12 Best DoorDash Hacks To Make More Money & Get Free Food!
DoorDash is the most popular food delivery app in North America by market share.
Unsurprisingly, this also makes DoorDash a very popular gig app, and you can deliver for DoorDash on your own schedule to make extra cash.
But if you want to maximize your income, there are a few DoorDash hacks that are useful to know.
So, this post is covering some of the best DoorDash hacks for drivers to help you boost your income. It's also covering some DoorDash hacks for customers to score free food as well.
Looking for more money-making ideas? Checkout:
- Uber Eats: Sign up to deliver with Uber Eats and make money on your own schedule.
- Branded Surveys: Share your opinion to earn free PayPal cash and gift cards!
The Best DoorDash Hacks
Like any driving job that pays, working efficiently and having a few tricks up your sleeve helps you earn more per hour. And making money with DoorDash isn't an exception, so that's why these DoorDash hacks for drivers are useful to know.
Plus, if you want to get some free food, there are plenty of DoorDash hacks for customers you can try out as well.
1. Apply For DasherDirect
One incredibly effective DoorDash hack is to sign up for the new DasherDirect card.
In fact, if you're a regular DoorDash drivers, this card probably deserves a spot in your wallet.
This free business Visa card is available to DoorDash drivers and unlocks numerous perks like:
- Instant & Free Deposits: Get paid after every order you complete automatically without paying fees or having to wait.
- Gas Cash-Back Rewards: Earn 2% cash back at any gas station.
- Free ATM Withdrawals: Enjoy free withdrawals from over 20,000 ATMs across the United States.
The main perk of DasherDirect is that you don't have to wait for DoorDash to pay you or pay $1.99 to use the Fast Pay feature; money deposits in your account after every single delivery.
And, since DoorDash doesn't pay for gas, earning 2% back on your fuel spending helps you increase your overall profit margin.
This isn't a flashy DoorDash driver hack, but hey, it works and helps you get paid faster.
You can apply for the DasherDirect card in the Dasher app under the “earnings” tab.
2. Earn Free DoorDash Gift Cards
If you want to get free food, one DoorDash hack you can try involves using get-paid-to websites and apps to earn free DoorDash gift cards.
For example, websites like Swagbucks let you earn free gift cards and PayPal money for completing tasks like:
- Answering paid surveys
- Sharing your opinion
- Playing mobile games
- Surfing the web
- Watching ads
Swagbucks has dozens of gift card rewards, including ones to DoorDash, so you can basically earn free food for spending some time on Swagbucks.
You can also earn free DoorDash gift cards with survey sites like Branded Surveys. And the platform has a nifty mobile app to make earning on the go even easier.
These are just two simple ways you can get some free gift cards in your spare time. But, if you're wondering how to hack DoorDash for free food, this is one of the best methods around.
Start earning rewards with Swagbucks and Branded Surveys today!
3. Try The DoorDash Schedule Hack
Another tactic to make more money when Dashing is to try some DoorDash schedule hacks. These are hacks that help you schedule more shifts and also help you avoid slow delivery shifts where you get fewer orders.
One of the main schedule hacks you can try is to unlock Early Access Scheduling from DoorDash.
This feature lets you schedule shifts as soon as 6 days in advance, ensuring you can find work in busy markets and you're not competing with so many other drivers.
Here are the requirements for Early Access Scheduling:
- Driver Rating of at least 4.6, a Completion Rate of at least 95%, and have completed at least 5 deliveries between 12am the previous Friday and 11:59pm the previous Thursday
- Driver Rating of at least 4.6, a Completion Rate of at least 95%, and have accepted and completed at least 500 lifetime deliveries
Remember, your DoorDash acceptance rate doesn't matter, but if you maintain a high completion rate, you can benefit from early access scheduling.
Some markets also have scheduled orders, so you can claim future orders that are worth the pay so you have some guaranteed deliveries.
In this YouTube video, gig economy expert Your Driver Mike also shares some DoorDash schedule hacks to avoid slow shifts.
