Vay - rent a car by the minute

Review by eFreeware

Vay is for people who need a car for a few hours rather than a few days, and who would rather drive themselves than sit in the back of someone else's vehicle. The developer, Vay Technology, describes it as a blend of car sharing, rental and driverless delivery: you request an electric car, it arrives without a driver inside, and you take the wheel. That combination is what separates it from a conventional rental desk, where you queue, sign and walk to a lot, and from a rideshare, where someone else decides the route.

The pitch is flexibility. You book a car, drive it yourself, and finish the trip when you are done, whether that is a grocery run, an appointment, a business trip or several stops in one booking. The cars are electric, which the developer presents as clean and quiet and suited to city travel. For anyone who wants the freedom of a rental without the counter experience, that is an appealing shape for an app.

How the delivery model actually works

The headline feature is Driverless Delivery. You request a car and it is brought to your pickup spot by a remote driver, with nobody sitting inside when it arrives. You then get in and drive. The developer frames this as the convenience of an app paired with the freedom of a rental, and it is the part of the service that most obviously differs from picking a car up from a lot.

Delivery is offered when available, which matters because availability is the qualifier the developer attaches to it. Where it is not on offer, the app gives you a second route: you can find a nearby car and collect it yourself, which the developer describes as getting you moving faster. Having both options means the service does not collapse if delivery is not possible at your location or at that moment, though the experience of walking to a car is a different one from having it come to you.

The cars themselves are electric, and the recent update added an easier way to locate charging stations. That is a sensible addition for anyone whose trip runs longer than a short hop across town.

Stops, parking and ending the trip

A rental by the minute only works if you can pause it. Stopover covers that: the car stays yours while you step away to shop, eat, meet someone or go indoors. When you are ready, you unlock it and continue. Without a feature like this, every errand would mean ending one rental and starting another, so it is central to how the app is meant to be used for multi-stop days.

Finishing up works in one of two ways. You either leave the car in an approved spot on your own, or, where eligible, hand it to Remote Valet and let Vay park it. The second option is again tied to where you are, so the simple version is the one available everywhere: park it yourself and end the rental in the app.

The recent update also mentions a smoother trip ending and lock and unlock experience, which suggests these are the moments the team has been refining. For a service built around short bookings, the beginning and end of a trip are where friction shows up most.

What it costs and how you sign up

Vay is free to download, with no ads and no in-app purchases. The developer's cost argument is that picking up and parking the car yourself can work out up to 50 percent cheaper than a rideshare or a traditional taxi. That comparison is the developer's claim rather than a guarantee, and it depends on doing the driving and parking yourself rather than using delivery and valet.

The app is rated Mature 17+, and the recent update adds a clearer explanation of the temporary payment hold that happens during sign-up. The practical steps are the ones the service implies: request or find a car, drive it, and end the trip when you are finished.

Everyday trips where this makes sense

The clearest fit is a day with several short stops. You have groceries to collect, a prescription to pick up and a friend to drop home, and you would rather not chain three separate rides together. With Stopover, the car stays reserved between stops, and you keep your own space, your own music and your own schedule for the whole run.

Appointments and business trips are another natural use. If you need to arrive on your own timing and possibly move on to a second location afterward, driving yourself avoids waiting for a pickup at each end. The same logic applies to dinner plans or an evening out where the route home may not be decided in advance.

Longer everyday needs are covered too, so a half-day of errands or a trip that spans several hours is within the intended scope. What all these cases share is a preference for control: you want the car waiting when you are ready, not a driver arriving when the app decides.

Where the service depends on your location

Two of the most attractive features are conditional. Driverless Delivery is offered when available, and Remote Valet works at eligible locations. Neither is presented as universal, so how much of the premium experience you get depends on where you are requesting a car. If you are in an area where both are supported, the app is at its most convenient; if not, you fall back to collecting and parking the car yourself.

That fallback is not a poor substitute, since self pickup and self parking are the basis of the developer's affordability claim. It does mean the value you get from Vay varies by city and by neighborhood, and it is worth checking what is on offer where you live before building a routine around it.

The electric-only fleet is another fixed characteristic. If your trip involves a long highway run, you will want to think about charging along the way. The charging station finder in the recent update is there to help with exactly that.

Who gets the most from Vay

The people best served here are city drivers who want a car on their own terms for a few hours at a time. They are comfortable behind the wheel, they value keeping their belongings and their route to themselves, and they find the idea of a rental counter tedious. Vay gives them a car without the queue and without a stranger at the wheel.

It also suits anyone whose day involves interruptions. Stopover turns a string of errands into one booking, which is the kind of trip a taxi or rideshare handles awkwardly and a traditional rental handles expensively. For a single, simple point-to-point journey with no stops, the case is weaker, since the app is built around you driving and managing the car rather than being driven.

The install numbers are modest next to the big ride-hailing apps, with over 50,000 installs, but the rating sits at 4.9 from 1,046 ratings, which points to a service that people who use it tend to like. Vay was released in May 2025 and was updated in October 2026, so it is a young service that is still being worked on.

A car on your own terms, if your city supports it

Vay is worth installing if you want an electric car by the minute, delivered to you when that is possible, and driven by you rather than someone else. The combination of Driverless Delivery, Stopover and self pickup covers a range of trips, from a quick run across town to a multi-stop afternoon, and the developer's affordability argument gives it a clear edge over a taxi or rideshare when you do the pickup and parking yourself.

The caveats are straightforward. Delivery and valet depend on where you are, so the full experience is not guaranteed everywhere. The fleet is electric and city-oriented, which shapes the trips it suits. And you are the driver, which is the point, but also the requirement.

If you live in a supported area and want more control than a rideshare offers without the overhead of a rental desk, this is a sensible app to try. If your trips are single, simple journeys where being driven is fine, the extra responsibility of driving and parking yourself is the trade you would be making.

What's new in version 1.27.1

- Easier destination search when booking - Smoother trip ending and lock/unlock experience - Clearer explanation of the temporary payment hold during sign-up - Easier way to find charging stations - General stability, performance, and visual improvements