The best alternatives to Uber and Lyft depend on what you want to fix. If it's surge pricing, look at metered taxi apps like Curb or flat-rate services like Wingz. If it's consistency and safety, look at employee-driver services like Alto. If you're a driver tired of commissions, look for flat-fee platforms like Halen. This guide compares them on price model, availability and fit, so you can pick in a few minutes.
TL;DR
- Want to dodge surge: Curb uses metered taxi rates and upfront pricing, and it covers Philadelphia, NYC, Chicago and other big cities.
- Want predictability: Wingz locks in airport transfer prices. Alto uses employee drivers, at a premium.
- Curious about robotaxis: Waymo is closing the price gap, but it only runs in a handful of cities and isn't yet carrying public riders in Philadelphia.
- Driving for a living: Halen is built on a flat weekly fee instead of a cut of every fare. We plan to launch in Philadelphia first.
- Cheapest trick of all: Compare two apps before you book. Few riders do.
Table of Contents
- Why riders look beyond Uber and Lyft
- The alternatives at a glance
- Curb: taxis with an app
- Waymo: the robotaxi option
- Alto: employee drivers and a managed fleet
- Wingz: flat prices for airport runs
- Chauffeur services for special trips
- Halen: one app, upfront pricing, flat fee for drivers
- Price-comparison apps and the second-app habit
- A Philadelphia snapshot
- How to choose: five questions
- If you drive: what to compare
- Our perspective
- Try Halen
- FAQ
- Sources
Why riders look beyond Uber and Lyft
Most people don't leave Uber or Lyft because the apps are broken. They leave because of the price swings, the uneven rides, or a feeling that drivers aren't getting a fair deal.
Prices are the easiest place to see it. An FTC-hosted study of New York trips found that for identical trips, the average gap between an Uber and a Lyft quote was about $3.53, roughly 14% of the average fare. The same study found that only about 16% of daily rideshare users check both apps. The authors estimate riders leave around $300 million a year on the table in major markets like New York City.
So the first "alternative" is free: open a second app. After that, the options below each solve a different problem.
The alternatives at a glance
| Option | Best for | Pricing approach | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curb | Avoiding surge | Metered taxi rates, upfront price | 65+ U.S. cities, including Philadelphia |
| Waymo | Driverless rides, no tipping | Quote per trip, no surge | A limited set of cities |
| Alto | Safety and consistency | Premium over standard apps | Dallas, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington DC |
| Wingz | Scheduled airport rides | Flat, locked-in prices | 20+ U.S. airports |
| Halen | One app for rides and more, driver-friendly | Upfront pricing, no surge | Planned Philadelphia launch |
| Price-comparison apps | Checking Uber and Lyft side by side | Shows others' prices | Varies by city |
| Local chauffeur services | Events and premium trips | Quoted per booking | Local |
Availability changes quickly. Check each app's city list before you count on it.
Curb: taxis with an app
Curb connects you with licensed taxis and drivers. Because it uses metered taxi rates, it can cost less than surge-heavy platforms at peak demand. Curb's listing says it covers 65+ major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. It also offers upfront pricing and a Pair & Pay feature for taxis you hail on the street.
Pick it if: you're in a big city on a rainy Friday night and the rideshare quote looks like a typo.
Watch for: taxi availability varies by neighborhood, so wait times in outer areas can be longer than you're used to.
How much the surge actually matters is worth working out for your own trips. Our guide to rideshare versus taxi cost shows how a modest surge multiplier can flip the fare.
Waymo: the robotaxi option
Waymo is the alternative with no human driver. It's also the one that's changing fastest.
In the San Francisco Bay Area in early 2026, the average Waymo fare was $19.69, against $17.47 for Uber and $15.47 for Lyft. That's about 13% above Uber. In mid-2025 the premium was 30 to 40%. Waymo doesn't surge, and it doesn't take tips. On longer trips (over about 8 miles in San Francisco), the tip you'd have paid a human driver erases the premium. Short trips stay cheaper on human-driven apps.
Prices differ by city and time. Waymo has no single nationwide ride price, so your route, trip time and demand all affect the quote.
In Philadelphia, Waymo has announced plans, but as of October 2026 it isn't carrying public riders there.
Pick it if: you live in a city where it operates and like a quiet, predictable ride.
Watch for: the map. Service areas are limited, and airports and highways may be off it.
The lines are also blurring. Wolfe Research notes that partnerships such as Waymo rides inside the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta show the big platforms folding autonomous cars in rather than only competing with them.
Alto: employee drivers and a managed fleet
Alto takes a different approach: W-2 employee drivers and its own fleet. It operates in Dallas, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles and Washington DC, and typically costs 20 to 40% more than standard apps. What you're buying is predictability, safety and a clean car, not just a ride from A to B.
Pick it if: you're sending a family member home late, or you ride often enough that consistency matters more than price.
Watch for: the premium and the short city list. It's no help if you're not in one of those five metros.
Safety is worth its own checklist whichever app you use. Our piece on safe rideshare apps explains why you should still check the plate and driver before you get in.
Wingz: flat prices for airport runs
Wingz focuses on scheduled airport transfers, with flat, locked-in prices at 20+ U.S. airports. You book ahead, so a last-minute demand spike can't change what you pay.
Pick it if: you have a 6 a.m. flight and want the ride sorted the night before.
Watch for: it's built for scheduled trips. It's not the app for a spontaneous ten-minute hop across town.
If your trip is much longer than an airport run, see our rundown of long-distance rideshare options and when federal rules start to matter.