His tips include:
- Driving at the best DoorDash times
- Multi-apping if you realize it's a slow DoorDash day
- Waiting near DoorDash hotspots
- Trying new markets
With all of these tips, you should be able to get more order requests and also ensure you can schedule yourself for more Dashes!
4. Sign Up For DashPass
Do you order food from DoorDash regularly? If you do, one of the best customer DoorDash hacks is to sign up for DashPass.
This subscription service from DoorDash provides you with unlimited zero delivery fee orders from thousands of restaurants when you spend $12 or more.
According to DoorDash, DashPass customer save an average of $4 or $5 per order on average. This can really make a difference if you're ordering food a few times per week or month.
Plus, DashPass customers also get exclusive promotions and deals. And there's even a 30-day free trial so you can test it out.
DashPass costs $9.99 per month after your trial. But if you order a few times per month with this food delivery gig, it's one of the best DoorDash hacks out there.
5. Buy Discount DoorDash Gift Cards
Another sneaky DoorDash hack for customers is to buy discounted DoorDash gift cards. For example, shopping extensions like Rakuten actually have a gift card section where you can buy different gift cards to earn cash back.
DoorDash gift cards are an option, and you can often find offers that pay you 1% to 5% cash back.
Granted, this isn't a ton of savings, but it adds up overtime.
Plus, Rakuten also lets you earn cash back for shopping at thousands of different retailers. To date, I've earned over $1,000 by using Rakuten.
You also get a free $30 when you sign up for Rakuten and make an eligible purchase of $30 or more, so this is an easy way to snag some free money.
Rakuten pays you quarterly through check or with PayPal cash, and you can always use your extra savings to spend on DoorDash or at retailers you like.
Extra Reading – How To Get $10 In Free PayPal Cash Instantly.
6. Double-Up On Delivery Apps
A simple yet effective DoorDash hack is to double-up on food delivery apps so you can pick the highest paying orders.
This hack is known as multi-apping, and once you learn how to DoorDash and get comfortable with making deliveries, you can try multi-apping to make more money.
Commonly, drivers use other food delivery apps like Uber Eats or grocery delivery jobs like Instacart to multi-app with.
You can try a variety of apps, but the goal here is to avoid slow DoorDash days and to get higher-paying orders on average.
Even other apps like Amazon Flex and Walmart Spark can work if you want to get paid to deliver packages and take a break from food delivery. And you can even use newer delivery apps like Cornershop and get paid to shop for people's groceries.
7. Earn Cashback On Gas
Another DoorDash driver hack is to earn additional cash-back rewards on your gas.
As mentioned, the DasherDirect card pays 2% unlimited cash back on fuel. But if you don't qualify for the card or don't want another card in your wallet, you still have options.
For example, there are plenty of reward apps that can pay you for refueling:
- Upside: Get up to $0.25 per gallon back with this leading gas rewards app.
- Checkout 51: Upload gas and grocery receipts to earn cash back.
- Receipt Hog: Upload everyday receipts, including gas receipts, to earn free gift cards and PayPal cash.
- Pogo: This cash back app pays you small amounts of money whenever you shop and for sharing your data.
- ReceiptPal: Another receipt scanning app that lets you earn PayPal cash.
These beermoney apps won't make you hundreds of dollars. But if you're a serious DoorDash driver, your fuel cash back can add up.
Pro Tip: Automatically track your mileage and expenses to claim deductions with the Everlance app!
8. Invite Your Friends To DoorDash
One more DoorDash hack you can try is to refer your friends to DoorDash if they haven't ordered food from the app before.
The DoorDash referral program lets you and the people you refer get discounts on DoorDash orders.
Here's how the program works:
- You invite your friends with your unique DoorDash referral code.
- They get a small discount when placing their first order.
- You get account credits that act as a discount on a future order when your referee places their first order.
Normally, the referral program pays each person around $5, but this is still a very simple way to get some free DoorDash food!
Pro Tip: Place group orders with your friends the next time you order so you can all split on delivery fees!
