Uber and Ride Apps in Macau
Uber is back in Macau, but it did not bring private-hire cars with it. The app now dispatches a licensed local taxi, the official meter sets the price, and the payment is taken electronically after the driver enters that meter total.
Use Uber Meter Taxi first if your existing account and card work. Match the licensed taxi, watch the meter and don't pay the same app trip again in cash. Keep MAAS PLUS, the official taxi rank, a hotel call and the bus network as fallbacks when demand outruns the number of taxis.
Choose the taxi path that fits the pickup
| Your situation | Start here |
|---|---|
| A normal point-to-point trip with a working card | Request Uber Meter Taxi and follow the app pickup.3 |
| Macau International Airport with bags | Compare Uber with the official rank outside arrivals.12 |
| Uber shows no nearby taxi | Try MAAS PLUS or call Macau Radio Taxi.14 |
| You need to pay cash | Use a rank or radio taxi; Uber Meter Taxi is electronic-payment only.3 |
| You are travelling to Hong Kong or mainland China | Arrange the appropriate cross-boundary transport, not a normal city taxi.2 |
For patacas, cards and local payment planning beyond one ride, continue with Payments Apps in Macau
App details
UberEssential
The easiest visitor-facing app for dispatching licensed, metered taxis across Macau using an existing Uber account.
MAAS PLUS
The renamed Macau Radio Taxi app for requesting licensed local taxis and viewing the assigned vehicle.
At a glance
How it works here Uber returned on 2 February 2026 as Uber Meter Taxi. It dispatches licensed local taxis and charges the official metered fare; cash is not supported for an Uber-booked trip.
Uber is a dispatcher; Macau's meter is the price
Uber Meter Taxi launched in Macau in February 2026. The car is an ordinary licensed Macau taxi registered with Uber, and local taxi law determines the fare shown on its taximeter. The range shown before requesting is an estimate rather than a private fixed fare.3
At the destination, the driver enters the meter amount and applicable surcharges into Uber, which processes the selected electronic payment. Uber currently accepts cards and Apple Pay for these trips. Its Macau payment notice says processing may occur offshore, so the card issuer can treat the charge as foreign and add its own fee. Ask for the official taximeter receipt if you want to check the entry, and do not hand over cash as well.35
The official fare card explains the number on the meter
Macau's tourism office currently lists a MOP21 flag fall for the first 1,600 metres, then MOP2 for every 220 metres. Waiting requested by the passenger costs MOP2 per 55 seconds, and luggage in the boot adds MOP3 per item. Use the published rules to inspect the receipt, not to predict traffic.1
Boarding at Macau International Airport, Taipa Ferry Terminal and several border facilities adds MOP8. The tourism office estimates about 20 minutes by car from the airport to central Macau in normal conditions. Queues, events and congestion can change the real trip.12
At the airport, the taxi rank is a feature, not a failure
The official taxi rank sits outside the airport, and major hotels can arrange pickup. Compare the Uber wait with the visible queue before committing. With three large bags, a taxi already at the rank can be easier than finding an app-assigned plate in a crowded lane.2
Carry the hotel or attraction in Traditional Chinese, ideally copied from the venue's official listing. A pin helps, but showing the written destination prevents confusion between similarly named casino entrances, ferry terminals and hotel towers. Do not assume that an English or Portuguese place name will be understood.
MAAS PLUS is the local dispatcher, with more visitor friction
MAAS PLUS is the current passenger app for Macau Radio Taxi and may also appear as MassPlus in informal references. It requests licensed local taxis and shows the assigned vehicle. The store listing and government taxi page establish the service, but SMS, language and payment setup can be rougher for a short-stay foreign user.14
Use it when Uber has no match, then fall back to the official radio-taxi line or hotel staff. Recent residents report that app matching can still fail during busy periods. That is a supply problem, not evidence that a global app such as Grab or Bolt quietly operates in Macau.67
A Macau taxi trip ends before another jurisdiction begins
A normal local taxi can't turn an app booking into an immigration-cleared trip to Hong Kong or mainland China. Use the bridge shuttle, ferry, coach or a specifically authorized cross-boundary service and allow time for border formalities.2
When rain, a convention or casino closing time absorbs the taxi supply, buses and the LRT are the dependable network. Carry a payment method or exact change accepted by that system and use the taxi apps as one layer of the plan, not the whole plan.1
If the app does not work
Join the staffed taxi queue, ask a hotel or casino desk to call a licensed car, or use Macau's bus and LRT network. For a street or radio taxi, carry patacas unless another payment method is confirmed before boarding. Show the destination in Traditional Chinese.
These apps need data
Guac eSIM covers Macau with plans from $0.58 per GB. Install it before you land and activate instantly.
Other categories in Macau
Also traveling in East Asia?
Taiwan
Cash, a physical EasyCard and a few well-chosen apps cover most trips
China
Set up payments, maps and transport before entering mainland China
Hong Kong
Use Octopus to pay, Citymapper to travel, and MyObservatory for official weather warnings
Japan
Rail-first travel, flexible IC cards, official Shinkansen booking, and disaster alerts
South Korea
Use Naver Map, visitor-ready taxi and dining apps, and a separate transit balance