HelloFresh vs Blue Apron vs EveryPlate vs Home Chef
We did the math on every major meal kit so you don't have to. Spoiler: the answer to "is it cheaper than groceries?" is more complicated than you think.
If you just want the answer and don't need all the details, here it is.
The only meal kit delivery service that comes close to grocery prices. Simple recipes, real savings.
The most menu variety (30+ weekly recipes), reliable ingredient quality, and the easiest recipes to follow. The Toyota Camry of meal kits: not exciting, but it works.
Premium ingredients, chef-designed recipes, and a wine pairing option. For people who think HelloFresh is too basic.
Kid-friendly options, customize-it meals where you can swap proteins, and oven-ready kits for zero-effort nights. Are meal kits worth it for families? Home Chef makes the strongest case.
Subscribe to EveryPlate for the recipes and convenience, then buy your own fresh vegetables and better proteins on the side. You get the meal planning benefit without the full markup.
Side-by-side breakdown of the meal kit cost per person per meal, flexibility, and features that actually matter.
| Feature | HelloFresh | Blue Apron | EveryPlate | Home Chef |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price/Serving (2-person) | $9.99 - $12.49 | $10.99 - $13.99 | $4.99 - $6.99 Lowest | $9.99 - $11.99 |
| Price/Serving (4-person) | $8.99 - $10.49 | $9.99 - $11.99 | $4.99 - $5.99 | $8.99 - $10.99 |
| Weekly Recipes | 30+ Most | 15-18 | 15 | 25+ |
| Prep Time | 20-45 min | 35-55 min | 20-35 min | 15-45 min Fastest |
| Dietary Options | Vegetarian, Calorie-Smart, Carb-Smart, Pescatarian | Vegetarian, Wellness, Carb-Conscious | Vegetarian only | Vegetarian, Calorie-Conscious, Carb-Conscious, Keto |
| Skip/Pause | Yes, unlimited | Yes, unlimited | Yes, unlimited | Yes, unlimited |
| Cancellation Ease | 5/10 (retention flow) | 7/10 (account settings) | 9/10 (straightforward) Easiest | 8/10 (online) |
| Intro Offer | Up to 65% off first box | Up to 50% off + free shipping | $1.49/serving first box | Up to 50% off first box |
| Customize Meals | Limited swaps | No | No | Yes, swap proteins Best |
Prices as of March 2026. Meal kit pricing varies by plan size and frequency. Shipping is typically $9.99-$11.99 per box for most services.
HelloFresh is the largest meal kit delivery service in the world, and for good reason: it has the biggest menu, the most consistent quality, and the widest appeal. If you have never tried a meal kit subscription before, HelloFresh is the safe first choice.
Best for: Families and weeknight warriors who want variety without complexity. If you are looking for the best meal kit for picky eaters, HelloFresh's huge menu means even selective diners can find something they like each week.
The honest take: HelloFresh is the meal kit equivalent of Netflix: it is not the cheapest, not the most premium, but it has something for everyone. Most people who try multiple meal kit services end up coming back to HelloFresh. Just do not pretend it is saving you money compared to grocery shopping. It is not. It is saving you the mental energy of deciding what to cook.
Blue Apron started the meal kit revolution back in 2012. After years of losing market share to HelloFresh, it has refocused on what it does best: premium, chef-designed recipes with high-quality ingredients. It is the most expensive mainstream option, and it knows it.
Best for: Foodies and adventurous home cooks who want restaurant-quality meals and do not mind spending extra time in the kitchen. If you find HelloFresh too predictable and want to learn actual cooking techniques, Blue Apron delivers.
The honest take: Blue Apron is the meal kit you recommend to the friend who already cooks well and wants to expand their repertoire. It is not the one you recommend to someone trying to stop ordering takeout every night. The higher cost per serving and longer cook times make it a harder sell for budget-conscious households or busy families.
EveryPlate is the budget king, and it is not even close. At $4.99 to $6.99 per serving, it costs roughly half what HelloFresh and Blue Apron charge. The tradeoff? Simpler recipes, fewer dietary options, and ingredients that are solid but not premium. For many households, that tradeoff is absolutely worth it.
Best for: Budget-conscious households, picky eaters who prefer simple comfort food, and people trying a meal kit for the first time without committing to a premium price. EveryPlate is the best meal kit for picky eaters who want familiar flavors without culinary surprises.
The honest take: EveryPlate is owned by the same parent company as HelloFresh, which tells you something: the meal kit industry knows that not everyone wants to pay ten dollars a serving. EveryPlate proves you can get the core meal kit experience - pre-portioned ingredients, easy recipes, no meal planning - for about what you'd spend on groceries anyway. It is the smartest entry point into meal kits.
Home Chef's secret weapon is customization. Most meal kits give you a recipe and you cook it as designed. Home Chef lets you swap proteins, choose oven-ready versions of meals, and pick from a wide range of options that cater to families with different preferences. It is the meal kit that actually acknowledges that people in the same household want different things for dinner.
Best for: Families with different preferences, people who hate complex cooking, and anyone who wants flexibility within a meal kit subscription. If you have a household where one person wants chicken and another wants salmon, Home Chef is the only service that handles that well.
