Rappi: the app trying to do everything for everyone in Latin America

Rappi wants to be a lot of things: a last-mile delivery app, a bank, a travel agency, and startup “mafia.” This is evident when you open the app: Rappi’s home screen is cluttered with a seemingly random selection of products and services. There’s restaurant and grocery delivery, but users can also book a trip abroad, along with a hotel room. They can also get car insurance and request a credit card.

Rappi launched in 2015 by delivering snacks to office workers in a hip neighborhood in Bogotá. It then rode the tailwinds of the pandemic, which had boosted demand for deliveries and fueled an investment boom in Latin American startups. The Colombian app has been downloaded by millions in Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, where “to Rappi” has become shorthand for last-mile delivery.

Each category is subdivided into “aisles.”

With food delivery — one of Rappi’s core functions — the app works similarly to most others, with ratings and delivery times displayed for restaurants. But unlike Uber Eats, you can browse and even add items without tapping through to a restaurant itself.

From here, Rappi works just like any other last-mile delivery app. In Bogotá, the cost of a delivery, including service fees and a tip, will often go up to 10,000 Colombian pesos ($2.20). Frequent users can purchase a Rappi Prime Plus subscription, which includes unlimited deliveries for 24,900 pesos ($5.50) a month. For those lucky enough to live in a better-off part of town, Rappi Turbo is also an option — it sends over selected items in under 10 minutes for no more than you’d pay for a normal delivery.