Blue Apron and EveryPlate are at opposite ends of the meal kit pricing spectrum. Blue Apron is a premium, chef-curated service at $9.99 to $15.99 per meal with a wine pairing add-on. EveryPlate is the budget option in the HelloFresh AG portfolio at $5.49 to $7.99 per meal with a deliberately simple format. If the question is which is cheaper, EveryPlate wins by a wide margin. If the question is which delivers a better culinary experience, Blue Apron is not close. The real question is which one fits your actual priorities.
Last updated: June 2026. Prices verified against each service’s current website.
Quick verdict: EveryPlate wins on price and simplicity. Blue Apron wins on culinary quality, ingredient sourcing, and wine pairing. If you need to eat well on a tight budget and do not need ambitious recipes, EveryPlate is one of the best values in meal kit delivery. If culinary craft and a better overall experience are worth paying more for, Blue Apron justifies its premium. These two services solve genuinely different problems.
- EveryPlate is owned by HelloFresh AG, the same company that operates HelloFresh and Green Chef. Blue Apron is independent.
- EveryPlate keeps costs low partly by using fewer packaging elements and simpler ingredients. The trade-off is less variety and less culinary ambition.
- Blue Apron’s wine add-on ships every 4 weeks on a separate cadence from your weekly meal delivery.
- EveryPlate is one of the very few meal kits where the per-meal cost is genuinely competitive with cooking from scratch at a grocery store.
Ratings Scorecard
| Category | Blue Apron | EveryPlate |
|---|---|---|
| Price per meal | 4/10 | 10/10 |
| Culinary depth per recipe | 9/10 | 5/10 |
| Ingredient quality | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Wine pairing add-on | 9/10 | 0/10 |
| Beginner-friendliness | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Recipe variety | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Good for tight budgets | 3/10 | 10/10 |
| Good for culinary exploration | 9/10 | 4/10 |
Blue Apron vs EveryPlate at a Glance
| Category | Blue Apron | EveryPlate |
|---|---|---|
| Price per meal | $9.99–$15.99 | $5.49–$7.99 |
| Shipping | $10.99 | $10.99 |
| Recipes per week | ~16 | ~20+ |
| Wine add-on | Yes | No |
| Specialty diet plans | Wellness plan | None structured |
| Ingredient complexity | Chef-curated, varied | Simple, 5–7 ingredients |
| Parent company | Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) | HelloFresh AG |
| Best for | Culinary enthusiasts | Budget-conscious households |
Pricing: EveryPlate Is Dramatically Cheaper
EveryPlate starts at $5.49/meal and tops out at $7.99/meal, plus $10.99 shipping. Blue Apron starts at $9.99/meal and reaches $15.99/meal on smaller plans, plus $10.99 shipping. Both services charge the same shipping, so the per-meal difference is the entire gap. For a 2-person household ordering 3 meals per week:
| Plan (2 people, 3 meals/week) | Blue Apron | EveryPlate |
|---|---|---|
| Per meal | $11.99–$12.99 | $5.99–$6.99 |
| Weekly food cost | ~$72–$78 | ~$36–$42 |
| Shipping | $10.99 | $10.99 |
| Weekly total | ~$83–$89 | ~$47–$53 |
| Monthly savings with EveryPlate | ~$120–$165/month | |
That is not a marginal difference. Over a year, EveryPlate saves a 2-person household $1,400 to $2,000 compared to Blue Apron for the same delivery frequency. For budget-conscious households, this is the defining factor.
EveryPlate: What You Get at That Price
EveryPlate keeps costs low through simplicity: fewer ingredients per recipe (typically 5 to 7), simpler preparations, less varied sourcing, and reduced packaging. The recipe cards are straightforward. Cook time averages 30 to 40 minutes. The flavor output is solid for the price. A classic chicken parmesan, a beef and broccoli stir-fry, a sausage and potato sheet pan dinner. These are reliable weeknight dinners, not culinary adventures. EveryPlate does exactly what it promises: affordable, simple, home-cooked dinners delivered to your door.
Blue Apron: What You Get at the Premium Price
Blue Apron’s per-recipe investment shows in the cooking experience. Chef-developed recipes with technique-forward preparations: brown-butter finishes, japchae noodles, fregola pasta, pickled cherry gastrique, seared duck. Ingredient sourcing is more varied and higher quality. Recipe cards push your skills forward. The wine add-on delivers 6 curated bottles every 4 weeks for $65 to $75, selected to pair with that period’s menu. None of this exists at EveryPlate’s price point, and it should not. They are aiming at different customers.
Try EveryPlate: Get EveryPlate for $1.49 per meal on your first box.
Try Blue Apron: Get 3 free meals on your first Blue Apron box.
