How does Deliveroo pay work?

Per delivery. Each offer shows the full fee before you accept it, worked out mainly from the time and road distance Deliveroo estimates the order will take, adjusted for the time of day, how busy the restaurant is, any boost and your vehicle. Tips are on top and you keep all of them.

Deliveroo and the GMB union agree a pay floor each year: a minimum per hour of ESTIMATED order time, £17.18 by car for 2026/27. It does not pay for time online between orders. An hour with two drops and an hour with five pay very differently, which is why the useful number is what you made per hour over a whole shift. See the Deliveroo pay floor.

Fees are paid every Tuesday for the previous Monday to Sunday, and you can cash out sooner for 50p.

Fees rise when demand is high, so the difference between a Friday evening and a Tuesday afternoon is substantial. Most riders who do well are working the busy windows rather than working more hours.

Tips are taxable income like the rest. Put them in the same earnings figure and they get taxed the same way, which is what HMRC expects.

You are self-employed, so nothing is deducted and the tax is yours to sort out.