Whether you don’t want to buy a car—or you want a better car than the one you currently have—there’s good news. Thanks to car subscription services, you can rent a car to use for ridesharing.

Finding the Best Rental Car for Ridesharing: Things to Consider

Several car subscription services have special programs with Lyft and Uber, which cater specifically to rideshare drivers. The best rental car service for you depends on a few things:

Which ridesharing company you drive for. Some services have exclusive partnerships with Lyft or Uber, while others have no restrictions on who you drive for.
How often you drive for Lyft or Uber. Most of these services are comparable when it comes to pricing, but a few (notably Hertz and Lyft Express Drive) allow you to earn loyalty rewards which can cover some or most of your fees.
How long you’ll need the rental for. Weekly rentals are the standard option, although you’ll also see hourly, daily, and monthly car rentals, too.
Whether you want the car for personal use. Most car rental services offer unlimited miles, meaning you can drive the car for personal or ridesharing use—but not all of them do. If this is important to you, confirm that the car rental you choose offers it.
Whether you need auto insurance. Again, most car rental companies include auto insurance, or it’s covered by Lyft or Uber—but not all do.
Where you live. Finally, while you can rent a car anywhere, the same can’t be said for renting a car specifically for ridesharing. If a company doesn’t operate where you live, you won’t be able to rent a car from them.

Best Car Subscription Services for Rideshare Drivers

Best All-Around Car Rental Service for Ridesharing: HyreCar
Best for Uber Drivers: Fair or Maven Gig
Best for Lyft Drivers: Lyft Express Drive
Cheapest Rental Car Service: Get Around
Best Option for Drivers with No Credit History: Fair
Best Traditional Rental Car Option: Hertz

Below we’ve summarized the key features of the best car subscription services out there. Take a look and learn more by reading the individual reviews below.

Lyft Express Drive

Hertz

HyreCar

Fair

Get Around

Maven Gig

Deposit

~$250, sometimes refundable

$200 refundable

Yes, non-

refundable

Free

$250 pre-pay

Starting price

~$150-200 weekly

$214 weekly

~$200 weekly

~$130 weekly

$5 hourly

$199 weekly

Cities

~30

Nationwide

~30

~10

Long-term contract

Yes, 28 day

Insurance

Included

NOT included

Included

Rental period

Weekly

Daily, Weekly, Monthly

Weekly

Hourly, Daily

Weekly

Personal use allowed

Yes, unlimited miles

Depends

Yes, unlimited miles

Lyft/Uber?

Lyft

Lyft, Uber

Uber

Lyft, Uber, GrubHub, etc.

Lyft Express Drive

Express Drive is Lyft’s official rental car subscription service, available through partnership with General Motors, Hertz, and Avis.

Lyft Express Drive offers significant perks. Miles are unlimited, so you can use your rental car for both personal and Lyft use. Insurance and standard maintenance are also covered, ensuring you always drive safe with no worries about surprise costs. Finally, there’s a rewards program, so the more you drive with the rental car, the cheaper it is.

What makes Lyft Express Drive unique is its pricing structure, which is based on how often you drive for Lyft. The program incentivizes you to make more money as a Lyft driver (and pay less for your rental). For example, if you give 80 rides a week in Austin, you’ll pay almost $150, but if you give 30 additional rides, your cost goes down to around $45.

Pricing varies by market, as do the additional fees, including the security deposit. Lyft Express Drive is currently available in 30 major metros.

Bottom Line: The more you drive with Lyft, the less you pay—making this a stress-free rental car option for Lyft ridesharing drivers. Plus, because it’s managed by Lyft, billing is easy. Lyft automatically deducts your rental cost from your earnings.

Save with these Lyft promo codes.

Hertz

Hertz partners with both Lyft and Uber. This rental service charges by the week, and is straightforward to set up. You start by clicking Rent a Vehicle from your ridesharing app dashboard. You’ll set up an appointment to go pick up the car. Once there, you’ll pay the weekly rental base rate of $214 with either a credit or debit card, along with the $200 refundable security deposit.

Hertz’s rental pricing is consistent and easy to understand. Insurance is included, with extra damage protection available for an additional fee. They also have a loyalty rewards program like Lyft Express Drive.

The major downside with Hertz is that you have to bring the car back to the rental branch every 28 days for maintenance. At that point, the car will be evaluated for service, swapped out if needed, and a new contract will be signed. And you can only do that during regular business hours (9a to 5p, Monday through Friday), which isn’t convenient for everybody. Worse, depending on when you drive, that renewal process might cut into your earning time, since you’ll be out of a car while they evaluate it.

In the meantime you can extend your rental every 7 days through the app. Hertz’s ridesharing rentals are currently available in 13 cities.

Bottom Line: If you want a traditional rental car, Hertz is your best option. Just be sure you can afford the downtime during the monthly maintenance and contract renewal, though.

Save with these Hertz promo codes.

Fair

No car and no computer? No problem. With Fair, you can manage rentals all from an app on your phone. Plus, as long as you have a driver’s license and bank account, you can get approved for Fair—even if you don’t have any established credit.

