Uber Vs. Lyft: Which Service Is Cheaper?

Ride-hailing apps have been a game changer in getting people from place to place in modern society. In the days before mobile apps like Uber and Lyft became popularized, getting to your destination ultimately required a lot more time, effort, and hassle than many of us may remember. Luckily in 2024 these problems are a thing of the past. Due to the invention of Uber and Lyft, getting to your destination is as simple as logging into one of the applications on your phone and calling a car.

But while the struggle of hailing a cab during rush hour is a thing of the past, the money you had to spend on one is not. In fact, both Uber and Lyft have gotten significantly more expensive over the years, an issue that can mainly be attributed to price increases on behalf of each individual company, as found in a study done by PowerSwitch Action. Knowing this, the main problem you will come across in selecting which app to use can be boiled down to a matter of which one is cheaper; an issue that is ultimately based on a handful of different factors. So before you make your decision on which app to use to get to work in the morning, let's take a look at which of them will give you the best bang for your buck.

A study was done by CashNetUSA in 2023 that looked at Uber and Lyft fees across 150 different cities in the U.S. in order to determine once and for all which app is actually cheaper. The way the group went about this was by using Uber and Lyft's online fare estimators in order to calculate the average price of a six-mile journey for every city in the study.

In the end, the study found that it was actually Uber who prevailed with the cheapest fares overall, leading Lyft in 33 out of 50 states. The way this was measured was by the actual dollar amount difference on average for a six-mile ride across multiple different cities in each state. Lyft only outdid Uber in 17 states, with the majority of them residing in the west and northeastern parts of America. Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania were the states where Uber led by the greatest margin, with the average fare for a six-mile ride being over $4 cheaper than Lyft. As for the top states where Lyft led Uber in price difference, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, and Wyoming took the crown. New York led by the greatest price margin at $3.33, with the other states falling within the $2 range.

To calculate the price difference between Uber and Lyft for your city, you can check both Uber and Lyft's price calculators individually to find out.

Besides the price difference between the apps in different U.S. states, Uber and Lyft generally function the same. Both follow adaptive pricing models, which means either app may provide cheaper rides than the other depending on the time of use. The only way to definitively find out which is cheaper is by checking prices on both apps at the same time. They also both provide different selections of cars based on how many people you will be traveling with, luxury options (Uber Black, Lyft Black) and electric scooter rentals. The only outstanding difference between Uber and Lyft is ultimately that Lyft's services are confined to the U.S. and Canada while Uber is more international. Uber also has food delivery services (Uber Eats) while Lyft does not.

Outside of these factors, Lyft has also been able to avoid many of the controversies that have fallen upon Uber, a truth that can largely be attributed to its smaller market share. Uber has faced claims ranging from claims of sexual assault to even the secret lobbying of governments during its global expansion. A controversy they both share, however, is none other than wage theft, specifically in the state of New York. In a recent settlement achieved by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Uber and Lyft have been ordered to pay $328 million dollars to drivers in the state for withholding pay and blocking them from receiving benefits required under New York labor laws.