Taxis in Singapore, and the Grab app

Grab is the dominant ride and delivery app in Singapore, so install it first. Gojek competes on price, the ComfortDelGro app books that company's large taxi fleet, and TADA is another option. All show the fare up front and take card.

Street-hailing a taxi works fine too, since taxis are plentiful and honest, but an app removes any doubt about the fare and the surcharges.

From Changi (SIN), the MRT runs into the city for a couple of Singapore dollars and is fast and easy. A metered taxi or a Grab is reliable too, typically S$20 to S$40 into the center, with a fixed airport surcharge added (higher at peak times).

Buy an EZ-Link or use a contactless card to tap through the MRT gates. For late arrivals or a group with luggage, the taxi or app is the simple door-to-door choice.

Singapore taxis are metered, honest and strictly regulated, so there is nothing to negotiate. What surprises visitors is the list of legitimate surcharges: a peak-hour percentage, a late-night surcharge (around 50% after midnight), an airport surcharge, a city or ERP road-pricing charge, and a small booking fee in an app.

These are real and official, not a driver overcharging you, and they show up on the meter or in the app. So the metered fare plus surcharges is simply how it works.

Fares are metered plus the surcharges above, or set in the app. Taxis take cards, PayNow and cash. You do not tip in Singapore, including in taxis.

For more, see tipping in Singapore, cash or card in Singapore, and the Singapore money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Singapore

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Tipping in SingaporeSingapore is not a tipping country. Most restaurants add a 10% service charge, shown as the ++, so a tip is already built in. At hawker centres and for taxis, no tip is expected. Here is what you actually owe.
• Do I need cash in Singapore, or can I use cards?Short answer: a card for almost everything, a little cash for hawker stalls. Singapore is very card-friendly, and even many hawker centres now take cashless. Here is how to handle it.
• Bringing your dog or cat to Singapore.Singapore is unusual among rabies-free destinations. Unlike Australia, New Zealand, or Japan, the US now sits in Singapore's middle tier, which means no quarantine by default. The process is more about paperwork choreography than a long wait: licences filed on time, a rabies titer with strict timing, and, since April 2026, an approved pet agent to clear your pet on arrival. Two specific situations still trigger a 10-day home quarantine, so the whole game is avoiding those. Here is the route.
• Staying connected in Singapore.Singapore is small, almost entirely covered and full of free wifi. That combination produces an answer we do not often get to give: on a short stop you may not need to buy anything at all.
• What does getting sick in Singapore cost a visitor?Singapore has some of the best hospitals in Asia and one of the clearest positions on who pays for them. Citizens are heavily subsidised. Visitors are not subsidised at all, and the difference is the entire story.