Food delivery fees are rising, and everyone’s feeling the pinch

Food from the restaurant of your choosing, delivered right to your door — at what cost?

Third-party food delivery is becoming the norm for American consumers, as delivery apps like Grubhub, DoorDash

and Uber

Eats take hold in day-to-day dining. It’s also presenting customers and restaurants with an increasingly complicated equation of service fees, delivery costs and worker tips.

Frustrations from both sides of the table have hit the services, which have worked to protect (or achieve) profits and prop up orders while cash-strapped Americans scrutinize the checkout screen — and order totals that often add up to more than expected.

Compared to orders made directly through restaurant sites, consumers reported higher yearly increases in their total checks on third-party apps between 2022 and 2024, according to Technomic. Though Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub each promote paid memberships to reduce fees, consumers still claim to pay more on average for third-party orders, according to the food service industry research firm.

The rising costs come as more Americans watch their wallets during a period of persistent inflation.

San Francisco resident Zainab Batool, who said she orders delivery from either Uber Eats or DoorDash weekly, called the added fees “insane.”

“I feel like I remember a time when they used to not be as high, maybe four years ago, but it just seems like it keeps increasing,” Batool said.