10 Most Affordable Meal Delivery Services Of 2025

A meal delivery service is a good way to make dinnertime easy. These helpful subscriptions deliver ingredients or even cooked meals, using insulated containers and bags to keep your food fresh. When you're ready for dinner, just follow the included recipe card to whip something up or pop your prepared dish in the microwave for even easier meal prep.

However, you'll often pay a higher price for the convenience. Some meal delivery services with premium ingredients or that work with highly specialized diet plans can double or triple your weekly grocery budget. This can make them unsustainable for the long term if you're trying to keep your food spending in check.

Fortunately, there are also services and plans that offer a good bang for your buck — even for those who want or need a restricted or specialty diet. While they're typically pricier than if you bought the ingredients at the store yourself — especially if you're good at grocery budgeting — you can end up coming out ahead if you're only getting the portions that you need. 

We looked at the long-term affordability of these plans to see which would work for those paying close attention to the overall cost. Many meal services have fantastic introductory rates, and then hit you with a premium to keep getting deliveries. We still mentioned the introductory pricing when it was available, but spent more time evaluating the actual ongoing monthly or weekly fees. After our extensive research, these are the most affordable options out there.

One of the most popular meal delivery services is HelloFresh. The company delivers to a wide range and prices meals per serving so that you can see exactly how much you'll pay before placing your order.

Each serving costs around $10, with the exception of the two meal per week for two people plan, which is another $1.50 extra. If you start with a lower amount per week and want to increase later (or vice versa), you can do that without paying any extra fees. 

You can customize for family-friendly meals, vegetarian, or other preferences. HelloFresh offers a lot of customization, including swapping out the planned menus for other options. If you see a different meat and side combo that you'd like to try, it's easy to switch them out when you place your order. If you prefer to have the planning done for you, just put your subscription on auto and let the team pick out your menu, ship you the ingredients and recipe cards, and start cooking. 

HelloFresh does offer a lot of introductory promotions, so be sure to look for one on the website before starting to take advantage of more savings. The company also offers a senior discount as well as special savings for military members, nurses, medical providers, first responders, and teachers. All you have to do to get 15% off for an entire year is verify your status with your ID.

Dinnerly has made a name for itself as the affordable meal delivery service. You can get meals for as little as $6 per person. This super low price is for the largest weekly box, which is designed to provide six meals per week for four people. The price per meal goes up as the order size goes down. The highest cost of this meal kit is for smaller boxes with two meals per week for two people, but still tops out at $9 per serving. You'll have to pay shipping, which is an additional $10 or $11.

To make the most of your budget, stick with the saver meals on the plan. These are available at a slight discount, usually around $1, but come with pretty basic ingredients. If you have simple taste or just want to keep the prep work even lower while also coming in under budget, this is a good option. Premium recipes, on the other hand, have a slight upcharge for more gourmet ingredients. Fortunately, you'll see exactly what is on the planned menu for the week and be able to make any swaps that you want before payment and shipping. You can also put in your preferences for kid-friendly dishes, easy weeknight dishes with little cooking time, or dietary restrictions.

Introductory rates are a great way to try it out and save money. Dinnerly also has a market with snacks, drinks, desserts, and more convenient food items that you can add to your box.

Home Chef comes in at the low end of meal delivery services and most servings cost around $10. When you order just two meals for two people, the price goes up to $12 per serving. This is still a great value and a good way to cut down on extra food waste and purchases that you won't use since all of the ingredients come pre-portioned with just what you need.

You can pick between express meals, meal kits, oven-ready meals already assembled, microwavable meals, or premium options. The prices can vary, however, with the more convenient and gourmet picks coming with a higher price tag. Pay close attention when you pick your box, since they are all included in the same place on the website. Be aware that there is an extra delivery fee as well.

If you are a member of the military, a first responder, a health care professional, or a teacher, you'll get a 10% discount on all boxes and a whopping 50% off your first box. Students, alumni, and government officials get 50% off the first four boxes that they order. You'll have to provide proof of your status through a verified ID. Everyone who signs up for the introductory discounts gets great pricing on the first few orders, then comes back to the standard pricing after that period. If you fit in one of the discount categories, however, you may be able to get extra savings.

Meal services made for just two people tend to be the most expensive, but EveryPlate has some of the lowest pricing for the smallest boxes. Even if you're cooking for just yourself, you can get a two-meal plan and have lunch and dinner a couple of nights per week. For just two meals for two people, it costs $8 per serving. Compare this to $11 or $12 per serving from other budget-friendly services and it's easy to see why this one made the cut. The largest boxes have servings starting at $6, which is hard to beat even when you're budget-shopping for ingredients yourself at the store. These come with five meals per week for six people and can take care of a big chunk of your grocery bill for under $200.

EveryPlate keeps costs down by reducing packaging and keeping recipes simple. You can search by type of dietary needs, family-friendly options, or customer favorites that have tried and tested by other EveryPlate users. This is a good way to try new recipes that have still earned the seal of approval from other home cooks. 

Like with other meal delivery services, take advantage of special starting offers to save even more. Just be aware that your costs will go up once the introductory period is over.

Blue Apron is another of the well-known meal delivery services and the company offers great introductory specials. Once you're past that initial period, the costs do go up but are still pretty budget-friendly. Prices range from $8 to $12 per person depending on the size of your box. Five meals per week for four people are on the lower end, while two meals per week for just two people are the most. Shipping adds another $10 to your order, so be sure to include that in your overall budgeting.

