# Lyft 29 Hacker News commenters recommended Lyft and 55 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended as a consistent, usually cheaper alternative to taxis, with pre-set fares. Main caveat: prices have risen and rides can be costly. ## Why people recommend it - Better service than old taxis (5 comments): "Uber/Lyft changed this all and actually made the car-for-hire services usable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49817778)) "Uber/lyft is miles better than the old taxis." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46469606)) "Uber and Lyft created a superior product that people wanted" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45904477)) - Cheaper than taxis in cities (3 comments): "Uber and Lyft (and Waymo) in San Francisco are still usually cheaper (inflation-adjusted) than what taxis used to cost" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342848)) "at a fraction of the price of traditional ride-hailing apps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46244324)) "These Lyft/Uber/whatever rides cost $3 flat for each trip" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49342540)) - Consistent, pleasant rides and drivers (2 comments): "The consistent Uber/Lyft experience is a breath of fresh air after a long flight" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47498976)) "Most drivers either don't talk or are actually very pleasant conversations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46861248)) - Usable on-demand car service (3 comments): "Uber/Lyft changed this all and actually made the car-for-hire services usable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49817778)) "Uber and Lyft made getting taxis easier for more than just those use cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49421608)) "Uber/Lyft can tap into otherwise dormant supply of drivers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48169782)) ## What people warn about - Marketing push notifications unwanted (4 comments): "Lyft does the same shit. I got a promotional notification from Lyft and could not disable it without disabling the main notifications" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48307111)) "I have to disable push notifications from Lyft entirely, so instead they send me ride updates as text messages" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48309493)) "I deeply dislike that they allow Uber and Lyft to advertise via iOS notifications." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48347461)) - Prices high, often above taxis (4 comments): "Taking uber or lyft from the seatac airport to anywhere within a 30 minute driving distance is ridiculously costly now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49545838)) "Lyft and Uber came back, artificially undercut the non-profit app until it died, and then drove prices back up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46659837)) "Taking an Uber/Lyft all the way from Mountain View to SF is outrageously expensive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46010742)) - Inconsistent driver quality (4 comments): "incompetent Uber/lyft/doordash/etc. drivers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48791627)) "many in NYC are legitimately horrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46862342)) "Same for Uber/Lyft, but they really tried to earn a good review while still providing a pretty unpleasant experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48338136)) - Subsidized then killed competition (4 comments): "Lyft and Uber came back, artificially undercut the non-profit app until it died, and then drove prices back up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46659837)) "subsidized by VCs until they gained massive scale, effectively killed all the other competition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48963996)) "They were only ever this for about 30 seconds between when they were dumping investor cash" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48284274)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Uber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/uber.md): 190 recommend - [Grab](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grab.md): 13 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.lyft.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Lyft", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lyft/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).