Who Wins: Category Breakdown
Budget: EveryPlate, decisively. $5.49 versus $9.99 at the floor. Culinary quality: Blue Apron. Chef-developed recipes with technique and better ingredient sourcing. Beginners: EveryPlate. Simple recipes, minimal ingredients, low intimidation. Wine pairing: Blue Apron, exclusively. Cooking skill development: Blue Apron. The recipes push you forward in the kitchen.
The Final Call
If your primary constraint is budget and you want reliable, simple weeknight dinners delivered to your door without spending more than necessary, EveryPlate is one of the best options in the meal kit category. If culinary craft, quality ingredients, and an optional wine pairing experience are worth paying a significant premium for, Blue Apron justifies its price for the right customer.
Read our full Blue Apron review and EveryPlate review. Also compare Blue Apron vs Dinnerly for a comparison against another budget-tier option, or HelloFresh vs Blue Apron for a closer premium-tier matchup.
Delivery Coverage and First Order Tips
Blue Apron operates its own distribution and ships to most continental U.S. zip codes, delivering Monday through Friday. EveryPlate, operated by HelloFresh Group, uses HelloFresh logistics and covers a similar geographic footprint. Delivery day options vary by location for both services; urban and suburban areas typically have two to three available days while rural zip codes are often assigned a fixed day. Neither service ships to Hawaii or Alaska. First boxes on both services arrive within five to seven business days of completing signup.
For new EveryPlate subscribers, the weekly order cutoff is the key habit to establish immediately. The cutoff falls five to six days before your delivery date, and missing it generates a default box at the standard rate. Setting a recurring calendar reminder right after signup is the most reliable approach, since EveryPlate does not push cutoff alerts by default. The weekly menu is small enough to review and select from in under five minutes.
Blue Apron new subscribers have a larger menu to explore and a more feature-rich app. The Blue Apron app includes step-by-step cooking videos for select recipes, which is worth using in the first few boxes while you familiarize yourself with the recipe card format. Blue Apron also offers an optional Wine subscription that ships separately and can be added or removed at any time. Both services allow week-by-week skipping from account settings, and using skip in week two while you evaluate the first delivery is a straightforward way to avoid paying for a second box before you have formed an opinion.
Ingredient Quality and Food Freshness
Blue Apron uses conventional sourcing but applies culinary quality standards through partnerships with restaurant-grade suppliers. Proteins are above commodity grade, produce is fresh and properly sized, and specialty items appear regularly in the catalog: housemade pasta, artisanal spice blends, chef-developed sauces. Blue Apron's recipe development team uses ingredients that reward technique, which means the quality of the finished dish often exceeds what the raw ingredient grade would suggest. The service does not have an organic program, but its culinary investment in ingredient selection and recipe design puts it in the upper tier of conventional meal kit sourcing.
EveryPlate uses conventional ingredients at the budget tier of the meal kit market. Proteins are standard commodity cuts, chicken breast, ground beef, pork loin, shrimp, sourced through the HelloFresh Group supply network but at the lower price point. Produce is conventional supermarket grade. Packaging is lighter than HelloFresh to reduce cost: a thinner insulated liner and a smaller ice pack ratio. For households where cost is the primary constraint, the ingredient quality is functional and adequate for simple weeknight cooking. For households that prioritize premium proteins, organic produce, or specialty sourcing, EveryPlate does not serve those needs by design.
Ingredient quality edge: Blue Apron. Blue Apron's above-commodity conventional sourcing with a quality focus stands against EveryPlate's budget conventional sourcing focused on cost reduction, a meaningful difference that shows up in protein grade and produce freshness and is proportional to the price gap between the two services.
Who Gets the Most from Each Service
Choose Blue Apron if your household treats cooking as a genuine interest and appreciates culinary depth. Blue Apron's weekly catalog is smaller than HelloFresh (fewer options per week) but consistently more ambitious in technique and flavor development. The optional wine subscription pairs curated bottles with that week's meal selections, a feature unique to Blue Apron in the meal kit category. Blue Apron is well-suited to households that have tried a high-volume service and want fewer but more carefully curated weekly choices. The WW (Weight Watchers)-approved wellness menu is useful for households tracking specific calorie targets. At $9.99 to $15.49 per serving, Blue Apron prices similarly to HelloFresh, making the choice between them a matter of culinary style rather than budget.
Choose EveryPlate if cost is the primary constraint and cooking is not a problem. EveryPlate is the most affordable meal kit from a major provider at $4.49 to $6.99 per serving. For households cooking regularly that want to reduce grocery shopping without increasing the food budget, EveryPlate delivers functional, satisfying weeknight dinners at the lowest consistent price in the market. It is also a strong starting point for households trialing meal kits for the first time who want to evaluate the subscription format before committing to a higher price point. There are no specialty dietary plans, no organic sourcing, and no premium packaging, by design. The target user is a household that needs dinner covered cheaply, not one seeking a premium experience.
