Food Delivery: Doordash or Skip the Dishes? 

Online food delivery services have become increasingly popular during COVID-19, giving home cooks a break. To use the services may cost some extra money. But some days, the price of convenience or the chance to try something new is worth it. 

So, is DoorDash better or is Skip the Dishes better? 

Both apps are easy to use with similar features, like schedule deliveries where you can order ahead of time, re-ordering, pick-up or delivery, real-time tracking so you can see where your order is, and the ability to rate the restaurants and the drivers. 

The delivery fees are similar between the two apps, but they do offer slightly different programs for discounts. 

Skip The Dishes, partnering with 25,000 restaurants in Canada, offers a points system where you earn points with every order. These points are then used for discounts and other rewards. You start off at the orange status (beginner), where you earn 5 points per dollar. If you order 2 or more orders per month, you will get bumped up to gold status, where you get 10 points per dollar. You’ll earn points on every dollar you spend before taxes, tips, and delivery fees kick in. If you reach gold status, you will stay at that status for the remainder of the current month, and the next month.  

To redeem points, you have four options. You need a minimum of 2,500 points to get a discount of $2.50, 5,000 points for $5 discount, 10,000 points for $10 discount, and 15,000 points for a $15 discount. 

The nice thing about this is you are not committed to paying any monthly fees. 

DoorDash, which has 340,000 restaurants on its marketplace from the U.S and Canada, offers a monthly subscription called the DashPass. This subscription costs $9.99 per month for free delivery on orders over $15 from participating restaurants and savings on the service fee. If you order 2 or more family meals a month, the savings in delivery and fees pay for the DashPass, but on months where you are not ordering it’s a money grab for DoorDash.  

Over the past two years my family has ordered from DoorDash regularly but only a few times from Skip The Dishes. The main reason is that we found the selection of restaurants on DoorDash was more satisfactory than Skip the Dishes, and the restaurants we wanted were only on DoorDash in our neighborhood. 

However, when we compared the same order from the same restaurant (large supreme pizza from Pizza Hut) on both apps, we discovered there is some difference. 

If you only order once or twice a month, then Skip the Dishes is cheaper. If you’re ordering more than three times a month, then DoorDash is cheaper with the DashPass.  

The app best for you will depend a lot on where you live, the restaurants you’re looking for, and how many times you plan to order in a month. So, download them both and take a scroll.

Cover Image: hanyalashkar Pixabay