Amazon Flex vs DoorDash: the break-even is 52 cents a mile

Before costs, Amazon Flex pays more per hour. The median is $20.89 per block hour, against about $13.14 an hour on DoorDash, and both figures come from Gridwise’s 2025 driver data. A Flex block also covers about twice as many miles per hour, so once the car is costed at the IRS mileage rate the gap closes, and in the middle case it flips. The deciding number is your car’s real cost per mile. If it’s below about 52 cents a mile, Flex nets more per hour. Above that, DoorDash does.

The numbers

Assumptions: Flex gross is the 2025 median from Gridwise’s Amazon Flex data. DoorDash gross ($247 a week over 18.8 hours) and pay per mile ($0.94) come from Gridwise’s DoorDash vs Uber Eats data. Car cost is the IRS standard mileage rate of 76 cents (July to December 2026). Tax is self-employment tax only. All figures are rounded to the cent.

Why a negative net doesn’t mean you lose cash on the day

The IRS mileage rate is what the IRS lets you deduct per business mile. Your actual cash cost per mile can be higher or lower. The tables use it because it is the one official per-mile figure that applies to every driver. A small, efficient, paid-off sedan may cost less per mile than that, and an older SUV may cost more. So -$0.96 means that at the IRS’s valuation of a mile, a median Flex block roughly breaks even. Whatever cash you clear is partly your car being used up.

The same adjustment shrinks DoorDash’s pay too, but by less. DoorDash grosses less per hour and also uses fewer miles per hour, so the car eats less of it.

Assumptions

Replace any of these with your own numbers.

1. Flex gross is $20.89 per hour, Gridwise’s 2025 median for block pay plus tips. The median block paid $83.14.
2. A Flex block lasts 4 hours, which is what $83.14 ÷ $20.89 implies, rounded. Medians don’t divide exactly, so the per-block and per-hour figures below differ by a few cents.
3. A Flex block covers 115 miles, the midpoint of Gridwise’s estimate of 80 to 150 miles per block.
4. DoorDash gross is Gridwise’s 2025 average of $247 a week on 18.8 hours.
5. DoorDash mileage comes from Gridwise’s average of $0.94 earned per mile.
6. Every mile costs 76 cents and counts as a deductible business mile. In practice, commuting rules decide which miles count.
7. Tax is 15.3% self-employment tax on net profit. This slightly overstates it, because you can deduct the employer-equivalent half. Income tax is left out because it depends on your household.
8. Phone, parking and tolls are excluded. Amazon reimburses none of them, and DoorDash’s pay page lists no reimbursement for them.
9. For the Fast Pay figures, we assume the 18.8 DoorDash hours are spread over 5 days.

The arithmetic, line by line

Amazon Flex, per hour

• Miles per hour: 115 ÷ 4 = 28.75
• Car cost per hour: 28.75 × $0.76 = $21.85
• Net per hour: $20.89 - $21.85 = -$0.96
• Self-employment tax: none, because there is no profit to tax

DoorDash, per hour

• Gross per hour: $247 ÷ 18.8 = $13.14
• Miles per week: $247 ÷ $0.94 = 262.77
• Miles per hour: 262.77 ÷ 18.8 = 13.98
• Car cost per hour: 13.98 × $0.76 = $10.62
• Net per hour: $13.14 - $10.62 = $2.52
• Self-employment tax: $2.52 × 0.153 = $0.39
• Net after tax: $2.52 - $0.39 = $2.13

Pay per mile, the figure the hourly rate hides

A short Flex route beats DoorDash both per hour and per mile. A long one still wins per hour but loses per mile.

The break-even: about 52 cents a mile

This is the per-mile car cost at which both gigs net the same per hour:

• Gross gap: $20.89 - $13.14 = $7.75 an hour in Flex’s favor
• Mileage gap: 28.75 - 13.98 = 14.77 more miles per hour on Flex
• Break-even cost: $7.75 ÷ 14.77 = $0.52 per mile

At 52 cents a mile, Flex nets $5.94 an hour and DoorDash $5.87. Below that cost, Flex’s higher gross wins. Above it, Flex’s extra miles cost more than its extra pay brings in.

