When you Google search “cheapest meal delivery kit,” two brands will appear at the top: Dinnerly and EveryPlate. Both of these brands smash the competition with their low rate of $4.99 per serving. But which company provides a better product for a budget-conscious consumer? We put each brand to the test and are now ready to provide you with our unbiased results!
Dinnerly vs EveryPlate Head to Head
| Dinnerly | EveryPlate | |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | US Only | US Only |
| Cancel anytime? | Yes | Yes |
| Smartphone App | Yes | No |
| Price | $4.99 per serving | $4.99 per serving |
| Customer reviews | 4.0/5, (1069 reviews) | 4.5/5 (2,100 reviews) |
Dinnerly Overview
Dinnerly started offering affordable meal kits to customers across the continental United States in 2017. In fact, Dinnerly was the first meal delivery service to offer $4.99/serving meals. Today, they still offer that low price of $4.99/serving and span nearly 93% of the entire continental United States.
In addition to their affordability, Dinnerly also helps customers save time in the kitchen by providing meals that you can fully prepare in 30 minutes or less. These easy-to-prepare meals require just basic culinary skills that most people possess. Finally, Dinnerly promises that all of their meals are “picky eater approved,” meaning everyone will love what’s for dinner when you cook with Dinnerly!
Key Benefits of Dinnerly
All Dinerly recipes feature:
- High-Quality Produce
- Grass-fed Beef & Antibiotic-free Chicken
- Complete Nutritional Information
- Preparation in 6 Steps or Less!
Additionally, Dinnerly offers:
- Hand-selection of your meals each week
- The ability to skip weeks or pause service
- Scheduling for up to 5 weeks in advance
- 3 vegetarian recipes in each weekly lineup
- A smartphone app (new perk!)
Dinnerly Pricing
| 3 Meals/Week | 4 Meals/Week | 5 Meals/Week | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-Serving | $38.93 with shipping | $48.91 with shipping | $58.89 with shipping |
| 4-Serving | $68.87 with shipping | $88.83 with shipping | $108.79 with shipping |
My Personal Dinnerly Experience
Overall, I felt highly impressed with Dinnerly. Their sign-up process was easy, the menu included great variety, and their website is relatively easy to navigate. They emailed updates when my box shipped and when it arrived at my house, which is handy. Finally, their cancellation process takes no time at all if you decide that Dinnerly isn’t for you.
Although Dinnerly uses minimal packaging, I did feel like each item was well labeled so that I could easily identify what it was. I also loved that each of their recipes only required 6 steps (or less) and that they provided ways to enhance the meal if you wanted to challenge yourself. The portion sizes were adequate, they clearly did their homework on the meals they labeled as kid-friendly, and cleanup was a breeze.
My only complaint was the digital recipe cards. I tried reading them from my phone the first night and that resulted in a messy phone screen. However, once I printed them out, cooking went much easier.
Drawbacks to Dinnerly
1. Limited Menu Options For Dietary Restrictions
Although Dinnerly offers 3 vegetarian recipes each week, they do not provide any vegan or allergen-free options for customers with allergy-related dietary needs. With that being said, some of their recipes can easily be altered with a few items from your home to make them meet your specific dietary needs. You can always preview the menu online up to 5 weeks in advance and plan ahead based on your specific dietary needs.
2. No Printed Recipe Cards
One of Dinnerly’s cost-cutting measures include only providing their customers with digital recipe cards online. This means that when you receive your order, it will not include the full-color print recipe cards that so many other similar companies offer. However, you can always print the recipe card from the website if you work better with hardcopy recipes while cooking.
3. No Complex Recipes
Since Dinnerly’s target audience is anyone looking for cheap, easy-to-prepare meals, they do not offer any complex or challenging menu items. In fact, all of their meals prepare within 30 minutes. If you’re looking to really boost your culinary skills with a meal delivery kit, consider more involved options like HelloFresh or Blue Apron.
