Factor Review: Meal Notes and September 2026 Prices

Source note, September 29, 2026: Current pricing uses the MealFan September price index. Meal notes and ratings are MealFan editorial assessments based on Factor’s published menus and nutrition information, plus reader reports.

What is Factor & How Does It Work?

Factor is built for people who are tired of meal prepping every Sunday and eating the same sad chicken and rice by Wednesday. Meals arrive fully cooked with ice packs, stacked in a single layer, and most reheat in the microwave in about 2 minutes.

Not every meal is a standout. Some are genuinely mid. This review compares Factor’s keto, protein-plus, and calorie-smart plans using published menus, nutrition labels, dated prices from the MealFan Price Index, and reader reports.

Here’s how Factor stacks up. The good, the expensive, and the meals that may leave you reaching for a snack an hour later.

Also see the menu catalog and reader photos. Reader photos carry their own credits and dates. They are separate from MealFan’s editorial meal notes.

Meal Notes: Individual Ratings

The ratings below are MealFan editorial ratings based on Factor’s published menu descriptions and nutrition information. Individual meal prices are historical examples, not current quotes.

The Factor Story

Factor is a ready-made meal delivery service owned by HelloFresh Group since 2020. They ship fully-cooked meals that you microwave for 2-3 minutes. No chopping, no pans, no recipes to follow. Open box, heat, eat. That’s it.

The company was founded in 2013 as Factor 75 (the ’75’ stood for 75% organic ingredients, which they’ve since dropped from the branding). They started as a small Chicago operation focused on athletes and macro trackers. Now they’re shipping 100+ different meals per week to all 48 contiguous states.

What sets Factor apart from meal kit competitors like HelloFresh or Blue Apron is that you’re not cooking anything. You’re reheating professionally-prepared meals that arrive fresh, never frozen. They last 7 days in your fridge, so you can order on Monday and eat through the week without the food going bad by Thursday.

In September 2025, Factor made their biggest menu expansion ever, jumping from about 50 weekly options to 100+. They also appointed their first No BS (Bad Science) Officer, registered dietitian Kylie Sakaida, whose job is literally to debunk nutrition myths on their blog. In January 2026, they launched in Target stores across 10 Midwest states, so you can now grab Factor meals during your regular grocery run if you live in the right area.

What’s on the Factor Menu?

The lineup rotates every Monday, see this week’s Factor menu for every dish currently available, with calories and protein listed per meal.

Factor rotates 100+ meals every week. That’s not marketing fluff, that’s actually the menu size now after their September 2025 expansion. You literally never have to eat the same thing twice if you don’t want to.

Meals are organized into 10 dietary preference categories: Keto, Low Carb, High Protein, Calorie Smart (under 550 calories), Vegan & Vegetarian, Flexitarian, GLP-1 Support (for people on Ozempic or similar), Fiber Filled, Carb Conscious, and Chef’s Choice. Most meals fit into multiple categories, so a Keto meal might also be High Protein and Low Carb.

The menu skews heavily toward protein-forward dishes. Lots of chicken, beef, pork, salmon, and shrimp options. The Korean BBQ beef bowl is a regular rotation item and genuinely slaps. The miso-glazed salmon shows up every few weeks and compares to something you’d order at a mid-tier sushi spot. The chipotle chicken bowl is solid but nothing special.

Vegan and vegetarian options exist but they’re the weak spot. You’ll get maybe 8-12 plant-based meals per week out of the 100+ total. They’re fine, just not as interesting as the meat options. The cauliflower tikka masala is decent. The mushroom risotto is cafeteria-tier.

Beyond meals, Factor offers 70+ add-ons: smoothies, protein shakes, keto snacks, wellness shots, and their new Factor Form supplement line (launched September 2024). New subscribers get 2 free wellness shots per box for life, which is a nice touch if you’re into that sort of thing.

Factor Meal Plans & Options

Factor offers one plan structure: pick how many meals you want per week (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, or 18 meals), and the price per meal drops as you order more. All meals are single-serving. No family packs, no 2-serving options. If you’re feeding two people, you’re ordering double the meals.

Factor states that a shipping fee applies to all deliveries. Check the current shipping charge, taxes and any meal upgrades at checkout. An introductory meal discount does not make shipping free.

