Keep the customer
Orders begin in your channels, so your business remains the destination.
Delivery from your channels, powered by DoorDash
Your orders.
Our delivery network.
Offer fast, trackable local delivery from your own website, app, or ordering system without hiring and managing a fleet.
No fleet, subscription, or signup fee
Order #DD-2048
Delivery in progress
Your store
Customer
Order confirmed
Your website
Dasher assigned
Live dispatch
Delivered
Proof captured
Drive On-Demand
Start with delivery.
Keep what makes you, you.
Drive adds DoorDash fulfillment behind the ordering experience your customers already know. Your menu, pricing, checkout, and brand remain yours while DoorDash handles dispatch and delivery.
Protect direct-order margin
Pay for fulfillment per delivery instead of a Marketplace percentage commission.
Make delivery visible
Give customers ETAs, driver progress, status messages, and completion confirmation.
Scale without a fleet
Use Dashers for every delivery or only when your existing operation needs capacity.
Program-to-program audit
Drive and Last Mile in a Box solve the same last-mile problem from opposite directions.
Drive begins with courier capacity. Last Mile in a Box begins with merchant control, then orchestrates the available delivery capacity.
DimensionDoorDash DriveLast Mile in a BoxFinding
Core purposeWhite-label delivery fulfillmentMerchant operating system plus delivery orchestrationDifferent
Order originMerchant website, app, POS, or partnerMerchant dashboard, website, widget, API, POS, or marketplaceSame foundation
Brand and customerMerchant-facing direct channel and trackingMerchant brand, customer relationship, and intelligence remain merchant controlledSimilar, stronger LMIAB promise
Delivery supplyDoorDash's Dasher networkVerified route-aligned local drivers, merchant self-delivery, and third-party overflowDifferent
Carrier choiceDoorDash performs fulfillmentTransportAI can select among multiple fulfillment modesLMIAB advantage
IntegrationPortal, partner integrations, and restricted production APIDashboard, widgets, existing POS integration, API, webhooks, and custom POSLMIAB broader on paper
TrackingStatus events, customer tracking, and proof optionsLive status, ETA, tracking, and proof of deliverySubstantially same
PricingFlat delivery charge, with contract-specific adjustmentsStandard is 5% of gross order value plus delivery fee; custom POS is 0% plus delivery fee and licenseMaterially different
Market reachLarge established network across supported countriesCluster-by-cluster local network dependent on verified driver densityDrive advantage today
Merchant operationsPrimarily fulfillment, portal, reporting, and supportCheckout, inventory, customers, analytics, routing, delivery, and growth toolsLMIAB broader
Support riskDocumented routing across merchant, partner, Drive support, and driverDesigned for local merchant support, but service levels require pilot proofDrive proven, LMIAB unproven
Lock-in exposureSingle fulfillment provider, with contested enterprise preference allegationsMulti-carrier design can preserve merchant choice and fallback capacityLMIAB advantage if contracted
Evidence maturityPublic terms, production history, partner records, and complaint historyProduct design, patent-based model, and pilot proposition still requiring measured validationDrive advantage today
Judgment call
Last Mile in a Box is the better merchant model. Drive is the better proven carrier today.
For an independent merchant, the strongest long-term position is the hybrid: keep orders, customer data, checkout, routing rules, and carrier choice in Last Mile in a Box, then use Drive only when its coverage, speed, or price wins for a specific delivery.
Price test before deciding
Drive cost = its flat delivery charge. Last Mile Standard cost = delivery fee + 5% of gross order value. Last Mile POS cost = delivery fee + allocated license cost. Without the actual local delivery fee and license, no honest audit can declare Last Mile cheaper.
Merchant control is the decisive advantage, not an assumed price advantage.
Choose Drive alone
The merchant needs established delivery coverage immediately, wants a known flat fulfillment charge, has no need for a new operating system, and accepts a single-provider dependency.
Choose Last Mile in a Box
The merchant prioritizes customer, brand, workflow, and carrier control; has enough local network density; and receives verified service levels, insurance, pricing, and support through a pilot.
