Amazon Flex is one of those gig opportunities that sounds almost too straightforward.
Download the app. Pick up packages. Deliver them. Get paid $18–$25 per hour. Done.
And on the surface, that’s exactly how it works. Amazon’s independent contractor delivery program lets you use your own vehicle to deliver packages, groceries, and Whole Foods orders on a flexible schedule. No interview process. No boss looking over your shoulder. Just you, your car, and a delivery route.
But here’s where the standard advice falls apart: the advertised hourly rate and what you actually take home are two very different numbers. Once you factor in gas, vehicle depreciation, insurance, self-employment taxes, and the unpaid time spent driving to warehouses and waiting for blocks, the math looks quite different from what Amazon’s marketing suggests.
I’ve spent over 15 years evaluating income methods, both online and offline. Amazon Flex is legitimate and pays real money. But whether it’s a smart use of your time depends entirely on how honestly you run the numbers — and what you’re comparing it against.
First – An Important Mention
Hey, my name is Mark.
After testing virtually every online income method over 15+ years, I’ve learned that gig work like Amazon Flex serves a specific purpose — fast cash, flexible hours. But it doesn’t build anything. The moment you stop driving, the income stops completely.
The best method I’ve found for building reliable, recurring income is local lead generation. You build simple websites that rank in Google and generate customer leads for local businesses. Each site generates $500–$1,200 monthly, recurring. Build 4–6 sites and you’re at $3,000–$4,500 monthly — without trading hours for dollars. Margins run 92–97%.
Go here to see the exact system I use to do this.
My business partner James built a complete system showing exactly how this works. But first — the full breakdown on Amazon Flex.
What Amazon Flex Actually Is
Amazon Flex is Amazon’s gig delivery program, launched in 2015. You’re not an Amazon employee — you’re a 1099 independent contractor who picks up delivery “blocks” (time slots) through the Flex app and delivers packages using your own vehicle.
The program now operates in over 100 cities across the U.S. and continues expanding. If your city isn’t currently active, you can join a waitlist and Amazon will notify you when openings appear.
There are several types of deliveries you can do. Standard Amazon.com package delivery from a delivery station is the most common — these are the brown boxes and envelopes everyone knows. Amazon Fresh grocery delivery involves picking up grocery orders and delivering them directly to customers’ doors. Whole Foods delivery works similarly but routes through Whole Foods Market locations. And Prime Now deliveries focus on fast-delivery items from Amazon’s rapid fulfillment system.
Each type has slightly different pay structures, logistics, and tip potential. Grocery deliveries (Fresh and Whole Foods) tend to generate tips that standard package delivery doesn’t.
How the Block System Works
Unlike DoorDash or Uber Eats where you can go online anytime and accept individual orders, Amazon Flex uses a block system. You claim pre-scheduled delivery blocks through the app — typically 3 to 6 hours long — and each block shows you the exact payout before you commit.
This is actually one of Flex’s advantages: you know what you’ll earn before starting. No guessing, no hoping for a good tip. The payout is guaranteed as long as you complete your deliveries.
However, blocks aren’t unlimited. Amazon caps Flex drivers at approximately 7 hours per day, 29 hours per week, and 116 hours per month. These caps exist because Amazon wants to keep Flex drivers classified as part-time independent contractors, not employees. During peak seasons (holiday rushes, Prime Day), caps may be temporarily lifted.
The catch? Block availability. In popular areas, competition for blocks is fierce. Drivers describe refreshing the app constantly — sometimes at 3 or 4 AM — trying to grab blocks before other drivers claim them. Some weeks you might work 25 hours; other weeks you can’t find a single block worth taking. This inconsistency is one of the most common complaints from Flex drivers.
The Real Pay: Before and After Expenses
Amazon advertises $18–$25 per hour for Flex drivers. During high-demand periods — holidays, severe weather, late evenings, or when blocks go unclaimed — surge pricing can push rates to $28–$35 per hour or occasionally higher.
