The Grab App in Vietnam: Ride-Hailing & Food Delivery

Over the years of living in Vietnam and Thailand, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on the Grab app. It is, by far, the number one app to download for any trip to Vietnam. Grab is a ride-hailing app (like Uber) that also offers food delivery and other services. Ninety-nine percent of my Grab expenditures come from using their food delivery, called GrabFood.

There are several categories and services offered in the Grab app. But for our purposes (traveling to Vietnam), we’ll focus on Food, Car, and Bike. Though they also have the Mart category, which can be useful to order items from local convenience stores and pharmacies.

Download the Grab app: Apple (iOS) • Google Play Store (Android) • Official Website

You’ll need Wi-Fi or a SIM card to use Grab in Vietnam. This article covers more apps to use in Vietnam. If you’re in trip planning mode, here’s my Vietnam visa guide, my ATMs and money guide, and common Vietnam travel FAQs. Read on for detailed instructions plus my tips for using the Grab app in Vietnam.

GrabFood

Ninety-nine percent of my Grab app usage is ordering food delivery. In the app, it’s called GrabFood.

If you visit one of Vietnam’s popular cities, such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hoi An, or Da Nang, the app offers endless local and international restaurants.

Local food, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Korean, Mediterranean, pizza, hamburgers, coffee, smoothies, milk tea, bubble tea, and desserts.

If you want to discover a new restaurant within the app, it’s best to search through the choices before you get hungry. Otherwise, if you’re like me, you’ll get overwhelmed and hungrily reorder from previously discovered but excellent Western restaurants instead. There are hundreds of places in the app.

GrabFood Cost

Coming from the United States, I’ve found ordering GrabFood to be more than affordable. Since there is a wide range of local and international cuisines, though, you can really spend as little or as much as you’d like.

Local cuisines will be cheaper. You can find cơm gà (chicken and rice) for as little as 40.000 VND. Bánh mìs (Vietnamese baguettes with meat/vegetables) can be found for as little as 20.000 VND.

When ordering from a Western restaurant, a filling meal for one can cost between 120.000 VND and 200.000 VND or more.

The app will initially present you with curated restaurant choices when ordering food. You can look past these. Use the search function at the top and play around, entering specific food words you’re interested in. You can type in “brown rice,” “pizza,” “grilled chicken,” or anything you’re looking for. The app will show you menu items containing those ingredients at any available restaurants.

Clicking the Activity tab at the bottom of the app will reveal your recent history. The table below shows my last five dinner orders.

Food	Restaurant	Cost*
Hamburger, chicken sandwich, fries, drink	Fill My Buns	223.000 VND
Chicken burrito (x2)	Tacos DANANG	139.000 VND
Chicken pita (x2), fries, mango smoothie	Kebab Ngon	195.000 VND
Vietnamese roasted chicken, rice, vegetables, soup (x2)	Com Ga Hoi An	100.000 VND
Chicken wrap, chicken strips, pesto salad, pineapple mango lemonade	Jeremy’s Kitchen	263.000 VND

How to Order GrabFood Delivery

1. Download the Grab app: Apple (iOS) • Google Play Store (Android) • Official Website
2. Inside the app, on the top, click Food
3. Next, I like to click Nearby
4. Then, I begin searching and using the filter on top
5. Pay attention to a restaurant’s review stars and the number of reviews
6. After adding items to your basket, click Basket
7. On the next screen, ensure your Deliver to address is correct
8. Scroll down to Payment details – cash, card, or digital wallets are accepted
9. Click Place Order
10. You’ll be shown a picture of your driver, their rating, and ETA with your food

GrabBike & GrabCar

If you visit Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, especially, you’ll see GrabBike taxi drivers zipping all over the city with customers on the back of their scooters – some will be holding onto the bike’s frame for dear life (usually tourists), whereas locals usually don’t hold onto anything.

Hiring a GrabBike or GrabCar is a very easy and convenient way to get around. There is also the GrabTaxi option, which will book a nearby metered taxi for a pre-determined fare.

GrabBike drivers usually wear a green Grab jacket uniform with a green Grab helmet. They will have an extra helmet for passengers. The helmet is usually on the smaller side, so if you have a big head, it’ll likely be sitting on top of it. I know people who buy and use their own helmets for GrabBike.

