Taxify vs Uber – Johannesburg and Cape Town pricing

Many South Africans love using Uber, due to its convenience and quality of service.

The use of the ride-hailing app has become widespread in major cities across the country.

Uber is not the only app on the market, however, as Taxify has gained popularity in South Africa.

Taxify claims it offers lower rates than Uber, and offers drivers the opportunity to earn more money.

To determine which service is cheaper, we examined the real-time fare breakdown for Uber and Taxify to estimate various trip costs.

Taxify does not offer services like UberBlack, so we compared the pricing of UberX with the standard Taxify rates.

A comparison of rates for Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban is detailed below.

Johannesburg

Estimated trip rates for Uber

• 2km trip, 5 minutes – R23.75
• 10km trip, 15 minutes – R91.25
• 30km trip, 40 minutes – R260.00

Estimated trip rates for Taxify

• 2km trip, 5 minutes – R22.50
• 10km trip, 15 minutes – R85.50
• 30km trip, 40 minutes – R243.00

Cape Town

Estimated trip rates for Uber

• 2km trip, 5 minutes – R22.50
• 10km trip, 15 minutes – R85.50
• 30km trip, 40 minutes – R243.00

Estimated trip rates for Taxify

• 2km trip, 5 minutes – R21.50
• 10km trip, 15 minutes – R80.50
• 30km trip, 40 minutes – R228.00

Durban

Estimated trip rates for Uber

• 2km trip, 5 minutes – R22.50
• 10km trip, 15 minutes – R85.50
• 30km trip, 40 minutes – R243.00

Estimated trip rates for Taxify

• 2km trip, 5 minutes – R21.25
• 10km trip, 15 minutes – R79.75
• 30km trip, 40 minutes – R226.00

Surge pricing

The fare breakdowns above give riders an idea of what they will pay, but pricing is not static.

The price of an UberX or Taxify varies depending on volume of trips, demand, and other factors.

To produce a more organic pricing comparison, we looked at airport transfer fares for each city using price estimates from within the Uber and Taxify apps.

Prices for each city were compared at the same time and using the same pin locations.

Johannesburg – Sandton Convention Centre to OR Tambo

• UberX – R321
• Taxify – R240 – R325

Cape Town – Waterfront to Cape Town Airport

• UberX – R184
• Taxify – R140 – R190

Durban – Wilson’s Wharf to King Shaka Airport

• UberX – R300
• Taxify – R220 – R300

It is important to note that prices across both services can vary due to “surge pricing”.

This is caused by increased demand and platform congestion during large events.

Now read: Uber drivers use fake GPS to inflate fares