Meal delivery services compared: real prices per serving, shipping and when groceries win

The short answer: meal delivery services cost about $8 to $20 a serving with shipping when we checked each brand's own site on November 12, 2026. Cooking the same meals from groceries runs about $3.46 to $5.54 per meal per adult on USDA's food plans.

• Cheapest kit we could price: EveryPlate at $6.99 a serving ($7.99 with shipping, 3 recipes for 4 people). HelloFresh: $10.99 to $13.99 plus $12.99 shipping. Factor (heat-and-eat): $11.99 to $16.49 a meal plus $12.99 shipping.
• When a kit wins: it replaces takeout that costs you more, you're learning to cook, or you need a few no-thinking dinners in a busy season. When groceries win: you want the lowest bill or you're feeding a family every night.
• Free and paid next step: get the free recipe book starter pages (we email it to you) to save kit recipes you love, then plan grocery weeks with the Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99).

Prices checked November 12, 2026 on each company's own site, before any first-box discount, for a Chicago ZIP code where one was required. Your price can vary by ZIP code, plan and promo. Below: the price comparison, the real cost against groceries, a quick calculator, a guide to each service, and when a kit beats DIY meal planning.

Meal delivery services compared: price per serving (November 2026)

How to read this table: these are the regular prices each company listed, not first-box deals. Most services discount the first few boxes heavily, then the regular price and shipping kick in. "Varies by plan" means the brand didn't show that number publicly without an account, so we didn't guess.

HelloFresh and Factor price by plan size

These two showed a full price list, so here's how the cost per serving drops as the box gets bigger:

Money-saving tip: because shipping is a flat fee per box, a bigger box always lowers your real cost per serving. Two small boxes a month cost more per plate than one larger box.

Meal kit vs groceries: the real cost per serving

USDA's food plans price a healthy diet cooked at home at four cost levels, from Thrifty to Liberal. Using the September 2026 Cost of Food reports, we added the weekly costs for a woman and a man ages 19 to 50 (20 to 50 on the Thrifty plan), added USDA's suggested 10% for a two-person household, and divided by 14 person-days and 3 meals a day.

USDA's costs cover all food for the day, including snacks, so treat these as averages: a dinner may cost more than a breakfast. Even so, the gap is big.

Same week, two ways

For the family row, we used USDA's Moderate-Cost plan for two adults ages 19 to 50 and kids ages 6 to 8 and 9 to 11 ($320.50 a week, no size adjustment for four people), which works out to $3.82 a meal per person. Monthly figures use USDA's own 4.333 weeks per month.

If your grocery bill is already above these numbers, start with our guides to average grocery cost per month and the grocery budget for a family of 4, which break the USDA numbers down by household.

Meal kit cost calculator (do it in 2 minutes)

Use your real quote, not the ad price:

1. Kit cost per serving = (box price + shipping) ÷ (meals × people). Example: ($71.94 + $12.99) ÷ 6 = $14.16.
2. Grocery cost per serving = your weekly grocery spending ÷ (people × 21 meals). Example: $186.45 ÷ 42 = $4.44.
3. Weekly cost of the kit habit = (kit cost − grocery cost) × servings. Example: ($14.16 − $4.44) × 6 = $58.32.
4. Monthly cost = weekly cost × 4.333. Example: about $252.70 (the small difference from the table above is rounding).

Put that monthly number into your food line in our budget calculator, or list it as its own line under "meal kits or delivery fees" from our budget categories list, so you can see whether it fits.

The main meal delivery services, one by one

Each summary below is based on what the company publishes on its own site, checked November 12, 2026. We didn't test or taste these meals for this guide.

EveryPlate: lowest price we could verify

EveryPlate calls itself "America's lowest-priced home cooking box." Its plans page priced 3 recipes for 4 people at $83.88, or $6.99 a serving, with an $11.99 shipping fee, for $7.99 a serving all-in. You can choose 2, 4 or 6 people and 3 to 5 recipes a week, with menus like Meat & Veggie, Veggie, Family Faves, Quick & Easy and Smart & Fit. Best for: budget-minded families who still want recipes picked for them.

Dinnerly: budget kit with a big menu

Dinnerly's homepage says meals "start at just $5.99 per person" and advertises 100+ recipes every week, plus ready-to-heat Market add-ons. Its plan prices and shipping weren't shown without starting sign-up, so get your own quote before assuming it's cheaper than EveryPlate.

Home Chef: meal kits, oven-ready meals and a Family Plan

Home Chef lists dinners "as low as" $8.99 a serving and says standard meals average $9.99, with prices that change by order size and meal type. Its minimum weekly order, including shipping, is $50.95 for the standard plan and $82.91 for the Family Plan, which sells meals in 4-serving portions. Best for: households that want a mix of cook-from-scratch kits and oven-ready trays.

