If you’ve been spending some time researching meal delivery services, you know the options are overwhelming. Browsing through the sites, they all look so good but the details of who offers what is overwhelming. It’s hard to keep them straight, and even harder to choose.
One of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want prepared meals delivered to your door or if you prefer meal kits, which include all the ingredients and instructions you need to make a great meal. If you’ve done some research, you’ve found yourself at the point where you’re considering Freshly Vs Blue Apron.
Freshly and Blue Apron are two of the most popular names in the meal delivery industry. Blue Apron is a leading brand in meal kit delivery while Freshly has made a name for themselves in the world fresh delivered prepared meals. How do the two compare, and which is best for you? Let’s take a look.
Table of Contents
Freshly
Pros
- Heat & eat meals can be on the table in under 5 minutes
- Cost is less than many other heat & eat services
- Meals are delivered fresh, not frozen
- Excellent variety with more than 30 menu options each week
- More options for special dietary needs
Cons
- Less control over the taste of your meals
- Fresh, premade meals have a shorter shelf-life
- No information about their use of organic or non-GMO ingredients
- Poor customer service reviews
Blue Apron
Pros
- Making your own meals gives you more control in the quality of the outcome
- Great for people who enjoy spending a little time in the kitchen
- Blue Apron offers wine add-ons to elevate their casual cuisine
- Blue Apron uses only non-GMO ingredients
- Blue Apron is committed to ethics, sustainability, and uses organic ingredients when possible
Cons
- Not the best option for people who want to be in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible
- Some Blue Apron meals take nearly an hour to prepare
- Limited menu selection compared to Freshly
- You need to contact Blue Apron directly to cancel your subscription
- Few options for special dietary needs
Dietary Options
Freshly
Diets
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Paleo
- Keto
- Whole30
- Mediterranean
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Diabetic-Friendly
- Weight Loss
Blue Apron
Options aren’t always plentiful when you have special dietary considerations. Even regular grocery shopping can be a challenge, so meal delivery might seem hopeless. Fortunately, many companies are aware of the challenges faced by those with special dietary needs. Here is how Blue Apron and Freshly compare.
If you’re looking for meal delivery that will deliver calorie-conscious meals to your door, Blue Apron is a good option. Blue Apron offers meals that come in under 500 calories, as well as carb-conscious selections. You’ll find a few vegetarian options as well. These choices are about the extent of dietary options offered by Blue Apron.
If you have food allergies or sensitivities, Freshly provides enough options to satisfy a range of dietary needs. Freshly includes categories such as dairy-free, soy-free, low-carb, high-protein, and all of their meals are gluten-free. They also offer selections for those that follow a vegetarian diet.
Dietary Options Winner
Meal Prep & Variety
Freshly
- 32
- 4 Meals for 1 Person
Diets
- Choose Your Own Meals
- Number of Meals Available
- Minimum Order
Blue Apron
- 50+
- 2 Meals for 2 People
Meal prep is a category where Blue Apron and Freshly are going to stand apart from each other. Blue Apron offers meal kits. You browse their menu, choose the meals that look and sound the most delicious, and then they send you all the high-quality ingredients and instructions to make a meal you’ll hopefully love.
With Freshly you also browse a selection of meals from their menu. The difference is that Freshly delivers the meals, fresh and already prepared, to your door. You simply heat and eat with no worry about prep, cooking, or cleanup.
For variety, Blue Apron offers about 12 different meal options each week. The dishes you’ll find on Blue Apron’s menu tend to be classic and traditional style meals that have been livened up with new flavors. Blue Apron does a good job of introducing new spice mixes and showing you new ways to use everyday ingredients.
Freshly offers more than 30 meal options to choose from each week. Freshly does a good job of diversifying their menu with classic dinnertime staples and worldly inspired cuisines. For example, you might choose a classic like Sausage Baked Penne or something new and different, such as their Smokey Pork Cubano Bowl.
Dietary Options Winner
Ingredients
Freshly
Diets
- Non-GMO
- Organic
- Grass Fed
- Wild-Caught
Blue Apron
Quality ingredients are everything when it comes to meal delivery services. When quality falls short, so does everything else. Your time and money are valuable, so let’s make sure you’re getting the highest quality ingredients for your money.
Blue Apron has a policy that all their suppliers are certified non-GMO. Ethical sourcing and sustainability are key priorities at Blue Apron. They source many of their ingredients from a network of more than 100 family-run farms. Their commitment to quality ingredients comes through in Blue Apron’s customer reviews.
Freshly is also committed to quality ingredients and promises their meals to contain zero artificial ingredients, preservatives, or added sugars. Because Freshly’s meals are prepared before they reach you, it isn’t always easy to spot the overall quality of the ingredients before you actually taste them.
