Meal kit delivery companies like HelloFresh can make cooking a whole lot easier. You don’t have to research recipes, plan out meals, or shop for the ingredients. Instead, you can simply sign up for one of these services and have everything you need to make delicious meals delivered right to your doorstop.
One of the most popular meal kit delivery services out there is HelloFresh. You may have used this service to have ingredients shipped to you. Although HelloFresh is incredibly popular, it’s not the only service of its kind out there.
If you are looking for some HelloFresh alternatives, read on. Below, I’ll cover some companies like HelloFresh that you can use to have meal kits sent to you.
Table of Contents
What is HelloFresh?
HelloFresh is a German meal kit delivery company based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in November 2011, it’s now the largest meal-kit provider in the United States and it also operates in other countries, including:
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Luxembourg
- New Zealand
- Sweden
- The Netherlands
- The UK
With HelloFresh, you can have meal kits shipped to you for as little as $7.99 per meal.
How Does HelloFresh Work?
With HelloFresh, you can pick a plan that suits you. If you need to cancel, change meals, or skip a week, you can do, which is convenient. You can choose your meals, with 25 fresh recipes offered every week.
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Each week, you’ll receive a meal kit.
Inside each box, you get:
- Easy-to-follow recipes with clear nutritional info.
- Pre-measured ingredients
- Meal kits that fit easily into the refrigerator.
How Much Does HelloFresh Cost?
You can get 3 meals for 2 people per week, which is a total of 6 servings, for $59.94.
So, the box price is $59.94 and the price per serving is $9.99. You also pay $9.99 for shipping. This makes the total for the box plus shipping work out to $69.93.
Since one week costs you $69.93, you would pay $279.72 per month (4 weeks) for HelloFresh meal kits.
Companies Like HelloFresh
While HelloFresh is the largest meal kit provider in the United States, it’s not the only option out there. Perhaps you are bored with the recipes on HelloFresh and want to try new ones from another company, or perhaps you want a cheaper alternative?
Below, I’ll cover the other meal kit delivery companies out there that you may want to try.
1. Blue Apron
- Subscription cost: $8.99 to $9.99 per serving
- Shipping cost: $9.99
Aside from HelloFresh, Blue Apron is one of the most well-known meal kit providers.
Although the Signature Plan costs $9.99 per serving, the Wellness and Vegetarian plans only cost $8.99 per serving, which makes it a dollar cheaper than HelloFresh.
Once you create an account, you get the ability to choose which day of the week your Blue Apron meal kit arrives, and you can adjust it each week as needed. There are a variety of food options on offer, like vegetarian foods, fish, and meat.
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2. Home Chef
- Subscription cost: Starts at $8.99 per serving
- Shipping cost: Varies
Another option to try is Home Chef. It’s reasonably priced, with plans starting at $8.99 per serving. Shipping cost varies. For my delivery, shipping cost $8.99.
Home Chef allows you to choose the type of meals you want, like vegetarian and calorie conscious. You can even use the company’s Customize It feature to upgrade, swap, or double up proteins on select meals.
3. EveryPlate
- Subscription cost: $4.99 per serving
- Shipping cost: $9.99
If you are looking for a cheaper HelloFresh alternative, then try EveryPlate. With it, you can get meal kits for just $4.99 per serving.
According to EveryPlate, it is able to offer meal kits at a lower cost because, “We use less packaging and simple ingredients for delicious, filling meals that are easily doable. Our aim is to bring tasty value and convenience, not make you a chef.”
You can choose from 17 recipes that change every week and everything you need is shipped to your door.
There’s no commitment either, as you can skip when you want to and cancel at any time, and you can even skip weeks in advance in case you’re going out of town.
One of the best aspects of EveryPlate is that it has a deal on where you can get your first box for just $1.79 per meal plus 20% off another two boxes! All you need to do to get started with the offer is enter your email address.
4. SunBasket
- Subscription cost: Starts at $11.49 per serving
- Shipping cost: Varies (Around $7)
If you’re looking for a meal kit that contains organic produce, then you might want to try SunBasket.
Its menu caters to lots of different diets, such as vegetarian, Mediterranean, and pescatarian. You can get lots of different meal options on there for everyone from meat eaters to vegetarians.
