Instacart vs. Shipt vs. DoorDash vs. Amazon Fresh: Comparison and Reviews 2024
Grocery delivery services are a convenient way to reduce trips to the supermarket. You can get your groceries online with just a few clicks. Instacart, Shipt, DoorDash and Amazon Fresh are four of North America’s most widely available grocery delivery services. They all can bring fresh produce, meat, dairy and pantry staples right to your front door. But What's the difference between them? How do you decide which one is right for your particular situation? This article will compare Instacart vs. Shipt vs. DoorDash vs. Amazon Fresh based on pricing, membership, availability, and customer service to help you make an informed decision with confidence.
Instacart vs. Shipt vs. DoorDash vs. Amazon Fresh: Overview
1. Instacart
Minimum Order: $10
Delivery Fee: Starts at $4 for non-members; free delivery on orders over $35 for Instacart+ members
Membership: Optional for $99/year or $10/month, includes free delivery on all orders over $35
Founded in 2012, Instacart is an American technology company valued at nearly $8 billion that operates as a same-day grocery delivery and pick-up service in the U.S. and Canada. Instead of storing goods itself, it sources all your groceries from local grocery stores and businesses. Instacart partners with many regional and national grocery chains, such as Costco, Wegmans, Kroger. ALDI and even CVS for pharmacy needs. They also recently added the option to shop at other non-grocery stores, like Sephora, Petco and Staples to name a few, adding even more flexibility to the service. As you’re shopping, you can indicate substitutes if any items are unavailable. You'll receive live updates and can track the shopper’s progress on GPS.
You can schedule deliveries or curbside pickup days in advance, as well as choose from same-day and one-hour options if you need products quickly. Instacart allows you to order from warehouse clubs like Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s without a membership, but prices are marked up. Plus, Instacart marks prices up on most groceries, sometimes as much as 14%. And there's a delivery fee and suggested tipping associated with each order, making it one of the more expensive options on our list. A $10 minimum order is required, and Instacart+ members get free delivery on all orders over $35.
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PROS | CONS |
Available across the U.S. and Canada | Pricing may be higher than in-store retail costs and higher than Amazon Fresh |
Free to use, membership optional | Not available in some rural areas |
Wide selection of participating grocery stores | Charges service fees for all orders |
Able to schedule delivery for a window of time, same-day delivery or for a different day | |
Can choose replacements for each of your items ahead of time, should the store be sold out | |
Internal messaging platform to communicate with your shopper and driver in real time |
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2. Shipt
Minimum Order: None
Delivery Fee: nonsubscribers must pay $9.99; free delivery on orders over $35 for Shipt members
Membership: $99/year or $11/month
Shipt is an American delivery service owned by Target Corporation. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. In December 2017 it was announced that Target Corporation was acquiring Shipt for $550 million and that it would operate as an independent subsidiary following the acquisition. Currently, Shipt operates only within the U.S. Still, it covers a wide range of more than 5,000 cities, including Birmingham, San Francisco, Austin, and more. It lets you shop from different stores depending on where you live — including an exclusive partnership with Target. You'll also find options like Costco, CVS, Bed Bath & Beyond and Petco.
Shipt focuses more on discount area retailers, including Costco, so you'll find plenty of deals and bulk savings. Furthermore, the app lets you customize your grocery shopping with dietary preferences. Just enable filters that prioritize specific food types to see products from those categories. Like Instacart, customers don’t need to sign up for a membership to use Shipt, but it is recommended for repeat users. Without a membership, each order has a $9.99 delivery fee. Once you place an order, you can get your items as quickly as within the hour or schedule the delivery in the next two weeks.
