Uber vs Bolt vs Little vs inDrive in Kenya: a comparison for car owners (2026)

Your daily amount is the same whichever app your driver opens. What the driver has left after paying the platform is not. Commission, payout timing and car rules all differ between Uber, Bolt, Little and inDrive. They decide how easily the driver can pay you, and which cars you can put on the road.

Here is how the four compare in Kenya as of October 2026. Each figure comes from the platform's own pages where they publish one, and from Kenyan press where they do not.

The comparison at a glance

Details and caveats below.

Commission

Kenya's 2022 ride-hailing rules from NTSA capped platform commission at 18%. Uber cut its rate from 25% to 18% in November 2022 to comply. Bolt's Kenya driver guide still says: "In Kenya, we charge a commission rate of 18% on every trip price." It applies to cash and card trips, but not to tips, bonuses, toll fees, cancellation fees or booking fees. Capital FM reported in November 2025 that Little charges 18% on corporate and cash rides, and has gone as low as 15% in the past.

inDrive is the exception. It reports a 9.99% service fee excluding VAT in Kenya, about 11.6% once 16% VAT is added. inDrive says the rate varies by location and shows it only to verified drivers. Our inDrive guide explains how its fare bargaining changes the picture.

One caveat for 2026. In September 2026 the High Court suspended the 18% cap, with a 12-month window for the government to redo the rules. For now, no platform is legally held to 18%. Rates can change in the app before they change on any website. See what the ruling means.

On KSh 5,000 of fares:

At 18% the platform takes KSh 900. At inDrive's 9.99% plus VAT it is about KSh 580. But inDrive fares are bargained, so the same day's work may not bring in the same KSh 5,000.

Car age and categories

Uber publishes the clearest rules. To join in 2026:

• Chapchap: small hatchbacks of 1,300cc or less, 2016 model or newer
• Comfort: newer, larger sedans and SUVs, 2018 or newer
• XXL: minivans with room for six passengers, 2018 or newer

The limit moves every January. Comfort, for example, went from 2017-and-newer in 2025 to 2018-and-newer in 2026. Cars already on Chapchap may stay until 31 December of the year they turn 12 — see when to sell.

Bolt gives its rules to drivers through its own onboarding. In 2025 a group of owners went to court after Bolt moved Toyota Sientas out of its XL category. Check the Bolt Driver app for your category before you buy.

Little asks for the car type, plate, make and model, colour and fuel type when a driver registers. We could not find a published year limit.

inDrive says the maximum car age depends on the location. Its basic rules are at least four doors, 5 to 8 seats, and not titled as salvage or rebuilt. The car must also be the driver's own or rented in the driver's name, which matters if the car is in yours.

The practical rule: Uber is the only one of the four that publishes a detailed year limit for Kenya. A car that meets it is the safest bet for running on more than one app. Check a car's year and see the full vehicle requirements.

Fleet and partner accounts

On a fleet account, the platform pays you and you pay the driver. That is the opposite of a daily amount.

• Uber: the Supplier Portal. You add the cars and the drivers, and Uber pays the fleet owner, not the driver.
• Bolt: the Fleet Portal at bolt.eu. You sign up with your fleet size, Bolt activates the account, and you add the cars and drivers yourself.
• Little: we found no published fleet-owner programme.
• inDrive: has a fleet programme on its global site, but the page does not mention Kenya.

How the two big portals work, and whether a fleet account suits you, is covered in Uber and Bolt fleet accounts.

When the driver gets paid

This matters to an owner, because a driver who has not been paid yet is a driver who says "Friday".

• Uber pays weekly to the driver's bank or M-Pesa. With Flex Pay, a driver can cash out up to twice a day: M-Pesa cash-outs before 4pm usually arrive within six hours, and bank cash-outs within three business days. As of Uber's October 2023 FAQ, each cash-out cost KSh 52, had to be over KSh 500, and was capped at KSh 20,000 a week. The weekly transfer is free.
• Bolt runs a weekly payment cycle from Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59. Its Early Cash-Out, launched in 2021, lets drivers withdraw card earnings and bonuses to M-Pesa once a day. The fee at launch was KSh 70.
• Little does not publish its payout timing.
• inDrive pays nothing out, because the passenger pays the driver. Its fee comes off a balance the driver tops up in advance.

Cash trips work the other way round. On a cash trip the driver holds the whole fare and owes the platform its cut. Uber gives drivers two days to settle a negative balance by M-Pesa, Airtel Money or card before their account may be temporarily deactivated (Uber Kenya, 2021). Bolt suspends cash trips until the debt is paid, leaving the driver with card trips only. Either way, a driver behind on commission earns less the next day.

Which is best for an owner?

None of them, on its own. Many drivers run more than one app and switch to whichever has trips. Bolt's own figure for a median Kenyan driver was KSh 16,043 a week in June 2026. For an owner, the useful questions are:

• Can the car run on more than one app? Buy to Uber's age limits, then confirm in the other apps.
• Does the driver have cash in hand each day? On inDrive and on cash trips elsewhere, yes. On card-heavy Uber or Bolt weeks, the driver may be waiting on a payout or paying for cash-outs. A daily amount fits the first case better.
• Does the daily amount still leave a living? Run your figure through the daily amount calculator at 18%, not at inDrive's rate. Then you are covered whichever app the driver uses.
• Is the agreement written down? It should name the daily amount, the rest days and who pays the fuel and the commission. inDrive also needs the hire in the driver's name. Use the driver agreement tool.

Uber has pulled out of several African markets: Ivory Coast in 2025, Tanzania in January 2026, and it announced in 2026 that it is leaving Nigeria and Uganda. It has stayed in Kenya. Running a car on more than one app is the simplest protection against any single platform changing its terms.

Where Gariboss helps

Gariboss does not care which app the money came from. You set a daily amount for each car, and the driver pays it into your own M-Pesa till. Gariboss matches each payment to the car automatically, skips rest and garage days, keeps a running balance the driver can see, and sends you a WhatsApp report every evening of who paid and who is short.