Ways to Earn Money With Ride Share Apps

April 24, 2023

5 min read

Have you been looking for a side hustle to make some extra money? Maybe you’re just not able to save as much as you’d like, have a lot of free time, or have a big expense coming up like the kids heading to college? Ride sharing, where peers drive peers to their destinations, has been thriving since the concept launched a decade ago. And you can get in on the extra bucks, as long as you have a good vehicle and a safe driving record.

How much can you make driving? Well, that’s tricky. Earnings vary on your location, number of hours you drive, and distances you travel. A 2018 report found average earnings at Uber to be 9.21 per hour (1) after taxes and insurance, but this varies greatly.

Here are the biggest ride sharing companies that can help you make a little extra dough.

Uber

Uber is such a leader in ride sharing that its name has become a household name. Drivers are need for transportation and to provide delivery services through its platform, Uber Eats. Depending on your vehicle, you can provide Uber Comfort, UberXL, and UberX rides.

Uber requires its drivers to:

Meet the minimum age to drive in your city
Have at least 1 year of licensed driving experience in the U.S.
Have a valid U.S. driver’s license
Have an eligible 4-door vehicle (varies by city)
Upload insurance, registrations and inspection documents

Features:

Set your own hours
Choose how and when you want to get paid
Uber insurance
Bonuses for driving at certain hours

Lyft

Lyft is hot on the heels of Uber in terms of popularity. Offering a similar structure, Lyft can be found in major cities across the United States. It also allows you to rent a car to drive through its Express Drive program if you don’t have the right type of vehicle or don’t want to put miles on your car.

Lyft requires its drivers to:

Meet the minimum age to drive in your city
Undergo a background check
Have a valid U.S. driver’s license
Have an eligible 4-door vehicle (varies by city)
Upload insurance, registrations and inspection documents

Features:

Weekly direct deposit payments
Car rental options
Bonuses for driving at certain hours

Turo

Turo is a peer-to-peer ridesharing option that lets someone rent your car when they are in town or need a vehicle. You can list your car on its platform for free with no sign-up charges and no monthly fees. You set your price and your ground rules for rentals — it’s all up to you. How Turo makes its money is by taking a cut: 15% to 40% of your price, depending on the Liberty Mutual insurance protection plan you choose. Still, Turo claims those who list their cars on its marketplace earn an average $706 per month.

Turo requires vehicles to:

Be no more than 12 years old
Meet insurance requirements
Have fewer than 130,000 miles
Have a clean title
Be registered in the U.S. (except New York)
Meets state requirements

Features:

Direct deposit payments within 3 days of rental
Liberty Mutual insurance protection
24/7 customer support

Getaround

Similar to Turo, Getaround allows your car to be rented by the hour or by the day and is good in more than 300 cities. You can set the price on your vehicle using recommended rates and predictive pricing provided by the platform. For a car to be rented, you will have to install Getaround Connect hardware so renters can unlock your car with their apps. You can try this for free for 90 days but then will pay a one-time $99 installation fee and $20/month. Getaround also takes 40% of your earnings but does cover 24/7 roadside assistance and insurance.

Getaround requires vehicles to:

Be 2010 model or newer
Have less than 125,000 miles
Seat no more than 8 passengers as a private-passenger vehicle
Have at least 4 wheels

Features:

Paid once a month on the 15th
Contactless rentals

Via

Via provides another driving op for you to get city goers, mainly in Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., where they need to go as an alternative to a taxi. Indeed.com finds the average Via driver takes home $12.93 per hour (2), higher than Uber’s average mainly because it’s in high-powered cities.

Via requires drivers to:

Have at least 1 year of U.S. driving experience
Have a valid U.S. driver’s license
Pass a criminal background check
Have a 2011 or newer model with leather seats
Have a 2016 or newer model with fabric seats
Have a TLC license, if driving in New York City

Features:

Weekly direct deposit payment
Low-priced car rental options
24/7 customer service

Hitch

If you reside in Texas, Hitch provides rides between its major cities and Oklahoma City via its app and is really more of a way for someone to “hitch a ride” with you. You can list your car, where you are going and how many you can fit in your car. Hitch provides you with a quote for your drive at more than $15. If it cannot find a match for you, it pays you $15 that very day.

Hitch requires drivers or vehicles to:

Have all license, registration and insurance
Undergo a standard background check
Have a 4-door car
Have a car that is no more than 15 years old

Features:

Instant payouts (with fee) or payment in 2 to 3 days

Summary

While you can make extra money as a driver, don’t expect ridesharing to replace your fulltime salary. Keep it as a side hustle and you won’t be disappointed with the fluctuating earnings.