Ingredients Winner
Taste & Sample Meals
Freshly
- Chicken Livorno
- Turkey Mushroom Meatballs
- Springtime Chicken Pilaf
Blue Apron
- Seared Steaks & Calabrian Chile Butter with Collard Greens & Cheesy Potatoes
- Mediterranean Farro Bowls
- White Cheddar Cheeseburgers
When it’s all said and done, you want meals that taste great. Otherwise, what’s the point? Taste preferences can vary widely, meaning that many meal delivery services aren’t a one-size-fits-all option. When comparing the taste and sample meals of Freshly Vs Hello fresh, here’s what we found.
Blue Apron meals consistently offer up good flavors with selections that take an elevated twist on favorite classics. Blue Aprons ingredients and meals are simple but they supply spices, sauces, and unique flavor combinations that make their meals far from boring.
Freshly receives excellent customer reviews for the taste of their prepared meals. Some people shy away from prepared meal delivery because they see them as being a higher-priced version of the grocery store’s freezer section. This isn’t Freshly at all. Their prepared meals offer freshness, great taste, and diverse flavor options.
Dietary Options Winner
Pricing
Freshly
MEALS PER WEEK | PRICE PER SERVING |
4 | $7.49 |
6 | $6.39 |
8 | $6.19 |
10 | $5.99 |
12 | $5.69 |
18 | $5.49 |
Blue Apron
RECIPES PER WEEK | 2 People | 4 People |
Two | $3.24 | $5.12 |
Three | $4.16 | $5.57 |
Four | $5.12 | $5.80 |
Considering a meal delivery service but also staring down into your wallet wondering if you can find one that fits your budget? Meal delivery doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. Both Blue Apron and Freshly prove this point.
Blue Apron comes in at under $10 per portion, and in some cases, prices can go as low as $7.99. If you can justify paying for a trip through the drive-thru for dinner, Blue Apron will fit in your budget just fine. Blue Apron also wins accolades for the quality and portion sizes they provide at such a reasonable price point.
Freshly’s price point is higher than Blue Apron’s but only marginally. The slight increase in price makes sense considering all the prep work is done for you with meals from Freshly.
Both companies charge shipping fees. Blue Apron charges a flat rate fee of $8.99 per order but Freshly is less forthcoming with their shipping charges. Shipping isn’t revealed until you place your order and if you have questions about the cost beforehand, you’ll need to contact them directly.
Pricing Winner
Get up to 16 meals free across 6 orders (a $130 value)—plus, your first order ships free!
Packaging & Recycling
Freshly
Blue Apron
While Blue Apron and Freshly are different types of meal delivery services, they share some similarities with packaging. Both depend on quality packaging to protect the contents and keep them fresh.
With Blue Apron you’ll need to do a little bit of sorting but it’s nothing major. Freshly, meals come pre-packaged and include heating instructions on the packaging. To preserve the freshness of their meals, Freshly uses modified atmospheric packaging. This process improves the shelf-life of their meals by 200%.
Almost all packaging materials used by Blue Apron and Freshly are recyclable. Blue Apron provides an entire page on their website that details how to recycle or possibly reuse their packaging materials. Freshly offers a very short video (less than a minute) on how to recycle their packaging.
Dietary Options Winner
Customer Service
Freshly
Diets
- Skip a Week
- Pause
- Cancel
Blue Apron
- Difficult
The level of customer service from the meal delivery company you choose can make or break your experience. Unfortunately, this is one of those details that you don’t always know until you’ve already committed to a service. Learning what you can about a meal delivery service’s approach to customer service is important.
Both Freshly and Blue Apron make it easy to manage your account online and take care of most issues on your own. They stand head to head in terms of shipping, refunds, etc. The one place where they divert is in their cancellation policies. With Freshly you can cancel your account online but Blue Apron requires you to contact them directly.
Like many things, the proof is in the pudding so it’s also important to look at what actual customers of Freshly and Blue Apron have to say about their customer service. Many meal delivery companies have taken a hit in their reviews due to being overwhelmed by an increase in Covid-19 related business.
That said, Freshly has a longer-standing history of not-so-great reviews of their customer service. There seems to be a few weak spots that their customers have repeatedly pointed out.
Customer Service Winner
Winner
Blue Apron
While both companies are great, in the battle of Blue Apron Vs Freshly, Blue Apron comes out on top. Blue Apron wins our vote overall due to their commitment to quality non-GMO ingredients, sustainability, and long-standing quality of their meals.
Still, one of the main deciding factors between Blue Apron and Freshly is if you want pre-made meals or meal kits. These two companies are close enough to each other in so many ways that it’s impossible to say one is better for everyone.
Choose Freshly if you:
- Like the idea of having a freshly prepared meal on your table in under 5 minutes
- Are avoiding gluten or have other special dietary concerns
- Like the variety that Freshly offers with more than 30 meal options
- Are busy and want a healthier option than take-out or fast-food
- Are nutritionally-minded and enjoy eating balanced meals
Choose Blue Apron if you:
- Like the idea of preparing meals without the hassle of shopping and meal planning
- Appreciate add-ons like Blue Apron’s wine service
- Are looking for a calorie-conscious meal delivery service
- Appreciate a low a predictable shipping cost
- Value the use of non-GMO and organic ingredients whenever possible