Before you sign into DoorDash, you will see two earnings options: Earn by Time and Earn per Order.
- Earn by Time pays a guaranteed hourly rate while you’re actively on delivery
- Earn per Order pays you for each completed delivery. This is the original earnings system on DoorDash
Which option is better? That depends on whether you value reliability or flexibility. Earn by Time is more reliable—You’ll always know how much you’ll earn for your time.
But Earn per Order is more flexible. You can skip deliveries that don’t meet your criteria (too far, low pay, at a slow restaurant) and target the highest-paying orders.
Which will you choose?
A guaranteed hourly rate might seem like a great deal if it’s more than what you typically make, but there is fine print to consider.
The hourly rate only counts toward your active time on a delivery. You won’t get paid when waiting for orders or after an order is complete.
And the other catch is that your dash will end if you decline too many orders. When you Earn per Order, you can decline as many orders as you want without losing your scheduled hours.
Which mode is best for you? Let’s take a look at how they work. And click here to see recent updates to the earnings modes!
What you need to know
- Earn by Time: Earn a guaranteed hourly rate while actively on deliveries, plus tips. You have to accept nearly every delivery
- Earn per Order: Get paid for each completed delivery. You can accept or decline any order, but your hourly pay isn’t guaranteed. You might earn much more—or much less—than the hourly guarantee
- Earn by Time gives you more predictability and Earn per Offer gives you more flexibility
Here’s what an offer looks like when you Earn by Time:
“Earn at least $15.75/hr in DoorDash pay, from when you accept an order to when you drop it off. Customer tips are additional.”
Earn by Time: Guaranteed hourly pay while on a delivery
In some markets, Earn by time is an option you can choose before starting your dash. When you earn by time, you will get a guaranteed hourly rate for active time on delivery. Your earnings are based on the total active delivery time, from accepting to completing the order.
Here’s what an Earn by Time offer looks like: “Earn at least $15.75/hr in DoorDash pay, from when you accept an order to when you drop it off. Customer tips are additional.”
Choose Earn by Time and get the guaranteed minimum while on active delivery
If your hourly rate is $15 per hour and a delivery takes 30 minutes from start to finish, you will receive $7.50 from DoorDash. In addition, you keep 100% of any tips.
Only your ‘active’ time on delivery counts toward the hourly minimum. Active time starts when you accept an order and ends when you drop it off.
Restrictions: You can only decline one or two orders per hour
One restriction with Earn by Time is that you can only decline one or two orders per hour or your ‘Earn by Time’ dash will end. You can restart your dash, but only if Dash Now is available.
Another potential drawback is that you don’t get upfront earnings info when you earn by time. That means that you can’t filter out the lowest-paying orders.
How Peak Pay works while you Earn by Time
Peak Pay is a bonus that is added to every order during busy times. Peak Pay also applies to Earn by Time, but it works differently: Instead of a bonus added to every order, it’s a bonus that gets added to your hourly rate.
The Earn by Time Peak Pay bonus is twice the amount of the per-order Peak Pay bonus, added to your hourly guarantee. For example, if Peak Pay is $3 per order, the Earn by Time Peak Pay bonus would be an extra $6 per hour.
Peak Pay can apply to Earn by Time. The normal rate of $14.50 was increased to $24.50 during Peak Pay
Examples pay for Earn by Time deliveries
2 orders, no tips. But the $5.33 base pay for 30 active minutes meets the $10/hour minimum
In the delivery above, a dasher was in Earn by Time mode for $10 per hour. They did a stacked order with 2 deliveries that took 31 minutes from acceptance until drop-off.
Base pay from DoorDash was $5.33 for 31 active minutes of delivery, which matches the $10/hour guarantee. Neither order had a tip.
Most dashers would agree that 30 minutes of delivering for only $5.33 is not great. By earning per order, you could wait for better orders and skip a low-paying, non-tipping order like this one.
$9.33 in base pay is higher than base pay on most Earn per Offer orders
The order above is a great Earn by Time order. The Dasher was on a $17/hour guarantee and did one order that took 31 minutes. Base pay from DoorDash was $9.33 and the customer tipped $12.
$21.33 in total pay for a 31 minutes is an excellent delivery. A $12 tip is higher than normal and the base pay of $9.33 is significantly higher than base pay on many Earn per Offer orders.
You may not be able to rely on a big tip for every order, but a high hourly guarantee can at least reassure you that you’ll be compensated fairly for your time.
No possibility of a tip on this order and there was no way to know before it was accepted
Above is an example of a frustrating order that you are forced to accept if you want to continue doing Earn By Time mode.