Cancellation, Pausing, and Subscription Management
Both Blue Apron and EveryPlate allow cancellation through account settings with no contract and no cancellation fee. Blue Apron allows cancellation or pausing in account settings; the optional wine subscription can be paused independently of the meal kit subscription. EveryPlate allows week-by-week skipping and cancellation through account settings with no fee or required retention call. Both services charge for deliveries when the weekly ordering cutoff is missed, typically five to six days before your delivery date, so setting a recurring calendar reminder prevents unwanted charges. Account credits for ingredient quality issues are available from both services; contacting customer service within 24 hours of a delivery produces the fastest resolution on either platform.
Packaging and Delivery Experience
Blue Apron: Blue Apron uses an insulated box with a gel-ice liner and color-coded bags per recipe. The packaging skews premium, thick recipe cards, well-printed ingredient labels, and proteins in vacuum-sealed portions. Blue Apron has made commitments to reduce plastic and now ships some items without individual portion bags. The box handles 24-hour unattended delivery in most climates.
EveryPlate: EveryPlate ships in a thinner insulated box than HelloFresh, this is a deliberate cost-cutting measure that keeps per-meal prices low. The gel ice is typically sufficient for 24-hour delivery, though tighter temperature windows may apply in summer. Ingredient bags are labeled and grouped by recipe. The packaging is functional but sparse; recipe cards are standard size with fewer photos than premium competitors.
Packaging: roughly even. Blue Apron: Premium presentation, improving on plastic reduction. Cold chain is reliable; packaging reflects the higher price point. EveryPlate: Budget-appropriate, thinner liner and fewer extras keep costs down. Adequate for most climates but less buffer than premium brands.
App and Digital Experience
Blue Apron: Blue Apron's app (iOS 4.6 / Android 3.9) covers meal selection, upcoming deliveries, and a recipe archive. Video content and wine pairing suggestions are useful extras. The Android version has historically lagged behind iOS in stability. Account management is functional but the UI feels slightly dated compared to HelloFresh or Factor.
EveryPlate: EveryPlate's app (iOS 4.6 / Android 4.0) covers the basics: browse meals, select your weekly box, manage delivery dates, and skip weeks. It shares infrastructure with the HelloFresh family, which means it's reliable and well-maintained, but EveryPlate-specific features are minimal. No recipe video library or advanced customization, just the essentials.
App: both functional. Blue Apron: Decent on iOS, inconsistent on Android. The wine pairing and video recipe features stand out, but the overall UX needs a refresh. EveryPlate: Functional but basic. Does the job for weekly meal selection. Lacks the extras of premium-tier apps.
Customer Service and Account Management
Blue Apron: Blue Apron offers live chat and email support on weekdays, with more limited weekend availability. Phone support has been phased out for most U.S. accounts. The self-service portal handles skips and pauses, though the cancel flow requires navigating several confirmation screens. Refund processing is reliable; credits typically appear within 48 hours.
EveryPlate: EveryPlate's support flows through the HelloFresh customer service infrastructure, which means access to 24/7 chat and a competent email team. The self-service portal handles skips, plan changes, and cancellations without friction. Given the budget price point, the service quality is surprisingly strong, you get HelloFresh-level support for EveryPlate prices.
Customer service: comparable. Blue Apron: Adequate, chat support is helpful but weekday-only. No phone option. Cancel flow is deliberately multi-step. EveryPlate: Punches above its weight, HelloFresh infrastructure means 24/7 chat and clean self-service at a budget price point.
Dietary Options and Special Diets
Blue Apron offers a standard meal selection alongside a Wellness menu that includes WW (Weight Watchers)-approved meals and lower-calorie options. Ingredients are conventionally grown; there is no organic certification program. Vegetarians will find a consistent weekly selection, though dedicated vegan meals are less common. Blue Apron publishes complete nutritional information for every dish, covering calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates. For households following specific certifications or strict dietary protocols, the options are narrower than dedicated health services.
EveryPlate offers a straightforward weekly selection of family-friendly meals with a small vegetarian section. There are no dedicated vegan, keto, or allergen-free plans and no organic sourcing. EveryPlate is designed for households that want affordable, simple weeknight dinners, not for those managing complex dietary needs. For households with specific nutritional requirements, a service with structured plan options will be more practical. EveryPlate's value is its price, and it delivers consistently on that.
Getting Started: Welcome Offers and First Box Experience
Blue Apron typically offers 50 percent or more off the first box, with reduced pricing on the second and third boxes. After the introductory period, prices run $9.99 to $15.49 per serving. The wine subscription add-on pairs curated bottles with that week's meal selections, a feature unique to Blue Apron in the meal kit category. Week-by-week skipping is available in the account portal; cancellation is completed online with no fee.