Choose the number of single-serving meals you need, then compare the regular weekly total after the introductory offer ends. For two people eating three Factor dinners each, count six meals. Premium meals and add-ons can change the total.

Current offers and eligibility can change. Check the offer terms and regular renewal price before ordering.

How Factor’s Top Meals Compare

This is where Factor either justifies its price or falls apart. Here’s how the main dishes compare.

The Korean BBQ beef bowl is the top-rated meal in our notes at 8.5 and a regular rotation item on the menu. It’s not a religious experience, but it’s legitimately good for a ready-made meal.

The miso-glazed salmon rates 8.0 and is the strongest case for Factor’s price. At $13.49 it’s still cheaper than ordering salmon from Grubhub.

But then you get meals like the keto turkey meatballs, rated 5.5, and it’s a different story. The rating reflects dry, bland meatballs and zucchini noodles that go soggy in the microwave. At $13.49, that’s an expensive miss.

The chipotle chicken bowl is fine. Just fine. Good protein, decent seasoning, but the rice gets mushy and the vegetables lose their texture. It’s the kind of meal you eat because it’s there and it’s easy, not because you’re excited about it.

Portions are a real problem if you’re a bigger person.

Factor Nutrition, Sodium, and Macros: An Honest Look

Factor sells itself as the healthy option, and on macros it mostly delivers. Every meal lists exact protein, carbs, fat, and calories. The higher protein meals reliably land 30 to 40g of protein each, and the whole menu syncs cleanly with MyFitnessPal, so if you track your intake you can log a Factor dinner in about three seconds instead of eyeballing it. Factor also includes a genuinely useful perk that most people never touch: a free 20 minute consult with a registered dietitian. If you are trying to build a plan around a real goal, that call alone is worth booking.

So the good news is real. If your only question is whether this will hit your protein target without wrecking your calories, the answer is yes. But there is one number Factor keeps out of its marketing, and it is the number every serious nutrition reviewer leads with: sodium.

Factor meals are salty. Most land somewhere between 700 and 1,000 mg of sodium per meal, and a fair number of the richer dishes push past 1,100 mg. For context, the American Heart Association recommends an ideal limit of about 1,500 mg of sodium a day and a hard ceiling around 2,300 mg. Eat two Factor meals in one day and you can burn through your entire daily budget from dinner alone, before you count breakfast, lunch, or a single snack. A lot of that salt hides exactly where you would not think to look: the flavored compound butters and finishing sauces that make the food taste as good as it does. The miso salmon and the Korean BBQ beef, two of the top-rated meals here, are also among the meals carrying the heaviest sodium loads. The simplest fix is to skip the packet of flavored butter that comes with many meals. It takes a meaningful chunk off the sodium and the dish is still perfectly good.

The ingredient lists are the other thing worth reading before you commit. Because Factor meals are fully cooked and then kept fresh in the fridge for up to seven days, the recipes lean on longer ingredient lists and some preservatives to hold texture and safety across that shelf life. This is not junk food and nothing on the label is alarming, but if you are the kind of person who wants a short list of ingredients you can pronounce, Factor is not that. It is restaurant style prepared food, and it carries the sodium and additives that come with keeping restaurant style food edible for a week.

The frustrating part is that Factor gives you no way to screen for any of this. You can sort the menu by calories, by protein, and by keto, but there is no low sodium filter, so anyone who needs to watch salt is left reading every nutrition panel by hand. That is a real gap for a service that markets itself on health.

Here is the honest bottom line on who should think twice. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, or any condition where your doctor has told you to watch sodium, Factor is not a set and forget solution. You can still make it work by choosing the lighter Calorie Smart meals, skipping the flavored butters and heavy sauces, and capping yourself at one Factor meal a day, but you have to work at it. For a healthy person tracking protein and calories, Factor is a strong pick. For anyone managing sodium for medical reasons, go in with your eyes open and read every label, because the service will not flag the problem for you.

Factor Pricing Breakdown (2026)

Prices were checked September 22, 2026. Totals exclude tax, premium dishes and extras. See our Factor cost guide for the full calculations and source dates.

