Best Taxi app for Athens?

Uber or Freenow works in Greece.

Know that whatever the application you will always have an official taxi. Non-professional drivers without a taxi license are banned in Greece

To pre-book a taxi welcomepickups works well too

Thank you for you input JoLui. We plan on using welcomepickups to and from the airport.

I've read some anectdotal accounts of people feeling they were overcharged by their driver in Athens. Wondering if this is actually a valid concern, and if using the Freenow app or Uber would help avoid that?

We were in Athens last summer. During certain times of day it can be very hard to get a taxi using Freenow/Uber. And yes, the drivers do want to overcharge you. We were trying to get from Monastiraki back to our hotel in Petralona in the middle of the afternoon. We could get no response on Freenow even though there were taxis everywhere. When we flagged down a couple they quoted us double what Freenow quoted. Finally we got a bite on the app and traveled home for the offered price. Also, on a Sunday morning we had to wait a while (10-15 min) for a Freenow. Just make sure if you flag someone down you ask the price BEFORE getting in. And be prepared to be patient.

Thanks cprothero - that helps me know what to expect. And I guess the app will come in handy even if I don't get a response, so I at least know what a reasonable fare should be.

In Athens we always use public transport, bus, tram or metro. It's very effective and inexpensive.

When we take a taxi it is because it is outside their operating hours, after 1 a.m. or before 6 a.m.

We had the same experience as cprothero twice with Freenow (at night), no taxi ever responded to my request. I abandoned these services and we take taxis like everyone else, old school style, by waving at them in the street. We have never been scammed and yet my Greek vocabulary is more than approximate!

When you take a taxi, don't ask the fare. There's a meter, make sure he turns it on.

Also be careful if you pay in cash. There is a well-known scam. You give him 50€ for a 30€ fare and wait for him to give you 20€ back, but while you're not looking he swaps the 50€ note with a 10€ note and claims that you only gave him 10€.

Great info Jolui - thanks!

We used FREENOW extensively in August and had no issue getting Taxis. We also used Uber in Santorini and it worked well

When you take a taxi, don't ask the fare. There's a meter, make sure he turns it on.

OP, be advised that there are fixed fares for certain routes, like city center to the airport
https://www.athensairporttaxi.org/athens-airport-taxi-fare/

When I talked about the meter, it was obviously for all the other routes than Athens Airport ↔ City Center which is the only one to have a fixed fare of €40 from 5 a.m. to midnight (€55 outside of these hours).

Note that an increase of €5 is possible in the coming months.

This discussion is helpful. I'll be arriving to Athens airport around 9:30 pm. My air bnb host mentioned the BEAT App and said it is the equivalent of MYTAXI which I'm not familiar with. Anyone ever used or heard of this?
Also with Welcome Pickups is there a certain area of the airport you have to go to to find them?
thanks

After a little research I found out that BEAT is now part of the FREENOW network.

Do you have to pay in cash if taking a taxi from the airport to Plaka or is there a card pay option?

Ask the driver first!