Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
User consensusAlternativesIs it worth it?
The verdict on

Instacart Shopper

45
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

The Instacart Shopper app offers a flexible way to earn money, but recent reviews highlight significant issues with app stability, low pay, and unresponsive support, making it a frustrating experience for many users despite its potential.

4.8★ lifetime (1,597,543) Free to download since 2019 by Maplebear Inc updated 0.1 mo ago recent negative 53% 120 reviews across 2 regions
App Stability Shopper Pay Customer Support Batch Availability Verification Issues
5★169
4★32
3★32
2★25
1★242
recent reviews across 2 regions, vs the 4.8★ lifetime average

The Instacart Shopper app allows users to earn money by shopping and delivering groceries, with many appreciating its flexibility and ease of use for making extra cash. However, recent feedback frequently points to critical problems like app crashes, verification failures, low batch pay, and difficulties with customer support, which significantly hinder the shopper experience.

What users like

  • Provides an easy way to make extra money or serve as a full-time jobR1R12R18R20
  • App is generally easy to navigate and guides new shoppers through the processR28R58R66
  • Offers flexibility in working hours and scheduleR59

What users complain about

  • Frequent app crashes and glitches, especially during busy periods, prevent shoppers from working or completing ordersR6R34R57R60
  • Low pay for batches, often not covering gas, time, or effort, especially for long distances or large ordersR8R39R41R49
  • Customer support is difficult to reach, unresponsive, and often unhelpful in resolving issuesR2R5R24R25
  • Identity verification (face scanner) often fails, preventing shoppers from logging in or workingR6R14R29R172
  • Lack of available batches or inconsistent order flow, even in 'hot zones' or for experienced shoppersR3R9R13R19
  • Customers can reduce tips after delivery, which is frustrating for shoppers who have completed orders correctlyR67R439
  • App does not show item locations within stores, making shopping more time-consuming, especially for large ordersR3R47R139

Latest update · v4.488.2

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

Bug fixes and performance improvements.

Recurring themes

App Stability negative
Many users report frequent app crashes, glitches, and connection issues, especially during peak times like holiday weekends. These problems prevent shoppers from completing orders, logging in, or even receiving batches, leading to lost income and frustration. The developer's notes mention 'bug fixes and performance improvements,' but recent reviews directly contradict this, indicating ongoing and severe stability problems.R6R34R57R60
Shopper Pay negative
A widespread complaint is the low pay for batches, which many shoppers feel does not adequately cover gas, vehicle maintenance, and the time and effort involved, especially for long distances, heavy items, or large orders. Some users report base pay as low as $7 for 50 items or less than $20 for 40 miles of driving.R8R39R41R49
Customer Support negative
Shoppers consistently report extremely long wait times, unhelpful responses, or complete lack of response from customer support. Issues range from problems with digital payment cards to document rejections for medical stipends, with many feeling that support agents are unable to resolve their problems or are difficult to communicate with.R2R5R24R25
Batch Availability negative
Many shoppers, including new ones and those with high ratings, struggle to find available batches. Users report long periods of downtime, 'hot zones' disappearing, and orders being snatched up instantly by bots or scripts, making it difficult to earn consistent income.R3R9R13R19
Verification Issues negative
The app's identity verification system, particularly the face scanner, frequently malfunctions. This prevents shoppers from going online and working, with some reporting being stuck in endless loops or having valid documents repeatedly rejected.R6R14R29R172

Who it's for

This app is for individuals looking for a flexible way to earn supplemental income or a full-time job through grocery shopping and delivery R1R18R59. It is particularly suited for those who enjoy shopping and are comfortable navigating stores without in-app item location guidance R58. It is NOT for those who rely on consistent income, excellent app stability, or responsive customer support R75.

Evidence note: The recent review sample skews significantly negative (53.4% recent-negative), which contrasts sharply with the lifetime rating of 4.8 stars. This suggests a recent downturn in user experience, possibly due to increased app issues, changes in pay structure, or an influx of new shoppers. The confidence in the negative themes is high due to their recurrence across many recent reviews, but the overall score balances this against the historical positive sentiment.

