As much as half of the US population participates in some form of online grocery shopping, according to reports. There are now dozens of places online to buy your weekly provisions and have them come directly to your home. Much like meal kits and meal delivery services, these companies provide competitive prices, lightning-fast shipping and major convenience in hopes of earning a slice of your weekly food budget.
For a monthly or yearly membership fee, Thrive Market members can shop via the platform primarily for pantry and frozen staples, which come with a low-price guarantee. The platform also includes other household staples such as beauty, bath and body, vitamins and supplements and even wine. We found that the selection at Thrive was more than sufficient to provide a lot of great options for pantry staples, including its own proprietary brand of more than 700 items, snacks, and especially frozen proteins and meals.
What we like:
Good for ordering pantry and protein staples
Wide selection of ethically responsible products
Eco-friendly packaging and shipping
What we don’t like:
No fresh produce or dairy
Must buy into a membership in order to browse
Coverage area: Available for all contiguous US addresses.
Fees and pricing: Annual membership for Thrive Market is $60, which you pay upfront. Memberships billed monthly are offered for $12. At more than twice the cost, the annual membership is really worth it, especially since it works out to only $5 per month, which you will easily save in one order. Based on my experience, you may save $5 with just two items.
If you don’t mind the occasional oddly shaped orange or citrus that’s fully usable but has a bit of browning on the peel, Misfits Markets offers low prices on produce. Misfits may have made a name by selling cheap, ugly produce that is deemed unfit for grocery store shelves, but it’s evolved into a full-service grocery operation with meats, fish, baking supplies and pantry staples.
The convenient subscription service doesn’t require you to pay any subscription fees and has cheap shipping. The one catch is that the inventory changes fairly drastically from week to week. That’s how they keep prices low, but it also means you’ll have to actively curate orders or you might receive items that you don’t like. Here’s our full review of Misfits Market.
What we like:
Low prices and no membership fees
Cheap shipping or free with orders over $60
Good selection of ethically responsible products
Eco-friendly packaging and shipping
What we don’t like:
Inventory is inconsistent
Some produce arrives a little past its prime
Must actively curate your order each week
Coverage area: Available for all contiguous US addresses.
Fees and pricing: There are no membership fees but you’ll have a minimum order. There’s also a $6 fee for shipping on orders less than $60.
Hungryroot (full review here) is a grocery subscription service that makes weekly suggestions based on a quiz you’ll take to gauge your eating habits and dietary preferences. One of this service’s unique features is that it offers simple and flexible meal ideas with the necessary groceries to make them. It’s somewhere between a meal kit and a grocery delivery service and is great for those looking for breakfast, lunch and dinner inspiration.
The online grocery market stocks a good amount of quality, organic and specialty items including meat, seafood, produce, snacks and pantry items, but you won’t find as many options as vendors such as Amazon Fresh or FreshDirect.
Once the initial suggested list is formulated, you can remove any grocery items and add others based on a credit system. I priced out a full list from Hungryroot and compared it to an average grocery store. By my calculations, Hungryroot is about 8% to 10% more expensive. The interface and ordering platform are both intuitive and even fun to use.
What we like:
Creative and simple recipe suggestions
Unique and interesting groceries
Fun and easy interface
What we don’t like:
A bit more expensive than some other services
Overall grocery selection is limited
Requires a subscription and minimum weekly order
Coverage area: Most ZIP codes in the continental US and Washington, DC.
Fees and pricing: Hungryroot plans start at $65 a week for meals that net about six servings. The cost per serving gets significantly cheaper if you order more food. Plans under $70 are charged another $7 per delivery. Plans over $70 receive free shipping. You can pause or cancel without penalty at any time.
Minimum order: $65
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<div content="LIST ITEM" superlative="Best grocery delivery for those in the Northeast" description="
With competitive prices, great selection and timely deliveries, FreshDirect is actually my favorite grocery delivery service to use, but because it’s currently only available in the Northeast, it’s hard to tap as the No. 1 overall pick.
FreshDirect has a wide-ranging selection of fresh produce, meats, fish, prepared foods, pantry items, home and paper products. While there are definitely fewer total items than in a brick-and-mortar supermarket, I found just about everything I would normally buy on a trip to the grocery store. FreshDirect stocks plenty of organic and specialty items at similar prices to Stop & Shop or Wegmans.
FreshDirect’s website is easy to navigate and deliveries are almost always on time, in our experience. Customer service is also great and if anything is missing or damaged, they’ll replace it in the next delivery or credit your account — no questions asked.