Block length moves the break-even a lot. At 80 miles a block (20 miles an hour), it rises to $7.75 ÷ 6.02 = $1.29 a mile, so Flex wins for almost any car. At 150 miles (37.5 miles an hour), it falls to $7.75 ÷ 23.52 = $0.33 a mile, and DoorDash wins for most cars.

Worked example: a four-hour shift

This compares one 4-hour Flex block with 4 hours of dashing, using two cost lines. The first is the IRS rate, which is what you deduct. The second is a cash cost of 38 cents a mile (half the IRS rate). The 38 cents is an assumption to stand in for a cheap-to-run car, so replace it with the figure from your own records.

Flex block

• Pay: $83.14
• Miles: 115
• Tax-side cost: 115 × $0.76 = $87.40
• Taxable profit: $83.14 - $87.40 = -$4.26, so no self-employment tax
• Cash cost at 38 cents: 115 × $0.38 = $43.70
• Cash left: $83.14 - $43.70 = $39.44, which is $9.86 an hour

DoorDash, 4 hours

• Pay: 4 × $13.14 = $52.56
• Miles: 4 × 13.98 = 56 (rounded)
• Tax-side cost: 56 × $0.76 = $42.56
• Taxable profit: $52.56 - $42.56 = $10.00
• Self-employment tax: $10.00 × 0.153 = $1.53
• Cash cost at 38 cents: 56 × $0.38 = $21.28
• Cash left after tax: $52.56 - $21.28 - $1.53 = $29.75, which is $7.44 an hour

With a cheap car, Flex comes out $9.69 ahead for the shift. In both cases the mileage deduction shields almost all of the cash from tax, but the wear on the car still happens and will cost you later.

What the headline rates leave out

Tips work very differently

Gridwise’s median Flex tip is $0.00 per block, and the average is $1.97. On DoorDash, tips were over $7 per active hour, and base pay was only about 42% to 43% of what a trip paid. DoorDash says base pay per offer “will range from $2-10+”, and 100% of tips go to the Dasher. DoorDash income depends heavily on customers. Flex income depends heavily on Amazon.

Amazon’s advertised range includes tips

The Flex FAQ says most drivers earn $18 to $25 an hour, and that Amazon’s own share is at least $15 to $19 per scheduled hour. For blocks with tips, only the low end of the offer range is guaranteed. With a $0 median tip, plan around the low end.

Unpaid time is counted differently

Flex pays per scheduled block, so slow stretches inside a block are paid. DoorDash pays per offer, and Gridwise’s separate DoorDash average of $12.43 counts only active hours, leaving out the waiting between orders. Gridwise doesn’t say whether the hours behind its $247-a-week figure, or its Flex hours, are active or logged-in time. If the DoorDash hours are active-only, your real rate per hour out on the road is lower than the table shows. In select cities, DoorDash’s Earn by Time mode pays a guaranteed rate per active hour plus tips. DoorDash’s own example uses $14 an hour, but that is an illustration and not a published rate.

Getting work isn’t guaranteed

Amazon says Flex earnings are “not guaranteed to be full-time income.” The number of blocks varies, and the winter holidays are usually the busiest time. Dropping a block less than 45 minutes before it starts can hurt your standing, and Amazon removes accounts that keep using block-grabbing bots.

Cash-out fees per hour

• Flex: payouts to the Flex Debit Card or your bank are free. A faster Real Time Payment transfer, or a payout to another debit card, costs $0.50.
• DoorDash: the weekly deposit is free and usually arrives by Wednesday night. Fast Pay costs $1.99 per cash-out, once a day.

Using Fast Pay every day across 5 days: 5 × $1.99 = $9.95 a week. Divided by 18.8 hours, that’s $0.53 an hour, which takes DoorDash’s net from $2.52 to $1.99 before tax. If you wait for the weekly deposit, you pay nothing.

