Description
BlaBlaCar is a French carpooling platform: drivers publish a trip and sell the empty seats in their car to passengers going the same way. Booking and payment go through the website or the app.
It began as Covoiturage.fr in 2004, and the company behind it, Comuto, was set up in 2006 by Frédéric Mazzella, Nicolas Brusson and Francis Nappez. It is funded by venture capital: it raised $115 million in 2021 at a $2 billion valuation, and SNCF took a stake in 2018 when BlaBlaCar bought its Ouibus coaches. In 2025 it reported 40 million active members in 41 countries. Its app also sells its own coach trips and, since May 2025, SNCF train tickets.
In France carpooling is cost-sharing: the driver may not make a profit. BlaBlaCar suggests a price for each seat and adds a service fee for the passenger. It stopped publishing how the fee is calculated in 2022; Wikipedia puts it at 20 to 30 % of the trip price. On a Rennes–Rouen trip in May 2025, the passenger paid €43.99, of which €34 went to the driver. If the driver cancels, the passenger gets everything back, fees included.
BlaBlaCar’s 2025 key figures put the CO2 avoided by its users at 4 million tonnes, without saying how this was calculated.
Strengths
- Often the cheapest way between towns badly served by train, since drivers may only share their costs.
- Profiles and reviews from earlier passengers help choose a driver.
- Full refund, fees included, if the driver cancels or doesn’t turn up.
Weaknesses
- The service fee has grown over the years and is now around a fifth of what the passenger pays.
- Times and meeting points depend on the driver, and a passenger who cancels late loses part or all of the price.
- A venture-funded company that takes a commission, while Mobicoop, a cooperative, connects drivers and passengers without one.
Who it is for
People travelling alone or in pairs with little luggage, between towns poorly served by train or when train tickets are expensive. Regular carpoolers on the same route can avoid the fee on Mobicoop.