Those are the numbers Amazon shows you. Here’s what actually hits your bank account after the costs nobody advertises.
| Block Type | Hours | Gross Pay | Estimated Expenses | Net Pay | Effective Hourly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard 4-hr block | 4 hrs | $80–$100 | $20–$30 | $50–$80 | $12.50–$20 |
| Surge 4-hr block | 4 hrs | $112–$140 | $20–$30 | $82–$120 | $20.50–$30 |
| Fresh/Whole Foods 3-hr | 3 hrs | $54–$75 + tips | $12–$20 | $55–$75 | $18–$25 |
| Low-demand 3-hr block | 3 hrs | $54–$60 | $15–$25 | $29–$45 | $9.70–$15 |
Those expense estimates cover gas (you’ll typically drive 50–100+ miles per block), vehicle wear and tear, and the unpaid time spent driving to the warehouse and waiting to pick up your route. The IRS standard mileage rate for 2026 is $0.67 per mile, which accounts for gas, depreciation, maintenance, tires, and insurance.
Here’s a real-world example that illustrates the gap. Say you earn $100 on a 4-hour standard block. You drove 60 miles total (including getting to and from the station). At the IRS mileage rate, that’s $40.20 in vehicle costs. Your actual business profit: $59.80. Divide by 4 hours and you’re at $14.95/hour — before taxes.
And about those taxes. This is the expense most Flex drivers underestimate. As a 1099 contractor, you pay both the employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare — roughly 15.3% on your net earnings. Add your regular federal income tax rate (say 12% for the average Flex driver), and your combined tax obligation is around 25–27% of net earnings.
That $14.95/hour after vehicle costs? After taxes, it’s closer to $10.90–$11.20 in real purchasing power.
I’m not saying those numbers make Flex worthless. I’m saying you need to evaluate the opportunity with real math, not Amazon’s marketing math.
Requirements to Get Started
The barrier to entry is low, which is a genuine advantage. You need to be at least 21 years old with a valid U.S. driver’s license. You’ll need a mid-size or larger four-door vehicle — a sedan, SUV, van, or truck with a covered bed that can fit packages. A smartphone capable of running the Amazon Flex app is required. And you’ll need to pass a background check, which typically takes 2–5 business days.
You don’t need any special commercial licenses. But there’s an insurance consideration most guides skip: many standard personal auto insurance policies exclude coverage during commercial delivery work. If you’re in an accident while delivering packages and your insurer determines you were engaged in commercial activity, they could deny your claim. Adding a rideshare/delivery endorsement to your policy typically costs $10–$50 per month. It’s worth the peace of mind — and the protection.
The application process itself is straightforward. Download the Amazon Flex app, enter your information, consent to the background check, and complete onboarding videos (about 30 minutes). Once approved, you can start claiming blocks immediately.
How to Maximize Your Earnings
The gap between a driver earning $12/hour net and one earning $22/hour net comes down to strategy. Experienced Flex drivers consistently out-earn beginners — sometimes by 50% or more. Here’s how they do it.
Chase surge pricing aggressively. Blocks that go unclaimed get “surged” — Amazon raises the pay to attract drivers. This happens most often in the early morning hours (3:30–5:00 AM), late evening blocks, during bad weather, and around holidays. Some drivers structure their entire schedule around surge blocks, refusing to work at standard rates. In high-demand cities, surged blocks can hit $35–$40/hour.
Finish blocks early. Amazon pays the full block rate regardless of how long deliveries actually take. A 4-hour block you complete in 2.5 hours means your effective hourly rate just jumped by 60%. Efficiency comes from knowing your delivery area, organizing packages logically during loading, and using routing apps like Google Maps or Waze instead of Amazon’s built-in navigation (which drivers commonly report gives suboptimal routes).
Prioritize grocery deliveries for tips. Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods orders include tipping functionality. Tips can add $5–$20+ per delivery. Standard package deliveries rarely include tips. If you’re choosing between a standard block and a grocery block at similar base rates, the grocery block almost always wins on total income.