You can also check out my post on the best referral bonuses for even more ideas to get free cash and rewards.
9. Wait Near Ghost Kitchens
Ghost kitchens are a newer phenomenon in the delivery world, and they're also a perfect DoorDash hack to try.
In a nutshell, ghost kitchens are professional kitchens that prepare food for a variety of other restaurants.
So, for example, a ghost kitchen might be responsible for making food for 15 different restaurants in a city; Pad Thai or Barbecue, ghost kitchens can handle it all.
For customers, you don't even realize you're ordering from a ghost kitchen most of the time; you just open your food delivery app of choice and pick the food you want.
But for DoorDash drivers, a ghost kitchen is a pickup point that can potentially serve a dozen or more single restaurants in your city.
So, if you want to make more money, it's time to do a bit of research!
Start by downloading the DoorDash food delivery app or an app like Uber Eats. From there, start looking into all of the restaurants in your area and see where the address is or approximate location is of each restaurant.
If you're in a larger city, there's a good chance you'll find a string of restaurants all with the same address; this means you've found a ghost kitchen.
From there, you can start your Dasher shifts by waiting around that ghost kitchen. Theoretically, this should increase your order requests quite significantly since you're potentially waiting by dozens of restaurants.
10. Accept Stacked Orders
If you're still looking for some DoorDash hacks to make extra money, one easy one is to accept stacked orders whenever you can.
Stacked orders are orders where you pick up two meals and then make two separate deliveries. These orders are a bit trickier to pull off, but the advantage is that they often pay much more than single orders.
Additionally, stacked orders can help you save on gas since you're only picking up food or merchandise from one location instead of two.
Walmart is one retailer that offers a lot of stacked orders. Again, it's a bit trickier since you have to keep items separate and make sure you're on time for both customers. But the extra pay and two potential tips can help you make way more money per hour.
11. Check Your Email For Promo Codes
DoorDash sometimes sends out coupon codes, special offers, or bonuses to encourage customers to order.
This might mean you get zero delivery fees on a future order, or even some percentage discount.
Whatever the case, make sure you check your email regularly and add DoorDash as a safe sender so the promotional emails don't go right to spam.
This is also a popular Uber Eats hack, so you can use this method for other delivery apps as well to save more money.
Extra Reading – The Best Microtask Sites For Making Money.
12. Read Our DoorDash Driver Tips Guide
One final DoorDash driver hack is to read our guide on DoorDash driver tips and tricks so you can make even more money while out on deliveries.
This guide has 10+ tips you can use to make your life easier and to also make more money, so it's definitely a useful resource for Dashers.
After all, the more efficient you work, the higher your hourly average pay can be and the more money you make overall!
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Cheat On DoorDash?
There aren't any DoorDash hacks that let you cheat the system to get free food or get better orders than other Dashers. If you try to cheat DoorDash with tactics like making multiple accounts or abusing the referral program, you're violating terms of service and risk getting your account banned.
How Do You Hack DoorDash To Get More Orders?
DoorDash driver hacks like waiting near ghost kitchens, DoorDash hot spots, and driving during busy times can all help you get more orders. Testing out new markets is another useful strategy. Just note there aren't any cheat methods to get more orders or ways to game the system, so stick with the tricks that are legitimate!
Are There Any DoorDash Bot Grabbers?
Some drivers try to hack DoorDash by using bots that automatically accept orders. However, there's really no need to do this on DoorDash since it's important to only accept orders that pay enough to be worth it. Plus, using bot grabbes for gigs like Instacart or DoorDash can result in a permanent ban since it's against the rules.
In short, don't bother with these third-party apps to try and cheat DoorDash. Just use the hacks in this list and try to work as efficiently as possible.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know some of the best DoorDash hacks, you're ready to maximize the potential of this leading food delivery app!
As mentioned, DoorDash is a very popular side hustle. But like any hustle, it's important to work efficiently so you make as much as possible.
So, with these DoorDash driver hacks and some tricks for customers to get more food, you're now ready to maximize the potential of this food delivery app!
Happy hustling!
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