E-Bike Hire London: Lime, Forest, Voi, Bolt and Santander Prices Compared

There are so many fleets of bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters in London. The number of people using them keeps growing too. Some companies, such as Dott, have left the London market. Others, such as Voi, have joined to fill the gap. If you’re looking for e-bike hire in London, this is every option side by side. I’ve included what each one actually costs.

I love the fleet market (and FleetHopper), so I have compared every option you can currently use in London. That includes the costs and some viable alternatives, and I update this article monthly.

The prices of London’s app based bicycles and scooters can get a little murky. Providers offer packages, subscriptions with free unlocks, Cycle2Work integration and more. I have used the company’s apps to get this data. Some boroughs may have different pricing, so please check on your own phone.

Fleet sizes aren’t public, so I can’t be exact, but I’ve used publicly available data.

Under each provider there is a suggestion of who the service is best for. This of course depends on you. Please read all of the information, and check the provider’s website if anything is unclear.

London’s App Based Bicycles and Scooters

Lime: 50,000 e-bikes – Unable to find data on how many e-scooters.

Standard cost

• E-Bike cost: £1 to unlock then 33 pence per minute
• E-Scooter cost: £1 to unlock then 17 pence per minute

LimePass (For e-scooters and e-bikes)

• 1 day to use: 30 minutes for £4.59 (15.30 pence per minute)
• 3 days to use: 60 minutes for £7.69 (12.82 pence per minute)
• 7 days to use: 200 minutes for £19.94 (9.97 pence per minute)
• 30 days to use: 400 minutes for £36.99 (9.25 pence per minute)

LimePrime

• £6.99 per month for £1.70 flat rate rides up to 20 minutes (just £1 up to 5 minutes). Free unlocks and free 30 minute reservations are included

Cycle2Work

• There are various options for Lime (bikes only) on the Cycle2Work scheme. Your workplace typically chooses which ones employees get. Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.

Best for: The individual who needs a bike nearby whenever they want one. I usually ride Forest because my plan is great value. Even so, I often walk past hundreds of Lime bikes and scooters to find a Forest bike! For the full story, see my guide to Lime bikes in London.

Forest: 14,000+ e-bikes.

Standard cost

• E-Bike cost: £1 to unlock then 33 pence per minute
• Free minutes changed from 10 a day to between 1 and 30 per bike. It depends on where Forest wants its bikes moved, and you can see it in the app

Bundles

• Day Pass: 24 hours to use, unlimited rides for £10.99 (free unlocks)
• 24 hours to use: 20 minutes for £2.99 (15 pence per minute)
• 24 hours to use: 35 minutes for £4.59 (13.11 pence per minute)
• 3 days to use: 70 minutes for £7.69 (10.99 pence per minute)
• 7 days to use: 250 minutes for £19.94 (7.98 pence per minute)
• 30 days to use: 500 minutes for £36.99 (7 pence per minute)

Subscriptions

• Forest FLEX: £6.99 per month, every ride is 30 minutes for £1.70 or 10 minutes for £1. That saves up to 84% versus pay as you go, according to Forest
• Forest PLUS: £69.99 per month for 1,200 minutes

Adverts and referrals

• On pay as you go, you can top up a bike’s free minutes by watching short video ads in the app. Forest’s own example turns 1 free minute into 4. If you refer a friend, you can each get 30 minutes for £1.

Cycle2Work

• There are two options for Forest on the Cycle2Work scheme. Your workplace typically chooses which ones employees get. Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.
• I pay roughly £31 per month to get 1,800 minutes of use on Forest e-bikes each month. I was paying about £80 a month on public transport, so this has been a great money saver for me.

Best for: The individual who wants great value through the Cycle2Work Scheme. It suits you if you ride for an hour or more and don’t live near a Santander Cycles dock.

TFL (Known as Santander Cycles): 2,000 e-bikes – 10,000 standard bikes (All docked).

