Eating nutritious food is fundamental to our overall health and well-being, and cooking homemade meals is one of the best things you can do to improve your diet. But it’s tough to cook something wholesome and healthy when you don’t have the ingredients on hand. A grocery delivery service like Instacart can be a fast and convenient way to restock your kitchen when you’re busy, not feeling well, don’t have reliable transportation, experience social anxiety, or simply dislike shopping.
To find out if Instacart is worth the money, we tried it firsthand and talked to others who’ve used the service. In our Instacart review, we’ll explain its pros and cons, compare it to other retail and grocery delivery services, and break down its pricing structure so you know what to expect during checkout.
Instacart overview
Our expert opinion on Instacart
Instacart does not benefit older adults who may be experiencing social isolation. Services like Meals on Wheels can provide social interaction, but Instacart is often a no-contact service.
Christina Peoples, gerontologist
Based on our hands-on testing and customer interviews, we believe Instacart offers a convenient grocery delivery service that often works smoothly. However, your experience ultimately depends on whoever fulfills your order. Some Instacart shoppers are more experienced, thoughtful, and communicative than others.
In our opinion, a top-notch Instacart shopper:
- Selects high-quality produce.
- Chooses the exact items on your list (unless they’re out of stock).
- Looks for hard-to-find items instead of marking them as out of stock.
- Communicates through the app when they have questions.
- Asks you to approve substitutions when items are out of stock.
- Thoughtfully bags your items to ensure nothing gets broken, bruised, or melted during transit.
- Takes care to keep your orders separate from other customer orders.
- Delivers your order before or within the expected timeframe.
- Follows delivery instructions, such as not ringing the doorbell when requested.
Our Instacart testers have had plenty of good experiences, but we want to highlight some of their issues to let you know what can go wrong with the service—and to share some tips to help you avoid these experiences.
Concern about fruit and vegetable quality is a common theme among our testers. Several say they only buy dry goods or paper products when getting groceries delivered because they want to inspect perishable items themselves. “I personally don’t buy fresh produce through Instacart because I don’t think other people are as picky about quality as I am,” one tester says.
Poor attention to detail also came up in conversations about order accuracy. Some testers say their shoppers have selected the wrong item altogether. “Sometimes I don’t get the exact fruit or vegetable I asked for,” one tester says. “I’ll ask for an English cucumber and get a regular one, which I think boils down to shoppers not knowing there’s a difference. I’ve had the same problem with apple varieties.” Another tester says they’ve run into problems getting the right yogurt.
Some of our testers didn’t realize there’s a way to communicate about potentially problematic items before submitting the order. “It took me ages to realize I can add a note for specific items at checkout,” one tester says. “I wonder if that’s new. I was always looking for a way to leave a note for the order in general, or to leave a note as soon as I added the item to my cart. I couldn’t figure out how to specify the number of bananas I wanted.”
The checkout screen looks slightly different on the Instacart app versus the website, so it’s not always obvious that leaving a note is an option. The words are different too. We see Choose a Replacement on the website versus Add Instructions on the app. Selecting either prompt will take you to a screen where you can do both actions. If you do nothing, some shoppers will ask for your approval when they need to replace an item. Other shoppers may be less communicative and use their best judgment to fulfill your order.
On a more positive note, testers like how easy it is to reorder items with Instacart. After your first purchase, Instacart will start recommending items you frequently buy, which can help you quickly add household staples. You can also repeat a previous order by clicking the menu icon and selecting Your Orders. Find the order you want to repeat, then click Add All Items to Cart.
You can also find meal inspiration in the Recipes tab. If you find a recipe you like, you can easily add all of the ingredients to your cart.
From our tester
“I didn’t realize Instacart shoppers could work on more than one order at once. That explains why I once got a bottle of Italian dressing I definitely didn’t order. Now I’m more careful to look through my bags and make sure everything is accounted for and didn’t go to someone else.”
So far, our testers report positive experiences with how well their items are bagged or boxed, and most deliveries have arrived on time. Time of day, proximity to the store, order size, and tip percentage may affect how quickly the order is claimed, fulfilled, and delivered.
Can Instacart help you make healthier choices?
One tester says they like to use Instacart to be more intentional about what they buy and how much they spend. “When I shop online, I can see how much I’ve overspent before I checkout, and it’s easy to remove items I don’t really need right now. Plus, it’s a little harder to impulse buy because I don’t see all the snacks and treats in the store—I just type in what’s on my list and search for essentials.”
Mindy Martinez, a registered dietitian in Cornelius, North Carolina, agrees that online grocery shopping can be useful when following a healthy diet, weight loss program, or weight loss app. “Especially when you first start making a lifestyle change, it’s often beneficial to visualize what meals you plan to make and what ingredients you need. Shopping online can be a good strategy to do this while avoiding the extra things that may catch your eye in the store,” she says.
