Can you use Uber in Singapore?

No. Uber does not offer rides in Singapore. It sold its South-east Asian operations to Grab in 2018 and its local ride service stopped on 7 May that year. Keeping the Uber app on your phone will not help you call a Singapore car, even though the company has a corporate presence here.

Grab is the closest local replacement in terms of wide coverage and a large driver pool. Gojek, TADA, CDG Zig and Ryde are the main alternatives worth installing. The Grab app that you may already use elsewhere in South-east Asia works in Singapore, but the ride choices, prices and promotions shown will be the Singapore versions.

How private-hire pricing works

A standard private-hire booking normally shows a fixed price before you confirm it. That quote is calculated from the journey, expected time, traffic and the balance between available cars and passengers. If demand rises, the same route can become more expensive within minutes. You are not paying from a published per-kilometre chart in the way you would with a metered taxi.

The figure on the booking screen usually combines the trip fare with a platform fee. ERP road charges may be added after the ride if the car passes an active gantry, while waiting, cancellation, extra-stop and destination-change fees can apply when relevant. A discount code may reduce the total, but it should not persuade you to take a ride that is still dearer than another app.

What a normal four-seat ride may cost

These ranges are realistic planning figures for an ordinary four-seat private-hire car, not guaranteed quotes. The lower end is more likely during a quiet period with cars nearby. The higher end covers busy commuting hours, rain, major events and late-night demand. Premium cars, child seats, pets and six-seaters cost more.

The planning ranges include the normal app charge but exclude unexpected waiting, route changes and ERP. Always use the total displayed on your own booking screen as the actual price.

The main apps and what they charge

Platform fees are small compared with a heavily surged fare, but they matter on short rides. They are included here because a tempting base fare can look less attractive after the app adds its own charge. Service names and less common vehicle choices can vary by location and time.

Fees can be revised. Temporary driver charges can also appear. From 24 March to 31 July 2026, for example, Zig applies a driver fee of SGD 0.50 to fixed fares below SGD 15 and SGD 0.80 to fixed fares of SGD 15 or more. The final app screen remains the best check.

Grab: the easiest place to start

Grab generally gives visitors an easy first booking because it has a large pool of cars and a familiar app. JustGrab is a great default: it can match you with either a private-hire car or a taxi at the fixed price shown. GrabCar limits the match to a private-hire vehicle. If you are not rushing, a Saver choice may cost less in exchange for a longer match or pick-up time, while shared options can reduce the price further when they are available.

The app also covers six-seat cars, premium vehicles, pet-friendly rides and family services with suitable restraints for particular child age and height bands. Advance Booking is useful for an early flight or an appointment, but it comes with an additional reservation cost. Do not pay that extra money for an ordinary afternoon trip unless having the booking arranged in advance is genuinely valuable to you.

Gojek: the best alternative

Gojek is usually the first app worth checking against Grab. GoCar is the standard four-passenger service, while GoCar Flash prioritises a quicker match. GoCar XL carries up to six passengers, and Premium or Premium XL provides higher-end vehicles. GoTaxi uses a regular metered taxi fare instead of a fixed private-hire quote.

Families have more specific choices here than they may expect. GoCar Kids carries three adults and one child with a booster seat for a child aged four to seven and between 1m and 1.35m tall. GoCar XL Kids has room for five adults and one child under the same booster-seat conditions. Babies and smaller toddlers still require the correct child seat, so read the category carefully rather than assuming that the word “Kids” covers every age.

TADA: a worthy contender

TADA is known for taking no commission from drivers and funding the service through platform charges. That can help it produce an attractive quote, but it does not mean every TADA ride will be cheaper. Its fares still respond to supply and demand, and the total should be compared with the other apps at the time you need the car.

The app offers private-hire and taxi bookings, and may show an optional faster-matching feature for an additional amount. TADA had no immediate plan to raise its platform fees when the major apps adjusted theirs in early 2026, leaving its published range around SGD 1.05 to SGD 1.25. This makes it particularly worth opening for a central trip or an airport run where Grab has surged.

CDG Zig: fixed fare or a traditional taxi meter

Zig by ComfortDelGro is not merely an old taxi app with a new name. It can offer a fixed ComfortRIDE price fulfilled by a taxi or private-hire car, and it can also book a normal metered taxi. During a private-hire surge, ComfortRIDE may undercut the larger apps. At other times, a street-hail taxi can be cheaper because it carries no app platform fee.

For a standard ComfortDelGro four-seat taxi, the current flag-down rate is generally SGD 4.60 for a hybrid taxi or SGD 4.80 for an electric taxi for the first kilometre. During the temporary fare period running from 24 March to 31 July 2026, the meter adds SGD 0.27 for each 400m up to 10km, each 350m after 10km, or each 45 seconds of waiting. The arithmetic then changes with surcharges.

