Best food delivery Singapore - Deliveroo vs Foodpanda vs GrabFood (2019)

Remember those days when you would actually step out of your house to buy food when you were hungry? Me neither.

Ever since food delivery services appeared on the scene, they’ve been a huge hit in convenience-obsessed Singapore. Why bother to brave the heat and humidity when there’s Deliveroo, Foodpanda, and GrabFood? 

To be completely honest, I love that the food delivery scene in Singapore is booming right now.

Even with Honestbee’s recent exit, we still have 3 major players in competition, which means more promo codes for my lazy lunches!

But with that many players in the game, it’s always a dilemma which one you should support.

Here’s a comparison of their minimum order, delivery fees and current credit card promotions, so you can decide for yourself.

FOOD DELIVERY SERVICES IN SINGAPORE 2019

DELIVEROO - MOST USER-FRIENDLY ALL-ROUND

• Minimum order: No, but small order fee of up to $5 applies for orders under $12
• Delivery fee: Varies from $3 to $5 depending on distance and time needed
• Monthly subscription service: $14.90 a month, unlimited food orders at no delivery fees
• Many ongoing promotions & card tie-ups

Deliveroo once ruled the food delivery scene, but they’ve since lost a bit of their lead as Foodpanda caught up in terms of partner restaurants and GrabFood launched with a $0 minimum spend.

Thankfully, Deliveroo is fighting hard to keep their crown.

They’re still reasonably generous with promo codes and credit card tie-ups with banks, and since February 2019, they’ve scrapped the minimum spend criterion of $12, but if you fall below $12, you’d have to pay a small order fee of up to $5 for orders under $12.

With that change, they also introduced a $0.20 service charge as well as a dynamic delivery fee instead of the static $3 that users used to pay. The delivery fee could be lower or higher than $3 depending on the distance and the time required to deliver the order.

All that considered, it’s no surprise that local foodies are still on Deliveroo. There is also a lot of online feedback that praise the app for being easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. But the food delivery app has also received backlash for quietly adding on fees earlier this year.

If you’re a frequent Deliveroo user, it pays to sign up for Deliveroo Plus, its monthly subscription service at $14.90 a month that offers unlimited orders with no delivery fees, increased from $10.90.

There’s a 7-day free trial you can use to see if you really need it.

Deliveroo credit card promotions & promo codes

As with most promotions, discounts are the best for new users. If you’re an existing user, don’t despair, you can still get some good deals if you are a UOB or HSBC cardholder. 

FOODPANDA - ONLY FOOD SERVICE WITH CASH PAYMENT

• Minimum order: $5
• Delivery fees: $0 to $3, depending on restaurant 
• Monthly subscription service: Still in beta mode (“panda pro”)
• Only delivery service to accept cash on delivery

Foodpanda is also the only food delivery service to allow cash on delivery, which is great for those uncomfortable with online payment.

The minimum order and delivery fee vary from restaurant to restaurant. I also like that you can checkout with a guest account (no sign-up needed).

I’ve personally not had any bad experiences with Foodpanda, but for some reason Foodpanda draws a bit of flak online for poor service. I’d take it with a pinch of salt though.

Foodpanda credit card promotions & promo codes

The most notable Foodpanda promos are from DBS since the minimum spend is the lowest. But the promotion is only limited to the first 2,000 redemptions per month. 

GRABFOOD - NO MINIMUM ORDER, ABLE TO USE GRABPAY AND EARN REWARDS

• Minimum order: None
• Delivery fee: $2 to $3 
• Monthly subscription service: $9.99/month, no delivery on 50 orders with minimum order $10 each
• No desktop version, app only
• Earn Grab Rewards to redeem transport vouchers

The latest to join the fray is GrabFood, which was on its own separate app but has now integrated within the main Grab app.

Compared to Foodpanda and Deliveroo, GrabFood is a relatively new platform so it seems like the number of the restaurants is smaller, but it is steadily increasing.

One thing we’ve noticed is that compared to the other two food delivery platforms, there are many in-app promotions within GrabFood, such as Try Me Free (meaning free delivery), item discounts and complimentary sides.

For avid GrabCar riders, Grab may be a good food delivery option since you can earn 5X Grab Rewards points for every dollar spent.

You can also use GrabPay if you already have credits. GrabFood is the only platform with McDonald’s on board, but I wouldn’t consider it that much of an edge – especially since McDelivery’s been doing this a lot longer than Grab.

GrabFood credit card promotions & promo codes

GrabFood seems to be the only player without any bank tie-ups and promo codes, but there are still some attractive non-partner promo codes. There’s one for new users, for example: 8TASTY for $8 off your 2 orders (no minimum order).

This article was first published in MoneySmart .