Each car rental includes a limited warranty, roadside assistance, and routine maintenance. If you noticed insurance is missing from that list, you’ve got keen eyesight. This is the one company on our list that doesn’t include insurance, which can make renting from Fair more expensive (as you’ll need to purchase it separately).

You’ll also have to pay a non-refundable Start Payment, and an administrative fee. These fees depend on the results of your bank or credit check, along with your area—although, they can be as high as $500, according to some reports.

If these costs give you any hesitation, consider trying Fair for free. Under their Return Policy, you can bring your car back within 3 days, and as long as it’s in good condition and been driven 100 miles or less, you can get a refund.

Bottom Line: Fair doesn’t require a credit check, and it bills you after your rental period is up—as opposed to in advance. These can make it an attractive option for some ridesharing drivers, as long as you drive for Uber and can cover the cost of insurance on your own.

Save with these Fair promo codes.

Maven Gig

The “gig” in its name rightly gives it away: Maven Gig is designed to service the gig economy. With Maven Gig, you can rent cars not just for Lyft or Uber, but for grocery delivery services like GrubHub.

You’ll sign up through the Maven Gig mobile app with your driver’s license and credit card. Once approved (you’ll need to verify via confirmation email), you’ll receive a reservation to pick up your car from a team member. If you’re driving with Uber or Lyft, rideshare insurance will be covered through their apps, while you can get coverage for personal use directly through Maven Gig.

MavenGig’s pricing depends mostly on the type of car—$199 weekly for regular cars (compact, sedan, and crossover) and $229 weekly for electric (Chevy Bolt EV). Maven Gig is owned by GM, so all of the cars are Chevrolet models. You’ll be billed weekly and a pre-authorization hold of $250 is placed on your credit card upon signup.

Maven Gig is currently available in 10 cities.

Bottom Line: While Maven Gig offers less variety in their rental car selection, the electric car option is exciting for eco-minded drivers. Plus, their partnership with multiple companies allows them to support a wider range of gig employees, whether they rideshare or deliver food.

HyreCar

HyreCar is a fully agnostic car rental service—so you can rent from them regardless of whether you drive for Lyft, Uber, or another ridesharing service. HyreCar focuses on ease and efficiency above all. Insurance is included, and you can typically get your rental within 24 hours of applying online.

It’s more accurate to describe HyreCar as a peer-to-peer car sharing service rather than a traditional car rental company. HyreCar also sells used cars and allows owners to list their car for ridesharing rentals. The cars you’ll be driving will be loaned to HyreCar from other drivers, and HyreCar will insure them on your behalf.

You’ll select different cars you’re interested in. Once approved, your $200 refundable deposit will apply to the nearest available car. Daily rental rates range from $25 to $40, with weekly rates around $200. You can extend the rental online anytime through the app.

The main hiccup with HyreCar is that the owner gets to dictate the mileage cap, so you may not enjoy the unlimited miles you get with other services. Just be sure to review this before renting a specific car, to ensure it won’t crimp your ridesharing style. You also have to pick up your car directly from the owner (as opposed to a dealership), which makes some people uncomfortable.

Bottom Line: HyreCar is a good option for people who want flexibility in their both the period of their rental (daily, weekly, and monthly) and the type of car they drive.

Get Around

Like HyreCar, Get Around is a service-agnostic peer-to-peer car sharing service. You can rent or lease cars with the company.

Get Around aims to get rid of all the little “gotcha” pricing you’ll see with these other car subscription services. There’s no signup fee, and insurance and 24/7 roadside assistance is included with every rental.

They’re also unique for offering hourly rentals (starting at $5), as well as daily. You’re approved nearly instantly, upon driver license and credit card verification. There are no longer-term rental options available, though, which makes Get Around a better choice for those who view ridesharing as more of a side hustle vs. a full-time job.

Get Around is currently only available in 10 cities.

Bottom Line: Get Around is the cheapest, fastest way to get started with rideshare car rentals. If speed is of the essence (and you want the flexibility of short-term rentals), this is the rental car company for you.

Save with these Get Around promo codes.

4 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Ridesharing Rental Car

Now that you’ve selected your rental car service, it’s time to get the most out of it. Keep the following tips in mind to ensure a cost-efficient rental:

Make sure you fully understand what’s covered—and what isn’t—by the rental insurance. You want to know that you won’t be running into a huge financial upset if an accident occurs.
Review the fuel efficiency of the car you’ve selected. A more fuel-efficient car allows you to save more on gas and maintenance.
Consider how many passengers the car can fit. A smaller car will limit your options and can impact the passengers’ comfort, which may affect their review of you as a driver. Typically, Uber and Lyft require 4 doors and seat belts for 4 passengers (so hold off on the sports cars).

Remember that the type of car you drive affects what service tiers you can offer. If you want to use premium tiers like Uber Black, it’s worth it to rent a car for a week or so to see if the demand is really there, before committing full hog to a premium rental vehicle.

Written by Amelia Willson