After the success of Taxi booking apps, there is now an untamed, unstoppable rise in popularity of flexible, convenient and options-rich rideshare apps.
From private sedan and SUV to humble taxi and car, on-demand ride-sharing services are all the rage across the globe. However, not all rideshare apps and carpooling apps have similar features and services. Some offer perks in terms of costs, while others are superior in overall satisfaction.
Read Also: Top 10 GPS Tracking Apps in UK
In this blog, we have compiled some of the best rideshare apps from across the globe.
| Uber | Grab | Easy Taxi Brazil |
| Placie | Lyft | Hitch |
| BlaBlaCar | PopaRide | Wingz |
| Zipcar | Gett | Ola |
| Wundercar | sRide | Gojek |
1) Uber
Uber is an international star in the world of taxi booking and rideshare apps – there is no denial to that. It is still the most unrivalled in its league since it covers vast number of countries and offers ample transport options across the globe. From Moto Taxi to minivan and carpooling for budget-oriented people, Uber dominates in every option. Uber comes as a best app for short-distance travelling within a city.
Uber believes in transparency of rates which are standard and automatically maintained. For people with concerns about its exorbitant rates, it offers a handy ride with great convenience.
Uber app is available for download in Google Play Store & App Store.
2) Grab
Grab is the leading super app of South East Asia and is quite popular across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. As registration completes, users can book a taxi within the app in merely few minutes by choosing from the different transport modes – from motorbikes to cars or buses.
Apart from ridesharing, Grab also offers food and grocery services, financial services and much more.
You can download Grab app from Google Play Store & App Store.
3) Easy Taxi Brazil
Easy Taxi started off as a website with a catchy slogan “your ride, one touch away”. Based in Brazil, this e-hailing app is operating in over 30 countries at the moment, serving in over 400 cities globally.
Its services are also available in Southeast Asia, which makes Easy Taxi another alternative – apart from Grab – if you are located in one of those group countries. The app’s Request Taxi feature is unique as it automatically scans for rides near you.
Easy Taxi app is available for download in Google Play Store & App Store.
4) Placie
What makes this Australia-based app is that it acts as a one-stop location to find the cheapest or closest ride to you. The app provides live fare estimates of different rideshare, taxi and limo hiring platforms – all at one place, allowing you to choose from the best.
In the app, you can filter by price and find the cheapest ride around or by distance or availability in case you are looking for a fast ride. You can find fare from brands, such as DiDi, Ola, 13cabs, Silvertop and Black and White cabs in the Placie app.
You can make your bookings through Placie app and even find your receipts and journey history in there.
The app is available for download in Google Play Store & App Store.
5) Lyft
Lyft often seems to steal the show away from Uber and emerges as one of the second-largest rideshare and carpooling apps for short distances in the US.
Much like Uber, you can either get a full ride or opt for a carpool. Lyft also has a range of vehicles including Lyft autos and larger Lyft Plus cars. Unlike Uber, Lyft offers you comparatively affordable rides and more liberal, relaxing and informal atmosphere.
During high-demand business hours, the pricing goes a little high. This is where the Lyft Line, its carpooling service, comes handy and allows you to split fares between passengers for a large vehicle.
US have many diverse transport apps which intensify the competition, but Lyft surely makes for reliable service with reasonable prices. It offers transport in over 300 U.S. cities and is also available in major cities of Canada.
You can download the app in Google App Store
6) Hitch
Hitch is a US-based ridesharing platform that provides safe, fast and affordable hitchhiking services. The app matches riders and drivers going to the same city, assuring an easy, social and fun trip.
Here the ‘social’ element stands for the unique advantage of getting along with your Facebook connections so that you don’t have to cope with complete strangers while availing rideshare and carpooling services. The best part about the app is that there is no pre-booking required
Hitch app can be downloaded from Google Play Store & App Store.
7) BlaBlaCar
BlaBlaCar is the best reliable resources if you are aiming to go on long-distance travel across Europe using solid carpooling solution. Seemingly zany, the car sharing service is basically named after the concept of talking to strangers (BlaBla) and is available in in 22 countries so far.
Read Also: 10 Best Hotel Booking Apps in UK
As you create an account, you need to enter the details about departure point, destination and travel date. You will then see a list of drivers on similar itineraries along with the profiles of both drivers and other passengers.
You are also kept updated on the exact pickup and drop-off points, vehicle and the journey cost. Your request sent for the carpool is usually approved by the BlaBlacar driver.
There are female-oriented services, too, where female drivers can take liberty to allow only female travelers to view their trips or female passengers can search only for female drivers.
You can download BlaBlaCar app from Google Play Store & App Store.