Standard cost

• Non E-Bike: £1.65 per 30 minutes
• E-Bike: £3 per 30 minutes

Day pass and subscriptions

• Day passes: Non E-Bikes – £3.50 for unlimited 60 minute rides. Rides over 60 minutes cost an extra £1.65 per hour
• E-Bikes – £3.50 for unlimited 60 minute rides, with a £1 fee per ride. Rides over 60 minutes cost an extra £3 per hour

• Monthly subscription: Non E-Bikes – £20 a month for unlimited 60 minute rides. Rides over 60 minutes cost an extra £1.65 per hour
• E-Bikes – £20 a month for unlimited 60 minute rides with a £1 fee per ride. Rides over 60 minutes cost an extra £3 per hour

• Annual subscription: Non E-Bikes – £120 a year for unlimited 60 minute rides. Rides over 60 minutes cost an extra £1.65 per hour
• E-Bikes – £120 a year for unlimited 60 minute rides with a £1 fee per ride. Rides over 60 minutes cost an extra £3 per hour

Cycle2Work

There are various options for Santander Cycles on the Cycle2Work scheme. Your workplace typically chooses which ones employees get. Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.

Extra considerations

As Santander Cycles are TFL operated, they have schemes for NHS workers, students and more.

Best for: The individual who can easily get to a docking station and cycles for less than 60 minutes at a time. More on how the scheme works in my Santander Cycles London guide.

Voi: 500 – 2,000 e-bikes – Voi are the only other company to also offer e-scooters, but I could not find an estimate on how many there may be.

Standard cost

• E-Bike and E-Scooter cost: Free to unlock then 27 pence per minute

Subscriptions (For E-Scooters and E-Bikes)

• Voi+: £2.99 per month for unlimited rides up to 20 minutes at a flat £1.70 per ride. Reservations up to 30 minutes and pauses up to 10 minutes are free

Minute Bundles

• 24 hours to use: 30 minutes for £3.49 (11.63 pence per minute)
• 3 days to use: 60 minutes for £5.99 (9.98 pence per minute)
• 7 days to use: 120 minutes for £10.99 (9.16 pence per minute)
• 30 days to use: 300 minutes for £19.99 (6.66 pence per minute)
• 500 minutes for £29.99 with 30 days to use (6 pence per minute)
• 30 days to use: 750 minutes for £59.99 (8 pence per minute)

Referrals

• Refer a friend and they get £2.50 credit. Once they take their first paid trip, you get £5 credit.

Cycle2Work

• There are oh so many options for Voi on the Cycle2Work scheme, depending on your city. Your workplace typically chooses which ones employees get. Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.

Best for: The individual who wants cheaper pay as you go e-scooter and e-bike rides than Lime or Forest. More in my guide to Voi e-bikes in London.

Bolt: Fleet size not published. E-bikes in Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham.

Standard cost

• Per minute: £1 to unlock then 22 pence per minute
• By distance: £1 to unlock then 43 pence per mile

Passes (for e-bikes and scooters, unlocks are always free with a pass)

• 3 days to use: 60 minutes for £5.99 (9.98 pence per minute)
• 7 days to use: 100 minutes for £7.99 (7.99 pence per minute)
• 30 days to use: 200 minutes for £13.99 (7 pence per minute)

Parking

• You can only end your ride at the parking spots marked with a P on the map in the app.

Which app?

• Bolt bikes are only available in the Bolt app, and the Bolt app only shows Bolt’s own bikes. Forest bikes were announced for the Bolt app in March 2025, but they’re no longer there.

Best for: The individual who lives or works in Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, or Hammersmith and Fulham. Bolt is the cheapest pay as you go option per minute. Paying by distance is a nice touch if you hit a lot of red lights. The catch is the smaller area, and you have to find a marked parking spot at the end.

Honourable mentions: An alternative to London’s app based bicycles and scooters, you cannot find these options laying around on the street, but they make up a part of London’s micromobility economy.

Brompton have over 80 lockers, usually of 8 hire bikes, that’s 640 bikes across London! They are not electric, however, they are one of the cheapest options, costing just £5 a day. If you like the idea of a Brompton and want to test ride one, or you do not have to travel too far and want to missed the busy public transport these are a brilliant option, just do not let it out of your site as you must not leave it unattended. I’ve covered how it works in my Brompton folding bike hire guide.

Swapfiets is a bicycle rental scheme where you keep the bike in your possession, and pay a monthly fee. Most defects are covered, and you will either get a swap (clever, ey?), or they will fix the bike and you will be on your way. Their standard models start at £16.90 a month, and e-bikes start at £54.90 a month (the most flexible month-to-month plans cost more). The only hang-up is that their engineers are based in Shoreditch and Waterloo. If you’re not close and get a burst tyre, getting it there will be difficult.

