While restaurant delivery services like Uber Eats were already around before COVID-19, the pandemic took delivery from something often reserved for pizza and Chinese food to virtually all restaurant types. If you're a regular user of Uber Eats, you may be interested in a monthly subscription that gets you discounts when ordering.

Here’s a look at how Uber Eats Pass works, what it costs, how you may be able to snag a membership for free or a discounted rate — and whether it's actually worth the membership fee.

How Eats Pass works

Subscription service

Eats Pass is a $9.99 monthly subscription membership you can add to your Uber Eats account. There are two primary Uber Eats Pass benefits (available to users in the U.S. and most of Canada besides Quebec):

$0 delivery fee at eligible restaurants, though you're still on the hook for service fees.

5% off orders over $15 at eligible restaurants. Look for the ticket icon under the restaurant’s name to see what's actually an eligible restaurant. Additionally, taxes and service fees may apply, but they do not count toward the order minimum.

Cancel at anytime

If you decide you don’t like Uber Eats Pass or it isn’t worth the cost, you can cancel at any time with no penalties or extra fees.

For example, those who are stuck at home healing from an injury or managing pandemic risks could subscribe to Uber Eats Pass for a few months with no obligation to keep paying if circumstances change.

Limited availability

Eats Pass is available only in select cities; check the Uber Eats app to find out if your area is included. You can subscribe in only one city at a time, which is a big downside to the service.

Uber Pass vs. Eats Pass

If you regularly use Uber's flagship product, its ridesharing service, then you might want to consider Uber Pass. That's another membership program available in most states for frequent Uber rider.s It costs $24.99 per month and also includes 10% or 15% off when riding depending on the service level you choose. But it also includes these Uber Eats Pass benefits.

So, if you were going to pay for Uber Eats Pass anyway, then some mental gymnastics might enable you to calculate Uber Pass as just about $15.

Are there fees with Eats Pass?

Eats Pass is currently free for the first month and then $9.99 per month. But here's the big catch. “No delivery fee” isn’t the same as free delivery.