But Martinez warns that everyone is different, so some people may find that sites like Instacart lead to mindless ordering.
Can using Instacart help ease anxiety?
Erika Kendrick, a licensed professional counselor in Montclair, New Jersey, believes grocery delivery services like Instacart can benefit people with anxiety, including those who experience sensory overload when going to the store. “Using a service like Instacart can be more calming to the nervous system because it’s being used in an environment that’s familiar and comfortable to the shopper,” she says.
However, it’s important to recognize that using a grocery delivery service like Instacart may lead to new worries or intensify anxious thoughts. “No matter how safe a situation, individuals with anxiety tend to think of all the things that could go wrong,” says Kendrick. Analysis paralysis, or the fear of making the “wrong” choice, is also possible.
If you tend to feel anxious when grocery shopping, consider working with a mental health provider to navigate the pros and cons of a service like Instacart.
Who may like Instacart
- Busy people.
- People with limited mobility.
- Anyone who dislikes shopping in person.
- People without reliable transportation.
- Anyone recovering from an illness or injury.
- People buying items for far-away friends and family.
Who may not like Instacart
- People on a strict budget.
- Those who prefer to pay in cash.
- People who like to shop for themselves.
- Anyone uncomfortable navigating an app or website.
How does Instacart work?
Instacart is a platform where local people, known as Instacart shoppers, go to the store with your shopping list, buy the items with a prepaid card from Instacart, and deliver them to your front door. Instacart shoppers make $4 per order and earn the rest of their money through tips.
To get started with Instacart, go to Instacart.com or download the Instacart app. Create an Instacart account by entering your email address and a unique password. You’ll be asked to verify your email address by entering a code that Instacart emails you. After that, enter your delivery address to finish the setup process.
Next, choose a store to shop from (you can choose multiple stores on the same order). Your delivery location determines the stores that are available. You can add a new delivery location at any time by clicking the map pin icon in the upper right corner.
You’re not limited to grocery stores. Here’s a quick look at the variety of stores that have partnered with Instacart for same-day delivery. Retailers listed in parenthesis are examples, not complete lists.
- Alcohol (Liquor Barn, The Wine Shop, Total Wine & More).
- Apparel (Kohl’s).
- Beauty supplies (Bath and Body Works, Sally Beauty, Sephora).
- Bulk savings (BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco, Sam’s Club).
- Convenience (7-Eleven).
- Craft supplies (Michaels).
- Drugstores (CVS, Walgreens).
- Electronics (Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples).
- General merchandise (Big Lots, Family Dollar, Target, Walmart).
- Gifts (Five Below).
- Home improvement (Home Depot, Lowes).
- Pet supplies (Petco, PetSmart, Pet Supermarket).
- Sports (Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy).
Depending on your location, you may also see local shops and small businesses. For example, our tester in Brooklyn, New York, has 71 local stores to choose from; our tester in Charlotte, North Carolina, has two local options; and our Louisville, Kentucky, tester has zero local options. To see whether the service is available in your area, enter your ZIP code into Instacart’s locations page.
![Screenshot from the Instacart website shows some of the local stores available to Instacart users in Brooklyn, New York.]](https://d1xpftaradk20j.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/08203519/Instacart-local-stores.jpg)
Once you’ve chosen the store you want to buy from, you can browse by category or use the search bar to look for specific items. Click the green Add+ button to add an item to your shopping cart. After you’ve added an item, a new button will appear that lets you increase the quantity of the item or remove it from your cart.
You must spend at least $10 to qualify for Instacart delivery.
When you’re ready to complete your purchase, click the shopping cart icon to review your order. Here, click Add Instructions (app) or Choose a Replacement (web) to leave notes for your shopper. On the next page, you can leave delivery instructions, choose a delivery time, and leave a tip. Once you pay, your order is shown to Instacart shoppers, who can then claim it.
According to Instacart shoppers
According to Instacart shoppers, new orders are shown to more experienced shoppers first. They say they’re more likely to claim an order if the tip is good, especially if extra mileage or time is required. If no one claims the order within a set amount of time, it’s offered to less experienced shoppers.
The shopper may message you through Instacart if they have questions, and you’ll also get real-time updates about substitutions and order progress. It’s a good idea to download the app and enable notifications so you can see these messages in a timely manner.
After your delivery, you’ll be able to rate the shopper and leave an extra tip if desired.
Older adults can call Instacart to submit an order
People 60 and older can call the Instacart Senior Support Line at 844-981-3433 any day of the week between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. ET. Associates can answer questions about using Instacart or can take your order over the phone.
How much does Instacart cost?
Instacart can get pricey. Every order above $35 has a delivery fee of at least $3.99. You also pay a service fee on each order. It’s unclear how Instacart calculates the service fee, but our testers’ receipts show that it’s about five to 15 percent of the item subtotal and may depend on the number of items purchased. In other words, the more you buy, the higher the service fee. The minimum service fee applied to an order varies by location but seems to be $3–$4.
