Blue Apron vs EveryPlate 2026: OG Meal Kit vs the Budget Pick

Where Blue Apron Wins

Blue Apron was the original American meal kit company — and 13+ years in, it still leads in several areas that matter to serious home cooks:

• Recipe quality: Blue Apron's culinary team develops more sophisticated recipes with techniques like deglazing, emulsifying, and building complex flavor profiles. You actually learn to cook.
• Ingredient sourcing: Blue Apron partners with specific farms and fisheries to source humanely raised proteins, seasonal produce, and premium pantry items. EveryPlate uses standard supplier chains.
• Variety and themes: Blue Apron offers specialty series like "Wellness" and "Veggies" plans, and frequently features restaurant-inspired dishes with elevated ingredients like truffle butter or artisan cheeses.
• Wine pairing: Blue Apron's optional wine add-on delivers curated bottles matched to that week's recipes — a unique perk EveryPlate doesn't offer.

For the home cook who genuinely enjoys cooking and wants to improve their skills, Blue Apron's premium experience is worth the $3–5 per meal premium over EveryPlate. See our full Blue Apron review →

Where EveryPlate Wins

EveryPlate was built on one mission: strip out everything that makes meal kits expensive and pass the savings to customers. The result is a no-frills service that genuinely undercuts the market:

• Price: At ~$4.99/meal vs Blue Apron's ~$7.99/meal, EveryPlate can save a household of two over $200/month compared to Blue Apron — or roughly $2,400/year. That's real money.
• Simplicity: EveryPlate's recipes are designed to be uncomplicated. Fewer steps, shorter ingredient lists, and faster prep times make it ideal for weeknight cooking when you're tired and just need dinner.
• Family appeal: Straightforward proteins and familiar flavor profiles (chicken piccata, beef tacos, pasta dishes) make EveryPlate more universally liked across household members with varying palates.
• Lower commitment: At under $5/meal, the risk of trying EveryPlate is low. It costs less per week than a single restaurant meal, making it easy to justify even if you're skeptical.

See our full EveryPlate review → for a complete breakdown of what you get for the price.

The Real Price Comparison

The advertised per-meal prices don't tell the whole story. Here's what you'd actually pay for a two-person household ordering 3 meals per week:

• Blue Apron 2-person, 3 meals: ~$7.99 × 6 servings = $47.94 + $9.99 shipping = $57.93/week
• EveryPlate 2-person, 3 meals: ~$5.49 × 6 servings = $32.94 + $9.99 shipping = $42.93/week

EveryPlate saves you roughly $15/week or $60/month. Over a year, that's $720 in savings — enough to take a nice vacation. The question is whether Blue Apron's quality improvement is worth the premium to you personally.

Who Should Choose Blue Apron?

• Home cooks who want to improve their skills and try new techniques
• Households where food quality and ingredient sourcing matters
• People who want diet-specific options like diabetes-friendly or WW-approved meals
• Wine enthusiasts who want curated pairings with their dinners
• Anyone who sees cooking as a hobby, not just a chore

Who Should Choose EveryPlate?

• Budget-conscious households where every dollar counts
• Beginners who want to cook at home more without complexity
• Families who need simple, crowd-pleasing meals that everyone will eat
• People who want to reduce takeout spending without a big meal kit investment
• Anyone who just needs dinner — not a culinary education

The Third Option Worth Considering

If neither Blue Apron nor EveryPlate quite hits what you're looking for, the third option worth comparing is CookUnity — fully prepared chef-made meals that require zero cooking. At $11–14/meal with 300+ menu options, it costs more than either kit service, but eliminates cooking entirely. For busy professionals, it's often the better value once you factor in your time. See CookUnity vs Blue Apron → or CookUnity vs EveryPlate →