Courier delivery comparison
Cents delivery or your own Uber Direct account? Compare who holds the reins.
Both Cents and Tama OS can send a laundry pickup or delivery to an Uber courier. The difference is whose account the trip runs on, who bills you for it, and what you can do from the office once it’s moving.
Written by Tama OS LLC, a vendor in this comparison. Cents’ public pages reviewed November 1, 2026; where they don’t say, we wrote “not stated publicly” rather than guess. Brian Hofer’s own Cents experience is labelled as his. Confirm details with Cents before you choose.
The short version
Cents runs on-demand pickups and returns through its own partner network. Its help center names Uber or Roadie, and the courier fees, tips and any subsidy you set arrive on your monthly Cents invoice. It starts on Cents’ Growth plan. If you’d rather not open a courier account yourself and want one bill, that’s a real convenience.
Tama OS has you connect your own Uber Direct account. Uber bills you directly, Tama OS adds no markup, and every courier trip is a row on your dispatch board with buttons to edit, cancel, rebook or hand it to your own driver. The account stays yours if you ever leave.
Side by side
| Cents on-demand delivery | Tama OS, bring your own Uber Direct | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose courier account | Cents’ partner network. You turn on “I Will Use a Cents On-Demand Pickup and Delivery Partner” per location. No public page mentions connecting your own Uber, Roadie or DoorDash account. | Your own Uber Direct account, in your business name. Connected in Settings → Couriers. |
| Courier companies named | Help center names Uber or Roadie for on-demand trips. A separate, undated partner page announces DoorDash. | Uber Direct today. No other providers built. |
| Who bills you for trips | Cents. Courier fees, courier tips and subsidies are on your monthly Cents invoice. | Uber, directly, on your own Uber account (monthly invoice or card on file, per Uber’s terms). |
| Software markup on trips | Not stated publicly. | None. Tama OS takes no cut. |
| Published fees and surcharges | Per-delivery fees not published. For Roadie trips: fuel surcharge (about +2%), 10% peak surcharge Nov 15–Jan 2, 25% on nine listed holidays. | Uber’s own prices (Uber advertises “as low as” $7.99) and Uber’s cancel fees. Nothing added. |
| Who-pays options | One dollar amount to subsidize per delivery. Leave it at 0 and the customer pays the full fee. | Seven: customer pays Uber’s price, you cover a set amount, a percent (optional cap), customer pays a flat price, free for members, free over an order subtotal, an estimate when Uber can’t quote. |
| Operator controls on a live courier trip | Not stated publicly for on-demand trips. Operators get emails when a pickup is scheduled, when the driver or customer cancels, or when the partner can’t complete. | On the dispatch board: Edit instructions and times (within Uber’s limits), Call courier, Cancel, Cancel & rebook, Hand to my driver, Send now. Watchdog and price-jump guard alerts. |
| Customer tracking | Texts with ETAs, a tracking link, and the driver’s name and phone. Whose tracking page the link opens: not stated publicly. | Your own branded tracking page, never Uber’s. Customers can message the courier from it. |
| Store-address privacy | Not stated publicly. | Store location kept off customer tracking; courier’s dot hidden near the store; you set the store name couriers see. Optional masked calling at cost. |
| Mix with your own drivers | Marketing pages say the network can run alone, alongside your own fleet, or as backup. | Own drivers, Courier only, or Hybrid (couriers after a set time, on certain days, in certain zones, or when routes are full). |
| Plan needed | Growth and up: $249/mo (Wash, Dry & Fold) or $399/mo (All-in-One) list “Driver Network (Gig)”. Own-driver dispatch is Ultimate: $399 or $599. | Every plan: $199/mo one van · $299 up to three · $449 unlimited, after 60 days free. |
Cents column: Cents’ own help center, marketing and pricing pages, checked November 1, 2026 (links below). Tama OS column: features live in Tama OS as of November 2026, built and tested in Uber’s test mode.
Whose account, and who sends the bill
Cents’ help center describes on-demand delivery as a third-party driver network, so you don’t need your own drivers. It says courier fees, tips and subsidies are included on your monthly invoice from Cents. We couldn’t find any public Cents page that lets a laundry connect its own Uber or DoorDash account, and Cents doesn’t publish whether it adds anything over the courier’s price.
On Tama OS you create an Uber Direct account in your business name and connect it with a five-step wizard that starts in test mode. Uber’s terms describe Uber billing the merchant directly, by monthly invoice or a card on file. Every trip is on your own Uber statement at Uber’s price, and the receipt and day P&L on your dispatch board show what the courier cost and what the customer paid.
Who pays: one number, or seven ways to split it
Cents’ setup article has one setting: a dollar amount you subsidize per delivery. Leave it at 0 and the customer pays the full fee. We found no published percent, cap, flat-price, member or order-minimum options.
Tama OS gives you seven: the customer pays Uber’s price; you cover a set dollar amount; you cover a percent, with an optional cap; the customer pays a flat price and you cover the difference; free for members; free over an order subtotal; and an estimate shown at booking when Uber can’t quote yet. Here’s every option worked out on an example order.
Control once the trip is moving
Cents’ public help docs describe the texts customers get and the emails operators get when an on-demand pickup is scheduled, cancelled by the driver or customer, or can’t be completed. We didn’t find a public article about editing, cancelling or rebooking an on-demand courier trip from the office. Cents’ cancel article covers stops on your own drivers’ routes in the Cents Driver App.