Choose the hybrid
Last Mile in a Box controls the order and selects CommuterCart drivers, merchant self-delivery, or DoorDash Drive as overflow. This preserves resilience without surrendering the merchant layer.
Final recommendation
Do not rebuild DoorDash. Build the merchant-controlled layer DoorDash does not provide, and treat Drive as replaceable fulfillment capacity inside it.
7M+
Dashers in the network
DoorDash states merchants can tap a network of more than seven million Dashers.
1,000+
Technology integrations
Ordering, middleware, and point-of-sale connections can automate fulfillment without a custom back end.
15–30%
Average sales lift claim
DoorDash reports this average range when merchants add prominent Smart Order Now buttons or pop-up ordering widgets.
Flat fee
Per completed delivery
Drive fulfills orders from a merchant's own channels without a Marketplace percentage commission.
DoorDash public claims, reviewed August 2, 2026. Merchant outcomes vary; the reported sales-lift range is not a guarantee.
One connected handoff
From your checkout to their doorstep.
Customer orders
An order is placed through your website, app, POS, or direct ordering provider.
Confirm delivery
Drive validates the address, coverage, timing, availability, and delivery fee.
Dasher dispatches
A Dasher accepts the request and travels to your pickup location.
Order is handed off
Your team confirms the order and gives it to the assigned Dasher.
Customer tracks
Status messages and a live tracking page keep the recipient informed.
Delivery completes
DoorDash records completion, including photo or signature when configured.
For API workflows, DoorDash recommends quoting before checkout completion. Quotes validate service and remain available for five minutes.
Meet your operation where it is
Three ways to activate Drive.
Start manually, connect through technology you already use, or pursue a purpose-built integration.
Path 1
Merchant Portal
Request and manage deliveries manually without changing your ordering technology.
- • Fast operational start
- • No custom development
- • Order and invoice visibility
Path 2
Ordering or POS partner
Connect Drive through a supported ordering, middleware, or point-of-sale provider.
- • Automated delivery requests
- • Less duplicate entry
- • Provider-led onboarding
Path 3
Direct Drive API
Build quotes, dispatch, status, tracking, cancellations, and returns into your platform.
- • Custom customer experience
- • Webhooks and tracking
- • Production approval required
DoorDash currently restricts direct Drive API production access, gives no certification timeline, and advises teams without a completed build and submitted production request to pause development. Portal and approved-provider availability may vary.
Service portfolio
One network, multiple fulfillment needs.
Drive can support everyday local orders and approved specialized workflows, but capabilities are not universally enabled. Contract terms, geography, category, and technical configuration govern availability.
Standard fulfillment
Restaurant, grocery, convenience, flowers, pet, retail, and other eligible direct-channel orders.
Large Order Fulfillment
Premium high-touch service for catering and large orders, with qualified Dashers, optional setup, premium support, higher fees, and a required addendum.
Cash on delivery
Supported for approved implementations where a Dasher collects the configured amount at drop-off; availability and enablement requirements apply.
Restricted categories
Alcohol, hemp, and other regulated goods require category approval, age or identity controls, compliant packaging, and market eligibility.
Public contract architecture
Drive is governed by a stack, not a single contract.
The binding agreement is assembled from the merchant's executed documents and applicable addenda. Public templates explain the framework, but a vendor's signed documents and rate card control its actual relationship.
Sign-Up Sheet
Identifies the merchant, participating locations, selected products, negotiated commercial terms, and any enterprise-specific provisions.
Merchant Terms of Service
The general operating, payment, licensing, data, security, termination, dispute, indemnity, and arbitration framework.
Drive Product Addendum
Adds white-label fulfillment responsibilities, monthly invoicing terms, tips, cancellations, unattended orders, taxes, customer consent, and data access.
Rate Card
Controls the merchant's actual delivery fees and other charges; negotiated terms can differ from public API or product-page pricing.
Specialized Addenda
Alcohol, regulated products, Large Order Fulfillment, and other approved services require written approval or a product-specific addendum.
Developer Technology License
Separately governs API integrators, including sandbox and production access, permitted use, branding, data, security, merchant contracting, and prohibited items.