Hungryroot: groceries plus simple recipes

Hungryroot sells groceries and brand-name items alongside simple recipes. Its homepage lists dinners at $8.99 a serving, lunch at $5.99 and breakfast at $3.99, and free shipping on orders over $70. Best for: people who want lunches and snacks covered too, not just dinner kits.

Blue Apron: more involved recipes

Blue Apron's current menu shows per-serving prices from $9.49 to $14.99 depending on the dish, with tags like 30g+ protein and 600 calories or less. It offers classic meal kits plus easier formats. Shipping depends on your order, so check the cart total. Best for: cooks who want restaurant-style recipes and don't mind a longer prep time.

HelloFresh: widest plan choice

HelloFresh offers 2 to 6 meals a week for 2, 3, 4 or 6 people. On November 12, 2026, every plan was $10.99 to $13.99 a serving plus $12.99 shipping, and its sign-up flow advertised meals "from $4.99/serving," which reflects intro discounts rather than the regular price. Best for: couples and families who want a big menu and flexible box sizes.

Green Chef: diet-specific menus

Green Chef's plans page lists Mediterranean, Plant Based, Gluten Free, High Protein, Calorie Smart, Carb Smart, Functional Nutrition and Quick & Easy menus. Its prices weren't shown before account sign-up, so we list them as varying by plan. Best for: households following a specific eating pattern who'd rather not plan every meal around it.

Factor: prepared meals, no cooking

Factor sends single-serve meals you reheat. Its quote ran from $16.49 a meal for 4 meals a week down to $11.99 a meal at 14 or more, plus $12.99 shipping. Best for: one or two adults who want lunches or dinners with zero cooking.

CookUnity: chef-made prepared meals

CookUnity lists meals "starting from" $12.59, with 4 to 16 meals a week and the option to skip, pause or change your plan. Best for: people who want restaurant-style variety without cooking and are paying more for it.

When a meal kit wins vs. when DIY meal planning wins

Real-life middle ground: keep one or two kit dinners a week for your busiest nights, and plan the rest from groceries. Or run a kit for a month, save the recipes your family likes, and then shop for them yourself.

Getting kit-level convenience from groceries

Most of what a meal kit sells is decisions: what's for dinner, what to buy and how much. You can make those decisions yourself in about half an hour a week.

• Plan five dinners before you shop. Our meal planning on a budget system walks through a full week, and how to meal plan covers the basics for beginners.
• Shop from an aisle-sorted list. Use our grocery list template and the tips in how to grocery shop on a budget.
• Pre-portion like a kit. On shopping day, wash, chop and bag ingredients by recipe. Our healthy meal prep ideas and meal prep on a budget guides show how.
• Keep a "freezer kit" stash. Make-ahead freezer meals and slow cooker recipes cover the nights you'd otherwise order in.
• Lean on fast, cheap recipes. Start with cheap meal ideas, easy dinner ideas and one-pot meals.
• Track prices. A grocery price book shows what your regular store charges, so you know a real deal.
• Want an app instead? Compare options in our meal planning apps roundup.

Swap tip: when you love a kit recipe, write it down with its ingredient amounts before you recycle the card. That one habit can turn a $14.16 kit serving into a grocery serving closer to $4.44 (USDA Moderate-Cost average) the next time you make it.

What to check before you subscribe

• Your real price. Enter your ZIP code and plan size, and look at the price after the intro discount ends.
• Shipping. It's charged per box, so it hurts small plans most.
• Order cutoff. Skip, pause or cancel before each week's cutoff in your account; after it passes, that week's box usually ships and is charged.
• Diet filters. Check how many meals each week fit your needs (vegetarian, high protein, carb-conscious and so on). For ideas at home, see our high-protein meals.
• Delivery and food safety. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service says perishable mail-order food should arrive frozen, partly frozen or at 40°F or below. Open the box right away, check it with a food thermometer, and if it's warmer, contact the company and don't eat or taste it.
• Your budget line. Kits and delivery count as food spending. In a 50/30/20 budget, groceries are a need, but the convenience premium is closer to a want.

Plan your own "kit" weeks with HomeBase printables

If you'd rather keep the convenience and lose the subscription, these are the tools we make for it:

• Meal Planner & Grocery List, $3.99: a 12-page printable with a weekly meal planner, dinner plan and prep page, aisle-sorted grocery list, monthly menu, family favorites, recipe cards, pantry and freezer inventories and a meal prep checklist.
• Family Recipe Binder, $6.99: section dividers, four recipe page layouts, 4x6 and 3x5 cards and a conversion chart, so the kit recipes your family loves become grocery-list dinners.
• Family Life Admin Bundle, $15.99 ($23.95 bought separately): the Meal Planner & Grocery List and Family Recipe Binder, plus a kids chore chart, newborn baby tracker and pet health records.
• Free: recipe book starter pages with a recipe request card, recipe page, table of contents and planner (we email it to you).

Browse all our Printables or save with Bundles. For family-size planning, see how to meal plan for a family.