EveryPlate regularly offers some of the deepest welcome discounts in the budget segment, often featuring nine or more free meals across the first boxes. After the introductory offer, per-serving prices stay at $4.49 to $6.99, among the lowest consistent rates in the market. For first-time meal kit subscribers who want to test whether a subscription fits their lifestyle without committing to higher prices, EveryPlate is a reasonable starting point. Cancellation is in account settings with no fee.
Who Gets the Best Value Long-Term
Blue Apron ($9.99 to $15.49 per serving) and EveryPlate ($4.49 to $6.99 per serving) serve different markets. Over a year, the cost gap for a household of two ordering 3 dinners per week is $900 to $1,500 in EveryPlate's favor. Blue Apron provides chef-developed recipes, better ingredients, and the wine add-on. EveryPlate provides affordable functional dinners with no premium features. For households optimizing food costs, EveryPlate saves real money. For households that view cooking as a creative activity and want culinary quality, Blue Apron's higher price delivers proportionally more value per meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is EveryPlate cheaper than Blue Apron?
Yes, significantly. EveryPlate ranges from $5.49 to $7.99/meal with $10.99 shipping. Blue Apron ranges from $9.99 to $15.99/meal with $10.99 shipping. A 2-person household typically saves $120 to $165 per month with EveryPlate over Blue Apron at equivalent delivery frequency.
Is Blue Apron better quality than EveryPlate?
Yes. Blue Apron uses higher-quality sourcing, more complex chef-developed recipes, and better ingredient variety. EveryPlate is intentionally simple and budget-focused. The quality difference is real and reflects the price difference.
Does EveryPlate have a wine subscription?
No. EveryPlate does not offer a wine add-on. Blue Apron’s curated wine subscription of 6 bottles every 4 weeks is a category exclusive among major meal kit services.
Who owns EveryPlate?
EveryPlate is owned by HelloFresh AG, the same parent company as HelloFresh and Green Chef. It operates as the budget tier in that portfolio. Blue Apron is an independent company listed on the NYSE (APRN).
2026 Pricing: Blue Apron vs. EveryPlate
Premium culinary kit vs. budget kit — the biggest price gap in the meal kit market.
| Detail | Blue Apron | EveryPlate |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price/serving | $9.99 | $4.99 |
| Recipe complexity | Intermediate–advanced | Beginner-friendly |
| Wine pairing | Available | No |
| Serving sizes | 2, 3, or 4 | 2, 4, or 6 |
| Shipping | $10.99 | $10.99 |
EveryPlate costs exactly half per serving at $4.99 vs Blue Apron's $9.99. The trade-off: Blue Apron's recipes are restaurant-level with complex techniques and premium ingredients; EveryPlate uses simpler 5–6 ingredient recipes aimed at beginners. If budget matters and cooking is just a means to dinner, EveryPlate wins. If you want to improve your cooking and enjoy the process, Blue Apron's quality justifies the premium.
Where to Order in Your City
Both services deliver nationwide. See how meal kit delivery options stack up in the largest U.S. markets:
- Meal delivery in Los Angeles
- Meal delivery in New York
- Meal delivery in Chicago
- Meal delivery in Houston
- Meal delivery in Phoenix
- Meal delivery in San Francisco
- Meal delivery in Seattle
- Meal delivery in Austin
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Blue Apron or EveryPlate better value?
EveryPlate offers dramatically better value at $4.99/serving vs. Blue Apron's $9.99+/serving. For budget-conscious shoppers, EveryPlate can save $50–100/month for a family of 4. Blue Apron's higher price reflects premium culinary positioning — more complex recipes, unique ingredients, and an optional wine subscription — but EveryPlate delivers solid weeknight meals at half the cost.
How does Blue Apron's recipe complexity compare to EveryPlate?
Blue Apron recipes tend to be more complex, involving multiple cooking techniques, unique global ingredients, and 40–50 minute prep times. EveryPlate recipes are intentionally simplified to 5 core ingredients with 30-minute cook times — perfect for weeknight cooking or beginner home chefs. Both include printed recipe cards with step-by-step instructions.
Who should choose Blue Apron over EveryPlate?
Blue Apron is ideal for cooking enthusiasts, food-curious couples, or anyone who wants to expand their culinary repertoire with chef-inspired recipes and premium ingredients. EveryPlate is the better choice for families on a budget, new cooks, or anyone prioritizing affordability and simplicity over culinary ambition.
Do Blue Apron and EveryPlate offer wine or premium add-ons?
Blue Apron uniquely offers an add-on wine subscription — curated bottles specifically selected to pair with that week's recipes, shipped to your door. EveryPlate focuses purely on meal kits with no add-on programs. If wine pairing and premium kitchen experiences matter, Blue Apron is the only choice between these two.
Cancel Guide Links
Need to cancel one of these services? Our step-by-step guides walk you through the process:
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