Frequently asked

Can I make good money with Instacart Shopper?
While some users report making good money, especially for extra cash R1R12R30, many recent reviews indicate that pay is often low, sometimes not even covering gas and time, making it difficult to earn a living wage R8R39.
Does the Instacart Shopper app have technical issues?
Yes, many recent reviews report frequent app crashes, glitches, and connection problems, especially during busy periods, which prevent shoppers from working or completing orders R6R34R57R75.
Is Instacart customer support helpful for shoppers?
No, many shoppers describe customer support as difficult to reach, unresponsive, and unhelpful, with long wait times and agents often failing to resolve issues R2R5R25R35.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R1] 5/5 · US Use my referral code LAID085EE1: I love this app. You can make extra money easily ☺️
  2. [R12] 5/5 · US Sandra Cueva: It’s amazing, great money too!
  3. [R18] 5/5 · US Love instacard: It's my full-time job! If you put your heart into it, you'll be able to move up and gain access to better opportunities, like better orders.
  4. [R20] 5/5 · US Being a Shopper: It’s great being shopper .you get out see various amounts of food and shop for people who can’t themselves.and let’s not forget earn cash while doing it
  5. [R28] 5/5 · US Easy Access for Shopping: Just started and all features are just a click away! App guides you step by step on what’s next.
  6. [R58] 5/5 · US Great app: I am new to Instacart. I must say the app really prepares you for your shopping journey. When I did my first batch the app pretty much guides you from beginning to end. I did appreciate my first order telling me what aisle to find the product. It definitely helped a lot. Every store is different so it takes some time to maneuver around and find stuff. Once I do this more, I’ll get faste
  7. [R66] 4/5 · US 👍🏼: the app is very easy to navigate. the only problem is that the app does crash sometimes while you’re doing orders
  8. [R59] 5/5 · US Wow: This is an app that can work for anyone looking for extra cash or a side gig that works on their time schedule. GRATEFUL 🥹
  9. [R6] 1/5 · US Verification Fails: Instant used to be much better but the reoccurring “verification” issue is draining. every time the app prompts for photo verification, i get a pop up that says i need to finish my verification call first. never received a call, no option to reset, just an endless loop preventing me from going online. i just want to make my extra cash like everybody else, why must it be so diff
  10. [R34] 1/5 · US Very buggy: Incredibly buggy. I can’t complete orders because of bugs.
  11. [R57] 3/5 · US The App crashed the first time I used it!: Super frustrating and I wasted over an hour only to have to scrap all the work I had done.
  12. [R60] 4/5 · US Very lucrative!: I love this app . Please work on connection issues for shoppers , it's very inconvenient to be waiting for the app to work while working . Time is money ! But I love doing Instacart!! Better than Uber if you done mind working a bit
  13. [R8] 1/5 · US Terrible service: Way to long to speak with a customer representative way to long! So it’s definitely you all fault for the customers ice to be melted, also gas prices has skyrocketed and you all still paying pennies! No way I have a 50 item order and you all paying. $7 that’s highway robbery!
  14. [R39] 1/5 · US High miles, LOW pay: I started shopping with Instacart as a way to make some money between Dashes. First order, 40 minutes of driving. Less than 20 bucks. Second order, half the cart wasn’t even legal to sell in that city. My last order? A little under 19 bucks to drive FORTY MILES for an hour after a 25 minute store visit. This is not an app to make money with, it’s the most effective way to burn
  15. [R41] 4/5 · US Need to increase pay: Gas prices are outrageous for the low offers for the mileage
  16. [R49] 1/5 · US So many problems: I am constantly underpaid. I always miss out on heavy item pay. The app is always glitching. They never add extra pay for when their product is messing up. This app deserves less than one star, but I couldn’t do that.
  17. [R2] 1/5 · US Bad company: So I have a digital card because my other card just expired waiting for it in the mail so I go to a merchant store called total wine and they only accept the physical card so I waste my time when I call Instacart for help. They tell me that I get a negative remark on my file and no pay. Thanks for wasting my time.