Prices for meal kits start at $11.49 per serving, which, compared to the other companies on the list, is on the more expensive side.
The price per serving for meal kits varies depending on the number of meals you get each week.
For example:
- If you get 5 meals per week, the cost is $11.49 per serving.
- If you get 4 meals a week, then the cost is $12.49 per serving.
- If you get 3 meals per week, then the cost is $13.49 per serving.
- If you get 2 meals per week, then the cost is $14.49 per serving.
The delivery cost varies but is around $7.
With the meal kits, you get easy instructions you can use to cook dinner in just 15 to 40 minutes.
What’s great about SunBasket is that new customers can get $90 off plus free shipping and 1 free gift. Just wait for a popup window to appear on the site, and then enter your mail address to get started claiming your discount.
You can skip a week or cancel the subscription at any time, which is always handy!
Aside from meal kits, SunBasket also offers readymade meals that you can just heat up for dinner in as little as 4 minutes. Prices for those start at $9.99 per serving.
5. Nutrisystem
- Subscription cost: Starts at $8.56 per day
- Shipping cost: Free
Those looking to lose weight may want to give Nutrisystem a try. It’s a company that offers weight loss meal delivery plans.
The company offers fully prepared meals that are proportioned for weight loss. Choose the meals you want and have them delivered to your home. It also offers tools like 1-on-1 coaching and a fully integrated weight loss app.
6. Dinnerly
- Subscription cost: Starts at $4.49 per portion for a Family Box or $5.59 per portion for a Two-Person box.
- Shipping cost: $8.99
Dinnerly is a good option if you are looking for a more affordable delivery service. You can choose your delivery day and your recipes, and Dinnerly will deliver the ingredients to you in an insulated box.
What’s good about Dinnerly, is that it gives you the option to make your box vegetarian. There are 28 recipes available every week! You can cancel your subscription at any time or skip a week.
You can choose between a Two Person Box or a Family Box, and the price per portion varies depending on which option you select.
You can get a Two-Person Box for the following prices:
- $5.89 per portion for a box with 3 meals per week.
- $5.79 per portion for a box with 4 meals per week.
- $5.59 per portion for a box with 5 meals per week.
- $5.59 per portion for a box with 6 meals per week.
So, if you were to opt for the Two Person Box with 3 meals per week, your weekly total, including $8.99 for shipping, would be $44.33.
To break this down more, this is:
$5.89 (per portion cost) x 3 (meals per week), x 2 (number of people the box is designed to feed) = $44.33.
You can get a Family Box for the following prices:
- $5.59 per portion for a box with 3 meals per week.
- $5.19 per portion for a box with 4 meals per week.
- $4.99 per portion for a box with 5 meals per week.
- $4.69 per portion for a box with 6 meals per week.
So, if you chose the Family Box with 3 meals per week, your weekly total, including shipping, would be $76.07.
To break this down further, this is:
$5.59 (per portion cost) x 3 (meals per week) x4 (number of people the box is designed to feed) = $76.07.
Overall, Dinnerly is a cost-effective alternative to HelloFresh.
7. Freshly
- Subscription cost: Meals start at $8.99 each
- Shipping cost: Varies from $6.99 to $10.99
If you are looking for prepared meals, then try Freshly. It’s a New York based company that delivers meals throughout the United States. The company, which was acquired by Nestlé for 1.5 billion in 2020, ships one million meals per week and delivers to the contiguous United States.
The meals you get from Freshly are ready-made. So, all you need to do is heat them up, and they’re ready to eat in 3 minutes. You can skip a week or cancel at any time. There’s a menu of 30 plus dishes to choose from.
You can choose the number of meals you want and the bigger your box, the more you’ll save.
Here’s what you can choose from:
- 4 meals a week is $47.16 + $6.99 shipping = $54.15
- 5 meals a week is $58.95 + $6.99 shipping = $65.94
- 6 meals a week is $59.94 + $6.99 shipping = $66.93
- 7 meals a week is $69.93 + $6.99 shipping = $76.92
- 8 meals a week is $75.92 + $8.99 shipping = $84.91
- 9 meals a week is $85.41 + $8.99 shipping = $94.40
- 10 meals a week is $92.90 + $10.99 shipping = $103.89
- 11 meals a week is $102.19 + $10.99 shipping = $113.18
- 12 meals a week is $107.88 + $11.99 shipping = $119.87
Shipping costs and tax are added at the checkout. The cost of shipping depends on where you live and the number of meals chosen, but it’s usually between $6.99 and $10.99.
