Our Top Picks: Cheapest Meal Kit Delivery Services at a Glance
The average American household spends over $270 a month eating out. Meal kits won't always beat that number — but the right one can get surprisingly close while keeping you out of the drive-through. Here's the short list before we break everything down:
| Service | Starting Price/Serving | Free Shipping? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| EveryPlate | $4.99 | No ($10.99) | Budget families |
| Dinnerly | $4.99 | No ($8.99) | Singles/couples |
| HelloFresh | $7.49 | No ($9.99) | Variety seekers |
| Gobble | $11.99 | No ($6.99) | Speed + value |
| Marley Spoon | $8.49 | No ($9.99) | Cooking enthusiasts |
How We Tested and Ranked These Budget Meal Kits
We ordered actual boxes from each service — not press samples, not sponsored deliveries. We cooked every meal and tracked five things: actual cost per serving (including shipping), ingredient freshness, portion size, how long recipes actually take, and how easy it is to cancel.
We also checked each company's pricing across different plan sizes, because the per-serving price they advertise almost always assumes you're ordering 4+ meals per week for 4 people. Convenient math for them. Less useful for a couple who just wants three dinners a week.
Cheapest Meal Kit Delivery Reviews: Full Breakdown
EveryPlate — Best Overall Budget Pick
EveryPlate is HelloFresh's no-frills sibling, and it shows. The recipes are simpler, the packaging is stripped down, and the menu rotates weekly with about 25 options. That's the trade-off for hitting $4.99 per serving on larger plans.
What you're giving up: specialty dietary options are limited (minimal vegan, no keto), and the ingredient quality is solid but not premium. What you're keeping: real food, reasonable variety, and a price that doesn't require mental gymnastics to justify.
First box discounts regularly drop it to around $1.99/serving, which is practically grocery-store pricing.
Verdict: If your goal is cutting the restaurant bill without overthinking it, EveryPlate is the answer.
Dinnerly — Cheapest Menu, Smallest Shipping Fee Gap
Dinnerly matches EveryPlate at $4.99 per serving but does something clever: instead of including printed recipe cards, they send you to a digital app. This cuts their overhead, and theoretically yours. The app is fine — not great, not broken.
The recipes trend simpler than EveryPlate's, which some people love and others find boring by week three. They've added a "Market" add-on section where you can throw in pantry staples, yogurt, or proteins at grocery-store-adjacent prices, which is a genuinely useful feature.
Shipping runs $8.99, slightly cheaper than EveryPlate's $10.99 — worth noting if you're on a single-person plan.
Verdict: Good first choice for solo eaters or couples. Menu variety is the weak spot long-term.
HelloFresh — More Expensive, But More Reliable
HelloFresh runs $7.49–$8.99 per serving depending on plan size, which isn't "cheap" compared to the two above. But the menu is significantly wider (40+ choices weekly), ingredient quality is more consistent, and the recipes teach you something occasionally.
It's the most popular meal kit in the U.S. For a reason. If you're comparing this in a cheapest meal kit delivery comparison, it won't win on base price — but it's worth paying the difference if the limited EveryPlate menu frustrates you after a few weeks.
Verdict: Pay a bit more, get meaningfully more. Not the cheapest, but arguably the best value per experience.
Gobble — Fast Meals, Premium Price
Gobble markets itself as a 15-minute dinner solution. Most meals genuinely hit that mark because they pre-chop, pre-marinate, and partially prep ingredients before shipping. You're paying for that labor — $11.99/serving on entry-level plans.
It's not cheap. But if your alternative is ordering Chipotle four nights a week because you're exhausted, Gobble starts making financial sense. Think of it less as a budget service and more as a slightly cheaper personal sous-chef.
Verdict: Only makes sense if speed is your actual constraint. Skip it if you just want the lowest price.
Marley Spoon — Best for Actual Cooks
Martha Stewart's meal kit brand runs $8.49–$10.99/serving and skews toward people who actually enjoy being in the kitchen. Recipes are more technique-forward (you'll learn a proper pan sauce; you'll break down a chicken thigh). Ingredient quality is noticeably higher — better cuts, more seasonal produce.
Not the cheapest, but in a cheapest meal kit delivery service comparison, it earns its spot for people who'd otherwise be spending $12+ at Whole Foods to recreate the same meal.
Verdict: Worth it if cooking is a hobby, not a chore.
Price Per Serving Compared: Every Budget Meal Kit Side by Side
The advertised price is rarely the real price. Here's what you actually pay once shipping is factored into a two-person, three-meals-per-week plan:
- EveryPlate: $4.99/serving + $10.99 shipping = ~$40.93/week (~$6.82/serving real cost)
- Dinnerly: $4.99/serving + $8.99 shipping = ~$38.93/week (~$6.49/serving real cost)
- HelloFresh: $7.49/serving + $9.99 shipping = ~$54.93/week (~$9.16/serving real cost)
- Gobble: $11.99/serving + $6.99 shipping = ~$78.93/week (~$13.16/serving real cost)
- Marley Spoon: $8.49/serving + $9.99 shipping = ~$60.93/week (~$10.16/serving real cost)
The gap between Dinnerly and Gobble is nearly $40 per week. Over a month, that's $160. Over a year, that's $1,920. These aren't rounding errors.
