FAVR

Building a Fairer Gig Economy: A Conversation with FAVR’s Tommy Sondgroth

 

Most gig economy apps follow a familiar playbook: the platform sets the rates, takes a significant cut, and uses algorithms to decide who gets which jobs. For workers, it often feels like being a number in a system designed to maximize efficiency rather than reward effort.

Tommy Sondgroth, Founder, thinks there’s a better way.

His company, FAVR, is building a gig platform that flips that model on its head. We sat down with him to discuss how the app works, the technology behind it, and why letting workers set their own prices might be the future of the industry.

Putting Control Back in the Hands of Workers

FAVR launched with a simple but unconventional premise: instead of a company taking a large cut in the middle, drivers set their own prices and keep everything they earn. The platform currently focuses on ride-share and delivery, though Sondgroth envisions it expanding into other verticals over time.

“FAVR basically flips how gig apps usually work,” Sondgroth explained. “Instead of a company taking a big cut in the middle, drivers set their own prices and keep everything they earn. That means they can actually make more per job, while customers often end up paying less because there’s no app markup baked in.”

The ethos behind the company, he said, is to stop treating workers like numbers and allow them to make a real wage. On the customer side, the result is often lower prices and a more direct relationship with the person providing the service.

Built for Speed, Not Just Scale

One of the biggest technical challenges for any real-time gig platform is latency. When a job needs to be done, delays in matching or communication can make or break the user experience. Sondgroth said his team spent over a year designing a system that reacts instantly.

The apps are built natively—iOS is already available, and Android is currently in development. While Sondgroth kept some of the specific technical details private, he emphasized that the infrastructure is designed to handle the kind of sudden, hyper-localized spikes that define gig work. A snowstorm in one city, for example, might trigger a flood of requests for shoveling or rides. FAVR’s backend, built on AWS, is configured to absorb those surges without slowing down for users in other regions.

Geolocation also plays a critical role. In New York City, partners can see available jobs within a 20-mile radius; in all other locations, that radius expands to 60 miles. The goal is to give workers visibility into opportunities without draining device battery life through constant, high-precision tracking.

Security and Payments Built on Trust

In a peer-to-peer environment where users may enter homes or borrow items, security is non-negotiable. FAVR requires background checks for all partners through Checkr, a third-party verification service. The app also tracks geolocation while a partner is active, adding an additional layer of transparency.

On the payment side, FAVR partnered with Stripe to handle transactions. The flow is straightforward: a provider quotes a price, the customer accepts, payment is verified and held in escrow, and funds are released when the job is marked complete. Sondgroth emphasized the importance of instant payouts—a feature that matters deeply to gig workers who rely on steady cash flow.

No Algorithms, Just Open Access

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of FAVR is what it doesn’t do. Unlike traditional gig platforms that use matching algorithms to assign jobs based on acceptance rates, ratings, or other metrics, FAVR operates as a pure open marketplace.

There are no acceptance rates. No assigned orders. No algorithmic filtering of who gets to see which jobs. Customers can choose a specific provider they’ve worked with before and trust. Both parties rate each other after each job, and disputes are handled internally by the company.

“We want this platform to be 100% beneficial for providers that run these industries,” Sondgroth said. “That produces better quality all around for customers.”

By removing the layers of control that typically sit between workers and customers, FAVR is betting that a fairer, more transparent model will ultimately win out. Whether it’s a ride across town or a delivery from a local restaurant, the idea is simple: let the people doing the work set the terms, and let customers decide who they want to hire.

It’s an approach that runs counter to the algorithms and optimization engines that have defined the gig economy for the past decade. But for Sondgroth, that’s exactly the point.

To learn more about FAVR check out the app in the Apple Store.