EveryPlate Overview
EveryPlate is a relatively new player in the meal delivery market. In fact, the company hasn’t even hit their 2 year mark yet! Just like Dinnerly, EveryPlate is one of the more budget-friendly meal delivery kits on the market. They also offer their meals at a mere $4.99 per serving, and their weekly menu lineup includes 8 recipe choices.
EveryPlate only charges a flat shipping rate each week, regardless of which plan you select. EveryPlate currently delivers everywhere within the continental United States, but their available delivery dates vary based on your exact geographical location.
Key Benefits of EveryPlate
All EveryPlate recipes feature:
- Quality, responsibly-sourced ingredients
- Preparation in 6 steps or less!
- Lists of potential allergens
Additionally, EveryPlate offers:
- Hand-selection of your meals each week
- The ability to skip weeks
- Dietarily-diverse menu options
EveryPlate Pricing
| Cost Per Serving | Total Per Week (includes shipping) | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Meals for 2 People | $4.99 | $38.93 |
| 4 Meals for 2 People | $4.99 | $48.91 |
| 5 Meals for 2 People | $4.99 | $58.89 |
My Personal EveryPlate Experience
I found my week with EveryPlate to be a mostly positive experience. Everything shipped and arrived as expected, and the produce looked great. They shipped everything with as minimal packaging as possible, which left some items less labeled than I would have liked, but I figured it all out with the help of the recipe cards.
Most of the EveryPlate recipes were fairly simple, each containing around 6 steps. However, I felt like the directions could be written in a slightly better format. I enjoyed each of the recipes I prepared, even the most exotic one in the lineup.
I only have two complaints about EveryPlate. The first is that I felt the meat quality was a bit lacking in comparison to other meal kits (including Dinnerly). The other complaint is actually about everything I’ve experienced since cancelling. Their sales people really want you to stay, and they will call you several times after you cancel. Not the end of the world, but a bit annoying.
Drawbacks to EveryPlate
1. Limited Menu Options For Dietary Restrictions
Since EveryPlate only provides a very limited amount of weekly recipe options, they do not provide any recipes that accommodate those with specific dietary restrictions. In fact, they typically don’t even include vegetarian options within their weekly recipes. They do, however, list all ingredients and provide disclaimers for potential allergens on each recipe card.
2. Low-Quality Meats
Personally, I wasn’t impressed with any of the meats provided for EveryPlate recipes. I understand that they are a budget-friendly service, but even in comparison to Dinnerly, I felt like their meats lacked quality processing.
3. Pushy Sales People
After I did a full review of EveryPlate, I went through their easy online cancellation process. Unfortunately, my communications with EveryPlate didn’t end there. I received weekly calls for over a month from EveryPlate’s customer service department asking me to complete a short phone survey to receive a discount offer for their service. Even after completing the survey, they continued to call me and ask me to complete the same survey. Eventually, after I explained to multiple callers that I had already finished the survey and did not plan to return even with the discount offer, they stopped calling.
Dinnerly vs. EveryPlate: Which plan is right for you?
Here’s the thing: Both Dinnerly and EveryPlate charge the same price per serving and the same shipping rate. However, there are a few differences.
Dinnerly offers 14 recipe choices each week, including 3 vegetarian options. You can receive 3-5 meals with either the 2 or 4 serving plan. Finally, Dinnerly is all about going paperless, so their recipe cards are only available through digital download or their new smartphone app.
EveryPlate only offers 9 recipe choices each week, and only one of those is typically a meat-free entree. Their 4-serving plan is limited to only 3 meals per week, meaning families can’t stock their fridge for the entire work week. With that being said, EveryPlate does provide printed recipe cards (this also means they don’t have a smartphone app, though).
My recommendation? Visit each brand’s website and preview their menus, then try out whichever one looks the most delicious. Remember, you can easily cancel and try the other at any time.
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