Is Lyft really that much cheaper than Uber?

Your event is over and it’s time to go home. You need to hail a rideshare, but do you opt for Uber or Lyft? What is cheaper? People you know always said Lyft was cheaper; is this true, though? The correct answer is actually neither, and both, because it depends. This can flip-flop since prices fluctuate based on several factors, most of which are changed in real time. Service factors such as driver availability in your area, your current location (especially if you’re in a city), and time of day all play a role in the estimated price. However, both Uber and Lyft are known for using what’s called peak pricing, meaning higher prices are offered during peak times. In comparison, this can make one or the other service more expensive than the other depending on what’s going on around you.

Independent researchers from Harvard and Johns Hopkins business schools conducted a study to determine the price differences between the two platforms. On average, there was about a 14% price gap in quotes for the routes tested, whether the trip was short or long, but overall they found that “neither ride-sharing app is consistently more expensive than the other.”

A Consumer Reports investigation actually found that customers saw drastically different prices in the same app for groceries ordered at the exact same time. Worse still, both companies allegedly offered discounts to regular customers on ride prices that were deceptively inflated; therefore, there are really no discounts available. Uber and Lyft have denied the false prices and said the discrepancies were due to market conditions. Uber also says it does not “personalize prices” based on each individual.

In the Tampa and Orlando areas, I’ve seen varying prices depending on crowds and what’s going on. I’ve also personally seen fellow travelers see lower or higher prices for the same short trips, and this seems related to how often they use the apps for trips. Beyond my area, I’ve welcomed rides in other states during my travels, but obviously can’t check price consistency since I’m not there often. Prices are generally higher in urban areas, which makes sense. Some travelers save money on Ubers, gaming the system, so to speak, by going to streets near airports rather than directly there, or using similar tactics in busier areas.

You can use tools like RideWise to research prices. This is pretty accurate, but prices can change when you’re actually ready to leave. Taking a trip between Orlando and Tampa, Fla., around mid-afternoon on a weekday nets a price of $152 for Lyft and $162 for UberX. There is a small price difference between the two across the board: Lyft’s other services are listed as cheaper than Uber’s. Of course, both are cheaper than taking a metered taxi, at $271 for the same trip. Lyft will charge extra if your driver has to wait for you, so hurry.

Recently, many Uber users have been seeing higher prices, but if you search for higher Lyft prices, you’ll find that its users are also seeing significant increases, with some asking for around double the price of Uber. Given that Uber and Lyft’s price hikes affect some users more, according to Consumer Reports’ findings, that could be what’s happening here; this could be due to peaks during rush hours, or it could simply be due to “inflation”.