When Tama Laundry ran on Cents, I had no control once a pickup or delivery was booked. I couldn’t track the driver unless I pretended to be the customer. Texts and calls never seemed to actually reach the driver. I couldn’t cancel the route. A lot of times the driver wouldn’t move to go pick up, and it was impossible to edit the driver or drop-off instructions. And I didn’t want customers to know where my store was. Cents could never hide that address. — Brian “Tama” Hofer
That’s Brian’s first-hand experience running Tama Laundry on Cents, not a review of Cents today. Cents doesn’t state publicly how it handles store-address privacy or live-trip edits.
So Tama OS puts the controls on the dispatch board. Every courier trip is a row with a live map, Uber’s status timeline and the courier’s name and vehicle once one accepts:
- Edit instructions: pickup and drop-off notes and the ready and deadline times, live, within what Uber allows at each stage.
- Call courier, with Uber’s PIN entered for you.
- Cancel, which tells you whether it should be free before you confirm.
- Cancel & rebook in one tap, with your office notes carried over.
- Hand to my driver: cancels the Uber trip and puts the stop on one of your routes.
- Watchdog: alerts the office when no courier accepts in time or a courier stops moving, with Rebook and Hand to my driver on the alert.
- Price-jump guard: holds the trip and asks you if Uber’s price at send time is more than your allowance above the quote.
Limits that apply to everyone on Uber
- No address changes on a live trip. Uber’s developer docs don’t offer a way to change the drop-off street address after a trip is created, on any software. Tama OS makes it one tap: Cancel & rebook to the new address.
- Cancel fees are Uber’s. Typically $5 once a courier accepts and before pickup, and the full price after pickup, per Uber’s published order form for its Shopify channel (Direct-account terms aren’t public). You choose what to pass on to the customer.
- 50 lb per package. Uber’s terms cap each package at 50 lb. Tama OS checks it bag by bag before booking.
Where each fits
Cents’ delivery network may suit you if you already run your store on Cents, you want courier fees on the same invoice as your software, or you want Roadie as an option. Ask Cents to show you what the office can do once an on-demand trip is moving, and how the store’s location appears to customers.
Tama OS may suit you if you want the courier account and the bill in your own name, more than one way to split delivery cost, buttons to fix a trip from the dispatch board, and your store kept off customer tracking. It’s built for pickup & delivery first. See the bring-your-own Uber Direct feature, courier-only launches with no drivers and keeping your store’s address private.
Connect Uber in test mode and send a pretend courier before you spend a cent.
Bring-your-own Uber Direct is in early access. We're turning it on account by account. The rest of Tama OS is open now with 60 days free. Start your free trial.
Prefer to talk first? Request a walkthrough and the founder will reply himself. For software prices side by side, see Tama OS vs Cents and CleanCloud.
Common questions
Does Cents use Uber for delivery?
Yes. Cents' help center (checked November 1, 2026) says on-demand pickups and returns are done by a partner driver from Uber or Roadie. The difference with Tama OS is whose account the trip runs on: on Tama OS it's your own Uber Direct account, billed by Uber.
Who bills me for courier trips on Cents?
Cents' help center says courier fees, courier tips and any subsidies you set are included on your monthly Cents invoice. Whether Cents adds anything over the courier's price is not stated publicly. On Tama OS, Uber bills your own Uber account directly and Tama OS adds no markup.
Can I use my own Uber account with Cents?
We couldn't find any public Cents page that describes connecting a laundry's own Uber, Roadie or DoorDash account (checked November 1, 2026). Cents' setup article describes turning on a Cents on-demand delivery partner per location. Ask Cents directly if this matters to you.
Can I change the delivery address of a courier trip that's already moving?
Not on any software. Uber Direct doesn't allow anyone to change the drop-off address of a live trip. Tama OS lets you edit pickup and drop-off instructions and times live, within what Uber allows at each stage, and makes it one tap to Cancel & rebook to the new address, which is normally free before a courier accepts.
Which Cents plan includes courier delivery?
Cents' pricing page (checked November 1, 2026) lists "Driver Network (Gig)" on Growth: $249 a month on Wash, Dry & Fold or $399 on All-in-One. Dispatching your own drivers is on Ultimate. On Tama OS every plan includes bring-your-own Uber Direct and your own drivers, from $199 a month after 60 free days.
Does Tama OS work with DoorDash or Roadie?
Tama OS works with Uber Direct today. Other courier providers aren't built, so we're not promising one or a date.
Keep reading
- Why my laundry sends couriers on its own Uber Direct account
- What Uber Direct really costs for laundry pickup & delivery
- Bring your own Uber Direct: the full feature
- Tama OS vs Cents and CleanCloud
Sources, checked November 1, 2026: Cents help center: on-demand delivery (Uber or Roadie) and notifications · setting up on-demand delivery (monthly invoice, subsidy) · enabling a Cents on-demand partner at a location · Roadie delivery fees and surcharges · cancelling a delivery in the Driver App. Cents marketing and pricing: pickup & delivery software · DoorDash partner page (undated) · pricing by product. Uber: Uber Direct merchant page · Uber Direct API terms · Uber Direct developer FAQ · Uber Direct Shopify order form (cancel fees). Tama OS: pricing. Tama OS is the author’s company.