Enter one week from each app you drive. We rank them by what you really keep per hour — after your car takes its cut at 72.5¢/mi (2026 IRS rate). Leave blank the ones you don't use.
Platform
Earnings ($)
Miles
Hours
DoorDash
Uber Eats
Instacart
Walmart Spark
Amazon Flex
#
Platform
$/hr
$/mile
Take-home
Adj. $/hr
The winner is usually the low-mileage app
Whichever app makes you drive fewest miles per dollar tends to win — because your car, not the IRS, is your biggest expense. A mileage tracker logs every business mile automatically so your real numbers are airtight. Compare mileage trackers →
How this comparison works
Every gig app brags about gross pay. None of them subtract the cost of your car — and that cost is what decides which app actually pays best. For each platform you drive, we compute three things from one week of your real numbers:
$/hour — gross earnings ÷ hours. The number the apps love to quote.
$/mile — gross earnings ÷ miles driven. How much each mile of wear is buying you.
True take-home — gross − (miles × 72.5¢). We subtract vehicle cost at the 2026 IRS standard mileage rate of 72.5¢/mile, the IRS's own all-in estimate covering gas, maintenance, tires, insurance, and depreciation.
We then rank the apps by adjusted $/hour — take-home ÷ hours — and highlight the winner. Empty rows are ignored, so an app you don't drive never drags down the ranking.
Why the highest gross often loses
Picture two apps that both pay $22/hour. One sends you on tight 10-mile-an-hour routes; the other has you crisscrossing town at 25 miles an hour. After the 72.5¢/mile vehicle cost, the low-mileage app leaves you roughly $14/hour while the high-mileage one drops near $4 — same gross, wildly different take-home. That's why dollars per mile matters more than the headline rate, and why comparing your own weeks beats any "best gig app" list online.
There's no universal winner — it depends on your market, your car, and how many miles each app makes you drive. The only honest answer is your own numbers: enter a real week from each app and rank by take-home per hour. The highest-gross app often loses once miles are subtracted.
Why rank by dollars per mile?
Your car is your biggest cost and it scales with miles, not hours. Two apps paying $22/hr can leave very different amounts in your pocket if one drives you 25 miles an hour and the other 10. Per-mile pay exposes which app is quietly burning your car.
How is true take-home figured?
Take-home = gross − (miles × 72.5¢), the 2026 IRS mileage rate — the IRS's own estimate of the all-in cost of driving (gas, maintenance, tires, insurance, depreciation). Divided by your hours, that's the adjusted $/hr we rank on.
Do I have to fill in every app?
No — only the ones you drive. Leave the rest blank or zero and they're excluded from the ranking. For a fair fight, use the same recent (or typical) week across the apps you run.
Estimates for educational purposes only — not tax, legal, or financial advice. The 72.5¢/mile figure is the 2026 IRS standard mileage rate used as a proxy for vehicle cost; your actual cost may differ. Consult a tax professional about your situation.