Is Uber or Lyft Better?

Most consider the two companies’ services to be interchangeable, but there are still some big differences

Two travelers huddle over a cell phone as they tried to navigate their rideshare at the Uber & Lyft pickup at Logan Airport after arriving in Boston from Florida on Dec. 23, 2019. Photo: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

There was a time when Lyft sent drivers fuzzy pink mustaches to hang on the grill and asked passengers to fist-bump drivers when they got into the front seat. Uber, on the other hand, launched as a black-car-only service with the motto “everyone’s private driver.”

But these days, the mustaches have been trimmed, Uber has ditched its high-end focus, and both companies have gone public to a similarly dismal tune. The Lyft and Uber experiences may seem almost interchangeable. But look a little closer, and there are still some big differences in the way the two companies operate.

Size

One night long ago, I was giving rides on Lyft (I started driving for Uber and Lyft in 2014, but now run my blog for ride-share drivers full-time). I had a passenger ask me, “Are you my Uber driver?” Yes, close enough.

I’m not sure what Webster has to say about it, but “to Uber” might as well mean to hail any type of ride these days.

Uber’s rise to verb has a lot to do with its size. The company operates globally in 700 cities around the world, while Lyft has chosen to focus on the U.S. market and only recently launched in…