8. Purple Carrot
- Subscription cost: Prices start at $9.99 per serving for meal kits and $12.99 per serving for prepared meals.
- Shipping cost: Free
Purple Carrot is a plant-based meal delivery company. So, if you are looking for more vegan options, then it’s definitely one to consider. Purple Carrot offers both meal kit boxes and boxes of prepared meals that you can just heat up and enjoy.
What I like about Purple Carrot is that it has lots of Indian and Mexican recipes, which are two of my favorite cuisines.
With Purple Carrot, you can get $25 off your first order too.
You can cancel your subscription at any time, and you can also skip any deliveries you want, and you won’t be charged for those skipped weeks.
9. Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon
- Subscription cost: Prices start at $8.49 per portion for the 4 People Box, and $9.49 per portion for the 2 People Box.
- Shipping cost: $8.99
Martha Stewart & Marley Spoon is a meal kit delivery company. You can sign up and have pre-portioned ingredients for Martha Stewart’s best recipes delivered directly to your doorstep.
You can choose from 40 weekly recipes, which is great. Prices vary depending on the type of box you get and the number of servings you get.
For example:
- 4 People Box that includes 6 meals per week: $8.49 per portion (plus $8.99 shipping = $212.75 total per week).
- 2 People Box that includes 6 meals per week: $9.49 per portion (plus $8.99 shipping
- = $122.87 total per week)
- 4 People Box that includes 2 meals per week: $9.99 per portion (plus $8.99 shipping = $88.91 total per week)
- 2 People Box that includes 2 meals per week: $11.99 per portion (plus $8.99 shipping = $56.95 total per week)
So, basically, the more meals you order, the cheaper the cost per portion will be.
You can skip a week if you want to, which is great.
10. Green Chef
- Subscription cost: Prices start at $11.99 per serving
- Shipping cost: $9.99
Another company like HelloFresh is Green Chef, which bills itself as a healthy meal kit delivery service. You can sign up and have meal kits delivered right to your doorstep.
You can select the type of meals you want to get from options like keto and paleo, vegetarian, and Mediterranean.
Again, like most of the companies on this list, Green Chef allows you to choose how many meals you want to receive each week and the cost per serving depends on the number of meals you order.
For example, you can get 4 meals per week for 6 people for $11.99 per serving, but if you were to get 3 meals a week for 2 people, it would cost $13.49 per serving.
What’s good about Green Chef is that it often provides deals, like “Enjoy a total of $130 OFF throughout 4 boxes!” If you claim an offer, the website will apply a discount code to your order.
So, you could save a lot of money per serving. When I claimed $130 off offer, the cost per portion for 3 meals a week for 2 people was just $6.75 per serving and I got free shipping. You can freeze or cancel your membership at any time, which is great. If you want to skip a week you can do it.
So Which One is the Best Alternative to Hello Fresh?
Well, that depends on what you want out of your meal kit delivery system, your budget, your goal, etc. As you can see, HelloFresh isn’t the only meal kit delivery company out there. There are plenty of other ones you can try, which is good!
If you are looking for a cheaper food option for example, you might want to try EveryPlate, or if you’re looking for a great range of meals, try Blue Apron, or if you want more vegan options, then try Purple Carrot.
You could try all of the HelloFresh alternatives on our list to see which one best suits you because most allow you to cancel your subscription at any time. Give these a try and enjoy your meals!
janie
Great article, I stumbled onto this site today while doing some “research shopping” as I call it for something totally unrelated, but I can’t seem stop checking out your sites content. lol. But if I may…make a request? While it was extremely helpful to have a list of Hellofresh alternatives with easy-to-understand costs. I think if you end up doing another article like this later on or whatever, if it’s not too much of a challenge to possibly include a little info about the portion/serving sizes of the meals. Thank you
Saeed
Thank you for the kind words Janie. I will make sure to keep your tips in mind for future posts like this one. Much appreciate your comment.