Merchant responsibility schedule
DoorDash delivers. The vendor still owns the order.
Customer relationship
The merchant accepts customer payment, manages product complaints and refunds, and states that title transfers directly to the customer when the product leaves the merchant's possession.
Consent and data
Before fulfillment, the merchant must obtain lawful consent to share customer contact details and allow DoorDash to use them for delivery; regulated ID verification requires additional consent.
Pickup readiness
Products must be available at the quoted time, correctly packaged, complete, labeled when required, and handed to the correct Dasher.
Accurate operations
The merchant supplies locations, hours, contacts, instructions, order values, restricted-item details, and trained location staff, and keeps account access secure.
Taxes and permits
The merchant remains responsible for product-sale taxes, applicable taxes on DoorDash fees, required licenses, approvals, permits, and legal product eligibility.
Customer communications
The ordering experience must obtain notification consent, surface delivery and support IDs, handle quote or address errors, and provide clear cancellation and tracking workflows.
Drive API lifecycle
The complete delivery control loop.
The current Drive API is the v2 surface. Sandbox keys, a delivery simulator, production review, a finished-product demo, and approval are part of the documented path.
Quote
Validate serviceability, fee, timing, and delivery requirements before promising delivery at checkout.
Accept or create
Accept the quoted terms or create a delivery with unique order references, contacts, addresses, values, instructions, and timing.
Monitor
Read delivery details and process webhook events for assignment, pickup, movement, delivery, cancellation, and return states.
Control
Update permitted delivery details, cancel when allowed, and configure contactless, signature, photo, barcode, PIN, identity, or return verification.
Reconcile
Store fee, tip, timestamps, proof artifacts, return data, and final status against the merchant's order and monthly invoice.
Current production-access constraint
DoorDash states that Drive API production access is restricted and provides no certification timeline. New teams that have not completed development and submitted a request are advised to pause direct-API development and record interest instead.
A delivery experience customers can follow
Visibility from request to proof.
Live tracking
Estimated times, driver progress, and a customer tracking link.
Status messaging
Optional DoorDash SMS updates across the delivery journey.
Proof of delivery
Drop-off photographs, timestamps, and signatures when configured.
ASAP or scheduled
Request immediate fulfillment, scheduled times, or delivery windows.
Return workflows
Return eligible orders when the customer cannot receive them.
Regulated delivery controls
Special approval and handling for alcohol and other restricted categories.
Restricted-items policy
Not every legal product is automatically eligible.
Written DoorDash approval required
These categories require express approval, often through an addendum, and may still be unavailable by jurisdiction.
- • Alcohol
- • Tobacco products
- • Prescription medicines
- • Hemp products
- • Gift cards
- • Single items over 60 pounds
- • Adult sexual products
Prohibited or generally unavailable
This condensed list is illustrative. DoorDash's current policy is broader and can change at its discretion.
- • People, wildlife, remains, and most live animals
- • Illegal or stolen goods
- • Weapons, ammunition, fireworks, and explosives
- • Vape products and recreational drugs
- • Disallowed hazardous materials and medical waste
- • Money, lottery tickets, and securities
- • Counterfeit, hateful, threatening, or misleading products
For alcohol, production requirements include item details, restricted-item flags, return-to-pickup handling, lawful customer consent for ID verification, and a signed alcohol addendum.
Policy and risk controls
Rules that shape the real operating program.
Cancellation
A Drive Addendum states that a fee is non-refundable once a Dasher has been dispatched. API refunds are evaluated under the applicable restaurant or non-restaurant refund matrix and must be requested within 14 days.
Unattended delivery
If enabled, no signature is collected, DoorDash's completed-delivery record is conclusive, and the merchant assumes the associated risk. This may not apply to alcohol.
Returns and redelivery
Configured return-to-pickup trips carry a 60% return fee. Redelivery caused by merchant error can be charged as an additional delivery.
Restricted goods
DoorDash can reject unsafe or inappropriate items. Alcohol, tobacco, prescriptions, hemp, gift cards, heavy items, and certain adult products require express written approval; other listed goods are prohibited.
