contracts and time periods.

London

Deliveroo remains more active in terms of order volume in central London, driven by its density of restaurant partners. Gross £/mile generally runs between £0.80 and £1.10 depending on the slot. Just Eat has a strong presence but slightly lower volume in inner zones — though it offers competitive boosts during lunch and dinner peaks.

Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol

In these cities the competition between the two platforms is more balanced. Deliveroo maintains solid volume, Just Eat is well established with strong restaurant partnerships. Drivers working both report fairly similar net £/mile figures, with Deliveroo having a slight edge in order consistency.

Smaller cities and towns

In cities under 200,000 people, Just Eat tends to be better established than Deliveroo, which has pulled back from some areas. Just Eat volume can be higher, which sometimes compensates for a slightly lower £/mile.

Hours: where each platform performs better

The two platforms don't peak at the same times. Understanding these differences helps you decide which app to prioritise depending on when you're working.

• →Lunch (11:30am-2pm): both platforms active, volume comparable. Deliveroo slightly stronger in office districts.
• →Afternoon (2pm-6pm): quiet on both. Rarely worth it unless there's an event.
• →Dinner (6:30pm-10pm): main peak on both. Deliveroo often more consistent in volume, Just Eat with interesting weekend boosts.
• →Weekend lunch and dinner: both platforms at maximum. This is where multi-platforming is most profitable.

Restaurant waiting time: the hidden cost

One of the most underestimated factors in the Deliveroo vs Just Eat comparison is average waiting time at the restaurant before leaving with the order. This is unpaid time during which your vehicle continues to cost you money.

Couriers generally report slightly shorter waiting times on Deliveroo in larger cities, due to better synchronisation between the customer order and the courier's arrival. But this varies significantly between restaurant partners.

The multi-platform strategy for delivery drivers

As with ride-hailing, the most effective strategy for delivery drivers is to be active on both platforms simultaneously and take whichever order arrives first — or whichever offers the better distance-to-pay ratio.

The challenge is quickly assessing whether a Deliveroo order at £4.50 for 2 miles is more profitable than a Just Eat order at £5.20 for 4 miles, once your per-mile costs are deducted. That's exactly the kind of real-time analysis Drivee enables.

What the platforms never tell you

Neither Deliveroo nor Just Eat communicate your real net £/mile. They display estimated hourly earnings that don't account for your actual vehicle costs, depreciation, or unpaid waiting time. The figure they promote is always the most favourable — not the most honest.

• →Displayed hourly earnings don't deduct fuel or wear
• →They don't count waiting time at restaurants
• →They don't account for dead miles between orders
• →Peak bonuses are presented as regular when they're actually occasional

How to decide for your own situation

The best method remains empirical: test both platforms over 2-3 weeks, noting for each session the number of orders, gross earnings, total miles covered (including dead miles), and total time connected. Calculate your net £/mile and net £/hour for each platform. The answer will be in your own data, not in the platforms' marketing.

What's certain: sticking to one platform and hoping to optimise your income means working with half the information. The drivers earning most consistently are those who know their real numbers and choose accordingly.

Delivery vs rideshare: which actually pays more per hour?

The bigger question many couriers reach eventually: is delivery (Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats) actually more profitable than rideshare (Uber, Bolt) — or are you trading the same hours for less money? The honest answer is: rideshare vs delivery profitability depends heavily on your city, your vehicle and the hours you're willing to work.

In London, UK rideshare drivers typically net £14-£18 per hour after costs and fuel, working Uber and Bolt across peak hours. Full-time delivery drivers on Deliveroo and Just Eat in the same city report £10-£14 per hour net — roughly 20-30% lower on average. The gap narrows in mid-sized cities (Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds) where rideshare volume drops and delivery becomes relatively more attractive.

Where delivery wins: lower vehicle costs (scooter or bike vs car), no licensing required in most areas, more flexible hours, and you keep tips directly. Where rideshare wins: higher gross earnings per active hour, less waiting time at restaurants, larger fares on long trips, and surge pricing during events. The smartest couriers in 2026 don't pick one — they multi-app across both verticals, switching between delivery and rideshare based on which is paying better at any given moment. If you have a vehicle and a private hire licence, this cross-vertical strategy can lift your net hourly rate by 15-25% versus sticking to delivery alone.

Key takeaways

• →Deliveroo: generally higher volume in large cities, more consistent order flow
• →Just Eat: well established in mid-sized cities, worker contracts available in some areas
• →Restaurant waiting time is a hidden cost to factor into your calculation
• →Multi-platform remains the most effective strategy to maximise volume
• →Rideshare typically outpays delivery per hour in major cities — cross-vertical multi-apping is the highest-earning approach
• →The only reliable metric: your real net £/mile, measured from your own data

The platforms optimise their own metrics, not your earnings. Knowing your real numbers is the only way to make decisions that actually work in your favour.

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