  18. [R5] 1/5 · US 🤔: Tengo un problema grave con el sistema automático de la app. Está rechazando repetidamente mis documentos válidos de COBRA para el estipendio médico de California, a pesar de que el trimestre pasado me lo aprobaron sin problemas. Soporte técnico no me da soluciones y el bot me rechaza de mil formas. Necesito que un agente humano revise mi caso de inmediato y apruebe mi subsidio."
  19. [R24] 3/5 · US Issues and bugs: The opportunity to make good money out of shopping from Instacart is amazing and thanks for that. Why the shopper service is so bad? They literally never know how to solve a situation apart from communication being difficult with them. Also the app has been having issues since 6 days ago. Hello? Can we fixed?
  20. [R25] 1/5 · US They don’t value their shoppers: Instacart does not care about or value you as a shopper for them. They hide behind not having a phone number to contact with issues and when trying to contact them through the app via support chat, they just don’t answer. Horrendous shopper support, terrible company.
  21. [R14] 3/5 · US Face scanner is awful!: Face verification scan barely works. It’s incredibly frustrating. If you let people have multiple accounts and have these massive shopping rings anyways and not do anything when they’re reported why have this face scanner that doesn’t work??
  22. [R29] 1/5 · US The app will not let me work!!: Since last December of 2025 I have been able to pass the Instacart verification I can login with my passkey but when the app does it own verification it says it’s under review. I am still waiting for my healthcare subsidy from last December? WHY?
  23. [R172] 3/5 · US Shopper desde 2020: Uso esta app desde hace varios años y hasta hoy por primera vez tengo dificultades para conectarme. El app no está realizando el proceso de verificación de identidad con la foto selfie y no puedo trabajar. El soporte técnico no me ayuda, ya no se que más hacer.
  24. [R3] 4/5 · US Almost a 5: Overall, a good app however it doesn’t tell you where things are inside the store which makes it more time-consuming and it doesn’t have as many jobs as you would like. There’s a lot of downtime in between when the JOBS show up even when you’re close to a prime location that would give you a lot of JOBS.
  25. [R9] 1/5 · US Cannot Get Job-NO SPOTS available??!: Just joined was put on waitlist. No full time shoppers available?? Why is there no room for me to see potential gigs?
  26. [R13] 1/5 · US Shopping: I’ve been a shopper since the beginning (march) of the 2020 pandemic. It used to be fun to do with lots of orders!! And you used to have to be put on a wait list (i was for over a YEAR) to become a shopper! Now when i do decide to get out and do a few scarce orders (they are LITERALLY FEW & FAR BETWEEN) i see new shoppers all the time, even when i’m just out doing my normal shopping i se
  27. [R19] 1/5 · US Waiting list: Been waiting to get off the waiting list…it’s been a year and I’m still on the list :/
  28. [R67] 5/5 · US Tips: It’s not fair that the customer gets to reduce the tip that was given originally. The order got picked properly and arrived on time,other than that Instacart is great 😊
  29. [R439] 3/5 · CA Customer tip decreased: Hi! This is a humble request to INSTACART that you should remove the option for customers to decrease the tip once order has been delivered. Some customers tip more in the beginning and when the order is delivered they reduce their tips by 10-15$ which is disappointing for a shopper . As we spent our time , efforts and gas on that order so that we could earn more . But when
  30. [R47] 1/5 · US Please lawd fix it: I'm not sure what possessed this app to update and stop showing where stuff is in the stores, but the whole country is not having it. It takes way too long to shop. The timers went down so now I also have to shop faster with no clue where to go because all the items are scattered on the list? It's fine if there's not many items but when there's over 100 items and I'm having to
  31. [R139] 3/5 · US Looking for solutions: The app is exactly the same as when it first launched. We're wasting a lot of time in the warehouse trying to locate items because the app isn't showing them. We're essentially shopping blind. It's incredibly difficult for any driver who's been using this app for a while; I can't imagine how hard it is for someone just starting out. All updates are welcome, as long as they i
  32. [R30] 5/5 · US Ez Bread: Easy $200 a day
  33. [R75] 1/5 · US You wasted our time: Your app is terrible. It crashes constantly during the holiday weekend. You offer no compensation to your customers or drivers. You are still accepting more orders while the ones you have can’t even be delivered!!!! This is unacceptable and a waste of time
  34. [R35] 2/5 · US Customer service: Customer service takes way too long

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store