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PROS | CONS |
Available in most major urban centers in the U.S. | Doesn't operate in Canada |
Official delivery partner of Target stores | Less widely available than Instacart |
Ability to shop at Target, as well as other major retailers like Petco, CVS and more | Additional services fees along with delivery fees |
Delivery from pharmacies, pet stores and home supply stores available | |
Great discounts as you would see in store at a Target | |
Delivery times are super fast as quick as one hour from the time you order |
3. DoorDash
Minimum Order: None
Delivery Fee: from $5-$8 for nonsubscribers; free delivery on orders exceeding $15 for DoorPass members
Membership: $9.99 a month for DoorPass
DoorDash is an on-demand delivery service app founded in 2012. It’s different from Instacart and Shipt as it’s connected to restaurants rather than retailers, so it is similar to Uber Eats and other types of restaurant food delivery services. On the DoorDash app, you can choose from a huge range of restaurants (over 110,000) across the U.S. and Canada to get some delicious food delivered fresh to your door. DoorDash offers options to track your delivery, pick up your food or schedule your deliveries for the most convenient times.
Although DoorDash is best known for restaurant food delivery, but the company also offers delivery services from other merchants like pet stores, convenience stores, and grocery stores, among others. There's no minimum spend — you can order as little or as much as you want! DoorDash offers free delivery, discounts, rewards points, and frequent offers with its DoorPass subscription. It costs $9.99 a month, but you can try your first month for free to see if it justifies the investment. And as with other best food delivery services, a delivery instructions box in DoorDash enables you to specify where you'd like your meal dropped off for contact-free delivery.
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PROS | CONS |
Good recommendation engine for discovering restaurants | Fees and taxes do add up, especially if not a DashPass member |
Monthly DashPass subscription reduces service fees | Reach not as extensive as Grubhub |
Get fresh produce and other items in around 30 minutes | |
No membership requirements, but worth it for frequent users | |
Estimated delivery times are updated in real time, helping you know exactly where your order is | |
Option for contactless delivery at your door, or handed to you |
4. Amazon Fresh
Minimum Order: None
Delivery Fee: $3.95 orders between $100-$150; $6.95 for orders between $50-$100; $9.95 for orders under $50
Membership: Free for Amazon Prime members; Amazon Prime membership is $14.99 per month or $139 per year
Unlike the third-groceries delivery services, Amazon Fresh is essentially a digital grocery store. It used to be an add-on service but now comes free for Amazon Prime members. The store offers fresh produce, meat, dairy, seafood, packaged foods, Whole Foods 365 products and household goods, such as cleaning supplies. You can even shop for electronics, clothing and toys on Amazon Fresh. Certain items also have a Subscribe & Save option, which will automatically ship the item after a designated number of weeks or months for up to 15% off.
Amazon Fresh fulfills orders using its unbelievably fast two-hour delivery, making it among the quickest in the game. One drawback is that Amazon Fresh is exclusive to Amazon Prime and Prime Student members, and is not available for regular Amazon users or guests. And even with the Prime membership, shipping is only free with a minimum order of $35–$50, depending on region. Plus, Amazon Fresh only delivers to shoppers in Boston, Baltimore, Seattle, Stamford, Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, New York Metro, Northern Virginia, London and parts of California and New Jersey.
PROS | CONS |
Good selection of fresh and shelf-stable groceries | Only available in major metro areas |
Can shop at Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh/Amazon Kitchen products unique to the site | Only available to Amazon Prime members |
Provides a wide variety of grocery and household products | Shipping is not free on orders less than $35 |
Competitive prices, packaged foods like chips or snacks are 10% to 30% cheaper than Shipt prices | |
You almost never encounter unavailable items when using Amazon Fresh | |
Delivery times are super fast as quick as two hours from the time you order |
Instacart vs. Shipt vs. DoorDash vs. Amazon Fresh: Full Comparison
Instacart | Shipt | DoorDash | Amazon Fresh | |
Locations | 40 states, plus Washington, D.C. | The Southeast, parts of Texas, Chicago | 4,000 U.S. cities in U.S., Canada and Australia | More than 2,000 cities |
Membership required | No | No | No | Yes, included with Amazon Prime ($140 per year) |
Shipping fee | Starting at $3.99 with minimum order of $10; free with Instacart Express ($99 per year or $9.99 per month) with minimum order of $35 | Free with minimum order of $35 | Varies by restaurant | $3.95 orders between $100-$150; $6.95 for orders between $50-$100; $9.95 for orders under $50 |
Delivery times | 2 hours to 6 days | 1 hour to two weeks | 30 minites | As fast as 1 hour |
What you can buy | Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol from local stores | Groceries, non-perishables, alcohol in some areas | Groceries,restaurant | Groceries and non-perishables, including Whole Foods |
Availability
Instacart is currently available in more than 5,500 cities in the United States and Canada, more cities than Amazon Fresh.
