The short and uncomfortable answer: only one of the two can be purchased using publicly available data — and that asymmetry should weigh just as heavily on your decision as any promised return.
What we know about the ride-hailing sector, with source and date (VTC360 index, July 2026): prices by province based on a sample — ranging from €23,016 in A Coruña to €198,014 in the Balearic Islands, with Madrid at €145,502 —, year-on-year increases of around +5 per cent in the major markets, rental yields of €1,500–2,200 per month, and a public register of sales with price ranges and days on the market. You can buy against a benchmark and sell against a benchmark.
On the taxi side, that data infrastructure does not exist: communications are local, prices are known through conversations, and revenue is rarely documented. We do not publish taxi figures precisely for that reason — they would be smoke and mirrors, and that’s not the real picture.
The structural comparison that can be made is as follows:
- Operating model. Taxis operate with regulated fares, hailing from a taxi rank or flagging down a taxi; ride-hailing services are pre-booked at a platform-set price. Different revenue streams, different risks.
- Regulation. Taxis are essentially regulated at local council level and are also subject to significant intervention regarding the transfer of licences; ride-hailing services depend on their autonomous community, with the regulatory landscape evolving following European and Supreme Court rulings — broken down by province, with sources, on the regulatory map.
- Exit liquidity. For ride-hailing services, there are marketplaces, indices and publicly available comparables; for taxis, earnings depend on your local market.
- Passive model. Ride-hailing vehicle leasing with a revised contract — and guaranteed rent for 24 months — has no standardised equivalent in the taxi sector.
Our stance remains the same: don’t buy the label, buy the verifiable figures. If someone offers you a ‘highly profitable’ taxi, ask for the same as you would demand here: documented income, pricing compared to market rates and a properly organised transfer of ownership. If they provide this, carry out a thorough comparison; if not, you already have your answer. The figures for the VTC sector are published: index, actual results and simulator.
LAST REVIEWED · Jul 19, 2026 — VTC360 guide: general criteria, not advice for your specific case.