See Factor prices and current offer

Factor Delivery & Packaging

Factor ships via FedEx in refrigerated boxes with ice packs. Delivery days are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday depending on your ZIP code. Delivery window is 8am-8pm, which is a pretty wide range.

Meals come stacked in a single layer, individually wrapped, with labels showing meal name, heating instructions, and nutritional info.

The refrigerated box and ice packs are there to keep perishable food cold until it reaches your door.

Hot weather is the main risk. If a box sits outside in the heat, the ice packs can melt before you bring it in. Contact Factor’s customer support if meals arrive warmer than they should.

One thing to note: Factor ships meals fresh, not frozen. They last 7 days in your fridge from delivery date. If you’re not planning to eat them within a week, you can freeze them yourself, but Factor doesn’t recommend it because the texture suffers.

Packaging is mostly recyclable. Cardboard box, recyclable plastic trays, paper labels. The ice packs are the annoying part, you have to cut them open and drain the gel down the sink, then recycle the plastic pouch. Factor includes instructions for this, but it’s still a pain.

What’s New with Factor in 2026

For current dishes and availability, start with the Factor catalog and confirm your delivery date on Factor. This update verifies the dated pricing above; it does not independently verify older retail-expansion or promotion claims.

How Factor Compares

Factor is a prepared-meal option; HelloFresh requires cooking. Compare current delivered totals in our dated price index. Older promotional prices are not used to rank current value.

Factor Pros & Cons

Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Try Factor?

Factor is for people who value their time more than their money. If you’re a busy professional pulling 50-60 hour weeks and the idea of cooking dinner after work makes you want to cry, this is the move. You’re trading dollars for hours, and that’s a trade some people are happy to make.

It’s also genuinely good for people tracking macros. If you’re trying to hit specific protein or carb targets and you don’t want to weigh and measure everything yourself, Factor does that work for you. The nutrition info is accurate, the meals integrate with MyFitnessPal, and the protein-plus options deliver 30-40g of protein per meal consistently.

Singles and couples may find the single-serving format convenient. Count only the meals you want covered: two people eating three Factor dinners need six meals, not a twelve-meal minimum. Compare the full recurring cost with a two-serving meal kit like HelloFresh or Home Chef.

If price is your main concern, compare equivalent portions and delivered totals with meal kits in our price index. Meal kits also require cooking time.

Also skip it if you care about vegetable texture. Factor’s vegetables consistently turn soggy after microwaving. If crisp broccoli or snappy green beans matter to you, you’ll be disappointed regularly.

And skip it if you’re vegan or vegetarian. The plant-based options exist, but they’re an afterthought. You’ll get 8-12 vegan meals per week out of 100+ total, and they’re not as interesting or well-executed as the meat options. Look at Purple Carrot or Hungryroot instead if plant-based is your priority.

How We Compared Factor

MealFan compares Factor with CookUnity, HelloFresh, Territory and other services using published menus, nutrition labels, dated prices from the MealFan Price Index, and reader reports.

Eric Sornoso founded MealFan and has been reviewing meal delivery services since 2019. If a service falls short, the review says so. If it’s good, it says that too.

Factor Alternatives Worth Considering

Compare CookUnity for another prepared-meal option and HelloFresh if you want to cook. Compare current delivered totals in our September price index.

Our Verdict on Factor

Yes, Factor is worth it if you hate cooking and you’re willing to pay for genuine convenience. Open the box, microwave for 2 minutes, eat something that actually tastes like a real meal. No chopping, no pans, no sad desk salad energy.

Use the current price calculation above to decide whether prepared-meal convenience fits your budget. Historical promotional prices do not describe the regular renewal cost.

The food quality is legitimately good. Not every meal is incredible, some are genuinely mid, but the hit rate is high. The Korean BBQ beef bowl, the miso-glazed salmon, the chipotle chicken bowl, all solid. Way better than anything you’ll pull out of a grocery store freezer section.

The downsides are real. Portions run small if you’re a bigger person. Sodium is high across the board. Vegetables get soggy. Vegan options are an afterthought. And if you’re feeding a family, the single-serving model makes Factor prohibitively expensive.

But if you’re a busy professional, a single person, or a couple who values time over money, Factor is genuinely the best ready-made option. CookUnity has more chef-driven creativity, but Factor is more consistent. HelloFresh is cheaper, but you have to cook. Territory is similar, but smaller menu and higher prices.

