Blue Apron vs. Marley Spoon 2026: Who Wins?

Choosing between two top-tier meal delivery services can be a challenge, but luckily, I’ve tested both of them. Blue Apron and Marley Spoon have both established themselves as leaders in the industry, each making home-cooking easier for busy customers across the US. Both have also rebranded recently.

They are similar in that they offer a large menu of family-friendly meal kits and prepared meals. Blue Apron offers a no-subscription model (with options for autoshipping and memberships), while Marley Spoon is a more traditional service offering a subscription with plans for kits and prepared meals.

I like both, but Marley Spoon emerges as the winner of my comparison. I evaluated all the important factors like cost, quality, variety, and delivery logistics. I love Marley Spoon’s impressive menu variety and think it’s a great choice if you want to try a classic meal subscription service to feed your household. Keep reading to find out who won each category.

At a Glance: Who Won Each Category?

Menu Variety: Both Have a Huge Range of Meals

Both services stand out with extensive menus. The main difference is that Blue Apron just has one main menu, while Marley Spoon’s menu is split into Ready to Cook and Prepared Meals, which are different plans.

Blue Apron’s wide-ranging weekly menu typically includes 100+ options. These span traditional meal kits, quick-cook meals, ready-made “Dish” options, soups, salads, breakfasts, desserts, and add-ons. The menu is structured into clear categories, which helps you see what’s available each week. Seasonal dishes and recurring customer favorites are regularly rotated in to keep the menu fresh, while filters let you browse by calories, prep time, or protein type.

Marley Spoon also has an expansive menu with over 100 weekly recipes, covering meal kits as well as prepared meals, lunches, breakfasts, and extras. Like Blue Apron, the menu offers a wide variety of cuisines, including a mix of classic American fare and internationally inspired dishes, although I slightly prefer the global flavors on offer from Marley Spoon.

Marley Spoon's dishes cater to diverse palates. It provides numerous options for those eager to try something new and equally abundant choices for those with more conservative tastes, picky eaters, and family-friendly options.

Both services have a range of cook styles (including lower prep options), prepared meals for busy nights, and premium gourmet dishes, which are available at an added cost. Marley Spoon also offers Saver dishes, which are simpler dishes that cost a bit less.

Both Blue Apron and Marley Spoon are mainly there to cater to main meals like lunch and dinner, but they also both offer extras like breakfast and snacks. While you can find a marketplace in Marley Spoon, the details remain hidden until after you register.

Sample Meals

Despite the large menu size, Blue Apron’s menu is easy to navigate. It’s organized into sections and there are filters for protein type, active vs. total cooking time, calories, and protein, which make it quick to tailor the selection. 

• Best low-calorie dish: Seared Chicken & Lemon Labneh
• Best fast-prep dish: Baked Cilantro Chicken Tacos 
• Best family-friendly dish: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
• Best veggie dish: Pear & Goat Cheese Salad

Marley Spoons' menu is huge, but it’s easy to find meals to suit your needs. You can toggle between Recipes and Prepared meals at the top of the page, and there are loads of useful filters to help you search through the offerings each week. 

• Best low-calorie dish: Taiwanese Chicken Rice
• Best fast-prep kit: Express Recipe! Braised Beef Gyros
• Best family-friendly dish: Cheesy Chicken Parmesan
• Best veggie dish: Butternut Squash Ravioli Marinara

Meal Customization: Both Have Good Options

In terms of meal customization, this round is a tie. Marley Spoon offers a fair number of customization options. If you go to the Price Category filter and select Upgrade, this is an easy way to bring them up. When you click on the recipe, you’ll see a “Customizable” tag in the corner of the image.

These customizable options really expand the menu. They’re great for increasing vegetarian options with plant-based substitutes or upping the nutrition factor of your meals. The only downside is that available customizations aren’t listed until you’ve completed sign-up and have a live subscription.

Blue Apron offers swaps and customizations on lots of recipes each week. You just need to look out for the Customize It text above the recipe name. When you open the recipe, you can see the swaps available and any upcharge associated with them. These customizations allow you to swap ingredients to suit dietary preferences. These are mainly protein swaps, so you can switch or upgrade.