It’s important to realize the person shopping for and delivering your items doesn’t necessarily receive the full delivery fee and service fee. Instacart shoppers are paid a flat fee of $4 per order. Tips are optional but, according to our testers, seem to affect how quickly your order is fulfilled and how experienced your shopper is. You are prompted to leave a tip during checkout, and Instacart shoppers can see the tip when looking at available orders. If you’re buying many items or live far away from the store, a more generous tip encourages shoppers to claim your order. The minimum default tip is 5 percent, but our testers opted for tips between 10–15 percent of their order totals.
Let’s say you’ve ordered $100 in groceries. At this point, you’re paying $3.99 for the delivery fee and about $10 for the service fee. Add a modest $10 tip, and you’ve paid $23.99 for Instacart delivery. Whether or not that’s worth it depends on your budget, how much you value the service, and your available alternatives. “It can be a huge relief to get groceries delivered—it’s one less thing to think about,” says a tester. “But I don’t use it a lot because it gets expensive with all the fees and tips.”
Watch for markups
Some retailers display higher prices on Instacart compared to their in-store prices. Look for the In-Store Prices label to get the best deal.
Additional Instacart fees
You may see these additional fees on your Instacart receipt:
- Bottle fee: If you’re in a state with a bottle bill, also called a beverage container tax, you’ll see this added to your Instacart total. Rates range from 2–15 cents per container.
- Checkout bag fee: Some stores like Aldi require you to purchase paper bags if you don’t bring your own. Instacart shoppers will buy bags to fulfill your order. This fee is likely to be less than $1.
- Long-distance service fee: Instacart charges about $7 for orders more than 30 miles away or locations that require the use of a toll road.
- Priority fee: Instacart charges a $2–$3 rush fee for the earliest delivery window. However, Instacart shoppers say they aren’t notified when an order has been deemed a priority. Tipping well is another way to encourage fast fulfillment.
- Regulatory response fee: Some cities, such as Seattle, have passed minimum wage laws for gig workers like Instacart shoppers. Instacart adds a fee to cover the increased costs.
- Sales tax: The sales tax rate varies by location.
Did Instacart overcharge my card?
Instacart will place a temporary charge on your card for a slightly higher amount than your total cost. This helps cover the cost of bag and bottle fees and any substitutions that cost more than the original item. The final charge processed through your card should match the final charge on your receipt after delivery.
Instacart+
Instacart+ costs $99 per year and waives delivery fees on orders over $35. Members also get lower service fees, but Instacart does not specify how much you’ll save. The other major perk with Instacart+ membership is free membership to the Peacock streaming service, which normally costs $59.99 per year. You can also get five percent credit back if you pick up your Instacart orders rather than have them delivered.
Without factoring in the value of Peacock or the reduction in service fees, Instacart+ membership pays for itself after 25 deliveries. If you have a current Peacock subscription that you’re able to cancel thanks to Instacart+, your membership pays for itself after 10 deliveries.
Cost of Instacart versus other delivery services
Some grocery stores and retailers offer their own same-day or next-day delivery services, and they’re often much cheaper than Instacart. There’s usually a flat-rate delivery fee without an extra service fee, and tipping is often not an option.
For example, if you go directly to these stores’ websites and use their delivery services, here’s what you’d pay:
- Kroger: $6.95 minimum delivery fee; no tip.
- Walmart: $9.95 minimum delivery fee; optional tip.
- Harris Teeter: $6.95–$9.95 delivery fee; no tip.
- Food Lion: $3.99–$9.99 delivery fee; a flat fee of $7.95; no tip.
Although Instacart has a more affordable delivery fee, it usually ends up being the more expensive option once you factor in the service fee and shopper tips.
From our tester
“There’s a local pet supply store that offers free same-day delivery if you order through their website, so I never use Instacart for them. And if I need something delivered from Kroger, I save about $20 by using its website instead of Instacart.”
HelpGuide Handbook’s testing methodology for grocery delivery
Our Handbook Team tests the top grocery delivery programs by signing up as mystery shoppers to try the service and order groceries for one week’s worth of meals. So far, we have tested eight of the top grocery delivery platforms. During that time, we do the following:
Sign up for the service as a new member.
Select one week’s worth of groceries.
Evaluate the program for dietary and food allergy options.
Place an order for the groceries and set a delivery date.
Track and evaluate the delivery.
Unbox delivery when it arrives and document the condition and quality of all items.
Contact customer support with questions or issues with any items.
Cancel subscription.
We become familiar with each grocery delivery service to learn how they work, the types of groceries they offer, and if they deliver items on time and in good condition. We specifically ask each tester to evaluate each grocery delivery service for the selection, convenience, food safety, cost, delivery options, and whether they offer any items besides groceries, like prepared meals, household items, toiletries, or cleaning products.
