How To Create An App Like Grab Taxi?

Are you looking to build an app like Grab and want to tap into the lucrative ride-hailing market? You’ve made the right decision for your taxi and car rental business. The global taxi market is rapidly growing, and it is surprising to know that it will be worth $468.4 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR(2024-2033) of 7%.

Developing a similar app like Grab is the best choice for entrepreneurs, taxi businesses, and ride-sharing companies looking to capitalize on trends and expect long-term business growth. It offers the opportunity to provide seamless transportation services, connect riders and drivers efficiently, and generate significant revenue.

But when it comes to building an app like Grab, the two questions that come to mind are: how to develop and how much does it cost? This is a valid question, as you are going to invest in the future of your taxi business. 

The fact is that it is a structured approach that requires knowledge and experience. The second factor is that the cost depends on various factors, including complexity, integration, features, and others.

Considering all the facts, we have created a guide to make things easier for you regarding the development of a grab-like app. 

This guide will take you through everything you need to know. Here, you'll explore how Grab Taxi works, the cost factors involved in its development, the critical features, and why partnering with the right development team is crucial for your app’s success. Whether you’re a startup or an established business, this is your roadmap to creating a profitable ride-hailing app.

What is Grab Taxi?

Need a ride? They've got Grab Cars and Grab Bikes. Hungry? GrabFood is there to bring you whatever you're craving. They've even stepped into the world of money stuff with GrabPay and even insurance. Basically, Grab's branched out big time to cover all sorts of things people need in their daily lives.
 

The tagline of GrabCar Booking —“The safest way to travel in Southeast Asia” — delivers a great message and conveys a sense of trust and safety among customers. 

Grab Taxi is a leading ride-hailing and service platform in Southeast Asia, reshaping how people move and access essential services. Grab leads in ride-hailing and food delivery across 8 countries (500 cities) through its extensive app. 

What you can do with Grab is like: 

• Book and go to the best places.

• Travel safely with verified drivers, trip tracking, emergency SOS, and more. 

• Pay cashless with ultimate security.

• Try local cuisines, uncover hidden destinations.

• Get emergency supplies from toothpaste to mobile adapters. 

It all started in 2012. Grab started as a simple taxi booking app but has evolved into a multi-service platform offering a wide range of solutions, from Grab Cars and Grab Bikes for transportation to food delivery through GrabFood, as well as financial services like GrabPay and insurance. 

What sets it apart from other taxi booking apps is the use of cutting-edge technology and AI, offering convenience to millions of people for their daily commute and travel needs. 

How Does Grab Taxi Work?

Do you know how the Grab taxi booking app works? Okay, so before jumping into the taxi booking app development steps, an understanding of its working is helpful. 

Want to know how it works? Here are the steps!

1. User Registration 

The initial step for users involves downloading the Grab Taxi app and then setting up their account. During registration, users submit basic information, including their name, email address, and phone number, and then proceed to account verification through an OTP (one-time password). The platform maintains security for all users and drivers.

2. Booking a Ride 

Users book a ride by entering their desired pick-up and drop-off locations within the app. The app provides a simple way for users to search and choose locations and calculates trip fare estimates, taking distance and current traffic conditions as well as projected journey duration into account. The platform offers multiple transportation options, including a Grab Car for private transportation and a Grab Bike for faster travel at lower prices.

3. Driver Matching 

When a user requests a ride through the app, it forwards the request to nearby drivers. Nearby drivers get the request through the system and decide whether to accept it based on their current availability. The app provides users with essential information, including the driver's name and photo, vehicle type, license plate number, and the expected arrival time, once a driver accepts the ride request. Clear visibility of driver information builds user trust while enabling easy driver identification.

4. Ride Completion 

The app enables users to monitor their journey in real-time through GPS tracking during their ride. The feature enables users to follow their driver's journey and track progress toward the destination, promoting convenience and safety. The app enables passengers and drivers to use in-app chat or call features when necessary to adjust pick-up points or clarify directions.

5. Payment Processing 

Grab offers several payment methods to meet different user preferences. Passengers can choose to pay using cash or connect their credit and debit cards to the app, and also utilize Grab Pay, which operates as the app’s digital payment system. Grab Pay enhances user convenience by offering rewards and cashback opportunities for their subsequent trips. The payment process runs smoothly through the app, which guarantees a hassle-free conclusion to every trip.

6. Review and Feedback 

Users can rate their ride experience through a simple star rating system and provide detailed feedback once their ride has ended. Performance-based rewards for drivers and prompt issue resolution help sustain the quality of service delivery. The platform enables drivers to rate passengers, fostering mutual respect among users.

How to Build Similar Apps Like Grab

Excited after learning the details about the Grab taxi booking app and how it works? Developing an app like Grab is a multi-staged process, and every step contributes to its final version. Therefore, the steps are like: 

Step 1: Conduct Market Research 

The more you know about your target audience and market competitors, the closer you are to successful grab taxi booking app development. 

Understanding your target audience and competitors is like: 

• What are the preferences of your target audience?

• How do they like to book taxi services, and what are their payment preferences?

• What do users like or dislike about existing ride-sharing apps like Grab? 

• What unique features can you introduce to set your app apart from the competition? 

Finding the answers to these questions is crucial as your first step towards developing a Grab ride booking app. 

