Are Grubhub and Seamless the Same?

Over the course of the last decade, the world of food takeout ordering has changed completely. Instead of having to pick up the phone, you now have access to various food delivery services in the form of apps. Having a preferred app is important if you want to be able to order takeout as soon as you hear your stomach growling.

Grubhub and Seamless are among the most prominent food delivery services on the market. Comparing the two and knowing which one to go with when you’re starving is a smart way to go.

What Are They

Grubhub and Seamless aren’t identical, but they are pretty similar. Their target groups are roughly the same. Both are on-demand food delivery services offering convenient ways to order and receive food

Both of these services feature mobile apps that effectively look for available (and supported) restaurants near the user’s location. The user can then place an order and wait for delivery.

Regardless of whether the restaurant has opted for internalized delivery or Grubhub/Seamless-provided delivery, the driver will pick up the order and deliver it directly to the customer. The driver, of course, gets a small fee for their service. This is why tips are more than welcome.

However, whether you’re using Grubhub or Seamless, the order you make will be delivered by the exact same drivers. How come? Well, Grubhub and Seamless are now the same company. That’s why they’re so similar.

The Beginnings

Although Grubhub and Seamless are now under the same banner, they started their journeys separately. Seamless was founded back in 1999 by two lawyers who weren’t happy with the old-school paper menu method of ordering food. They came up with a web-based solution for business-only. The demand took its own course, however. Before long, Seamless turned into a direct-to-consumer app for ordering food.

Completely independent from Seamless, Grubhub began its journey in 2004, when two web developers, frustrated by the same issues as the lawyers from Seamless, decided to upgrade the experience. In time, Grubhub skyrocketed and turned into quite the delivery juggernaut.

Rather than struggling to topple one another, Grubhub and Seamless decided to join forces and merged under the same umbrella.

These two now dominate the food delivery service market.

The Differences (Similarities)

Github and Seamless share ownership and the same banner. They even have the same business model and are closely aligned in almost every single aspect of food delivery. The two services have identical functionalities, restaurants, and are available in the same locations. The only real difference is the design and branding elements.

The Two Apps

Let’s make one thing clear: the two apps are separate food delivery platforms. You can download one and you can download the other. They don’t share an app.

However, the app structure is almost identical. The websites look very similar. They do have different logos and certain branding elements, but you’ll have a hard time telling the two apart without these.

Availability

As mentioned earlier, both apps are available in the same locations. But, to reiterate this in a more emphatic manner, Grubhub and Seamless offer the same services in the same cities. If you have San Francisco on one app, you’ll have it on the other. This goes for every single location on the planet.

This is often very apparent. Don’t be surprised if you get your order from a Grubhub employee when you ordered from Seamless.

Restaurants

Yep, you’ve guessed it – the two apps include identical restaurant selections. They share the same interface offered in identical cities – everything is pretty much the same. The order experience and patterns work in the same way, which is why the two services often intertwine.

Prices

It wouldn’t be fair if one app offered different prices for the exact same delivers as the other. Of course, this isn’t the case with Grubhub and Seamless. Every deal is absolutely identical at the same prices, with the same extra delivery fees (if included) and minimums.

Drivers

The two services don’t share drivers, however. Grubhub drivers will carry the Grubhub brand, while you’ll see the Seamless logo on Seamless driver’s uniforms and vehicles. That said, as mentioned earlier, Grubhub drivers will often deliver Seamless orders and vice-versa.

In any case, you can expect a swift and quality experience with both services.

The Grubhub Umbrella

Although Seamless is an older company, the deal between the two parties was that Seamless would be absorbed under the Grubhub umbrella. If the Seamless app and website retain the name, structure, and branding.

In addition to Seamless, Grubhub has actually acquired many other assets over the years. The brands’ sizes are, in essence, the biggest difference between the two. Here are some of the assets acquired by Grubhub.

Tapingo

Basically, Tapingo is Grubhub for college campuses. Tapingo is available in more than 150 college campuses world-wide.

LevelUp

LevelUp is a customer loyalty and food ordering tool. It connects customers to their favorite restaurants. This service has significantly strengthened the delivery capabilities of Grubhub.

Allmenus

This acquisition has helped Grubhub strengthen its mobile capabilities and expand its US footprint. Essentially, Allmenus enables the user to see menus in their location and see which ones make deliveries.

MenuPages

MenuPages is the same service as Allmenus, offering literally the exact same features. The only difference here is the fact that MenuPages was acquired by Seamless, back in 2011. Of course, after Seamless and Grubhub joined forces, MenuPages become a part of the Grubhub family.

Eat24

Eat24 used to be Yelp’s online platform for food ordering. If you follow the link to their official website, you’ll see that it looks exactly like Grubhub. This is because Grubhub acquired Eat24 as an asset, storming through its competition.

Grubhub vs. Seamless

As you can see, Grubhub and Seamless are pretty much one and the same service. In fact, Seamless is officially under the Grubhub umbrella now, making Grubhub pretty much the best service on the market.

Which of the two apps/websites do you prefer using? How do you like Grubhub’s move to acquire Seamless and many other companies? Do you use Grubhub/Seamless for your orders? What do you like the most about it? Feel free to hit the comments section below with your opinion.