Deliveroo on Bike vs E-Bike vs Moped: Earnings Compared

Choosing your Deliveroo vehicle

Standing in a busy car park or outside a dark kitchen, you will see all three types of riders. Cyclists pushing hard against the wind, e-bike riders cruising past with throttle assists, and moped riders sitting tall in high-vis gear. Each setup changes how much you earn, how many orders you can stack, and what you spend before taking home a single pound.

Deliveroo assigns orders based partly on your registered vehicle profile. If you switch from a bicycle to a moped in the app, your zone size changes immediately. You get longer distance drops that a pushbike rider would never see, but you also take on heavy insurance bills.

Bicycle: lowest cost, highest physical effort

A standard pushbike is cheap to run. You buy tyres, chains and brake pads, but you have no fuel, no road tax, and no compulsory commercial vehicle insurance to pay. For more details on rules, check Do I need insurance to deliver on a bicycle?.

The catch is your own body. By hour four of a Friday night dinner rush, your legs burn. You turn down orders that involve steep hills or long distance cross-town runs. Your hourly rate stays capped because you simply cannot pedal any faster.

• Zero fuel or electricity costs worth tracking
• No insurance required by law beyond normal common sense
• Limited to tighter zones and shorter trips
• High physical fatigue limits your shift length

E-Bike: the city centre sweet spot

An e-bike lets you keep the perks of bicycle routing while removing the physical wall. You can cut through pedestrian zones and park right outside restaurant doors, but the motor handles the drag up hills.

You take on more orders per hour than a standard cyclist because you do not slow down on inclines. Your battery needs charging daily, and you will wear through brake pads faster due to the extra weight and speed. Make sure your setup stays legal with UK motor limits, or you risk problems with the police.

Moped: wider range, heavy fixed costs

Mopeds open up the widest delivery radius. Deliveroo will send you on five-mile drops that pay higher fees per trip. You stay warm and dry under your gear, and your legs do not get tired.

However, the expenses are brutal. You must pay for CBT training, road tax, petrol, MOT tests, and specialist hire and reward insurance. If you only work part-time hours, those fixed weekly costs eat most of your earnings before you even buy lunch. Read more on Platform insurance compared to see what cover involves.

Calculating your tax deductions

When you do your Self Assessment, you can claim expenses. If you use a bicycle or e-bike, you can claim the flat simplified mileage rate of 20p per mile for bicycles, or track your actual repair costs. For motorcycles and mopeds, the approved rate is 24p per mile for all business miles.

Whether an e-bike or a moped leaves more money in your pocket depends entirely on your local zone layout and how many hours you work. Run your own numbers for a week to see which setup covers your costs best.