It’s an order from an auto parts store that is ineligible for tips. You’re stuck with the base pay rate with no hope of a tip, and the order acceptance screen does not let you know that the order was ineligible for tips.
How DoorDash counts active hours while you Earn by Time
When you select Earn by Time, you will earn the hourly rate only on ‘active’ hours. Active hours begin when you accept an order and end when you drop it off.
You don’t get paid after the order is complete, and you don’t get paid while you wait for the next order. That can also mean unpaid ‘deadhead’ miles back into your delivery zone.
Example: How active time is calculated
Let’s say an Earn by Time offer is $15 per active hour. If a delivery takes 30 minutes from acceptance to drop-off, you will earn at least $7.50 in base pay.
But if you don’t get another order in the next 30 minutes, your pay will only be $7.50 (not including tips) because you were only actively on delivery for 30 minutes.
Can you ‘run up the meter’ and delay deliveries while you Earn by Time?
If you start getting paid as soon as you accept an order, can’t you increase your earnings and do less work by intentionally taking longer to finish deliveries?
It may sound like a clever way to beat the system, but DoorDash has policies to prevent you from delaying deliveries and running the clock.
Every order has estimated arrival times, and you will get a contract violation if you are excessively late to arrive at the restaurant or excessively late to arrive at the customer.
Here’s an example of a dasher who was deactivated for purposely taking too much time on orders.
You can get deactivated for purposely taking too much time to deliver
Locked out of Earn by Time?
You may be unable to select Earn by Time mode if too many other Dashers choose the Earn by Time option.
When you are locked out of Earn by Time, a lock icon will be next to the option and a message that the mode isn’t currently available.
You can be locked out of Earn by Time if too many other Dashers choose the option
When you’re locked out of Earn by Time, your only choice is to Earn Per Offer. Earn by Time may become available again later in the day.
Updates and tweaks to Earn by Time
DoorDash is still in the process of launching and tweaking Earn by Time.
Base pay may be lowered for Earn per Offer mode
June 2023: In some markets, DoorDash announced that base pay for Earn per Offer was lowered to only $2, even for batched orders with multiple deliveries.
That means pay could be as low as $2 for a stacked order if customers don’t tip and if no promotions are active.
Earn by Time becomes a more attractive option when base pay is so low for individual orders.
$2 base pay for Earn per Offer pushes dashers to choose Earn by Time
Earn Per Order
When you choose Earn Per Order mode—sometimes called Earn Per Offer in the app)—you are paid for each completed delivery and you have the flexibility to accept or reject any offer you get.
Order requests show an estimated payout amount that includes some or all of any tip that the customer left during checkout. With that information, you can be more selective about the orders that you accept.
You don’t see any upfront tip information in Earn by Time mode. And many Dashers say that no-tip orders are common when you are in Earn by Time mode.
The earnings formula that determines the payout for an Earn Per Offer order is: Base pay + promotions + Tips.
Base pay is a variable amount that typically ranges from $2 to $10, depending on factors like estimated time, distance, and local order volume.
Dashers who prefer Earn Per Offer like the flexibility and control it gives you over your deliveries.
You don’t have the freedom to accept or decline any order when you Earn by Time, where you can only reject 1–2 orders per hour if you want to keep your scheduled time slot.
The downside of Earn per Offer is that it’s possible to only get low-paying offers that pay less than the guaranteed hourly rate offered by Earn by Time mode.
Earn Per Order strategies
When you’re getting paid by the order, your goal is to select the highest-paying orders with the shortest distance. The best strategy is to reject orders with low pay, high miles, or orders from slow restaurants.
You can hunt for orders with high tips and high base pay by being selective about the orders you accept. The downside is that you might have long stretches of unpaid downtime if you reject too many offers.
Earn By Time: Lower tips, higher pay from DoorDash. Earn Per Order: Higher tips, lower pay from DoorDash
Below is a great example of a common experience with Earn By Time and Earn Per Offer. The Dasher did two 2-hour shifts, one in Earn By Time mode and one in Earn Per Offer mode.
For Earn By Time, they got most of their pay from DoorDash and almost no tips. For Earn Per Offer, they waited for orders with high tips, but didn’t get much base pay from DoorDash.
Expect lower tips when you earn by time. But overall pay between the two modes can be similar
In the end, this Dasher earned about the same on both shifts.
Below, this Dasher did 3 orders and got no tips at all. They still earned $22 because of the Earn By Time guarantee, but many Dashers would prefer to wait for orders with tips.
Several no-tip orders is common when you earn by time
Which is better: Earn by Time or Earn per Order?