What we like:
Great selection of groceries
Quality meats and fresh produce
Competitive prices on par with midrange grocery stores
Timely delivery and good customer service
What we don’t like:
Only available in the Northeast
The occasional missing item from an order
Coverage area: Most of the New York City metropolitan area, parts of northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut.
Fees and pricing: A one-time delivery charge is typically $6. Memberships for unlimited deliveries (DeliveryPass) start at $39 for six months or $6.50 per month.
Minimum order: $30
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Instacart is a local grocery delivery service and operates differently than the first two on our list. This third-party service hires shoppers to head to a local store of your choosing, buy the items and deliver them to your door. The good news is you’ll get to order from your favorite local grocery store if you have one you like. Instacart is available for most grocery chains — Publix, Aldi, Stop & Shop and Costco — but the store options will vary depending on your location.
The downside is that you have to be at attention and check the app for messages from your shopper while they’re shopping in case certain items are out of stock. The shopper will typically send photos of potential replacements in real time for you to approve or reject. It can be a little bit stressful and time-consuming but it’s still a time-saver over going to the store yourself. You can also track the grocery delivery in real time via the mobile app to see when it will arrive.
Instacart also marks prices up on most groceries, sometimes as much as 14%. And there’s a delivery fee and suggested tipping associated with each order, making it one of the more expensive options on our list. In addition to delivery, Instacart offers in-store pickup for online orders at some stores.
What we like:
Includes multiple stores from your local area
A larger total selection of grocery items than most services
What we don’t like:
Real-time shoppers require your attention for replacements
Fees and pricing: Instacart delivery fee starts at $4 but varies based on retailer and region. There is also a suggested driver/shopper tip. A membership for unlimited deliveries costs $10 per month or $99 per year.
Minimum order: $10
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<div content="LIST ITEM" superlative="Best fast grocery service " description="
Gopuff isn’t the one-stop-shop for groceries that some of these other outfits are, but it has one big thing going for it and that’s speed. Gopuff stocks mostly the essentials, including snacks, dry goods, household products, paper goods and pharmacy staples, and can have them to your door in as little as 30 minutes and almost always under an hour.
Gopuff is a great option if you need staples and need them fast but it won’t replace a run to the grocery store and has fewer options than say, FreshDirect or Instacart. You will find a scant selection of fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products and what you do find, is stocked fairly inconsistently. Gopuff has a large delivery footprint, operating in over 650 US cities via 500 regional microfulfillment centers.
What we like:
One of the speediest grocery delivery services around
Good selection of paper goods, household products and pharmacy staples
Some specialty items
Fair prices and no extra charge for fast delivery
Delivers booze in certain cities
What we don’t like
Limited options for most grocery items
Very little fresh produce
Limited meat and dairy options
Inventory is inconsistent
Coverage area: More than 650 US cities.
Fees and pricing: Gopuff’s delivery charge varies by region but starts at $4 and goes up from there. You’ll also typically pay an extra $5 small order fee if your cart is under $12.
Target-owned Shipt is similar to Instacart, offering personal shoppers who will secure your desired list from local supermarket chains and wholesale outlets — Target included. Shipt focuses more on discount area retailers, including Costco, so you’ll find plenty of deals and bulk savings.
Besides the wealth of low prices, another big draw for using Shipt is having groceries delivered same-day, sometimes as quickly as an hour. Other services require you to schedule delivery times days in advance. This is great if you’re not the best at planning your weekly routine and often need groceries in a hurry.
You can also tack on far more than groceries, especially if your order is from Target. Need a pound of potatoes, a table lamp and a smartwatch? Shipt can bring it all to your door.
What we like:
Tons of discounts and deals
Same-day delivery
Delivery from pharmacies, pet stores and home supply stores available
What we don’t like:
Not as great of a selection of small, local grocery stores
The website and app aren’t the best
Coverage area: More than 500 cities in North America.
Fees and pricing: One-time delivery fee is $10. A monthly membership for unlimited deliveries is $11 and a yearly membership costs $99.
Minimum order: None
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To test each grocery delivery service, we placed an order from each with various, typical groceries including produce and meats (when available), dry goods, snacks and paper products. We noted how intuitive each ordering platform was and how good the selection was for various categories.
Some of the produce I received from Misfits Market was bruised. But it turns out that one bad tomato doesn’t spoil the whole bunch.
Are grocery delivery services cheaper than buying in the store?
This all depends on which grocery delivery service you purchase from. We did some calculations and buying groceries online is very similar in price to buying in person from midpriced supermarket. If you shop using one of the discount or bulk retailers such as Boxed.com, you’re probably getting a better deal than you would at the local grocery store.