Doctors, nurses, hospital employees, first responders, military, seniors over the age of 55, students, teachers, alumni, and government workers all get special discounts as well. Get an even more budget-friendly option by verifying your status with an ID.

Prepared and ready options can be heated up in the microwave for extra convenient eating. They typically only take a few minutes. They are available as add-ons to your normal box. If you want to order more or fewer meal kits from week to week, you can also make those changes before being charged. The market is also a great place to buy individual meal kits without committing to a weekly subscription or box. You can try out Blue Apron to see if it will work for you, and then decide on a box size later if you want to keep going. These kits range from $24 to $90 depending on the size and what's included.

Marley Spoon is a newer name to the meal delivery service game, but these kits are also well-priced to bring fresh ingredients to your kitchen. By sending you just what you need for the right number of servings, you also cut down on food waste.

You can get enough servings for four people to eat six times per week starting at $9 each. The prices goes up to $13 for each portion with smaller boxes, down to two meals per week for just two people. Shipping is $11 per box, which is pretty average and standard for all sizes. The box comes with all of the ingredients ready to go and pre-portioned, plus recipe cards that you can save and recreate in the future.

Marley Spoon also has recipes from none other than the queen hostess herself, Martha Stewart. You can make some of Martha Stewart's favs in your own kitchen. The menu items with her stamp on them focus on seasonal ingredients that are rich in both nutrients and taste. Sustainability is also an important part of the Marley Spoon mission, with a sustainability report and recycling program provided to customers — you can feel good about your budget, the planet, and your tasty meal.

Gobble is very clear about pricing and what you can expect in each box. There are three meal plans to choose from: classic, lean and clean, and vegetarian. You can always swap out meals as you customize your box, but the same pricing applies to all so you never have to worry about going over budget. When you sign up, you can pick between dinner for four people or two people and how many nights you want a meal kit between two and five. 

The larger boxes, which serve four people five nights per week, cost $12 per serving. Pricing per meal goes up as the boxes get smaller with two meals per week for two people costing $17 per serving. This is a little bit higher than some other meal delivery services on our list, but we like how transparent and consistent the pricing is. It doesn't matter which meal you choose because you'll always get the same cost per meal, so long as your box size remains the same.

Gobble boasts that the meals can be prepared in 15 minutes or less, which is quite impressive. If you want something super convenient both on the ordering side and the cooking side that doesn't fluctuate a lot in price, this is a great option. Introductory offers bring the cost down for a short trial so you can see if it will work for you.

If you're looking for a meal delivery service that focuses on a healthy lifestyle without breaking the bank, Splendid Spoon should be on your radar. Servings start around $10 per plate and are specially designed to provide a balance of nutrients. Rather than get a rotating menu, you can choose between boxes with 6, 12, or 18 items. Then, you can select your dishes from a long list of smoothies, soups, noodles, hot dishes, and wellness shots. Smoothies are the least expensive at $10 while the 5-pack of shots is the most at around $21 each. You'll get your final pricing based on what you select and how big your box is, with larger boxes getting reduced pricing.

Everything is plant-based without any meat or dairy anywhere on the menu. This can be tricky to navigate when you're sifting through other extensive menus, so the fact that you don't have to carefully scan every ingredients list makes this even easier for those following a plant-based diet. There are also a lot of organic ingredients included, although not everything is organic. Hot items come ready to heat and eat, which is super convenient and doesn't require cooking.

If you really want to dive into plant-based eating made easy, you can go with the 5 day detox plan. Discounted pricing is available compared to a normal five-day box. The plan includes everything that you need, plus helpful guidance, to build healthy habits.

Another plant-based option that makes mealtime easy is Purple Carrot. Even turning vegetarian recipes vegan can be challenging, so Purple Carrot is a good choice if you want the ability to search and filter based on your dietary preferences.

The kits come with pre-portioned ingredients that you can cook and assemble, ready-to-eat meals that only require heating, and even groceries. One of the things that we like about customizing boxes with Purple Carrot is that you can see the price per serving right on each menu card that you select. You can always tell them your preferences and let Purple Carrot select the meals for your box, if you want to keep things super simple.

If you go with a four-person box with four meals per week, you'll pay just $11 per serving. There aren't as many size options as some other meal delivery services. You can only select three or four meals per week that serve either two or four people. Like with other services, however, larger boxes offer better pricing per serving. The three meals per week for two people box costs just over $13 per serving.

Purple Carrot partners with top brands that you'd see in the grocery store to make shopping extra convenient as well. All you have to do is add the extras to your box and they come right to your door. Protein bars, individual oatmeal packs, chips, and other snacks are all available through the market portion of Purple Carrot.

Cook Unity has a special connection with the chefs that curate meals, which is shared with customers as well in each menu card. We're not talking celebrity chefs, but rather chefs who put their own innovative touch on meals that they are actually preparing in the kitchen for you. When you receive your box, you'll also get insight from each chef.

These are super easy to prepare since everything is already cooked. All you have to do is heat things up and enjoy. They come fresh rather than frozen and are delivered in an insulated container to keep them chilled. You can pick your own menu or let Cook Unity select a curated box based on the preferences that you share. You can also search by chef to find all of the meals that they make.

When you get 16 meals per week in your box, you can get them for as little as $11 per serving. If you're only doing four meals per week, the price goes up to just over $14 per meal. If you consider that this is also one of the most convenient meal delivery services, the slightly higher cost makes a lot of sense. You don't even have to cook to enjoy a home-cooked meal!

You can get big savings on introductory offers, up to 50%, but these only apply to the first week — that's a good way to try things out. You can cancel your subscription without any penalty.