DoorDash pays Dashers per offer: base pay from DoorDash, any promotions and 100% of the customer’s tip. In Earn per Offer mode, base pay is set for each offer from its estimated time, distance and desirability; in Earn by Time mode, offered in select US cities, it’s a guaranteed hourly rate paid for every minute you’re on a delivery. Your earnings reach your bank weekly for free, or sooner through Fast Pay for $1.99 or DoorDash Crimson with no fee.
How base pay is set in Earn per Offer
DoorDash sets base pay for each offer before you see it and says it ranges from $2 to $10 or more. Offers that take longer, cover more miles or are less popular with Dashers should carry more. It’s based on three estimates:
- Time: how long DoorDash expects the offer to take, including restaurant prep, shopping for shop-and-deliver orders, driving, time of day and traffic.
- Distance: how many miles DoorDash expects you to drive, measured from where you are when the offer arrives.
- Desirability: how likely Dashers are to want it, judged from local conditions, similar offers, the number and size of orders, the type of delivery address and how other Dashers responded to it.
How tips and promotions are added
Promotions sit on top of base pay. Peak Pay adds an amount to each eligible delivery while it’s in effect, Challenges pay a bonus for completing a set number of deliveries in a set time, and Boosts add pay to some offers. Check the Promos tab before you start a dash.
DoorDash says 100% of tips go to the Dasher, and base pay and promotions never change with the tip amount. Customers can tip at checkout or after the delivery; when a tip is added later, you get a notification and the order’s breakdown updates in your Earnings tab.
The amount on the offer screen is the minimum DoorDash guarantees for that offer, so your final pay can be higher but not lower. Can Dashers see tips? explains what the offer tells you about the tip.
Earn per Offer vs Earn by Time
Earn by Time pays a guaranteed rate for each active hour, counted by the minute, from the moment you accept an offer until you drop it off or the order is canceled. Restaurant waits and traffic count. Tips and promotions such as Peak Pay come on top, though DoorDash notes tips may be less frequent in this mode.
To use it, tap the hourglass icon on the home screen before you start a dash; the current rate is shown there. The rate can differ by time of day and zone, stays locked for that dash unless you move to a zone with a different rate, and is only offered in select US cities.
DoorDash’s own example uses $14 per active hour: a delivery that takes 30 minutes from accept to drop-off pays $7 base pay plus the tip, and one that takes 8 minutes pays $1.87 plus the tip. The rate in your app may be different.
| Detail | Earn per Offer | Earn by Time |
|---|---|---|
| How base pay is set | Per offer, from estimated time, distance and desirability | Guaranteed rate per active hour, paid by the minute |
| A long restaurant wait | Lowers your pay per hour | Paid at your hourly rate |
| Tips and promotions | On top of base pay | On top of base pay |
| Declining offers | Decline any offer; it lowers your acceptance rate | Up to one decline or unassign per hour |
| Priority access to high-paying offers | Can apply at a high Dasher Rewards level | Not available, though some high-paying offers still appear |
What each mode means for declining offers
In Earn per Offer, you can decline any offer. DoorDash says there’s no minimum acceptance rate, which is measured over your last 100 offers, but a higher rate can count toward your Dasher Rewards level. DoorDash acceptance rate covers the trade-off.
Earn by Time is stricter, because you’re paid for your time rather than for the offers you choose. These are DoorDash’s current rules; check them in your app before relying on them.
- You can decline or unassign up to one offer per hour, and an offer you let time out counts as a decline.
- Declining extra offers while you’re already on a delivery doesn’t count toward that limit.
- A second decline or unassign within the same hour ends your Earn by Time dash; you can then stop or switch to Earn per Offer.
- Every decline in Earn by Time counts toward your acceptance rate, and unassigning usually means no pay for the time since you accepted.
- Repeated late pickups or deliveries can cost you access to Earn by Time; it may come back after a run of on-time deliveries.
When and how you get paid
DoorDash pays for each week of deliveries, Monday through Sunday. You can take the free weekly deposit or get your money sooner through one of the other options in the Earnings tab.
- Weekly direct deposit: free. DoorDash says the transfer takes 2 to 3 days to process and usually appears by Wednesday night.
- Fast Pay: cash out once a day for $1.99 per transfer to a debit card, not a prepaid card, if you’re eligible. It isn’t available if you use DoorDash Crimson.
- DoorDash Crimson: an account in the Dasher app, established by Starion Bank, Member FDIC, that receives your earnings after every dash with no fee. DoorDash says deposits usually arrive within seconds but can sometimes be delayed.
- Cash on delivery: if you collect cash from a customer, that amount, not counting the tip, comes off your next payout.
Does DoorDash pay for gas or mileage?
Not directly. DoorDash’s reimbursement rules say it doesn’t repay vehicle costs such as fuel, insurance, registration or servicing, or tolls and parking. Distance is one of the inputs to base pay, so mileage is reflected in the offer rather than paid separately.
Mileage does appear in two local minimum pay rules: California’s Prop 22 floor adds $0.37 per active mile in 2026, and Seattle’s minimum includes $0.80 per active mile. DoorDash also ran temporary gas relief in spring 2026; its weekly payments ended on April 26, 2026, and the extra Crimson cash back on gas ran through June 30, 2026.
Track every work mile anyway, because mileage can lower your taxes. Does DoorDash pay for gas? has the details.
Check your pay after each dash
Open the Earnings tab after each dash and compare each delivery’s base pay, promotions and tips with what the offer showed. If a delivery paid less than its guaranteed amount, contact Dasher support while the details are fresh.
To see pay per mile and per hour before you accept, Giga Driver reads each DoorDash offer as it arrives and grades it against goals you set, and you still accept or decline in the Dasher app. For a single offer, the free offer calculator does the same math.
Key takeaways
- Every DoorDash offer pays base pay, any promotions and 100% of the tip.
- In Earn per Offer, base pay comes from estimated time, distance and desirability, and DoorDash says it ranges from $2 to $10 or more.
- Earn by Time pays a guaranteed rate per active hour, by the minute, but allows only one decline or unassign per hour.
- Weekly deposits are free, Fast Pay costs $1.99 per cash-out, and Crimson pays after every dash with no fee.
- DoorDash doesn’t reimburse gas, though the California and Seattle minimum pay rules include a per-mile amount.
Common questions
Does DoorDash pay hourly?
Only if you choose Earn by Time where it’s offered. You then get a guaranteed rate for each active hour, plus tips, but not for time spent waiting between offers. Dashers are independent contractors, so there’s no wage for time you’re simply online.
Do Dashers get paid for waiting at restaurants?
In Earn by Time, yes: the wait is part of active time, so it’s paid at your hourly rate. In Earn per Offer, the offer already includes DoorDash’s estimate of prep time, so a long wait mostly lowers your pay per hour. The California, New York City and Seattle minimums are checked against your actual active time, which includes the wait.
Do Dashers get the service fee?
DoorDash describes Dasher pay as base pay, promotions and 100% of tips, and customer fees aren’t listed as part of it. The tip is the part of the customer’s payment that goes straight to you, and it doesn’t change your base pay.
Can I switch between Earn by Time and Earn per Offer?
Yes. You choose the mode when you start a dash, and you can end a dash and start a new one in the other mode. After switching from Earn by Time to Earn per Offer, you have to wait at least an hour before starting another Earn by Time dash.