Amazon Fresh delivery areas include the following cities of the United States:Atlanta, Baltimora, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.
Shipt services over 260 cities according to their cities page.
DoorDash is avaliable in 850 cities across North America.
Grocery Selection
Instacart provides a wider selection of stores than Shipt does. They deliver from Kroger, Office Depot, Bath & Body Works, Petco, 10Box Cost Plus, Michael’s, Lowe’s, Five Below, Walgreens, Target, CVS, Dick’s Sporting Goods, The Container Store, a local grocery store, and many other stores as well.
Amazon Fresh only works with Whole Foods, but you can select from discounted Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday items to help on savings.
Shipt takes the cake by working with stores like Costco, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Kroger, Meijer, Whole Foods, H-E-B, Safeway, and Target.
Most all your favorite local restaurants should be available with DoorDash delivery services.
Delivery Cost and Membership
Instacart delivery fee ranges from $3.99 to $7.99 for nonsubscribers, depending on the size of your order and how quickly you want your delivery. The minimum order is $10.Meanwhile, Instacart+ (formerly Instacart Express) is $99 per year or $9.99 per month. It offers unlimited free delivery on orders over $35 and reduced service fees.
Amazon Prime costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year. To bypass the Amazon Fresh online grocery delivery fee, Prime members must spend more than $150, which is an increase from the previous threshold of $35. There's a $9.95 delivery fee for orders under $50 and a $6.95 delivery fee for orders between $50 and $100. Orders between $100 and $150 are a $3.95 delivery fee.
With Shipt, nonsubscribers must pay $10 to place a grocery order in addition to service fees. Shipt membership is $99 per year and offers unlimited free delivery on orders over $35.
DoorDash's delivery cost from $5-$8 but there are different promotions ongoing periodically like free delivery or free menu items. DoorDash offers DashPass membership ($9.99/mo) which has free delivery on orders exceeding $15.
Customer Service
Instacart has a direct helpline at 1-888-246-7822 as well as email support at help@instacart.com. You can also chat with your designated shopper for a more personalized experience, as they would be completing your order in real-time.
Amazon Fresh offers live customer support and the messaging assistant can quickly solve many issues or direct you to the right person or place. You can also submit a few details about your issue and then someone will call you right away. Amazon is known for putting the customer first and is very lenient with refunds and credits.
Shipt offers all the same customer service options as Instacart such as a help line (1-205-502-2500), email support (support@shipt.com), in-app support, and live chat on their support page.
When you are dealing with an error in your order for DoorDash, they make refunds painless and simple. If you do need more assistance, then you can use the DoorDash FAQs or contact them via phone at 1 (650) 681-9470 or email (support@doordash.com).
Bottom Line
Compare to Amazon Fresh, both Shipt and Instacart have a slight edge as the pricing and fees are better, and you don't have to be an Amazon Prime member to use the service. Plus, considering you can get groceries from multiple stores delivered the same day you order them, they are a better option than Amazon Fresh.
Instacart is much more widely available across the United States and Canada, as well as in a larger swath of suburban areas than Shipt appears to be. But Shipt allows you access to in-store pricing and coupons if you're a regular Target shopper.
Amazon Fresh isn't the right choice for everyone. If you are an Amazon user subscribing to Prime and get the perk to get Amazon Fresh delivered to you for free in two hours it is worth it. If you do not use Amazon regularly, it may not be worth paying for a full-price membership. Plus, limited delivery area means you’ll need to live in a participating market to take advantage of this service.
DoorDash are similar with Instacart, Shipt and Amazon Fresh in that they’re all delivery apps, but they differ in that Instacart focuses more on groceries while DoorDash is primarily for restaurant meals. If you need food delivery, DoorDash is a better choice.
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