Step 2: Define Business Model

Choose the revenue model that suits your business best, whether it's earning commissions from drivers, implementing subscription plans, or leveraging advertising opportunities.  Establish pricing strategies tailored for various ride categories, including standard, premium, and shared options.

Step 3: Identify Core Features

The next crucial step is to identify the core features that engage your users with the app and solve their challenges, such as booking a taxi from one point to another. The core features can be categorized into three: 

• User app features like sign up/login, ride booking, payments, GPS tracking, rate & review, discounts, etc. 

• Driver app features like driver registration, trip alerts, earnings, and more. 

• Admin panel features include user management, analytics, reporting, payment management, and others. 

Carefully decide on all the features and remember to add unique ones to gain a competitive edge. 

Step 4: Partner With an Experienced Development Team 

Developing a ride-sharing app requires expertise, and the best way to access it is by collaborating with an experienced taxi booking app development company. Partner with a company that has extensive experience in developing apps like Grab, Ryde, Lyft, or Gojek. When you work with an experienced team, you gain the peace of mind knowing they can help ensure your app runs smoothly, is easy for people to use, and can grow as your business evolves over time.

Step 6: Grab Like App Designing

Design has a direct connection with user engagement and satisfaction, so it must be visually appealing and offer a seamless navigation experience through a stunning UI/UX. Here, designers will help you create wireframes and prototypes, followed by implementing an appealing design for your app like Grab.  

Step 7: Grab App Development

The developers will craft the backend and frontend, implement features, set up the server, create the database, and more to make your app fully functional. This is the phase where developers will write the code for each segment of your app.  

Step 8:  Launch and Market Your App 

After completing your app, launch it on primary platforms, including iOS and Android. Apply targeted advertising strategies along with social media promotions and special offers to bring new users to your app.

Cost to build Grab-like Taxi App

Developing an app like Grab is the best idea for a business. But, naturally, one of the first big questions is, "How much is this going to cost?

Think of it like building a house—a cozy one-bedroom home costs far less than a luxury villa. The same goes for apps: the more features and complexity you add, the higher the price. So, how much does it actually cost to build a taxi app like Grab? Well, a basic version could start around $15,000, while a full-featured, high-performance app might go beyond $49,000+. Let’s break down what drives these costs.

The more complex you want your app to be, the more it's likely to cost. Complexity usually relates to the number and difficulty of features you include.

Features of Grab Taxi booking App

For any type of ride-hailing app development features play a vital role. These are the features that engage users with apps and enhance the app usage experience. 

To create an app like Grab, consider the following features: 

1. User App

• Sign up/Login: Allows users to sign up and log in through their social media ID or phone. 

• Ride Booking: Core function that facilitates booking a ride from source to destination. 

• Vehicles: Using advanced search filters, users can choose the vehicle they prefer.

• Fare Estimator: Giving users an idea of the cost before they book.

• Ride Tracking: GPS-powered features help users to track their vehicle and ride in real-time. 

• Safety: Features like sharing trip details with contacts or an SOS button.

• Payments: Users can pay for their ride using multiple payment options such as credit card/ debit card, net banking, and wallet. 

• Ratings & Reviews: Users can rate and review their ride and driver.

• Discounts: Users can view discounts and apply coupons received to their account.  

• In-App Chat: Riders and drivers can chat with each other through messages and calls.

2. Driver App

• Driver Registration: Drivers can register by providing their details, such as license, civil ID, and others. 

• Ride Requests: Notifies drivers about riding requests placed by their nearby locations. 

• Ride Approval: In a single click, drivers can accept or reject the requests.

• GPS Navigation: AI & GPS-driven navigation shows optimized routes that save time and fuel costs.   

• Earning Tracker: Drivers can check their earnings on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. 

• Driver Availability Status: Driver can toggle their status, for ex., available, not available.  

• In-App Communication: Ability to call or message the passenger. 

• Ratings and Feedback: Drivers can provide their feedback about passengers. 

• Driver Support: Drivers can ask for support with a single click. 

• Heatmaps: Showing areas with high demand for rides.

3. Admin Panel

• Dashboard: Works as a complete control panel for an admin of an app like Grab.  

• User Management: Admin can manage user and driver-related activities. 

• Price Management: Admin can set the price on demand using a heatmap. 

• Ride Management: Monitoring ongoing and completed rides, resolving issues.

• Payment Management: Allows for the oversight of all payment-related activities. 

• Vehicle Management: App admin can add, modify, or remove vehicle listings. 

• User/Driver Support: Helps in providing support to the users and drivers. 

• Reporting & Analytics: Admin can create reports and make business decisions strategically. 

• Geofencing: Allows for defining service areas, adding, or deleting based on a need basis.  

• Push Notifications: The App admin can send alerts and notifications to the users and drivers. 

Why Choose IMG Global Infotech for Grab App Development?

IMG Global Infotech is a leading taxi booking app development company with a proven track record of delivering AI-powered taxi booking apps, ride-sharing mobile apps, and car rental app development solutions. We have 10+ years of experience in delivering modern solutions to the taxi businesses, simplifying their business challenges. Our talented on-demand app developers are experienced in providing cost-effective taxi app solutions under the given timeline. 

While developing apps like Uber, Grab, Ryde, Lyft, and Gojek, we focus on scalability, innovation, and high security. You can also rely on us for white-label apps and seamless integrations. Let’s connect and make an app like Grab for your business.