Ryde and Geolah: useful extra price checks

Ryde has one of the broadest menus. RydeX is the normal four-seat private-hire car, RydeXL carries six, RydeLUXE covers premium cars, RydeTAXI uses a meter, and RydePET or RydePET XL handles passengers travelling with animals. RydePOOL and RydeFLASH introduce shared or per-seat formats when available. The catch is that a lower fare is not much use if the nearest willing driver is far away, so compare both the quote and the estimated arrival time.

Geolah is a smaller entrant with upfront fares for AnyGeo private-hire cars, GeoCar XL, metered GeoTaxi, GeoKids and GeoPets. It is not yet the app I would rely on as my only option, particularly for a time-sensitive airport departure. It does, however, add another live quote when the established platforms are expensive, and that is exactly how a budget traveller should use it.

Choosing the right vehicle for people, bags, children and pets

A four-seat label tells you how many passenger seats the car has. It does not promise enough boot space for four travellers and four large suitcases. For an airport trip, three adults with large luggage can already make a normal sedan uncomfortable. A six-seater is often the sensible booking, even when your group contains only four people.

Airport rides: where a small mistake becomes expensive

At Changi Airport, private-hire vehicles collect passengers from designated arrival pick-up points rather than the taxi queue. Choose the correct terminal and door or bay in the app, then follow the signs after customs. A driver waiting at Terminal 3 cannot solve the problem of you standing at Terminal 1 by optimism alone.

A standard app ride from Changi to the city commonly falls around SGD 22 to 40, but can climb to SGD 35 to 60 when several flights arrive, it is raining or late-night demand is strong. An ordinary metered taxi adds a Changi origin surcharge of SGD 8 from 5pm to 11.59pm or SGD 6 at other times, plus any peak, midnight and ERP charges. This is why checking both a private-hire quote and the taxi queue can pay off.

• Use a six-seater when luggage will fill a normal sedan, even if your group has fewer than six people.
• Compare at least two apps before joining the pick-up crowd.
• Look at the estimated match time as well as the price; the cheapest car may be 15 minutes away.
• For an early departure, schedule the ride or allow enough time to try another app.
• If the app price is unpleasant and the taxi queue is short, ask yourself whether a metered cab is the better risk.

Going to Johor Bahru is now a separate Grab booking

An ordinary Singapore private-hire car cannot simply accept a local booking and carry you across the border. Since May 2026, Grab has operated a Cross-Border SG-JB Beta service using licensed cross-border taxis. It covers advance door-to-door bookings from Singapore to selected parts of southern Johor, including Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Forest City, Kulai and Senai.

By late May, the required booking lead time had been reduced to at least six hours, with bookings shown at a fixed price in the app. The fare can be higher than taking a licensed cross-border taxi from the Ban San Street terminal, but the door-to-door convenience is very different. Treat this as a specialist international taxi booking, not as a longer version of JustGrab.

How to pay less without making the trip difficult

• Compare the final price on two or three apps, not the promotional banner on the home screen.
• Wait five to ten minutes and refresh if a sudden surge is not tied to a flight, appointment or last train.
• Walk to a nearby legal pick-up point outside a crowded event zone, but never ask the driver to stop where cars are prohibited.
• Use MRT or bus for the long section, then take a short car ride for the final stretch to a hotel away from the station.
• Split a six-seat ride across a group only after checking that everyone and every suitcase will fit.
• Avoid booking before your group is ready. Waiting and cancellation charges can erase the saving you found.
• Check for an active ERP charge if two routes or departure times are otherwise similar.
• Keep street-hail taxis in mind. They do not carry an app platform fee and can be good value when one is already in front of you.

Singapore’s public transport is good enough that a private-hire car should usually solve a particular problem: heavy luggage, a late arrival, a difficult final connection, a family requirement or a group journey. Once the car becomes the automatic answer to every trip, it stops being a convenience and starts becoming a surprisingly large part of the holiday budget.

A simple summary

• There is no Uber ride service in Singapore. Use Grab, Gojek, TADA, Zig, Ryde or Geolah.
• Grab is the easiest all-round starting point, but it is not consistently the cheapest.
• Gojek and TADA are the most useful price comparisons for an ordinary private-hire car.
• Zig gives you a valuable choice between a fixed ComfortRIDE fare and a metered taxi.
• Ryde and Geolah add specialist vehicles and another quote, but matching may be less predictable.
• Book XL or six-seat vehicles for groups and airport luggage; passenger capacity is not luggage capacity.
• Children below 1.35m need the correct restraint in a private-hire car, so choose the right family category.
• Use the special Cross-Border SG-JB service for Johor, not an ordinary local ride.