Insurance, the cost that isn’t in the tables

Amazon provides commercial auto insurance in every state except New York. It includes contingent comprehensive and collision cover, but only while you’re actively delivering during a block. Claims are denied if someone other than you was driving.

DoorDash’s insurance covers up to $1,000,000 of liability to other people in most states during an active delivery. It doesn’t cover damage to your own car, and if you have business-use or delivery cover on your own policy, DoorDash’s may only pay after that. DoorDash also requires valid personal auto insurance. Ask your insurer for a price on business-use or delivery cover, then divide that premium by your hours and add it to the DoorDash cost line. In DoorDash’s favor, its occupational accident cover is automatic: up to $1,000,000 in medical costs, plus 50% of average weekly earnings, up to $500 a week, for disability. Benefits may differ in California.

Who can do which

If you’re under 21 or don’t have a midsize car, Flex isn’t an option. If you can dash by bike, the car cost line mostly disappears. There is no reliable earnings data for bike dashing, so it isn’t modeled here. For each app on its own, see is Amazon Flex worth it and is DoorDash worth it.

What changes the answer

• Shorter Flex routes: at 80 miles a block, Flex nets $5.69 an hour ($4.82 after self-employment tax) at the IRS rate, which beats DoorDash’s $2.52.
• Longer Flex routes: at 150 miles a block, Flex nets -$7.61 an hour at the IRS rate.
• The first half of 2026: at 72.5 cents a mile (January to June), Flex nets $0.05 an hour and DoorDash $3.00.
• Daily Fast Pay: takes $0.53 an hour off DoorDash under the assumptions above.
• Lots of idle time: if DoorDash’s hours are active-only and you spend much of your shift waiting for offers, its real hourly rate falls further. Flex’s scheduled-block pay mostly avoids this.
• Your city: local pay floors change the gross (see the table below).

Compared with

Every gig figure in this table is before car costs. Seattle’s per-minute floor works out to $0.47 × 60 = $28.20 an hour, plus mileage. At the IRS rate, the median Flex block (-$0.96) and DoorDash ($2.13 after self-employment tax) both net well under the $7.25 federal minimum. Your state’s minimum may be higher, so compare it with the net figures rather than the gross ones. For how Uber stacks up against DoorDash after costs, see Uber vs DoorDash driver pay.

2026 tax notes for both apps

This is arithmetic and summary, not tax advice. A tax professional can confirm what applies to you.

• Self-employment tax is 15.3% once net self-employment earnings reach $400. It is filed on Schedule SE, with business income and expenses on Schedule C.
• The mileage rate changed mid-year, from 72.5 cents (January to June) to 76 cents (July to December). Split your mileage log by date.
• For tax years beginning after 2025, the IRS threshold for reporting certain payments rose to $2,000. Income below any reporting threshold is still taxable.
• If you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you generally have to make estimated payments, due 15 April, 15 June, 15 September and 15 January.
• The no-tax-on-tips deduction (up to $25,000, phasing out above $150,000 modified AGI, or $300,000 joint) now lists app-based delivery drivers among its examples. It doesn’t reduce self-employment tax or automatically reduce state tax. Self-employed workers can’t deduct more than their net income from the work. A Flex block that runs at a loss after mileage gets no benefit, and a Dasher’s deduction is capped by their thin net, however large their tips are.

Verdict in one number

52 cents a mile. If your car really costs less than that per mile and your blocks stay near the 115-mile midpoint, Flex nets more per hour than DoorDash. If your car costs more, or your routes run long, DoorDash comes out ahead despite its lower gross.

Sources

• Amazon Flex FAQ
• Gridwise: How much do Amazon Flex drivers make
• Gridwise: How much do DoorDash drivers make
• Gridwise: Uber Eats vs DoorDash pay
• DoorDash: How is Dasher pay calculated
• DoorDash: Dasher insurance
• IRS: Standard mileage rates
• IRS: Self-employment tax