Curb is an app for hailing licensed taxis, so the best alternative depends on why you are leaving it. If you want lower per-mile fares, Uber and Lyft usually win. If you want regulated meters, a local taxi app or a street hail still works. If you want upfront prices with no surge and one app for rides and deliveries, look at Halen. Below, we compare each option on the things that matter: price, surge, wait, coverage and how drivers get paid.
TL;DR
- Cheapest per mile in Philadelphia: Lyft and UberX, based on published 2026 rate cards, while taxis cost more per mile but never surge.
- Curb is not one thing everywhere: in some cities it connects to Uber or Lyft, but in Philadelphia state law keeps cabs and rideshare apart.
- Drivers should compare fee models, not logos: a flat weekly fee and a per-ride commission pay out very differently.
- Halen is a new super app built around upfront pricing with no surge, and its Philadelphia launch covers rideshare and package delivery.
Table of Contents
- Why people look for a Curb alternative
- The six options at a glance
- Uber: the default for coverage
- Lyft: often a little cheaper per mile
- Local taxi apps and street hails
- Curb itself: where it still fits
- Halen: upfront prices, no surge, one app
- Pre-booked car services for airports and early flights
- How to choose: five questions
- A note for drivers weighing platforms
- Our view: why a flat fee and no surge
- Try Halen
- FAQ
- Sources
Why people look for a Curb alternative
Curb earned its place by bringing licensed taxis into the app era. Fox 32 Chicago covered its redesign as a way for taxis to feel as seamless as Uber and Lyft. That is a real strength. A regulated fare structure shields you from surge pricing at rush hour or after a game.
But riders move on for a handful of reasons:
- Coverage varies by city. Curb works through local taxi fleets, so the number of cars near you depends on how many cabs your city still has.
- Cost on longer trips. Metered taxi rates per mile can run higher than rideshare rates.
- Single-purpose app. Curb is for rides. If you also order food, groceries or packages, that means more apps.
- Driver side. Drivers who want a different fee structure look elsewhere.
None of that makes Curb a bad app. It means the right choice is a fit question. Here are six realistic options.
The six options at a glance
| Option | Best for | Pricing style | Surge? | Also does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uber | Widest coverage, airport trips | Dynamic, quoted upfront | Yes, when demand spikes | Food, grocery, packages in many markets |
| Lyft | Lower per-mile rates in many cities | Dynamic, quoted upfront | Yes, when demand spikes | Bikes and scooters in some cities |
| Local taxi apps and street hails | Regulated, predictable meter | Metered city rates | No | Usually rides only |
| Curb | Hailing licensed cabs by app | Metered taxi fare | No | Rides, plus integrations in some cities |
| Halen | Upfront pricing, one app for rides and deliveries | Upfront, no surge | No | Package delivery, with food, groceries and travel planned |
| Pre-booked car services | Airport and scheduled rides | Flat quote | Usually no | Rides only |
The sections below explain how to read this table for your own trips.
Uber: the default for coverage
Uber is the first alternative most people think of, and for good reason. It has the largest driver pool in most US cities, which tends to mean shorter waits outside the dense urban core. In 2022, Curb and Uber announced a partnership to make taxis available to Uber users, so in some markets the two overlap rather than compete.
The trade-off is price volatility. Uber quotes your fare upfront, but that quote can climb when many people request rides at once. If you commute at fixed hours, check the price before you commit, not after.
Pick Uber if: you travel often to places with thin taxi supply, or you want one account that works in many cities.
Lyft: often a little cheaper per mile
Lyft is the other mainstream option. In Philadelphia, the RideWise rate comparison lists a Lyft standard base fare of $1.68 plus $1.32 per mile, against $1.75 plus $1.38 per mile for UberX. The gap is small, but over a long trip it adds up. These are published base rates, and your actual fare will include time charges and any demand pricing.
Lyft also moved closer to the taxi world. According to Forbes Advisor, Lyft announced on July 16 an expansion of its partnership with Curb, so New York City riders can match with a licensed taxi. That is New York specific. Do not assume your city works the same way.
Pick Lyft if: you want rideshare pricing and your city's Lyft fares come in below Uber's. Compare both apps on the same trip.
Local taxi apps and street hails
If you liked Curb because the fare was regulated, you may not need an app at all. In Philadelphia, the same RideWise page lists a taxi base fare of $2.70 plus $2.30 per mile. That is a higher per-mile rate than either rideshare app, but the meter follows city rules and does not jump with demand.
Here is a quick worked example using only the published per-mile and base figures, ignoring time charges and fees. For a 5-mile trip:
- Taxi: $2.70 + (5 × $2.30) = $14.20
- Lyft: $1.68 + (5 × $1.32) = $8.28
- UberX: $1.75 + (5 × $1.38) = $8.65
The rideshare totals leave out the per-minute charges ($0.24 for Lyft and $0.26 for UberX, per the same page) and booking fees, so the real gap is narrower. Still, on a plain trip with no surge, rideshare comes in lower. Taxis make sense when demand is extreme, because their price does not move.
We wrote a longer breakdown of when that flips in our guide to rideshare versus taxi cost.
Pick a taxi if: you value a predictable meter, you are at a taxi stand anyway, or a surge is hitting nearby apps.
Curb itself: where it still fits
Curb is not going away, and it deserves a fair look. The US Chamber of Commerce profiled how it brought taxis into the ride-hailing economy. The app is strongest where taxi fleets are large and where regulators allow integration.