The honest take: Home Chef is the meal kit for people who have tried other services and found them too rigid. The customization feature sounds like a small thing until you realize how frustrating it is to get locked into a chicken recipe when you are craving steak. The downside is inconsistency: some Home Chef meals are genuinely excellent, and others are forgettable. That variance is the price of a bigger, more flexible menu.
Short answer: No, meal kits are not cheaper than cooking from scratch with groceries. But the comparison most people should be making is not "meal kit vs. groceries." It is "meal kit vs. the DoorDash order you would have placed instead."
The meal kit vs grocery shopping cost comparison is straightforward: groceries win on price every time. But that number hides several factors that work in meal kits' favor:
The verdict: Meal kits are a middle ground. They cost more than groceries but less than eating out. The real question is not "are meal kits worth it" in the abstract. It is "what would I eat instead?" If the answer is takeout, a meal kit subscription saves you money. If the answer is home-cooked meals from scratch, a meal kit costs you money. Know which person you actually are, not which person you aspire to be.
The meal kit industry has a dirty secret: the subscription model is designed to extract maximum revenue from inertia. Here is how to flip the script and use that model to your advantage.
Every meal kit service offers 50 to 65% off the first box. Some offer discounts on the first three or four boxes. Search "[service name] promo code" before subscribing. There is always a deal. Always.
All major meal kit services that let you skip weeks do so with no penalties. Busy week? Skip. Eating out a lot? Skip. Fridge already full? Skip. There is zero obligation to receive a box every week. Treat it like an on-demand service, not a weekly commitment.
After your intro discount expires, cancel. Wait a few weeks. Re-subscribe with a new intro offer. Some services even email you win-back offers that are as good as new customer deals. This is the subscription rotation strategy applied to meal kits.
The number one way meal kits get you is charging for a box you forgot to skip. Most services require you to skip by a certain day (usually 5 days before your delivery date). Set renewal reminders in Subcut so you never get charged for a box you did not want. Learn more about avoiding unwanted charges.
Instead of getting five meals per week from a meal kit, get two or three and fill the rest with simple grocery meals you already know how to make. You get the variety and convenience of a meal kit without the full cost. Check whether subscription bundles are worth it for your household to find the right balance.
Meal kit subscriptions are not meant to be permanent. They are a tool, and like any tool, there comes a time when you have gotten what you need from it. Here are the signs it is time to cancel.
The whole point of a meal kit was to learn to cook. If you can now make a dozen solid meals without a recipe card, the service has done its job. Congratulations. You graduated.
If you have skipped three of the last four weeks, that is your behavior telling you something your brain has not caught up to yet. Cancel and re-subscribe later if you miss it. You can use a subscription ROI calculator to see if the cost still makes sense.
If you are gravitating toward the same recipes each time, you do not need a subscription - you need a grocery list. Save those three recipes, buy the ingredients yourself, and cut your cost per serving in half.
If you are receiving boxes, putting them in the fridge with good intentions, and throwing them out five days later, you are literally composting money. Cancel immediately. Read our guide on the best time to cancel subscriptions to time it right.
Remember: you can cancel a meal kit subscription anytime with no penalty from any major service. The 67% of subscribers who cancel within six months are not failures - they are people who got what they needed and moved on. That is the ideal use case.
EveryPlate is the cheapest meal kit delivery service in 2026, starting at $4.99 per serving. That is roughly half the price of HelloFresh ($8.99+), Home Chef ($8.99+), and Blue Apron ($9.99+). EveryPlate keeps costs low by offering simpler recipes with fewer premium ingredients. If you want the meal kit experience on a tight budget, EveryPlate is the clear winner.
HelloFresh can be worth it for a family of 4 if you are replacing takeout nights, not home-cooked meals from scratch. On the 4-person plan, expect to pay $36 to $42 per dinner. Cooking the same meal from groceries would cost $16 to $20. But if your alternative is DoorDash at $60 or more, HelloFresh saves real money while teaching your household new recipes. After 6 months, you will have learned enough meals to cook on your own.
Yes, all major meal kit services let you cancel anytime with no long-term contract or cancellation fee. EveryPlate and Home Chef offer straightforward online cancellation. Blue Apron is easy through account settings. HelloFresh requires navigating a retention flow with multiple steps. All services also let you skip weeks or pause indefinitely, which is often smarter than canceling outright since you can always skip until you want another box.
No. Meal kits cost roughly $9 to $10 per serving compared to $4 to $5 per serving for groceries. However, they are significantly cheaper than takeout or delivery apps at $15 to $20 per serving. The real comparison depends on what you would eat instead: if you would cook from scratch, groceries are cheaper. If you would order delivery, meal kits save money. Meal kits also reduce food waste since ingredients are pre-portioned, which effectively narrows the cost gap.
HelloFresh offers the most variety with 30+ weekly recipes across vegetarian, calorie-smart, quick prep, gourmet, and family-friendly categories. Home Chef follows with roughly 25 weekly options plus the ability to customize meals by swapping proteins. Blue Apron offers 15 to 18 chef-driven recipes, and EveryPlate has around 15 simple comfort food options. If menu variety is your top priority, HelloFresh is the clear choice.
Meal kit subscriptions are easy to forget and expensive to overlook. Subcut tracks what you pay, when you renew, and when to skip or cancel. Stop paying for boxes you did not want.
Download Subcut - Free for iPhoneSet skip-week reminders, track meal kit costs, and never get charged for a box you forgot about.