8) PopaRide
PopaRide is a great, straight-forward ride-sharing app you can use if you are in Canada. It helps you find drivers who have similar itineraries while traveling in Canada and who you can request for the rides.
This ride sharing service is exclusively for those who are travelling within Canada, but sometimes you also get the rides between the country and US. In the app, there is a feature “Private Networks” that lets you connect with work colleagues or employers and more to take advantage of specific group of drivers.
There is a feature “Private Networks” that lets you connect with work colleagues or employers and more to take advantage of specific group of drivers.
There are drivers in Canada who are like PopaRide experts with several pleasant 5-star reviews on their profiles. Not only that, you can also view the profiles of other passengers you are going to share your ride with.
PopaRide app is available for download in Google Play Store & App Store.
9) Wingz
Based in San Francisco, Wingz provides private car service –pre-scheduled rides with a private driver, especially airport rides.
The app offers around-town ride services in many urban settings and metro areas. The unique aspect is that you can also schedule airport rides in advance for up to two months with a flat rate that forgoes hidden charges and surcharges.
Additionally, riders can choose their favourite from available choices. Wingz promises to make the service more affordable than a regular taxi or limo in future.
Additionally, riders can choose their favorite from available choices. Wings promises to make the service more affordable than a regular taxi or limo in future.
You can download Wingz app from Google Play Store & App Store.
10) Zipcar
Zipcar is another US-based car-sharing mobile app service that you can leverage to order a car on demand. Built only for US dwellers, it offers a range of vehicles, including Sedan, hybrid, UV or simple van.
Being an on-demand service, it allows you to drive by hour and day and its charges include gas and insurance.
For convenience and uniqueness, there is a membership system starting from $7 a month that ensures a ride whenever you need to get to the other side of the city.
The app is available for download in Google Play Store & App Store.
11) Gett
Short version of GetTaxi, Gett is a useful Taxi booking service for Israel denizens. Similar to GrabTaxi and Easy Taxi, Gett is a comfortable e-hailing mobile app that is used to order a cab.
Taxi drivers follow three different flexible payment modes for ride service depending on your location and regions: per ride fee, monthly dispatch fee and Corporate rides fee.
Apart from being active in 13 Israeli cities, Gett is also available now in London, Moscow and New York.
You can download Gett app from Google Play Store & App Store.
12) Ola
Ola Cabs is a simple, intuitive taxi hailing app based in Mumbai, India. It allows users to book taxis via app and calls. Ola has two basic cab services: Economy and Luxury. All the payments are done either using inside-the-app Ola money or through cash.
In the app, you can choose from different modes of transport, including cars and auto rikshaws (tuk-tuks). The app is successfully operating in 65 cities at present
The app is successfully operating in 65 cities at present and supports three mobile platforms.
You can download Ola app from Google Play Store & App Store.
13) Wundercar
Albeit being close to Lyft, Wundercar works on an unprecedented mechanism and a royal twist. The app allows you to carpool with people who are going in the same direction as yours. Most of those e-hailing and ridesharing apps earn revenue from its online marketplace theme, but Wundercar on the other hand is not only on-demand, but is also ‘free’ in its literal meaning.
Riders do not pay drivers but are free to either make donations or choose not to pay at all. The company will take 20% if paid. This outlandish business model is transparent and unconditional and works wonders for those hitchhikers who have a generous reputation of helping and always sharing rides with others for free. The only rule to follow is that drivers and passengers would have to rate each other.
You can download Wundercar app from Google Play Store & App Store.
14) sRide
Of several popular taxi booking and ride sharing apps in India, sRide is another substantial name you can consider while travelling in the country.
Although you might not meet as many options as Uber in India, sRide still appeals to many due to the social experience it offers. Great for travel within the cities, the service aims to connect those people who are going in the same direction as its passengers.
This is quite different from what Uber and Lyft does and is similar to BlaBlaCar carpooling. sRide currently support carpooling for many big Indian cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, etc. Apart from car and taxi, the app has instigated a bikepool feature to accommodate bike rides as well.
You can download sRide app from Google Play Store & App Store.
Read Also: 11 Best Personal Safety Apps
15) Gojek
Gojek is another ridesharing app that is being actively used in five countries – Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, and Philippines. The app also provides other services, like payments, food delivery, logistics, etc.
Gojek app is very similar to Grab, but also unique in its own way as the vehicles used for commute are two-wheeler taxis.
You can download Gojek app from Google Play Store & App Store.
Conclusion
Of all the transport apps described above, Uber does still dominate the rest with its value touching $40 billion mark and its availability in 300 cities across the globe.
However, as the region-specific ridesharing requirements are different, Uber is still having hard times facing legal restrictions for global reach in a few countries.
Therefore, Uber alternatives like Lyft and many other unique ridesharing apps and platforms outside the U.S. are considerable locally.