New Gig App Provider Ranking Features Intriguing Motion, Including Some Demotion

Helping willing workers find work. Is there a nobler calling in all of app-land?

OK, possibly something in the healthcare field could be considered “nobler.” But let’s not get stuck assigning random values to whole sectors when we have all this great data in our grasp.

The latest PYMNTS Provider Ranking of Gig Economy Apps is a statistical snapshot of this dynamic group of workmanlike apps, connecting gig workers to opportunities and providing a host of complementary services that make the gig economy such a fascinating thing to study.

Study it we do, so let’s go to the new ranking, where a number of changes have altered the order of what is a somewhat static grouping where apps rarely give up chart positions.

The Top 5

The big dogs of the gig world still hold the high ground, as we expected.

DoorDash remains at No. 1, and seemingly impossible to dislodge.

At No. 2 it’s Uber Driver, yet again, and looking strong despite a recent Dutch court ruling that Uber drivers should be deemed employees, covered by local labor laws.

If past is prologue then Instacart Shopper would be at No. 3 for another cycle — and it is.

Freelance marketplace app Fiverr keeps its spot at No. 4, with ongoing improvements like the August launch of Seller Plus, a subscription-based loyalty program that helps freelancers take their business on the platform to the next level.

Where last month there was a tie at No. 5, this month there is only the Amazon Flex app, whose contractors got a bump earlier this year after a tipping claim was settled.

The Top 10

Now, for some changes to a typically unshakable ranking.

The Lyft Driver app falls one chart position to No. 6 and out of the Top 5.

They’ll likely be back.

Also dropping a spot to No. 7 this cycle is the Upwork app, yet always sticking to the Top 10.

Grubhub for Drivers keeps pace by not changing chart positions, holding onto the No. 8 spot for another cycle.

A slightly more precipitous drop for the Freelancer app, “which allows potential employers to post jobs that freelancers can then bid to complete.” It falls two spots since last cycle, but this is another app that never seems to disappear from the Top 10, as some do.

That’s often a reflection of an app’s value to stakeholders. Clearly, that’s the case here.

Wrapping it up with a hop, a skip and a slight tumble of one chart position is the popular TaskRabbit online and mobile marketplace matching freelances with local demand, taking the No. 10 spot this cycle, and staying in the big game to fight another day.

That’s the thing about brands that make it to the Top 10 of PYMNTS Provider Ranking of Gig Economy Apps. They’re a scrappy bunch, favored by masters of the side-hustle, and making a definite dent uncertain employment market of second-half 2021.

We’ve got another gig to get to now, so we’ll see you right here next month.