When ordering a GrabBike moto-taxi, the driver will usually arrive to pick you up within a few minutes. GrabCars can sometimes take a little longer. 

But with both options, you can track your driver’s whereabouts in real time, and an estimated arrival time is displayed. You’ll also be able to chat and send photos if you or your driver can’t locate each other. This sometimes happens when using Grab to get from the airport to your hotel, and you’re unable to find your driver outside the arrivals area.

‼️ Always double-check the driver’s information (car make/model, license plate, photo) in the app before riding. This is especially true when flying into an airport in Vietnam and needing to get into the city.

Some drivers will approach tourists at the airports, pretend to be their Grab driver, and then cancel the booking on their phone so you ride with them instead.

Once you understand the app, using Grab is the best way to get around in Vietnam, plus one of the best ways to get from the airport to your hotel.

GrabBike Safety

I first came to Vietnam in 2018. Since then, I have personally never seen or heard of an accident on a GrabBike. I myself have ridden on the back of a moto-taxi dozens of times and have not been part of any close calls. I’m sure if I looked, I’d find some. But they aren’t common.

Vietnamese locals grow up riding on motorbikes. When visiting Vietnam, you will see full families jammed onto one motorbike. Think of the family minivan headed to soccer practice, but on a motorbike.

It’s not unusual to see dad driving, with one kid standing on the platform in front of him, with mom behind dad, cradling an infant. You will see newborns and infants being held on motorbikes. Every day, I see young kids, maybe between 10 and 14 years old, with their backpacks stuffed, heading to school on a scooter by themselves. They grow up riding on them.

These are the GrabBike drivers years later, but now they chauffeur passengers all day for a living. Again, it’s not to say that accidents don’t happen. They’re just rare. I’ve written more about riding motorbikes in my article on Vietnam’s safety for tourists.

GrabBike & GrabCar Cost

Using Grab to get around Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, or Hoi An is simple and cost-effective. It is the best way to get around if you don’t drive your own motorbike. Grab is also an easy way to get between cities, like going from Da Nang to Hoi An (this guide compares visiting Da Nang or Hoi An).

Compared to nearby cities like Bangkok and Taipei, public transportation is lacking in Vietnam’s bigger cities. Grab taxi (motorbike or regular car) rates will vary depending on the time of day, traffic, and how busy the drivers are.

When flying into an airport in Vietnam, I prefer to use Grab instead of a traditional taxi because I know exactly what to expect: the fares are always shown upfront.

Here are some sample airport fare costs of common trips and their distances in Ho Chi Minh City. Keep in mind these may fluctuate, as I just pulled live data from the app itself.

From	To (km)	Vehicle* + Cost
Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN)	Ho Chi Minh Statue (downtown District 1)(8 km)	GrabCar 128.000 VND GrabBike 44.000 VND
Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN)	Bui Vien Walking Street (District 1)(8 km)	GrabCar 129.000 VND GrabBike 46.000 VND
Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN)	Thao Dien (District 2)(15 km)	GrabCar 176.000 VND GrabBike 59.000 VND

You can store your credit card in the app and go entirely cashless, making it even more convenient. I do this. I use a Visa card and keep it locked to prevent fraud, but Grab is considered recurring, so small charges (taxi fares and food) get processed normally.

How to Book a GrabBike or GrabCar Ride

1. Download the Grab app: Apple (iOS) • Google Play Store (Android) • Official Website
2. Inside the app, on the top, choose Car or Bike
3. Enter your destination in Where to?
   • It’s OK if you don’t know the exact address. Begin typing what you know, and suggestions will pop up, or click the Map button on the top right and choose your destination
4. Confirm your pickup location – Choose This Pickup
5. You will be shown numerous vehicle options and fixed-rate prices for both GrabBike and GrabCar
6. After choosing your vehicle, click Book at the bottom
7. You will then be shown a picture of your Grab driver, the vehicle’s make and model, license plate, driver’s Grab rating, and ETA on their arrival.
   • ‼️ Always double-check the license plate matches when your driver arrives.

Tipping: Like when ordering GrabFood, tipping your Grab driver is not required or expected. It’s totally up to you.