The other day I was running a few errands and picked up a pizza and was shocked at how cheap it was.

Not so much because the pizza was actually so cheap – it was a regular priced pizza – more because I’ve been using so many apps to order so much food over the last 10 months that I’ve gotten desensitized to the added cost of the service fee and the tip.

Not that I am in any way begrudging anyone a tip these days. I’m all for the generous tips.

I just also realized that I’ve gotten so used to the apps that when I might be able to run out and get something myself, even then I usually don’t.

Personally, the apps I’ve been hitting really hard are (and if you’re one of like 8 people on earth who haven’t used these services yet, those are referral links below):

• Seamless
• Doordash
• Uber Eats (code: eats-melissab214

So, let’s look at a little example of my favorite pizza place. A large pizza and a can of Coke are $16.45. Sales tax is an additional $1.09.

If I go to Plum Tomato (the best pizza in NJ) and pick up this order myself. The cost will be $17.54.

Seamless

• Food: $16.45
• Tax: $1.09
• 20% Tip: $3.51
• Delivery Fee: (Set By Restaurant) $0.00

TOTAL: $21.05

UberEats

• Food: $15.45
• Tax: $1.02
• 25% Tip: $4.83
• Service Fee: $2.87

TOTAL: $24.17

The second best pizza in New Jersey is Pompeii Pizza, which I mention because Plum Tomato isn’t on Doordash. So to check the difference in cost there, I’m going to have to use this other example.

A large pizza and a can of Coke there is $20.30.

Friends, this post might be boring AF for you all but I am learning so much about the different pizza costs of local pizzerias right now. I had never even questioned it before.

With the sales tax, $1.34, I would pay $21.64 for this meal if I go pick it up at the pizzeria.

Doordash

• Food: $21.64
• Tax: $1.34
• Service Fee: $4.06
• Tip: $5.00

TOTAL: $35.69

Man. That second best pizza is not worth an additional $11.00. Mother of pearl.

What was interesting to me as I did this research is that the food is actually priced differently on different apps sometimes! I had never realized!!

I suspect the food was a little higher on Seamless to offset the crazy fees the pizzeria gets hit with to use their service. And yet, with the dollar higher cost of the pizza, it’s still cheaper to order on Seamless.

I also didn’t realize that the default tipping amount were different. I usually go to the option above 15%. On Seamless it’s 20% but on Uber Eats it’s 25%. On Doordash, it’s just a flat $2-$6 (I assume that scale must go up on more expensive orders?).

That I don’t mind. If you’re a stickler for some reason about the exact tipping amount, all apps allow you to select custom amounts. Who can bother with that? I actually think Seamless should up their second option to 25% instead. I bet a lot of people opt to just hit the default above 15%.

OK, let’s do one more test set. This is a bacon, egg and cheese on a plain bagel and a Yoo-Hoo. I also like this test set because it’s a small order (the norm for a person ordering alone), so on some apps it also hits you with an extra fee for a low order amount.

To go and pick this up from the local bagel place would cost $9.69.

Seamless

• Food: $9.76
• Tax: $.97
• Service Fee: $.51
• Small Order Fee: $2.00
• Delivery: $2.49
• Tip: $3.15

TOTAL: $18.88

UberEats

• Food: $9.09
• Tax: $.60
• Service Fee: $2.55
• Delivery Fee: .99
• Tip: $3.30

TOTAL: $16.53

Doordash

• Food: $9.09
• Tax: $.60
• Service Fee: $1.18
• Small Order Fee: $2.50 (order’s less than $10)
• Delivery: $.99
• Tip: $4.00

TOTAL: $18.36

Again, some interesting things, like when I added bacon on Seamless, it raised the cost of the food, whereas on Doordash and UberEats it did not. The small order fee was lower on Seamless than Doordash, yet the overall cost was most expensive. Best yet, UberEats didn’t have a small order fee.

FRIENDS! I feel like someone who is an app developer needs to create the MEGAFOOD app that runs through all available delivery apps and finds you the cheapest choice, because I really thought the amount I was paying was essentially the same on all of them.

My mind is blown.

Another note in favor of going to pick up your own food, when possible, is that most of these apps are taking 20-40% from the restaurants as their fee for allowing the restaurant to use the app. That’s a pretty big chunk of profits. So if your main reason for ordering takeout is to support local businesses, brace yourself to call on the phone and then go pick it up.