Can You Hire These Bikes Through Other Apps?

Some of them, yes, and a couple can even save you money.

umob (Forest bikes): umob is a “one app for everything” travel app that launched in London in late 2025. Right now Forest is the only bike operator on it in London. Pay as you go costs the same per minute as the Forest app, but there’s no unlock fee, which saves you £1 a ride (checked October 2026). It also has its own passes: 24 hours for £10 (20 rides of up to 30 minutes), 3 days for £20 (25 rides) and 1 month for £40 (40 rides), all with free unlocks. That month pass works out at £1 a ride, which is cheaper than Forest’s own FLEX plan if you ride a lot. umob says more operators, taxis and public transport are coming. New umob users get €10 credit through the umob link above, which is my personal referral link.

Uber (no longer Lime): Lime bikes used to show up in the Uber app, but as of October 2026 they’ve gone, so you’ll need the Lime app.

Freenow (Voi and Forest): the Freenow taxi app also lets you hire Voi and Forest bikes. Its Freenow Plus membership costs £5.99 a month and takes 10% off “2-wheels” rides (up to £10 off a trip), as well as 10% off taxis. On bikes alone that’s only worth it if you ride a lot: 10% off a £10.90 half-hour Forest ride is about £1.09, so you’d need around six of those a month just to cover the fee. If you use Freenow for taxis too, it adds up faster.

Citymapper and Google Maps: you can’t hire bikes through either of them.

For most riders the operator’s own app is still the way to go, because that’s where the free minutes and subscriptions live, but if you ride Forest a lot, umob is worth a look.

E-Bike Hire London: Frequently Asked Questions

How much does e-bike hire cost in London?

On pay as you go, expect to pay about £1 to unlock and then 22p to 33p a minute. Bolt is 22p, Voi is 27p with no unlock fee, and Lime and Forest are both 33p. Santander Cycles e-bikes are £3 for 30 minutes. If you ride regularly, bundles and subscriptions bring the cost down to roughly 6p to 10p a minute.

What do you need to hire an e-bike in London?

For Lime, Forest, Voi and Bolt you need the operator’s app and a payment card, and most operators require you to be 18 or over (Voi e-bikes are 16+). Santander Cycles can be hired through its app or a membership key (the docking station terminals are for standard bikes only). Unlike a rental e-scooter, you don’t need a driving licence to ride an e-bike.

Can you hire an e-bike by the hour or for a day in London?

Yes. Forest has a £10.99 Day Pass with unlimited rides for 24 hours. Santander Cycles has a £3.50 Day Pass (plus £1 per e-bike ride). Lime, Voi and Bolt sell minute bundles that last from a day to a month. If you’d rather have a folding bike you keep with you, Brompton Hire is £5 a day.

Which is the cheapest e-bike hire in London?

On pay as you go, Bolt is the cheapest per minute at 22p, but only in Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham. Across the rest of London, Voi is cheapest at 27p a minute with no unlock fee. For regular riders, a subscription or 30-day bundle works out cheapest. For me, Forest through the Cycle to Work scheme has been the best value by far.

Are E-Scooters Legal in the UK?

Rental e-scooters, like the ones from Lime and Voi, are legal to ride in London. That’s because they’re part of the government’s e-scooter trials, which run until the end of May 2028. To ride one you need a full or provisional UK driving licence with category Q (most car licences include this). You can ride on roads and in cycle lanes within the trial area, but never on the pavement.

Private e-scooters, the ones you buy yourself, are still illegal to ride on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements in the UK. You can only use one on private land with the landowner’s permission. Ride one on the road and you risk a fine, penalty points on your licence and having the scooter taken away.

When will private e-scooters be legal in the UK?

There’s no date yet. The government extended the rental trials to gather more evidence before changing the law. For now, if you want to ride an e-scooter legally in London, it has to be a rental.

Do you need a helmet on a rental e-scooter?

Helmets aren’t a legal requirement on rental e-scooters, but they are recommended, and none of the operators supply one. If you want something you can carry around between rides, have a look at the best folding bike helmets.

Where did Dott and Tier go?

If you’ve been in London a while you might remember Dott and Tier. Dott stopped its London e-bikes in 2023 and pulled its e-scooters in March 2024. Tier merged into Dott the same year, so neither brand runs bikes or scooters in London any more.