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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Instacart Shopper vs Uber Eats

Instacart Shopper 4.8★ · Free to download 60
Winner Tie
Uber Eats 4.8★ · Free to download 55

Instacart Shopper is better for those looking to earn money through grocery shopping, despite its app bugs and support issues, while Uber Eats is for customers seeking food delivery, though it faces significant criticism for high fees and poor customer service.

Full reviews: Instacart Shopper · Uber Eats

Instacart Shopper and Uber Eats both function as platforms for gig economy workers and customers, but cater to different services: grocery shopping versus food delivery. Both apps receive mixed reviews, with users praising the earning potential or convenience, but frequently criticizing app reliability, payment structures, and customer support.

Head to head

Earning Potential & Pay edge: Instacart ShopperR2R13R38R42
Instacart Shopper Instacart Shopper users appreciate the opportunity to make extra money, with some claiming to earn 'easy money' or even $200 a day R2R38. However, many shoppers complain about low pay for large or long-distance orders, especially considering gas prices and effort involved R13R42. There are also concerns about not receiving heavy item pay and issues with tier status impacting order access .
Uber Eats Uber Eats reviews are from customers, not drivers, so direct comparisons on earning potential are not available. However, customer complaints about high fees and delivery costs R64R67 suggest that a significant portion of the cost is absorbed by the platform, potentially impacting driver earnings or customer willingness to tip generously.
App Reliability & Features tieR3R4R5R7
Instacart Shopper Instacart Shopper users frequently report significant app bugs and glitches, including issues with face verification, document rejection, and constant crashes R3R4R7R9. A major complaint is the app no longer showing item locations within stores, making shopping time-consuming R5. Some users also report problems with batch availability and notifications .
Uber Eats Uber Eats users experience various app issues, such as checkout glitches requiring multiple attempts and problems with promotions not applying correctly R64. There are also reports of the app deducting money without an order and issues with order tracking or delivery status .
Customer/Shopper Support tieR1R4R9R13
Instacart Shopper Instacart Shopper's support is a major pain point, with users reporting long wait times, unhelpful agents, and difficulty resolving issues R1R4R9R13. Shoppers feel that support 'never know how to solve a situation' and that communication is difficult R9. Some users even report being disconnected or redirected without resolution .
Uber Eats Uber Eats receives widespread criticism for its customer support, with users describing it as 'terrible,' 'awful,' 'unhelpful,' and 'virtually 0' R79R85. Users report issues with agents not providing honest updates, being run in circles with copy-paste messages, and a lack of human contact, often relying on AI that cannot resolve problems .
Job Availability & Competition (for Shoppers) edge: Instacart ShopperR5R12R16R19
Instacart Shopper Many Instacart Shopper users report a significant decrease in available jobs or 'batches,' with long downtimes even in prime locations R5R12R19. New shoppers are sometimes put on long waitlists R16. There are also concerns about unfair competition from 'bots & scripts' that claim high-paying orders too quickly for human shoppers .
Uber Eats Uber Eats reviews are from customers, so there is no direct feedback on job availability or competition for drivers.
Pricing & Value (for Customers) tieR64R67R69R70
Instacart Shopper Instacart Shopper reviews are primarily from shoppers, so there is no direct customer feedback on pricing or value.
Uber Eats Uber Eats customers frequently complain about high prices, excessive fees, and the overall cost of orders R64R67R69. Many feel the app engages in 'predatory practices' by raising prices for non-subscribers or subtly adding fees R67R70. Even with an Uber One membership, users report still being charged delivery fees and finding the minimum spend for free delivery too high (£15 in the UK) .
Pick Instacart Shopper if

you are looking for a flexible way to earn money by shopping for groceries, are willing to contend with occasional app bugs, and understand that pay can be inconsistent R2R38.

Pick Uber Eats if

you prioritize convenience for food delivery, frequently look for deals and promotions, and are prepared to navigate potentially high fees and less-than-ideal customer support .

Evidence note: The reviews for Instacart Shopper are exclusively from shoppers, while Uber Eats reviews are primarily from customers. This creates an asymmetry in the types of feedback available, making direct comparisons on certain dimensions, like earning potential for drivers or customer experience for grocery delivery, difficult or impossible.

