As a private hire driver in London, you get to choose between a number of different apps to source your clients. While Uber has risen to the top in terms of popularity, many drivers and passengers are also choosing to use Bolt.
This is a collaborative post
The question remains: which one is better? Below, we go through a few important areas to keep in mind, while showing which service is better in each of these metrics.
Importantly, at the end we also explore the possibility of using both apps rather than choosing just one, a practice that is becoming increasingly common for private hire drivers.
Commission: Bolt
Whether you use Bolt or Uber, you won’t receive all of the money that the passenger pays for the ride, as each platform takes a commission. However, the commission that Bolt takes is generally lower than that taken by Uber.
Uber generally takes around 25%, while Bolt charges between 15% and 20%. That drops down to 15% with Uber and 10% with Bolt, if you drive an EV (accessible from a PCO rental company like Westgate Hire), meaning there’s a greater incentive to go green with Bolt.
Access to customers: Uber
Uber is quite a lot more well-known than Bolt, and as a result, you’ll have access to a lot more rides through the Uber app. While there isn’t such a prominent difference in the centre of London, as you start to get out to the suburbs a little bit, the difference becomes a lot more tangible.
Pricing structure: similar
Bolt and Uber both charge a similar base rate (around £2.50), a similar per-mile rate (around £1.40) and a similar per-minute rate (around £0.15). Bolt does often end up costing the user slightly less than Uber, but as they take less of a cut than Uber, you still stand to earn a similar amount, sometimes a little more.
Uber does have a higher surge ceiling, which means if you time things right, you stand to earn a bit more with them compared to Bolt during the busiest moments in the week.
Don’t choose one, use both
The truth is that you don’t actually have to choose to drive with one or the other, and many drivers in London don’t. It’s a common practice to operate on both platforms; once you have your PCO license and an appropriate vehicle, it’s relatively easy to register with both platforms.
You do need to be careful that you don’t accept overlapping trips, and that you’re able to accept trips on both apps fast enough. So long as you don’t start cancelling rides to get a better offer on the other app, using both is totally possible and a good idea in many cases.
Learning how to manage both apps and learn which areas and times are best for each can take a little while to get right, but it’s worth trying to optimise it. If you can learn some clear trends and patterns, you can maximise your hourly earnings, minimise your downtime, and make sure that your costs are as low as reasonably possible.
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