Learn your warehouse dynamics. Different delivery stations operate differently. Some have early-morning surges. Others offer more afternoon blocks. Some serve dense urban areas (more stops, shorter drives) while others cover suburban sprawl (fewer stops, more driving). Experienced drivers learn which stations in their area consistently offer the best block-to-mile ratios and prioritize those.
Track every single expense. As an independent contractor, deductions directly reduce your tax bill. Use a mileage tracking app (Stride Tax, MileIQ, or even a simple spreadsheet) from your very first delivery. Track gas, car washes, phone data plan costs, and any equipment purchases. The standard mileage deduction alone — $0.67 per mile — adds up to thousands in annual tax savings.
Don’t forfeit blocks unnecessarily. Amazon tracks your reliability score. Forfeiting or canceling too many blocks reduces your access to premium blocks and surge offers. Only claim blocks you’re confident you can complete.
What a Typical Flex Week Actually Looks Like
Let me paint a realistic picture, because the day-to-day experience is different from the summary stats.
Monday: You check the app at 5:30 AM. Nothing great available. You refresh periodically throughout the morning. At 10:15 AM, a 4-hour standard block appears at $92 (slightly surged). You grab it. Drive 20 minutes to the station, load 38 packages, and complete the route in 3 hours 15 minutes. After driving home, you’ve spent about 4 hours total for $92 gross — roughly $23/hour gross, $15–$17/hour net.
Tuesday: You wanted to work but couldn’t find any blocks worth taking. Standard 3-hour blocks at $54 (the minimum rate) showed up briefly, but after gas and the drive to the station, the net pay wasn’t worth the effort. Zero income today.
Wednesday: A 4.5-hour Amazon Fresh block appears at $85 plus tips. You complete the grocery deliveries efficiently and end up with $22 in tips. Total: $107 for about 5 hours. That’s $21.40/hour gross, but after vehicle costs and before taxes, closer to $16/hour net.
Thursday: Another dry day. One 3-hour block at $54 is all you see. You take it just to stay active. Net take-home after expenses: maybe $30–$35 for 3.5 hours including transit time.
Friday: Surge night. A 4-hour evening block pops up at $128. You grab it immediately. Complete deliveries in 3 hours 20 minutes. This is the kind of block that makes the week worthwhile.
Weekly total: About 16 hours of delivery time, gross earnings around $381, net after expenses roughly $260–$290. That’s an effective net hourly rate of about $16–$18/hour. Monthly projection at this pace: roughly $1,040–$1,160.
Some weeks are much better. Some are worse. The inconsistency is the reality of Flex life.
The Ceiling You Need to Understand
Here’s where I need to be direct about Amazon Flex’s structural limitations.
It’s pure time-for-money. Every dollar you earn requires you to be in your car, physically delivering packages. There’s no leverage, no compounding, no residual income. Stop driving, and the income stops immediately. This is fundamentally different from building an online business where assets can generate income whether you’re actively working or not.
Block availability isn’t guaranteed. Amazon doesn’t promise any minimum hours. In popular markets, competition for blocks is intense — drivers report refreshing the app for hours trying to grab something worth their time. During slow periods, you might not find enough blocks to fill your desired schedule.
Vehicle depreciation is real and often ignored. If you’re putting 200–400+ miles per week on your vehicle for Flex, you’re accelerating the timeline to needing major repairs or a replacement. This cost is invisible day-to-day but very real over 12–24 months. The drivers who don’t account for depreciation are essentially borrowing from their car’s future value to fund today’s earnings.
Amazon controls everything. They set the rates. They determine block availability. They can deactivate your account for performance issues. You have no negotiating power, no employee protections, and no recourse if they change the program’s terms. You’re building your income on someone else’s platform — and they can change the rules at any time.