Score: 8.4/10.

If you want to see how Factor stacks up against everything else we cover, browse our list of the best meal delivery services.

How We Score Meal Delivery Services

Every meal delivery service on MealFan gets scored on six factors, each rated 1-10 based on published menus, nutrition and dated pricing data, plus reader reports:

Taste: How good the food is, judged from menu details, ingredients and reader reports rather than stock photos.

Value: Cost per serving compared to competitors, eating out, and grocery shopping. Factors in shipping costs and promo availability.

Variety: Menu size, rotation frequency, and dietary options. Services with 100+ weekly options score higher than services with 20.

Ease: How much work is required. Ready-made meals that microwave in 2 minutes score higher than meal kits that take 45 minutes to cook.

Delivery: Packaging quality, ice pack effectiveness, delivery reliability, and customer service responsiveness.

Dietary Options: Range of dietary plans (keto, vegan, low-carb, etc.) and how well they’re executed.

Scores are updated when services make meaningful changes to pricing, menu, or quality. I recheck every service quarterly to verify the review is still accurate.

Review Update History

This Factor review was originally published in March 2024. It has been updated 4 times since then, most recently in June 2026.

Major updates: September 2025 (menu expansion to 100+ options, pricing verification), January 2026 (Target retail launch, current promo codes). I recheck Factor’s pricing and menu quarterly to make sure this review stays accurate.

Disclosure

Full transparency: the links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up for Factor through them, MealFan earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s how I keep this site running without ads everywhere.

MealFan covers these services regardless of whether they have an affiliate program. Some of the services I rank highest don’t even have affiliate deals. Factor does, and MealFan links to it when it makes sense, but it doesn’t change what I write. If Factor sucks at something, I say so. If it’s good, I say that too. The review is the same either way.

Frequently Asked Questions About Factor

Is Factor worth it in 2026?

Yes, if you hate cooking and value convenience over cost. Factor delivers genuinely good ready-made meals that microwave in 2 minutes. At $12.99-$17.49 per meal plus shipping, it’s expensive but cheaper than ordering delivery every night. Not worth it if you’re on a budget or feeding a family.

How much does Factor cost per month?

Your monthly cost depends on the number of meals, current plan price, shipping, taxes and selected extras. Use the regular weekly checkout total after introductory discounts, multiply by 52 and divide by 12 for an average calendar-month budget. Two people eating three single-serving dinners each need six meals per week.

Can you cancel Factor anytime?

Check your account for the skip or cancellation deadline before the next order is finalized. Cancelling a subscription should not be assumed to cancel an order already being processed. Use Factor’s current account instructions.

What diets does Factor support?

Factor supports 10 dietary categories: Keto, Low Carb, High Protein, Calorie Smart (under 550 cal), Vegan & Vegetarian, Flexitarian, GLP-1 Support, Fiber Filled, Carb Conscious, and Chef’s Choice. The keto and high-protein options are strong with consistent macros. Vegan and vegetarian options are limited (8-12 meals per week out of 100+ total) and not as well-executed as the meat options.

How does Factor compare to HelloFresh?

Factor delivers prepared, single-serving meals; HelloFresh kits require cooking. Our September checks put a ten-meal Factor box at $152.89 delivered and a six-serving HelloFresh box at $90.93. Compare equal numbers of servings, shipping and cooking effort, rather than the box price alone.

Does Factor offer free shipping?

Factor states that a shipping fee applies to all deliveries. Check the current shipping charge, taxes and any meal upgrades at checkout. An introductory meal discount does not make shipping free.

Is Factor good for weight loss?

Yes, Factor can work for weight loss if you stick to their Calorie Smart plan (meals under 550 calories). Portion control is built-in since meals are pre-portioned and single-serving. The nutrition info is accurate and integrates with MyFitnessPal for tracking. That said, some Calorie Smart meals are small (450-500 calories), so you might feel hungry between meals. The High Protein plan (30-40g per meal) is better for satiety while losing weight.

What’s the best Factor promo code right now?

Offers change. Follow our current offer link and check eligibility, shipping and the regular renewal total before paying. We have not verified a coupon code for this update.

Factor compared to our 2026 national rankings