With both services, you can also make at-home swaps with meal kits, but bear in mind that if you suffer with severe allergies, both are subject to allergen cross-contamination, so will not be suitable.

Ingredient Quality and Nutrition: Blue Apron Provides More Nutrition Detail

Blue Apron excels in ingredient quality and detailed nutrition. It stands out with its commitment to humane animal welfare standards and collaboration with sustainable farmers. It also prides itself on offering USDA-certified ingredients.

Marley Spoon only provides very basic nutritional details. Its recipes list calories, fat, protein, and carbs. In comparison, Blue Apron provides a link on each recipe that delves into comprehensive nutritional data with much more information. (However, this data is only available 1.5 weeks before delivery, so you won’t be able to click through for future menus.)

Blue Apron also focuses on sustainable seafood. It's partnered with The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, ensuring the seafood you receive is sustainable. You can head to The Ocean Disclosure Project website to find out the origin, method of production, and sustainability of all its seafood.

Marley Spoon offers high-quality ingredients. It sources meats mainly from the US, but also provides grass-fed beef from Australia. Organic enthusiasts will appreciate some ingredients sourced organically from local suppliers. I was also pleased to see that all Marley Spoon chicken is antibiotic-free.

Ordering, Delivery, Unboxing: Marley Spoon Uses Less Plastic

Blue Apron and Marley Spoon both ship regularly. Blue Apron delivers to all 48 contiguous states throughout the US. Depending on your location, you’ll have different delivery date options. When I signed up, I could choose any day but Sunday.

It’s a similar story with Marley Spoon, although I could get a delivery any day of the week, including Sunday. I’m based in a big metropolitan area, though. To find your specific delivery days, just enter your zip code.

With Marley Spoon you can order 2-6 meal kits per week for 2-4 people or up to 18 single prepared meals. Both of these plans allow for add ons. Blue Apron offers an a la carte menu where you can pick and mix single serve prepared meals, 2-person or 4-person kits, and extras.

Packaging disposal instructions are provided by both companies. Both Marley Spoon and Blue Apron have dedicated sections on their websites guiding you on how to responsibly discard the meal packaging. Most of the packaging from these services is recyclable, but may use certain plastics that might not be recyclable curbside.

Blue Apron uses more plastic in its packaging. Over 85% of Blue Apron's packaging is recyclable, but in my experience, it tends to use more plastic compared to Marley Spoon.

Marley Spoon emphasizes sustainability in its packaging and offerings. Its boxes derive from paper sourced from sustainably managed forests. The bottles and containers are made of #1 recyclable plastic, while its bags are #4, so check in your area what you can recycle. I appreciate that Marley Spoon promotes its Climatarian recipes. These spotlight dishes with lower emissions. 

Meal Prep: Both Are Straightforward to Make

Both Blue Apron and Marley Spoon deliver neatly packaged meal kits that have portioned ingredients and detailed recipe cards for guidance. They also both offer ranges of prepared meals that only take minutes to make, although at the time of writing this review, Blue Apron’s Dish meals weren’t showing on the menu.

Marley Spoon provides a list of necessary cooking utensils and additional ingredients from your pantry. This becomes invaluable since some recipes might need ingredients you don't always have on hand.

From my experience cooking with both brands, Blue Apron's instructions may be challenging for complete cooking novices. Some directions might appear vague if you're less familiar with cooking techniques. For instance, you might question if your ground beef is correctly browned or if your water has the right salt level.

Marley Spoon recipes blend variety with ease of preparation. The meals, despite their gourmet appeal, are often straightforward to make. Each dish is labeled on a spectrum from Easy to Difficult, indicating the required skill level.

Both services average a 30-minute meal preparation time for kits. They both offer low-prep options for busier nights when time is short. Blue Apron dishes range between 20 to 50 minutes, while Marley Spoon meals typically fall between 20 to 40 minutes.

I like that you can filter Blue Apron’s menu by active prep time, I think that’s really handy and not something I’ve seen elsewhere. You can also filter Marley Spoon for lower-prep options using the Fast & Easy filter.