Ultimately, you will have to experiment to see if you prefer Earn by Time or Earn per Offer. Earn by Time is better for dashers who prefer more reliable earnings, and Earn by Offer is better for dashers who prefer the flexibility to reject orders and only target higher-paying offers.
Earn by Time is not the best option if you regularly earn more than the guaranteed hourly offer. But Earn by Time is worth it if the guaranteed hourly rate is as much or more than you usually get.
In small or medium-sized cities with unpredictable order volumes, Earn by Time can help ensure you don’t go home empty-handed for the day.
Ask yourself: Do you want the reliability of guaranteed minimum earnings, or do you want to take a chance on getting higher pay by waiting for orders with stronger tips?
With Earn by Time, it’s possible to do an hour of no-tip orders and only get the minimum hourly pay. You can earn more than the guaranteed minimum after adding tips, but you will be forced to take those no-tip orders.
You’re incentivized to wait longer when you Earn By Time
Another result of Earn by Time is that it incentivizes you to wait longer at restaurants because you are paid to wait.
When you Earn per Offer, wait time is unpaid and it’s better to skip offers from slow restaurants, or unassign an order if the wait time is longer than 5–10 minutes
Dashers react to Earn by Time
“I find it typically pays well, as you still get the tip on top”
“I can earn way more than the minimum with Earn per Order”
“Earn by Time orders DON’T tip!”
“If you sit in your car for 30 minutes before getting an order, you’re not getting paid”
“This is to trick people who don’t pay attention to the fine print”
“The only way this would be worth it is if they paid you for the time in-between orders on top of drive time”
Source: Reddit
More reading
LEON BOWES says
I assume you WILL NOT get any shop and delivery orders while dashing :by time:
Doug H says
That’s right. They don’t send shop & deliver when you earn by time
Lori says
This Earn by Time system was recently started in my area. But, what they are claiming and what is happening are two different things. Twice now, in the past week, I have logged in and selected Earn by ORDER. When the orders come through they are Order by Time orders – I have no choice, this is what they sent me. When I try to decline the order, I get a notice saying, either accept the order or end your dash. So, I do not have a CHOICE – they say either accept the Order by Time or log out. If this doesn’t change, I am done with Doordash.
JM says
I really feel the lack of full understanding from the drivers as to just how little most make is infuriating. The current $0.655 milage deduction as a simple base suggests that you only make about $0.35 cents per dollar paid out. When you add taxes, gas and maintenance plus depreciation. Now, you can mitigate some of this. I.E. used Prius in good condition with about 200k+ miles. But at the end of the day we certainly do not take home what we are paid. The base should be $0.666/mile plus about another dollar per mile $5. That would be about fair. Then and only then add a tip for great service. Do away with tips as pay.
William says
Yes, plus if working by time you need to consider your cost more for the delivery, With the price of gas hovering at $4.00 or more, the more miles you drive the more you spend, at the pump, for tires, for oil change. We do not work for free, and what DoorDash charges for our services to deliver food, how can the people receiving the food afford this luxury. Also and which , if doing by time perhaps pausing after order is deliver till you get to your comfortable zone so you are not thrown to the wolves in areas that never tip and you do not feel safe
Lisa says
There are so many incorrect facts in this article! Doordash doesn’t “supplement” your pay when working by time. That is how grubhub does their hourly guarantee, but not doordash. How much you get paid Is figured out, at $15 an hour, after each order is completed. Also, you can only decline (when working by time) one order per hour. If you decline more than that, it is true that your dash will end, but you can still continue to dash per order.
Doug H says
Keep in mind that the exact earnings per hour and # of orders that you decline depends on where you are, and the earn by time offer that you accept. It’s not always $15/hour and 1 order per hour.
The article does mention that you can restart your dash if you decline too many orders: “You can only decline one or two orders per hour, or your ‘Earn by Time’ dash will end. You can restart your dash, but only if Dash Now is available.”
Can you point out any other incorrect sections? Always happy to update if I got it wrong.
Bob says
I’m in a small town. I have many regulars. A good number of those regulars did not tip over the last few months of doing by the hour but once I switched back to buy the order they all tip. I’m convinced doordash is keeping tips
Jm says
Very interesting… they did have that issue where they charged Iphone users more than Android users… would not surprise me.
Jenny H says
Hourly seems to be really good for me. $16.50 an hour and in peak times it’s been as high as $18.00 per hour. There are not a lot of tips but these orders are the ones who don’t tip that Dashers would normally cancel. So it’s no secret that there aren’t a lot of tips. This is a smart business decision. Some rides are longer but this must be an order that other Dashers were ignoring.