Chauffeur services for special trips
Some trips are better served by a booked car than a hailed one: weddings, proms, corporate events, airport arrivals with luggage. Local chauffeur companies work from a fixed quote, a vetted driver and a vehicle you choose. If you're weighing a taxi against a booked car, this look at when a chauffeur beats a taxi lays out four trips where the booked car wins.
Pick it if: the trip matters more than the fare.
Watch for: you'll usually book in advance, and each company covers only its own metro.
Halen: one app, upfront pricing, flat fee for drivers
Halen is a super app. Rides and package delivery come first, and we're building toward food, groceries, retail delivery, vacation rentals and flights, all under one account. We plan to launch in Philadelphia before expanding to more markets.
Two things set it apart from the big two:
- For riders: upfront pricing with no surge charges. You see the price before you book.
- For drivers: a flat weekly subscription fee instead of a commission on each ride. Drivers keep 100% of their fares, minus third-party fees.
We haven't published the weekly fee yet, so we won't quote a number here. Watch gethalen.com for launch details.
Pick it if: you're in Philadelphia and want one app for rides, deliveries and eventually travel, or you drive and want to see the math on a flat fee.
Watch for: we're pre-launch, so check availability before you plan around it.
Price-comparison apps and the second-app habit
The cheapest alternative to Uber and Lyft is often Uber and Lyft, compared. Aggregator apps such as Obi let you compare rideshare and taxi prices in real time, so you don't have to juggle several apps.
The FTC researchers point out that riders behave as if their time is worth about $210 an hour when deciding whether to open a second app. That's why so few people compare, even with about 14% savings on the table. A comparison app shrinks that effort to a single tap.
A Philadelphia snapshot
Philadelphia is a good test case because the options overlap here. Estimates for 2026 put Lyft 5 to 8% cheaper than Uber for most standard rides in Center City, with the gap narrowing on longer suburb or airport trips. The same source notes a $1.50 per-trip rideshare assessment, which hits short trips harder in percentage terms.
That gives Philadelphians a practical stack:
- Short Center City hops: compare Uber and Lyft, and try Curb for a metered quote.
- Airport runs: book ahead, or compare against the SEPTA Airport Line.
- Waymo: announced, not yet carrying public riders.
- Halen: planned for launch here, with upfront pricing and no surge.
How to choose: five questions
- Is surge your main complaint? Try Curb or Halen, which don't use surge pricing.
- Is it a flight? Wingz for the flat fare. Compare against your usual app.
- Do you want a consistent car and driver? Alto, where it operates.
- Are you curious about a driverless car? Waymo, in the cities it serves.
- Do you want the best price on a normal trip? Compare at least two apps, every time.
Families have extra items on the list. Before a teen rides alone, run through our teen rideshare policy checks. If you travel with an animal, see what pet-friendly rideshare means in practice.
If you drive: what to compare
Alternatives matter just as much on the driver side, and the biggest difference is the fee structure. Per-ride commission models take a share of every fare. A flat weekly fee works differently: the cost is fixed, so the busier you are, the more of each fare you keep.
Before you switch, compare:
- Fee structure: weekly flat fee or percentage per ride.
- What's deducted: third-party costs such as payment processing still apply.
- Insurance: understand which coverage period applies when. Our guide to rideshare insurance for drivers covers the three periods that decide who pays.
- Demand: a platform's pay model matters less if there are few riders.
Our perspective
We built Halen around a simple idea: the price you see should be the price you pay, and the person driving should keep what they earn. Riders told us surge pricing is what they dislike most, and drivers told us commissions are what they dislike most. Both come from the same place, a pricing model that adjusts to the platform's interest.
We don't think one app will win every trip. Taxis, airport shuttles, robotaxis and chauffeurs all have their place, and a rider with two or three apps on their phone is better off than one with a single habit. Where we want to be useful is in the everyday trips and errands: one account for the ride home, the package that needs to go across town, and later the groceries and the weekend away.
— Halen
Try Halen
If you're in Philadelphia, or you plan to be, Halen brings rides and package delivery into one app, with upfront pricing and no surge. Drivers keep 100% of their fares, minus third-party fees. Local grocers, restaurants and shops can also partner with us ahead of launch.
FAQ
What is the best alternative to Uber and Lyft?
There isn't one winner. Curb is the easiest for avoiding surge in big cities, Wingz suits airport trips, Alto suits riders who want consistency, and Waymo works where it operates. For most people, comparing two apps before you book is the biggest saving.
Is Waymo cheaper than Uber and Lyft?
Usually not on the base fare. In early 2026 in the Bay Area, Waymo averaged $19.69 against $17.47 for Uber. On longer trips, the lack of a tip can close that gap.
Is Curb cheaper than Lyft?
It depends on the city, the time of day and the traffic, because Curb uses metered taxi rates. Curb is most likely to win when ride apps are surging. Check both quotes before you book.
Is there an app that compares Uber and Lyft?
Yes. Aggregator apps like Obi show Uber, Lyft, taxis and others side by side. That saves you opening each app by hand.
Sources
- Leaving Money on the Dashboard: Price Dispersion and Search Frictions on Uber and Lyft (FTC)
- Waymo vs Uber vs Lyft: Which Is Cheaper? (RideWise)
- How Much Does Waymo Cost? (RideWise)
- Uber and Lyft prices in Philadelphia (RideWise)
- Waymo Is Coming to Philly (Philadelphia Magazine)
- Curb on Google Play
- Obi on Google Play
- Best Rideshare Apps in 2026 (ride-share.com)