Philadelphia is a good example of a limit. As The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, Curb and Uber asked the Philadelphia Parking Authority to allow coordinated rides on a pilot basis, then withdrew the proposal, and state law strictly separates licensed cabs from transportation network companies. So a Philadelphia rider will not see a cab appear inside the Uber app the way a New Yorker might see one in Lyft.
Stay with Curb if: you want a licensed cab and your city has enough of them to make hailing quick.
Halen: upfront prices, no surge, one app
Halen is a technology company building a super app for rideshare and package delivery, with food, groceries and travel planned. It plans to launch with rideshare and package delivery in Philadelphia before expanding to more markets and services.
Here is what sets it apart for riders:
- Upfront pricing. You see the price before you book.
- No surge charges. The price does not climb because it is raining or a game just ended.
- One account. Rides and package delivery live in the same app, and more services are planned on the same account.
And for drivers, the model is different. Drivers pay a flat weekly platform fee and keep 100% of their fares, minus third-party fees. That is not how most apps work. Many platforms take a percentage of each fare.
We have not published a price list for rides or for the weekly fee, so we will not quote numbers here. Check the Halen site for current details as the Philadelphia launch approaches.
Pick Halen if: you want no-surge pricing and a single app for getting around and sending things, or you are a driver who prefers a flat fee to a commission.
Pre-booked car services for airports and early flights
A scheduled ride is a different product from a hail. If you have a 6 a.m. flight, a booked car with a flat quote beats refreshing an app in the dark. Many airports also have designated pickup zones that sit far from the terminal door, so plan the walk.
For Philadelphia, our PHL rideshare pickup checklist covers the walk and what to do on arrival. Travelers abroad should check local pickup rules too. A Kraków short-stay host explains that an Uber pickup there may not be at the nearest airport exit, which is a good reminder that the same app behaves differently by place.
How to choose: five questions
- What does the same trip cost in each app right now? Open two apps and compare. Fares change by time of day.
- Is there a surge, or an event nearby? If so, a metered taxi may be cheaper than a surging rideshare fare.
- How many cars are near you? A great price means little if the wait is 20 minutes.
- Do you need more than rides? If you also send packages or order food, one app saves time.
- Do you feel safe with the process? Check the driver, plate and car before you get in. See our safe rideshare apps guide.
A note for drivers weighing platforms
Some readers searching for Curb alternatives are drivers. The fee model matters as much as demand. Per the Peanut Politician analysis of how platforms treat drivers, commission-based models can take 25% to 40% of fares, and moving to a subscription or flat-fee model can raise net hourly take-home by $5 to $10 depending on daily volume. The same piece cautions that you need enough rides to cover a fixed fee. That is the honest math: a flat fee rewards busy drivers and hurts slow days.
Before you sign up anywhere, work out your break-even number of rides per week. Also confirm insurance. Our guide to rideshare insurance coverage periods explains who pays at each stage of a trip.
Our view: why a flat fee and no surge
We built Halen around two beliefs.
First, a driver's fare is the driver's money. A flat weekly fee is easy to understand and easy to plan around. You know what you owe before you start, and every fare you earn after covering it is yours, minus third-party fees. Percentage cuts are harder to see, and they grow as you work more.
Second, riders should know the price before they commit. Surge pricing makes people feel they are bargaining against an algorithm. Taxi meters solved that years ago, and the reason people look at taxi apps is stability. We think you can get that predictability along with the speed of an app.
Third, your day involves more than rides. You send a package, you need dinner, you book a trip. One account for all of it cuts the friction. We are launching with rideshare and package delivery in Philadelphia and building toward the rest.
We will keep our claims modest. A new platform has to earn trust ride by ride, and we expect to be held to that.
— Halen
Try Halen
If no-surge pricing and one app for rides and deliveries sound like what you wanted from Curb, see what Halen offers. Merchants can also look at our pages to partner as a restaurant, as a grocery store or as a retail store.
Planning a trip beyond rides? We cover Vrbo alternatives and Uber Eats alternatives too.
FAQ
Is Curb cheaper than Uber?
Not by default. Curb hails licensed taxis, which charge metered city rates. In Philadelphia, the published taxi rate of $2.30 per mile is higher than UberX at $1.38, so rideshare is often cheaper on a normal day. Taxis can come out ahead when rideshare prices surge.
Can I use a taxi inside Uber or Lyft?
Only in some cities. Lyft's Curb partnership lets New York City riders match with a licensed taxi. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania law keeps cabs and rideshare apart, so that option is not available there.
Which is cheaper in Philadelphia, Lyft or Uber?
On published base rates, Lyft is slightly lower: $1.68 plus $1.32 per mile, against $1.75 plus $1.38 for UberX. Your real fare depends on time, distance and demand, so compare both apps for the same trip.
Does Halen charge surge prices?
No. Halen's model is upfront pricing with no surge charges, so the price you see before booking is the price you plan around. Rider prices have not been published yet, so check our site for current details.
Is a flat weekly fee better for drivers?
It depends on volume. A flat fee can lift take-home pay for drivers who complete many rides, but it takes more rides to offset a fixed cost, as the analysis above notes. Count your weekly rides before you decide.
Sources
- RideWise: Uber and Lyft prices in Philadelphia
- The Philadelphia Inquirer: taxis, Uber, Lyft and Curb Flow in Philadelphia
- Fox 32 Chicago: Curb taxi app redesign
- Business Wire: Curb and Uber partnership
- Forbes Advisor: Lyft and Curb in New York City
- US Chamber of Commerce: how Curb entered the ride-hailing economy
- Peanut Politician: how platforms treat drivers