Lyft

Lyft is the ride-hailing app people use when they need a car on demand in cities, especially in the United States and Canada. By our assessment, its best feature is the simple match between phone, driver, and trip: open the app, see a fare, get picked up, move on. The downside is familiar to anyone in this category, since prices can swing and the experience depends on local driver supply and traffic. In practice, Lyft feels less like a traditional taxi company and more like a map plus payment layer wrapped around someone else’s car. It sits in the same field as Uber, but with a smaller footprint and a less dominant public image. The service is for people who want point-to-point rides without owning a car, and it is less appealing when the city is thin, late, or badly connected.