Frequently asked

Is Instacart Shopper a reliable way to make money?
Instacart Shopper can be a way to make extra money, with some users reporting earnings of up to $200 a day, but job availability can be inconsistent, and pay for individual batches is often criticized as low, especially for large orders or long distances R2R5R13R38.
What are the main complaints about Uber Eats?
The main complaints about Uber Eats revolve around high fees, often described as excessive or predatory, poor and unhelpful customer support, and issues with order accuracy or delivery reliability R64R67R79R85.
Does Instacart Shopper have app issues?
Yes, Instacart Shopper frequently experiences app issues, including problems with face verification, document rejection, constant crashes, and a lack of in-store item location guidance, which makes shopping more difficult and time-consuming R3R4R7R21.

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. [R2] Instacart Shopper 5/5 · US Use my referral code LAID085EE1: I love this app. You can make extra money easily ☺️
  2. [R13] Instacart Shopper 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!
  3. [R38] Instacart Shopper 5/5 · US Ez Bread: Easy $200 a day
  4. [R42] Instacart Shopper 3/5 · US Instacart review: It’s ok. The pay can be much better. Shopping for 75 items and delivering to 3 people. Taking 2 trips and walking up to the 2nd and 3rd floor just to make $20 is crazy. Sometimes you got to carry cases of water as well. Not to mention the gas.
  5. [R3] Instacart Shopper 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??
  6. [R4] Instacart Shopper 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."
  7. [R5] Instacart Shopper 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.
  8. [R7] Instacart Shopper 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
  9. [R1] Instacart Shopper 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.
  10. [R9] Instacart Shopper 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?
  11. [R12] Instacart Shopper 3/5 · US Más Pedidos: Tienen que mejorar los lotes y enviar más ya que se demoran en enviar y cuando lo hacen son pocos y cada vez que hacen actualización se pone mal
  12. [R16] Instacart Shopper 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?
  13. [R19] Instacart Shopper 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
  14. [R64] Uber Eats 1/5 · US Customer Service Policies are Abhorrent.: I’ll start by saying that I’ve used this app for years, but I pretty much will only use it nowadays when there are BOGO deals available, as that’s the only way I can justify the cost. Everytime I’ve added a BOGO item to my cart, it automatically adds the second one. That was not the case on my most recent order, so I reached out to the customer service to
  15. [R67] Uber Eats 1/5 · US Predatory practices- tries to trick you into subscription: I’m tired of priced being raised by 1/3 because I don’t sign up for their premium membership. They post on their main page that food is discounted but won’t disclose that it’s only if you sign up for their premium membership until you tap the Apple Pay button at checkout. Then when you decline, on the tip screen, it subtly shows that it ad
  16. [R69] Uber Eats 3/5 · US Need better promotions: I’ve been using your absence you guys hit the market and in the beginning first two years it was always good lately for the last year or two. It’s gotten very expensive and I don’t get any promotions and when I do there for things that I don’t use which I find that weird if you guys see that someone’s always ordering food, you should throw out more food promos
  17. [R70] Uber Eats 1/5 · US One because you can’t do zero: This app is far to predatory on you must find every little check box to make sure you are signing up for uber premium or signing up for some other random thing you don’t want and didn’t ask for. Just noticed they got 2 month of premium from me before I realized it signed me up because I missed unchecking a box somewhere. This company is pathetic. Uninstalled
  18. [R79] Uber Eats 1/5 · US Terrible app with no customer support: Uber Eats Help service is always conveniently broken from errors on their end. Terrible app, terrible service.
  19. [R85] Uber Eats 1/5 · US Customer support awful: I canceled my order 30 minutes before it was supposed to come. I canceled it as soon as I made the order and I got a fee for five dollars for canceling my order and they said I’m receiving my money back turns out they lied didn’t get my food or my money back reached out to customer support and they said we’re unable to help you. Please reach out to someone else and it’s lik
  20. [R21] Instacart Shopper 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.

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