Daily Harvest and Purple Carrot are the two most prominent vegan-only food delivery services in the US. Both are 100 percent plant-based. Both market themselves to vegan and plant-forward households. After testing both extensively, the clearest finding is that they serve different meals of the day, and most vegan households would benefit from using both rather than choosing between them.
But if you have to choose one, here is exactly what each delivers and where it falls short.
Last updated: May 2026. Prices and plan details verified against each service’s current website.
Quick verdict: Daily Harvest wins for vegan breakfast, smoothies, and snack convenience. Every item arrives frozen and ready to prepare in under 2 minutes. Purple Carrot wins for full vegan dinners. It delivers real meal kit cooking with complete, dinner-portioned plant-based recipes that can feed a household. If you need dinner, use Purple Carrot. If you need breakfast and snacks, use Daily Harvest. If you can only afford one and you need dinner, Purple Carrot wins.
- Daily Harvest items are 200–550 calories, not full dinner portions. Plan your meal structure accordingly.
- Purple Carrot is a cooking-required meal kit. Every recipe requires 30–40 minutes of prep and cooking.
- Daily Harvest arrives frozen and can be stored for weeks. Purple Carrot arrives fresh and should be cooked within 5 days.
- Both services are 100 percent vegan with no animal ingredients anywhere in their menus.
Daily Harvest vs Purple Carrot at a Glance
| Category | Daily Harvest | Purple Carrot |
|---|---|---|
| Price per item | $8.99–$11.99 | $11.99–$13.99/meal |
| Shipping | $9.99 | $9.99 |
| Format | Frozen plant-based items | Fresh vegan meal kit (you cook) |
| Diet | 100% vegan | 100% vegan |
| Item size | Breakfast/snack sized | Full dinner portions |
| Prep time | 1–3 min | 30–40 min |
| Storage | Freezer (weeks) | Refrigerator (5 days) |
| Best for | Vegan breakfast, smoothies, snacks | Full vegan dinner cooking |
Ratings Scorecard
| Category | Daily Harvest | Purple Carrot |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast and smoothies | 10/10 | 1/10 |
| Full dinner replacement | 3/10 | 9/10 |
| Convenience | 9/10 | 5/10 |
| Price per item | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Shelf life | 9/10 | 5/10 |
| Plant-based variety | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Cooking skill development | 1/10 | 8/10 |
| Protein per serving | 4/10 | 7/10 |
Daily Harvest: The Vegan Snack and Breakfast Solution
Daily Harvest delivers plant-based frozen items in four main categories: smoothies, harvest bowls, flatbreads, and soups. The smoothies are the standout product. During my testing, a dragon fruit pitaya blend, a peppermint cacao option, and a tropical mango blend all blended in under 60 seconds and tasted genuinely fresh despite being frozen. The harvest bowls are solid 300–450 calorie light lunches. The flatbreads, at 400–550 calories, are the closest thing to a full meal on the menu.
The frozen format is a real advantage. A Daily Harvest box delivers enough variety to cover mornings and light lunches for 2–3 weeks without planning. Nothing expires. Nothing wilts in the refrigerator while you skip a cooking night.
Try Daily Harvest: Get $65 off your first Daily Harvest box. Offer varies.
Purple Carrot: Full Vegan Dinners with Real Cooking
Purple Carrot is the most serious vegan meal kit in the US market. Recipes are developed to deliver complete, satisfying dinners using plant-based proteins (tofu, tempeh, legumes, lentils), whole grains, and seasonal vegetables. During my testing, a miso-glazed tempeh bowl with crispy soba noodles and a coconut chickpea curry over jasmine rice were both impressive in flavor complexity and satiety. These were not compromise meals. They were genuinely excellent plant-based cooking that any diner would find satisfying.
Purple Carrot teaches you to cook vegan food well. The recipe cards explain techniques for maximizing flavor from plant-based proteins, building umami without meat, and balancing texture in a way that casual vegan cooking often misses. For households converting to or deepening their vegan cooking repertoire, Purple Carrot provides real culinary education.
Try Purple Carrot: Get $60 off your first Purple Carrot box. Offer varies.
Using Both Together
Many vegan households use Daily Harvest and Purple Carrot simultaneously. Daily Harvest covers weekday mornings with smoothies and light lunches with harvest bowls. Purple Carrot covers weeknight dinners with full-kit cooking. The two services solve different problems and do not overlap in what they deliver. For a vegan household with a realistic food budget, the combination costs $19.98 in shipping per week plus the cost of items, which is comparable to what other households spend on a single full-service meal kit.
Who Wins on What
Breakfast and smoothies: Daily Harvest wins decisively. Purple Carrot does not serve breakfast.
Full dinners: Purple Carrot wins. Daily Harvest items are not dinner-portioned.
Convenience: Daily Harvest wins. Frozen items ready in under 2 minutes beat a 35-minute cooking process.
Shelf life: Daily Harvest wins. Frozen storage beats the 5-day refrigerator window.
Protein per serving: Purple Carrot wins. Full dinner portions with legume and tempeh proteins deliver more protein per serving.
The Final Call
If you need dinner, Purple Carrot wins. If you need breakfast and snack convenience, Daily Harvest wins. If you can only subscribe to one, choose based on which meal of the day is hardest to solve: Purple Carrot for dinner, Daily Harvest for morning and midday.
For more context, see Sunbasket vs Daily Harvest for how a non-vegan meal kit compares to Daily Harvest, and Purple Carrot vs Green Chef for how Purple Carrot compares to another USDA organic multi-diet service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Daily Harvest or Purple Carrot better for vegans?
Both are 100 percent vegan. Daily Harvest wins for breakfast, smoothies, and snack convenience. Purple Carrot wins for full vegan dinners with complete cooking. Many vegan households use both simultaneously for different meals of the day.
Does Purple Carrot have ready-to-eat options?
No. Purple Carrot is a cooking-required meal kit. Every recipe uses fresh, pre-measured ingredients that require 30–40 minutes of prep and cooking. There is no heat-and-eat or no-cook option.
Is Daily Harvest cheaper than Purple Carrot?
Daily Harvest items start at $8.99 versus Purple Carrot at $11.99 per meal. However, Daily Harvest items are snack and breakfast-sized, not dinner portions. For full-dinner caloric content, Purple Carrot delivers more food per dollar.
Can you use Daily Harvest and Purple Carrot together?
Yes, and many vegan households do. Daily Harvest covers breakfast smoothies and weekday snacks. Purple Carrot covers weeknight vegan dinner cooking. They cover different meals of the day with minimal overlap.
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