Tips
Public API pricing requires 100% of collected tips to pass to DoorDash for the Dasher. The public Drive Addendum also states a 15% pre-selected tip unless the parties agree otherwise.
Disputes and termination
Public merchant terms require fee or order disputes within 14 days and allow merchant termination on seven days' written notice. The agreement includes individual arbitration and jury or class-action waivers unless validly opted out.
Service control
DoorDash may set operating hours and delivery areas and may change, suspend, or discontinue products or locations. Features and approvals are not guaranteed.
Brand and API use
Developers may not misrepresent DoorDash, make unauthorized promises, route DoorDash-branded orders to competitors, misuse IP, bypass security, reverse engineer, or market DoorDash without consent.
Operating model
What happens after the integration goes live.
Coverage
DoorDash sets a dynamic delivery radius using market conditions, Dasher availability, expected travel time, store hours, preparation time, and partnership terms. Merchants cannot directly edit it.
Billing
Portal and integrated merchant deliveries are generally itemized through separate Drive invoicing and are not withheld from Marketplace earnings. Self-serve API requests charge the account card at delivery creation unless DoorDash approves monthly ACH or check invoicing.
Payments
Depending on the setup, merchants can pay by card or invoice; integrated accounts may use debit, credit, ACH, wire, or check through DoorDash's invoicing process.
Refunds
Eligible delivery refunds may be approved instantly or reviewed through a support case, then credited to the applicable invoice.
Additional stores
Integrated merchants manage locations through their ordering provider; manually operated accounts add stores through Drive support using the required account details.
Incidents
Operations teams can subscribe to DoorDash status notifications. Live-order, non-live, billing, refund, and integration issues follow separate support channels.
Straightforward fulfillment economics
Pay for the delivery, not a marketplace commission.
Drive charges a delivery fee rather than a percentage of the direct order. Merchant Portal and integrated accounts generally reconcile through Drive invoicing, while self-serve API deliveries charge the developer account card at creation unless monthly invoicing is approved. Signed rate cards control.
No signup fee
No subscription fee
No termination fee
No DoorDash processing fee on your direct checkout
Public merchant range
Current Drive On-Demand product-page range per delivery
$6.99–$10.99
Self-serve API, 0–5 miles
Published standard Drive API base rate
$9.75
Self-serve API beyond 5 miles
Per additional mile, through 15 miles
+$0.75
Tip-enabled API experience
Base-rate discount when 100% of tips pass to the Dasher
−$2.75
Plan for exceptions
A return-to-pickup trip costs 60% of the original delivery fee. Refunds and service adjustments are reviewed under the applicable agreement.
External operator intelligence
What public complaints and partner records add.
These findings are graded by evidence strength. Complaints identify failure modes, not prevalence, and allegations are not treated as established fact.
Support ownership fragments
Partner guides separate dispatch failures, live delivery incidents, guest refunds, provider reimbursements, and integration failures across the merchant, ordering platform, DoorDash, and driver.
Provider ID is operationally essential
Toast requires the 10-digit Drive provider ID for support. A blank provider ID can indicate that dispatch failed before DoorDash created the delivery.
The merchant refunds the guest
DoorDash Drive generally reimburses the merchant, developer, or provider account under a refund matrix. It does not directly refund a direct-channel guest.
Credits can lag through intermediaries
Square and Bopple materials show that DoorDash credits may first settle with the ordering provider and only later flow to the merchant statement or balance.
Billing can differ from the quote
Partner invoice examples document taxes, adjustments, waived fees, refunds, and rare route-based differences between an amount withheld and the final Drive charge.
Late, wrong, and missing deliveries recur
Merchant discussions and support guides repeatedly reference delayed assignment, late pickup, wrong handoff, missing items, undelivered orders, and proof disputes.
Preferred-provider pressure
Uber's 2025 lawsuit alleges that some enterprise merchants faced higher Marketplace costs or reduced placement when seeking competing first-party delivery. DoorDash denies the allegations.