Deactivation is a real risk. Amazon tracks several performance metrics — delivery completion rate, on-time performance, customer feedback, and attendance reliability. Too many late deliveries, returned packages, or customer complaints can trigger warnings and ultimately account deactivation. Drivers who forfeit too many blocks after claiming them also get penalized. The frustrating part: the algorithm doesn’t always account for circumstances beyond your control (locked apartments, wrong addresses, traffic accidents). And the appeals process is limited. Some drivers have had accounts deactivated after years of solid work over a few bad deliveries during a single rough week.
Your income is mathematically capped. Even the most optimized Flex driver, working the maximum 29 hours per week at an average of $20/hour net, earns about $2,320/month. That requires consistent block availability, excellent routing efficiency, and favorable market conditions. Most drivers fall well short of that ceiling.
Seasonal volatility swings hard. Holiday season (November–December) is typically the peak earning period — more blocks, more surges, more money. But January through March can be brutally slow. Some drivers report their weekly earnings dropping by 40–50% after the holidays. Building a budget around Flex income requires accounting for these seasonal swings, which many new drivers don’t anticipate until they experience their first post-holiday drought.
No benefits or safety net. No health insurance, no paid time off, no retirement contributions, no workers’ compensation. If your car breaks down or you get injured, your income goes to zero instantly. There’s no disability coverage, no unemployment insurance, and no severance if Amazon decides to reduce Flex operations in your area.
If You’re Going to Drive Flex — Do These Things First
Before you claim your first block, set yourself up properly. The drivers who last on Flex and earn at the higher end all do these things.
Get your insurance sorted. Call your auto insurer and ask specifically about coverage during commercial delivery work. If your policy excludes it, add a rideshare/delivery endorsement before your first delivery. The cost is minor compared to the risk of an uninsured accident.
Download a mileage tracking app on day one. Not day 30. Not “when you get around to it.” Day one. Every mile driven for Flex — including driving to and from the station — is potentially deductible. At $0.67 per mile, a driver doing 150 miles per week saves roughly $5,200 in tax deductions annually. That’s real money you’ll lose if you don’t track.
Set aside 25–30% of every payment for taxes. Open a separate savings account and transfer a quarter to a third of each Flex payment into it. Quarterly estimated tax payments are due in April, June, September, and January. Getting hit with a surprise tax bill in April because you spent everything you earned is one of the most common financial mistakes new gig workers make.
Start with standard blocks before chasing surges. Learn the delivery process, get comfortable with the app, and understand your local routes before optimizing for maximum pay. Efficiency comes from experience, and experienced efficiency is what turns a $15/hour net into a $20/hour net.
Keep your car maintained proactively. Don’t wait for the check engine light. Regular oil changes, tire rotations, and brake inspections prevent the catastrophic breakdown that puts you out of commission for days or weeks. Your car is your income tool — treat it accordingly.
The Biggest Mistake New Flex Drivers Make
It’s not a driving mistake. It’s a thinking mistake.
They see Flex as their income plan rather than their income bridge. They settle into a routine of chasing blocks, and weeks turn into months turn into a year — and they’ve earned money but built nothing. No skills that compound. No assets that generate income without their presence. No trajectory toward a better financial position.
The drivers I respect most use Flex intentionally: it funds their transition to something better. They drive blocks during the day and build a real business during evenings and weekends. Within 6–12 months, the business income exceeds what Flex pays, and they phase out of gig work entirely.
That’s the smart play. Flex is the fuel, not the engine.
Who Amazon Flex Actually Makes Sense For
Despite the limitations, Flex works well for specific situations.
If you need cash quickly and have a reliable car, Flex can generate income within days of approval. The speed-to-income is among the fastest of any gig opportunity. For someone between jobs or facing an unexpected expense, that matters.
If you want genuine schedule flexibility around other commitments, the block system lets you work early mornings, evenings, or weekends without being locked into a traditional schedule. Students, parents with variable schedules, and people with part-time primary jobs can fit Flex around their lives.
