Now that Costco has launched on DoorDash and Uber Eats, I thought it would be a great time to re-visit my Costco warehouse vs Costco Instacart vs Costco Same-Day price comparison investigation and add in pricing and other considerations on the 2 new delivery apps to see how they compare. I’ve updated that prior article with current pricing – and it gets into more of the weeds on Costco Instacart and Costco Same-Day pricing than we’ll do here. In this article, we’ll also look at the new platforms and non-product pricing discounts and credits that could impact which store you might choose to purchase Costco items on.
For this new comparison, you should know that “Costco Same-Day” is a standalone website powered by Instacart and you can use Instacart gift cards as a form of payment. It’s also worth noting that Instacart is the only one of the 3 delivery apps that even allows non-Costco members to complete a purchase. However, you’ll pay a steep price for that likely outweighs the cost of a Costco membership over time, as you’ll find.
Costco Warehouse Prices Vs Instacart, Costco Same-Day, DoorDash, and Uber Eats
Let’s start with a price comparison on the same 10 randomly selected items at Costco warehouse vs Costco Instacart, Costco Same-Day, DoorDash, and Uber Eats.
Here are the average price markups for non-Costco warehouse purchases versus Costco in-store (warehouse) prices:
- Instacart+ with linked Costco membership OR Costco Same-Day with linked Instacart+ membership: 10.01%
- Costco Same-Day without linked Instacart+ membership: 13.5%
- Instacart without Costco membership: 24.39%
- DoorDash: 11.31%
- Uber Eats: 11.94%
These are the average price markups, but all prices were within a range of less than 1/10th of 1% – so there were no outliers.
Your eyes don’t deceive you. There are 3 Costco Instacart and Costco Same-Day pricing tiers compared to just 1 for both DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Based on item pricing data alone, assuming no other promotions/discounts, Instacart+ (with linked Costco membership) or Costco Same-Day (with linked Instacart+ membership) is the cheapest, with a markup of ~10%, which is roughly a 1.3% discount versus DoorDash and a 1.9% discount versus Uber Eats. And, with no platform markups, Costco in-store beats them all on product pricing alone.
Of course, there are other variables that make the overall economics more complicated…
The Monthly $10 Costco Executive Member Credit on Instacart and Costco Same-Day
Only Instacart and Costco Same-Day (run by Instacart) offers Costco Executive members a $10 monthly credit on purchases over $150. So, if you’re comparing on price alone, Costco Executive members have an additional incentive to use Instacart or Costco Same-Day over DoorDash and Uber Eats. So, it may seem like Costco is trying to nudge you in the direction of Instacart’s platforms. Except…
Discounted Gift Cards on Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats
Here’s where things get even more interesting. Costco used to sell heavily discounted Instacart gift cards for 20% off on Costco.com. They haven’t done so in a while. They used to also sell discounted Uber Eats and DoorDash gift cards as well, but also discontinued that offer.
It wasn’t until Costco launched nation-wide on DoorDash and Uber Eats in September of 2026 that they brought back discounted DoorDash gift cards and discounted Uber Eats gift cards – both at 20% off gift card value.
To thicken the plot, Costco has not brought back discounted Instacart gift cards. I personally buy Instacart gift cards using the generous cash back incentive on the Upromise Mastercard. You can find them elsewhere periodically, such as Best Buy, Amazon, and Sam’s Club – but that’s becoming seemingly less frequent. It’s also worth noting that Instacart gift cards can be used on the Costco Same-Day site as a form of payment.
Obviously, a 20% or even 15% discount outweighs the platform-specific product cost differences highlighted above.
Periodic Store Discounts at Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Costco Same-Day
To make this comparison even more fluid, Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and even Costco Same-Day periodically offer store-specific promo codes that can be used at checkout. And, these can be stacked with discounted gift cards.
Right now, in association with the Costco launch on their platforms, DoorDash and Uber Eats are both offering 20% off promo codes (highlighted in the launch articles at the top), for a limited time.
I’ve never seen Costco warehouse offer a blanket 20% off promotion, for the record.
Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats Monthly Credit Card Credits
As noted above, and I won’t get too into the weeds here, but Chase began offering generous monthly Instacart credit card credits (and then added monthly Mastercard credits) on Instacart, as well as free Instacart+ membership that eliminates delivery fees for most orders. Chase also have been offering similar monthly credits on DoorDash and free DashPass (for more details see the DoorDash launch article highlighted earlier). Frustratingly, the monthly Chase Instacart credits do not work on Costco Same-Day, even though it’s an Instacart platform.
Meanwhile, a few premium American Express cards (e.g. Platinum and Gold) offer monthly Uber Eats credits as well as free Uber One membership.
All of these credit card discounts can also be stacked with both discounted gift cards and store-specific discounts.
Comparative Delivery and Service Fees
Now for the bummer. Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats all charge a delivery fee unless you purchase their monthly memberships – in which case the delivery fees on each platform are $0. Each platform does charge a service fee (discounted with membership). The only one that does not is Costco Same-Day (and Costco in-store, naturally).
I tested purchasing the same items Costco items on each platform and got the following service fees:
- Instacart (with Instacart+): 4.3%
- DoorDash (with DashPass): 3.5%
- Uber Eats (without Uber One): 5% (Uber One does come with discounted grocery delivery service fees, but I did not have membership at the time of the test)
- Costco Same-Day: 0%
I’d encourage you to try identical orders on each platform to see how they compare, if all other factors are equal. Your mileage may vary.
I do think that having premium membership on a given platform makes the economics of frequent deliveries a lot more friendly as delivery and service fees, in addition to tips, can really add up. You can still save some money if you’re able to stack discounted gift cards, promo codes, and credit card credits – but it’s a lot less.
Costco Same-Day, Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats all offer the ability to tip your delivery driver – and you should do so, of course. Beyond that, delivery and service fees can vary.
Instacart+, DashPass, and Uber One all offer free trials.
What is the Cheapest Store to Buy Costco Items at? Costco Warehouse, Costco Instacart, Costco Same-Day, DoorDash, or Uber Eats
The answer is… it depends. And these are the variables to take into account:
- The price comparisons I highlighted at the top of this article. These should change very infrequently, but it’s worth checking in again here or by doing your own sleuthing periodically on each app to compare.
- Costco “Executive” membership status: gets you the 10% monthly credit on Instacart and Costco Same-Day.
- Discounted gift card availability. 20% off is the gold standard, but availability has changed over time.
- Periodic store discounts. All else being equal – go with the store that currently has a store-wide promotional discount.
- Monthly credit card credits, if eligible.
- Your membership status and free delivery (or not) and service fees.
Personally, I have free delivery with Instacart+ via Chase credit cards, Costco Executive membership ($10 monthly credit), the ability to purchase discounted Instacart gift cards via my Upromise credit card, and monthly Chase Instacart credits. So long as I can keep finding discounted Instacart gift cards and taking advantage of monthly credits, purchasing Costco on Instacart makes the most economical sense for me. However, if 1 or more variables change (and I’m certain they will), my personal computation might change.
Meanwhile, I’m likely to take advantage of the combination of store-wide promotional discounts plus discounted gift cards for DoorDash and Uber Eats when they come around.
As for you, your variables/mileage may vary.