Customer Support: Marley Spoon Has a Better Chatbot

Both services offer multiple support channels and self-service resources. Blue Apron emphasizes direct support options, while Marley Spoon places additional focus on chatbot assistance and digital self-help tools. Overall, I preferred my experience with Marley Spoon.

Blue Apron offers customer support through phone, email, and live chat, along with a comprehensive Help Center. There are clear procedures for addressing issues such as missing or damaged ingredients, including submitting photos.

Marley Spoon also provides support via phone, email, live chat, and a chatbot, supported by an extensive FAQ section and Ingredient Hub. Subscription management, skipping weeks, or canceling plans can easily be handled through the website or app. Canceling my account directly was easy. I wasn't required to speak with anyone, but I did have to fill out a survey. You can also pause your account if you don’t want to cancel.

You don’t have to cancel Blue Apron if you’re ordering a la carte (although if you have a membership or autoship set up, then those have their own cancellation policies).

Pricing: Prices Are Standardized With Marley Spoon

Both companies approach pricing completely differently. Blue Apron meals are priced individually while Marley Spoon works on a plan basis.

Blue Apron dishes are individually priced, and you can see the starting serving price upfront on the main menu. These range from around $6.99 per serving (these are usually for lighter dishes like salads) to $13.29 and work out the same regardless of a 2-person or 4-person serving size. With a new customer code, servings can go as low as $5.60. Blue Apron has a minimum spend of $25. 

Marley Spoon offers competitive pricing. Prices per serving decrease as you order more meals per week, so for meal kits the cheapest price is $8.99 (max $12.99) and for prepared meals its $9.99 per portion. The Saver options are usually around $1-$0.50 less, and Premium meals usually cost at least $2 per portion extra. With a new customer code, servings can go as low as $4.99.

Shipping fees are $9.99 for Blue Apron and $10.99 for Marley Spoon. If you pay for a Blue Apron+ membership, you can save on shipping, and there’s also savings if you set up autoshipping.

Blue Apron vs. Marley Spoon – Quick Overview

And the Winner Is: Marley Spoon

Overall, Marley Spoon comes out on top in my tested comparison thanks to its well-rounded offerings for busy, everyday home cooks. Its standardized subscription pricing, flexible weekly planning, easy-to-follow recipes, and sustainability-focused packaging make it feel like a true “set it and forget it” meal kit service. The pricing also becomes more competitive as you order more meals, and it’s easier to budget as plans cost the same each week (before upgrades and extras).

That’s not to say these two services aren’t closely matched. Both Blue Apron and Marley Spoon offer over 100 weekly menu choices, a mix of meal kits and prepared meals, solid customization options, and similar prep times overall. Where they really differ is structure. Blue Apron leans into flexibility with its a la carte ordering model, while Marley Spoon sticks to a standard subscription offering.

That said, Blue Apron may still be the better fit for some people. If you prefer ordering meals only when you need them or value in-depth nutritional data, Blue Apron may be the better choice. Standard shipping is also slightly cheaper. It’s particularly well suited to smaller households, and anyone who doesn’t want to commit to a weekly subscription. 

Exploration is key in the meal delivery world. Both often offer new customer deals, so you can carry out your own taste test at home and see which you prefer! Plus, if you're curious about other services, our comprehensive list of the Best Meal Delivery Services awaits.

FAQ

Which is better, Marley Spoon or Blue Apron? 

Marley Spoon is generally recommended over Blue Apron. But Blue Apron certainly has its merits. Marley Spoon often stands out for its diverse menu options and its meal plans that suit individuals, couples, and families. On the other hand, Blue Apron is a worthy contender for those who are looking to try a service without subscribing.

What makes Marley Spoon different?

Marley Spoon offers a wide menu variety and customizable recipes. There are lots of different kit types, so you can choose meals that work with your schedule each week. It’s considered one of the best options for busy home cooks.

Is Blue Apron worth it? 

Blue Apron is worth it for a lot of people, but whether it’s worth it to you depends on how you like to meal-plan and cook. If you value being able to pick and choose meals as you go, care about transparency in nutrition and sourcing, or want solid options without committing to a weekly plan, Blue Apron can be a great fit.