If you enjoy driving and being active, some people genuinely prefer physical work to desk work. Flex gets you moving, out of the house, and into a rhythm that some drivers find satisfying — at least for a while.
If you’re using it as bridge income while building something else, this is the smartest play. Use Flex for immediate cash flow while investing your remaining hours in building a scalable income source that compounds over time.
Amazon Flex vs. Other Delivery Gigs
Flex doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Here’s how the major delivery platforms compare:
| Platform | Pay Range (Gross) | Tips | Vehicle Needs | Schedule Style | Key Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Flex | $18–$35/hr | Grocery only | Mid-size+ sedan | Block-based | Predictable block pay |
| DoorDash | $15–$25/hr | Yes (most orders) | Any car/bike/scooter | On-demand | Always available |
| Uber Eats | $15–$25/hr | Yes | Any car/bike/scooter | On-demand | Multi-platform stacking |
| Instacart | $12–$25/hr | Yes | Any car | Batch-based | Grocery niche, good tips |
| Spark (Walmart) | $15–$25/hr | Yes | Mid-size+ sedan | Block/on-demand | Less competition |
Flex’s advantage is predictable, transparent pay — you see the exact payout before committing. The disadvantage is less flexibility than truly on-demand platforms, limited tip potential for standard deliveries, and the block competition that can leave you without work on slow days.
Many drivers stack multiple platforms, doing Flex blocks during surge periods and filling gaps with DoorDash or Uber Eats. This maximizes hourly earnings but also maximizes time commitment, vehicle wear, and the complexity of managing multiple apps.
For more on how side hustles compare for real-world earning potential, I’ve broken down the economics in detail.
The Bigger Picture: Active Income vs. Asset Building
Here’s the question that separates people who use gig work strategically from people who get trapped in it.
Flex is active income. Nothing wrong with that — it fills a real need for flexible, fast cash. But it doesn’t build toward anything. A year from now, you won’t have any more earning capacity than you do today. Two years from now, your car will be worth less, you’ll have spent hundreds of hours driving, and your hourly rate will be roughly the same — or lower, if Amazon adjusts rates or competition increases.
Compare that to spending those same hours building a digital asset that generates recurring income — something that pays you whether you’re working that day or not. The first few months might earn less than driving for Flex. But by month 6–12, the asset is generating income independently. By month 12–18, you might be earning more from assets you built than you ever would driving 29 hours a week.
I’ve explored this dynamic extensively in my breakdown of online business vs. remote jobs. The core insight: active income keeps you running on a treadmill. Asset-based income builds a machine that runs without you.
The best business models for long-term income share common traits: high margins, recurring revenue, and effort that compounds rather than resets to zero each day. Amazon Flex has none of those characteristics.
Use Flex as the bridge. Don’t make it the destination.
The model I recommend instead builds exactly those characteristics. Local lead generation gives you digital assets — websites that rank in Google and generate leads for local businesses. Each site pays $500–$1,200 monthly, recurring. The margins are 92–97%. You own every asset you create. And the income continues whether you drove today or not.
My business partner James built a complete system showing exactly how people go from zero to $3,000–$5,000 monthly with this approach.
Click here to see how it works.
Compare it against 29 hours a week of delivering packages. Look at where each path puts you in 12 months. Then decide.
The Bottom Line on Amazon Flex
Amazon Flex is a legitimate, accessible way to earn money with your car on a flexible schedule. The real take-home pay — after gas, depreciation, and taxes — is lower than the advertised rate, but still competitive with other gig delivery platforms.
Use it strategically. Chase surge blocks. Prioritize grocery routes for tips. Track every expense for tax season. And most importantly, have a plan for building income that doesn’t require your physical presence every hour of every day.
Your car depreciates every mile you drive. Your time doesn’t have to.
Mark is the founder of MarksInsights and has spent 15+ years testing online business programs and tools. He focuses on honest, experience-based reviews that help people avoid scams and find real, sustainable ways to make money online.