UberEats vs Postmates vs Caviar: A Head-to-head Review

Postmates Review

If you want the most delivery options possible, check out Postmates.

Postmates is different from other food delivery services in a couple of ways.

First of all, Postmates isn’t technically a food delivery service. Sure, they’re a delivery service that will bring you food. But food isn’t all they deliver.

In their own words, Postmates enables “anyone to have anything delivered on-demand.”

So yes, they’ll bring you a hamburger, but they’ll also pick up your dry cleaning, or those shoes you bought, or your groceries, or alcohol, and more — from all across your city.

This is one of the most unique features of Postmates vs UberEats or Caviar.

Postmates is also unique in that, although it does have partnerships with thousands of businesses and restaurants, including Starbucks and Chipotle, they also delivers from establishments that haven’t given them explicit permission to do so.

Here’s an easy way to think about it:

Most food delivery apps like Postmates partner with specific restaurants to help those restaurants deliver food.

Postmates partners with you to go get stuff and bring it to you.

This model has angered some restaurant owners who feel like they lose control of the customer experience when Postmates becomes the middle man. It can also lead to order complications since the system isn’t always as streamlined as it would be if the vendor and the delivery service were working together directly.

But it gives you, the customer, thousands more options of what you can have delivered.

Postmates is also one of the first food delivery services to offer a subscription.
Postmates Unlimited gets you “free delivery on orders from all merchants on the Postmates platform when the cart size is over $20. Additionally, subscriber orders are instantly accepted and never surged (Blitzed).”

This can be a great way to save money if you get food delivered frequently. Postmates’ delivery fee for a single order is generally “a flat rate of $5.99.” But the subscription is only $9.99 per month. So by taking advantage of the free delivery, you might only need two orders a month to break even.

Postmates Summary

Pros:

• Delivers “anything from anywhere anytime”
• Offers a subscription that can save you money
• Partners with Starbucks and Chipotle

Cons:

• Not as well reviewed as UberEats or Caviar (and other apps like Postmates)
• The ambitiousness of the model (they’ll go bring you almost anything) can sometimes lead to reliability issues

UberEats Review

It’s Uber (think extremely reliable) — for food.

In August of 2014, Uber expanded on its popular ride sharing model to launch UberFRESH, which was later renamed UberEats.

Although UberEats is a newer service than Postmates or Caviar, Uber’s massive customer base, deep pockets, and existing delivery system have allowed the service to grow from only 900 restaurant partners in 2016 to over 46,000 in 2017.

The spinoff has been so successful that UberEats is now outgrowing Uber in some cities. And unlike Postmates, UberEats is available internationally, currently operating in 13 countries, including Mexico and Canada.

Although UberEats doesn’t have as many restaurant options as Postmates, it’s available in dozens of markets where Postmates and Caviar don’t operate. It’s also the official delivery partner for McDonald’s, which is great if you’ve craving some fries and a coke.

And since UberEats is built on time-tested Uber systems, it’s considered to be extremely reliable and is one of the most well-reviewed food delivery apps.

UberEats Summary

Pros:

• Very well reviewed delivery service (built on the excellence of Uber)
• Partners with McDonald’s
• Operates in hundreds of cities around the world

Cons:

• Works only with specific restaurants
• Ubereats drivers cannot usually deliver alcohol

Caviar Review

Caviar is food delivery for foodies.

Caviar was founded in 2012 with the goal of becoming a “curated Seamless.” Like UberEats, it only delivers from specific restaurants — a difference between Caviar vs Postmates.

And instead of partnering with any restaurant that would take them, Caviar started out by only working with restaurants that had at least 4 stars on Yelp and usually didn’t deliver.

Caviar was later acquired by mobile payment company Square for a rumored $90 million, and while it’s slightly less exclusive today, it’s still the premium food delivery service, bringing you “the best local restaurants in cities across the U.S.”

Instead of Mcdonald’s, like you’d find on UberEats, Caviar partners with Bareburger — a trendy eatery that serves “organic & all-natural food” with antibiotic free, hormone free, and humanely raised meats and poultry (with lots of non-meat alternatives like veggie burgers and vegan sausage).

Get the picture? So if you’re a discerning diner looking for the best restaurants in your area, Caviar could be perfect for you.

Unlike UberEats, and similar to Postmates, Caviar does deliver alcohol — from it’s partner restaurants.

Caviar Summary

Pros:

• Offers a premium restaurant selection. Lots of local and high quality options
• Is a well-reviewed food delivery app
• Does deliver alcohol from it’s partner restaurants

Cons:

• Operates in fewer markets than other food delivery services
• Partners only with specific restaurants (like an UberEats alternative)

So which one is right for you: UberEats vs Postmates vs Caviar?

If you’ve been trying to choose between Caviar, Postmates or UberEats, hopefully this post has made your decision a bit easier.

And you might have come to the conclusion that the best food delivery app really depends on your situation — like what you want delivered, and when, and where.

When you directly compare Caviar vs Postmates vs UberEats, there are plenty of similarities, but there are also some key differences.

Postmates or UberEats cover the most areas.

UberEats or Caviar have better reviews on their apps.

Caviar is similar to Postmates because it will deliver alcohol from its restaurant partners, but Postmates will go several steps further by also bringing you a 6-pack from the grocery store, or basically anything else you want delivered.

Postmates has notable partnerships with Starbucks and Chipotle, UberEats partners with McDonald’s, and Caviar partners with many of the most well-reviewed local restaurants across the U.S.

To sum up Postmates, UberEats, and Caviar each in one sentence:

Postmates is a great option if you want food from a restaurant that doesn’t officially partner with any food delivery services.

UberEats is a great option for extremely reliable food delivery in 13 countries across the globe.

Caviar is a great option if you want a premium dining experience from a well-reviewed local restaurant.

Thus concludes our review — Bon appetit! 🙂