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Many young people face this dilemma: You have a car, insurance, and driving experience, but you’re too young to drive for Uber or Lyft.
You have to be 21 to drive for Uber and 25 for Lyft. Are there any app-based jobs that hire younger drivers?
Good news if you’re under 21! You can drive for DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, and many other apps.
How old do you have to be to drive for Uber & Lyft?
Drivers for Uber must be 21 years old or older. You also need at least one full year of driver’s license history.
Drivers for Lyft must be 25 or older in most cities or 21 in a few select locations. Visit this Lyft page to see the exact Lyft age requirements in your city and state.
Licensing history requirements
For Uber, all drivers under age 23 must have at least three years of licensing history. Lyft only requires one year of licensing history.
So even if you meet the age requirement for either app, you might not qualify if you haven’t been driving long enough.
More about driver requirements:
Too young for Uber or Lyft? These apps hire drivers younger than 21
If you’re 18 or 19 and have access to a car, insurance, and a clean driving record, there’s good news: These services hire 18 and 19-year-olds and offer flexible work similar to Uber and Lyft.
- DoorDash — 18 years and older. Any working car qualifies. Apply to DoorDash
- Uber Eats — 19 years and older for drivers, bicyclists 18 or older. Sign up for Uber Eats
- Instacart — 18 and older. Sign up for Instacart
- Shipt — 18 and older with one year of driving experience. Apply to Shipt
- Spark — 18 and older
- Takl — 18 and older
- Caviar — 18 and older with two years of licensing history
- Grubhub — 19 and older
- Bird — Hires scooter chargers 18 and older
- Lime — Hires scooter chargers 18 and older
- Pizza delivery — Drivers can be younger than 18
More about each driving & delivery gig
- DoorDash Driver Requirements
- Driving for Uber Eats: An Overview
- How to Become an Instacart Shopper
- Spark: Deliver for Walmart
- Shipt Shopper Requirements & Job Overview
- How to Work for Takl
Does your vehicle qualify for delivery apps?
Another benefit of driving for a delivery app is that the vehicle requirements are much more flexible than Uber & Lyft.
Uber Eats, Instacart, and DoorDash will accept any vehicle. Read the full details in the article below.
Delivery apps hire younger drivers
You might notice that most services that hire younger drivers are delivery apps. For example, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, and Shipt Shipt are all delivery services that hire younger drivers.
The added legal liability of driving a passenger is likely why Uber, Lyft, and all ridesharing apps require drivers to be 21 or older.
Not old enough AND you don’t have a car or licensing history? Try bicycle delivery
If you don’t have a car or you haven’t had your driver’s license long enough to qualify for an app, try looking into bicycle delivery.
DoorDash and Uber Eats offer bicycle delivery in denser urban areas.
To find out if a service offers bicycle delivery in your area, check the application page for each company. Bicycle delivery will be listed if it is available in your city.
Carla says
I’m 18, so the only ones that are even available to me are Doordash and instacart; however, they both are not accepting drivers right now. Any one know of any other gig driving that can be done by 18 year olds?
Jasmine says
Ugh. Is there any reason why UberEats, Postmates, and Grubhub all require age 19 instead of 18? I am 18 and will only be able to use Doordash and Instacart as a result
Jaykob says
i’m, 15, can i ride my bike without a permit or license for any delivery services, and i also can’t get a job because my grandma won’t let me.
DougH says
None of the apps hire people younger than 18. At 15 you’ll have to find a local place. Try pizza restaurants
lucky says
Iam 21 without a license but i do have a car
Rogelia says
How older the people can work?
DougH says
There is no maximum age limit.
Ben says
I’m 17, guessing none of these apps are accepting?
DougH says
That’s correct. Most of the delivery apps are 18 and older, rideshare is 21 and older. If you have a car, you could try local pizza delivery.
Nick says
Im 16 is there any places/apps i could do delivery services for? I want to do delivery as a side job.
DougH says
None of the apps hire at 16. You may be able to find delivery job with local restaurants, like pizza places.
vivi says
i’m 15 and am able to get my permit- can i deliver pizza, or am i too young?
DougH says
Some local businesses may hire you. Try to contact independently owned stores
JohnH says
Did you ever get hired?