What You Actually Get for the Money (Ingredients, Portions, and Quality)
EveryPlate and Dinnerly use competent but standard ingredients — supermarket-grade chicken breast, basic pantry spices, pre-packaged sauces. Portions are decent: a 2-serving recipe genuinely feeds two adults with normal appetites.
HelloFresh steps it up slightly — better produce sourcing, more interesting proteins occasionally (salmon, shrimp, pork tenderloin), and recipes that feel like someone actually tested them more than once.
Marley Spoon is the outlier. Their produce is visibly fresher, proteins are better sourced, and the recipes are developed with more care. You notice the difference if you've been cooking with EveryPlate for a month and then switch.
One honest caveat across all services: none of them match the quality of buying ingredients yourself from a good butcher or farmers market. You're paying for convenience and planning, not for artisan sourcing.
Hidden Costs to Watch Out For (Shipping, Fees, and Fine Print)
Every service charges for shipping. None offer free shipping on standard plans in 2025. Watch for:
- Shipping fees: $6.99–$10.99 per box depending on service
- Premium meal surcharges: HelloFresh and Marley Spoon add $2–$5 extra for certain proteins (steak, lobster)
- First-box promotions that auto-renew: That $25 discount on box one disappears completely by week two
- Skipping deadlines: Most services require you to skip or cancel by 5–6 days before your delivery date. Miss that window and the box ships, the charge hits.
Set a calendar reminder the day you sign up. This single habit prevents 90% of the billing complaints you'll read in negative reviews.
Best Cheap Meal Kit for Different Lifestyles (Families, Singles, Couples)
Families (4 people): EveryPlate. Four-person plans push per-serving costs down, the kid-friendly recipes are there if you look for them, and you won't resent the bill at the end of the month.
Singles: Dinnerly. The two-serving minimum is the industry standard, so you'll have leftovers — but Dinnerly's lower shipping fee makes the math less painful at smaller quantities.
Couples: EveryPlate or HelloFresh depending on budget. EveryPlate if you want to keep it under $45/week; HelloFresh if you want more menu variety and can live with spending closer to $55.
Busy professionals: Gobble, with eyes open about the price. The time savings are real.
How to Get the Lowest Possible Price on Meal Kit Deliveries
- Stack first-box discounts: Almost every service offers 50–60% off your first box. You can legitimately try two or three services in a row using different email addresses for each.
- Use referral codes: Existing subscribers get referral links worth $20–$40 off. Search Reddit's r/mealkit for active codes before you subscribe.
- Pause, don't cancel: When you call to cancel, every service will offer retention discounts — typically 2–4 weeks of 50% off. Ask before you quit.
- Order the larger plan: Counterintuitively, ordering four meals instead of three per week often drops the per-serving price enough to offset the extra meal cost.
Cheapest Meal Kits vs. Grocery Shopping: Is It Really Worth It?
A home-cooked chicken stir-fry with grocery ingredients costs roughly $3.50–$5.00 per serving if you're an efficient shopper. EveryPlate or Dinnerly comes in at $6.49–$6.82 per serving with shipping.
So no — meal kits don't beat a strategic grocery run on pure price. What they do is eliminate decision fatigue, planning time, and food waste. The average household throws away about $1,500 in food per year. Meal kits send exactly what you need, which reduces that waste significantly.
The real comparison isn't meal kit vs. Cooking — it's meal kit vs. What you'd actually do on a Tuesday night when you didn't plan dinner. For most people, that's takeout at $15–$20 per person.
Flexibility and Cancellation: Which Budget Services Make It Easy to Quit
EveryPlate and HelloFresh both let you cancel entirely online in 3–4 clicks. No phone call required.
Dinnerly cancellation is online but buried in account settings — not difficult, just slightly annoying.
Gobble historically has required a phone call for cancellations. Check their current policy before subscribing if this matters to you.
Marley Spoon is fully online and clean.
All services allow skipping weeks through their apps or websites, which is the better option when you're traveling or just overstocked on food.
Our Ratings and Final Verdict on the Best Cheap Meal Kit Services
| Service | Price | Quality | Variety | Ease of Cancellation | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EveryPlate | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Dinnerly | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| HelloFresh | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Gobble | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Marley Spoon | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Best for most people: EveryPlate Best for serious cooks: Marley Spoon Best for speed: Gobble Best middle ground: HelloFresh
Who Should (and Shouldn't) Try a Budget Meal Kit Delivery
Try it if: - You're spending $15+ per person on takeout more than twice a week - Meal planning feels like a second job - You want to cook more but keep defaulting to delivery apps - You have 30–45 minutes on weeknights
Skip it if: - You genuinely enjoy grocery shopping and already plan meals weekly - You're feeding 5+ people and need serious bulk - Your budget is under $35/week for all food — grocery staples will serve you better - You travel frequently and don't trust yourself to skip deliveries consistently
Start with EveryPlate's first-box promotion, cook three meals, and then decide. You'll know by week one whether this fits your life — and if it doesn't, cancel before the second box ships.