5.0 on the App Store.
Fab’s rating from its first travellers in France. Download it, compare 11 ride & taxi apps before your next trip, and judge for yourself.
Home › Fab in the USA › Uber vs Lyft vs Empower
In seven US cities, the Uber vs Lyft duel has a third contender. Empower runs a driver-first model that often undercuts the big two, but not always. Fab asks all three apps for their real price on your trip, from your linked accounts, and lines them up cheapest first. You have the final say.
Empower's pitch is structural, not promotional: drivers pay the platform a subscription and keep the fare, instead of handing over a commission on every ride. Less taken out of each trip leaves room for lower prices, and that is why riders in Washington DC made it a habit. But a structural edge is not a guarantee on any given ride: surge, driver supply and your own promotions can put Uber or Lyft back on top at the exact moment you book.
So the three-way question has the same honest answer as every price question: it depends on the trip and the moment. The difference is that you no longer have to guess. Link the three accounts in Fab and every comparison is a fact, not a hunch.
What actually differs between them, beyond the logo.
| Uber | Lyft | Empower | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Commission per ride | Commission per ride | Driver subscription |
| Coverage | Nationwide | Nationwide | 7 cities, DC first |
| Pricing | Dynamic, surge | Dynamic, surge | Set on the platform, often lower |
| In Fab | Your real quote | Your real quote | Your real quote |
Coverage as listed in Fab's app catalogue: Empower in Washington DC, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Houston.
Checking three apps by hand means three price screens, three wait estimates and three chances for the quote to change while you flip between them. Fab collapses that into one gesture: enter the trip, and the apps you have linked answer at the same time. The offers arrive sorted from cheapest to priciest, with your promotions already deducted, and one tap opens the app you picked with the trip filled in. Fab is independent and takes no commission: the price you see is the app's own price.
Empower's home turf, and the city where the three-way comparison pays off most often.
Two markets where a third quote next to Uber and Lyft regularly changes which app you book.
Baltimore, Dallas and Houston round out the list: everywhere Empower runs, Fab compares it.
More matchups, same method: real prices, side by side.
The two-way version of the question, and why it has no permanent winner.
The robotaxi joins the lineup in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin.
All four US apps Fab compares, and where each one operates.
Empower is a US ride app that presents itself as a more independent, driver-first alternative to Uber and Lyft. Its model is different: drivers pay Empower a subscription instead of giving up a commission on every ride, and that structure often shows up in the fare you are quoted.
In Fab's coverage, Empower is active in Washington DC, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas and Houston. Uber and Lyft operate in all of those cities too, which is exactly what makes the three-way comparison worth running there.
Often, thanks to its subscription model, but not on every trip: demand, hour and promotions still move all three prices around. Rather than trusting a rule of thumb, link your accounts in Fab and see the three real quotes side by side for your exact trip. Whichever is cheapest at that moment wins your booking, and you make that call. See more questions →
Fab’s rating from its first travellers in France. Download it, compare 11 ride & taxi apps before your next trip, and judge for yourself.