BBB totals are not Drive evidence
BBB aggregates Marketplace consumers, Dashers, merchants, billing, and delivery complaints. Its themes are useful for risk discovery but cannot establish Drive-specific frequency or fault.
Controls inferred from field evidence
Design the program around exceptions, not just dispatch.
Preserve every identifier
Store merchant order ID, Drive delivery ID, provider ID, quote ID, timestamps, fee, tip, status history, and proof artifacts in one record.
Publish a support decision tree
Tell staff and customers who owns dispatch failures, live delays, product errors, delivery errors, guest refunds, provider claims, and billing disputes.
Refund the guest independently
Do not make the customer wait for DoorDash reimbursement. Record the merchant refund and pursue the provider credit as a separate receivable.
Reconcile at delivery level
Match quoted fee, created-delivery charge, invoice line, taxes, tips, refunds, adjustments, and intermediary settlement for every exception.
Set evidence and deadline rules
Capture receipts, sealed-order proof, handoff confirmation, tracking, photos, customer reports, and support case numbers; submit Drive refund requests within 14 days.
Avoid single-carrier dependency
Contractually preserve non-exclusivity, document switching costs, monitor fill rate by market, and maintain a merchant-controlled fallback for outages or denied capacity.
Vendor activation program
Launch deliberately.
Scale what works.
A strong Drive program is more than turning on dispatch. It aligns the checkout promise, store handoff, customer communication, support ownership, and delivery economics before volume arrives.
01
Fit
Confirm categories, service markets, pickup locations, volume, timing, and customer promise.
02
Connect
Select Merchant Portal, an approved technology provider, or a reviewed direct integration.
03
Prepare
Set store contacts, handoff instructions, packaging, cancellation rules, returns, and staff training.
04
Validate
Test quoting, address errors, notifications, tracking, proof, support, and exception handling.
05
Pilot
Launch with controlled locations and hours, then review acceptance, timing, cancellations, and cost.
06
Scale
Add stores and order volume only after service quality and unit economics meet the program standard.
Ready to explore Drive On-Demand?
Start with your DoorDash account manager or the official merchant interest form.
Secondary-source register
Complaints, partners, video, and trade reporting.
BBB complaint profile
Broad DoorDash complaint taxonomy and volume; not segmented to Drive.
Toast delivery support
Provider IDs, issue routing, late and failed deliveries, and merchant-first guest refunds.
Bopple Drive billing
Invoice columns, credits, adjustments, fee differences, and intermediary settlement.
Bopple Drive terms
Partner-specific late delivery, damage, reimbursement, and support handling.
Square merchant discussion
Merchant reports about Drive credits settling through the platform account.
Restaurant-owner discussion
Limited anecdotal discussion of flat-rate Drive fulfillment and direct ordering.
Merchant Portal video
Official walkthrough of manually requesting a Drive delivery.
Uber v. DoorDash reporting
Contested allegations concerning first-party delivery preference and merchant choice.
Research record
Official sources behind the program.
Drive On-Demand product
Merchant value, network scale, integrations, branded ordering tools, and signup.
Onboarding and FAQs
Merchant Portal, workflow, radius, billing, refunds, stores, outages, and support.
Drive API overview
Current API, restricted production access, sandbox, simulator, review, and approval process.
Drive API reference
Quotes, deliveries, updates, cancellations, verification, proof, fees, and returns.
Pricing and payment
Published standard API rates, mileage pricing, tip discount, and return pricing.
Large Order Fulfillment
Premium Dasher requirements, setup, support, addendum, and implementation.
Drive Product Addendum
White-label responsibilities, fees, tips, refunds, unattended orders, taxes, data, and termination.
Merchant Terms of Service
General contract structure, operations, fees, security, termination, disputes, and arbitration.
Integration requirements
Production review, UI, fields, errors, cancellation, restricted goods, consent, and legal safety.
Developer Technology License
API-integrator rights, duties, commercial terms, branding, data, security, and restricted uses.
Restricted Items Policy
Products requiring approval and products DoorDash may refuse or prohibit.
Audit completed August 2, 2026. Public terms can change, and contract-specific pricing, service levels, geographic availability, approval, and category rules control over this study.