Testers also note their interactions with customer support. If an item is damaged during delivery, testers contact the brand’s customer service to learn how quickly they respond and how they fix any issues with a delivery.
We also surveyed nine grocery delivery service users to learn more about their experiences. We use these survey results, our testing data, and insights from nutrition experts to develop a thorough perspective on each grocery delivery service we review.
How we test Instacart
The HelpGuide Handbook team tests Instacart by placing real orders through the app or website and talking to current and past users. Here are some things we look for when testing Instacart.
Ease of use: 3/5
Our testers think it’s easy to search for items, add them to the cart, and checkout, but some features aren’t intuitive. “It would’ve saved me some trouble if I knew I could tell my shopper what to get as a substitution,” one tester says. “I placed three orders before I found a way to add a note.”
Cost: 3/5
When we compared the cost of Instacart to other grocery delivery services, we found it an expensive option due to the variable service fee. However, Instacart doesn’t charge a membership fee, and tipping remains optional but encouraged.
Variety: 5/5
We’re impressed by the number of grocery stores that are available on Instacart, and we especially love that you can order deliveries from other retailers, like pet supply stores and home improvement stores. So far, Instacart has the most variety of any retail delivery service we’ve seen.
Quality of delivery: 4/5
For this score, we consider whether perishable items arrive in good condition, substitutions seem reasonable, the delivery is completed within the requested time frame, and there are no missing items. Our testers have ordered hundreds of items through Instacart, and the majority have arrived fresh and on time.
For more information on how we test, see our healthy living review methodology.
Our final verdict on Instacart
Our Instacart review is optimistic but cautionary. We think people are more likely to enjoy using Instacart when they can afford the extra fees, easily navigate the website or app, and effectively communicate their preferences to shoppers.
Users have no control over who fulfills their order, and some shoppers are more professional than others. Leaving generous tips during checkout seems to increase the likelihood of getting a more experienced shopper.
We think it’s worth trying Instacart. Many people we’ve talked to say they can’t afford to use it all the time, but it eases some of their stress when they’re feeling overwhelmed or can’t shop for a loved one in person. You may experience similar benefits by simplifying your grocery routine with delivery, whether it’s through Instacart or a store-run service.
Our favorite things
We like the variety of retailers Instacart partners with and how users can choose a delivery day and time that fits their needs. Our team appreciates the ability to leave notes and request specific substitutions if items are out of stock. We also like that Instacart offers personalized recommendations and makes reordering items from a past receipt easy. Our testers have experienced well-packaged and prompt deliveries.
Our complaints
We don’t like the high cost of Instacart’s numerous service fees or that tipping plays such an important role in a good experience. We also don’t like that some items cost more on Instacart than in the store. Our team would like Instacart to add more local stores. Based on our testers’ experiences, we think Instacart could also improve navigation on its app and website, especially regarding bulk item quantities, replacement preferences, and item notes.
Compare Instacart with other top grocery delivery services
| Membership required? | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Average Fees | Delivery fee starts at $3.99 for orders over $35. Service fee varies by location | Membership costs $12 per month or $59.95 per year | Delivery fee starts at $9.95 | Membership costs $10.99/month or $99/year. Delivery fee starts at $10 without a membership | $0–$13.95 service fee depending on membership status and order total |
| Tips? | Optional | No | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Availability | All 50 states | Continental U.S. | All 50 states | Select zip codes | Select cities |
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can get scammed on Instacart. We’ve seen reports of scammers marking items on an order as out of stock and substituting items they want. Essentially, the scammers buy their own groceries with the customer’s money. Contact Instacart customer service as soon as possible if you get charged for missing items or don’t receive a delivery.
Instacart shoppers pay for groceries using a preloaded payment card provided by Instacart. They don’t have access to your debit or credit cards.
Yes, as long as you can afford the various fees and the store doesn’t offer its own affordable delivery service, our reviews team thinks Instacart is worth trying. Getting groceries can be a time-consuming task, so paying for delivery can free up your schedule and give you more personal time to slow down and relax.
DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEats primarily deliver restaurant orders, but each app allows you to order groceries from a small selection of convenience and grocery stores. On the other hand, Instacart focuses on grocery and other retail orders—including from office supply and hardware stores—but doesn’t deliver restaurant orders.
- Bitter, A. and Luna, N. (2023, July 31) Instacart just slashed pay for delivery drivers — from a minimum of $7 per order to $4. Now they’re more reliant on your tips. Business Insider. Link
- National Conference of State Legislatures. (2020, March 13). State Beverage Container Deposit Laws. Link
- City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards. (2022, May 31). App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance. Link
- Walczak, J. (2024, February 6). State and Local Sales Tax Rates, 2024. Tax Foundation. Link