HelloFresh vs. Nutrisystem 2023: Which is the Winner? 

HelloFresh and Nutrisystem aren’t two services that you’d normally think to compare, but both of them make our list of the best meal delivery services this year.

Spoiler alert: HelloFresh won.

HelloFresh and Nutrisystem are no doubt very different meal delivery services, but they share the common goal of making healthy eating easy and efficient. Nutrisystem is best for those focused on weight loss, with its no-effort frozen meals, while HelloFresh helps you improve your cooking skills with healthy meal kits.

In the end, I found HelloFresh’s approach to eating to be more sustainable, with its fresher meal options and wider menu variety.

To help you decide which one is the best for your lifestyle and goals, I’ve taken a close look at both companies and found the winner when it comes to the competition of HelloFresh vs. Nutrisystem.

At a Glance: Who Won Each Category?

Menu Variety

Winner: HelloFresh

One of the marks of a good meal delivery service is having a good variety of meals on the menu. You won’t be short of options with either of these meal delivery services, but HelloFresh has a few more options.

HelloFresh gives you around 25 meals to choose from each week, which are inspired by a range of world cuisines. You can find anything from a classic American Melty Monterey Jack Burger, to an exotic Thai Ginger Curry. Unfortunately, HelloFresh doesn't cover breakfast, so it only provides 1-2 meals per day. 

HelloFresh’s Melty Monterey Jack Burger (left) and Thai Ginger Curry (right)

With Nutrisystem, you’ll be picking from a catalog of over 150 options, and unlike HelloFresh, you can choose from the entire range with every order. Since Nutrisystem is designed to help you lose weight, you’ll be getting a full day’s worth of food, including snacks.

As for the menu content, you can expect to find more classic American comfort foods like the Chicken & Bacon Ranch Pizza, but there are some internationally inspired dishes too.

Nutrisystem’s Chicken & Bacon Ranch Pizza 

Nutrisystem is ultimately a weight loss system, so all of its meals are based on a low-glycemic  diet. This means that while the meals will taste like your favorites, ingredient substitutions (like white rice for brown rice) means the meals contain fewer calories and simple carbs.

Even if the meals are a little more monotonous than those from HelloFresh, that doesn’t mean you’ll get bored with Nutrisystem. There are over 100 meals available in the Basic Nutrisystem plan, and you’ll be able to pick any of them for each order.

Meal Customization

Winner: HelloFresh

Being able to customize your meals is important for keeping a meal delivery service interesting and fitted to your tastes. HelloFresh is the meal delivery service with the best customization options, simply because Nutrisystem meals are premade in bulk.

With Nutrisystem, you’ll be ordering your meals from a set menu with no options to customize outside of picking a plan. You can choose the basics like vegetarian and diabetes-friendly, but other than that the options are nonexistent.

HelloFresh only sends you the ingredients, and leaves the cooking to you. So, you can add, replace, and subtract ingredients as you want. You can also tailor the spices and temperatures (ie. how well done you like your meat) to your preferences, rather than relying on someone else to do it for you.

Ordering, Delivery, Unboxing

Winner: HelloFresh

Packaging and delivery is normally pretty straightforward with a meal delivery service. You place a weekly or monthly order, and the food is delivered straight to your door. HelloFresh wins here with flexible weekly delivery and no commitment necessary.

For both HelloFresh, delivery is weekly, while Nutrisystem delivers monthly. For both services  you can choose which day of the week you want to receive your delivery. 

However, HelloFresh requires a new order every week, whereas Nutrisystem charges you for a month’s worth of meals at a time. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, so it’s really down to your personal preference. 

Nutrisystem’s Insulated Packaging for Frozen Meals

HelloFresh has the ultimate convenience of an app, which you can use to organize your deliveries. You can also skip, pause, or cancel your deliveries quickly and easily. Since

Nutrisystem requires monthly orders, it’s a little less flexible.

Both companies ship their meals in mostly or entirely recyclable packaging, and you can find full recycling instructions on their respective websites.

HelloFresh’s Easy-to-Recycle Packaging

The main difference between the two services is that HelloFresh ships fresh ingredients, and Nutrisystem delivers frozen meals. However, both deliveries should be unpacked and stored correctly as soon as possible to keep them at their best quality.

Meal Prep

Winner: Nutrisystem

Meal prep is another one that’s tricky to compare for these two, since they have such different methods to make meal prep easy. However, HelloFresh can’t beat the pure convenience of Nutrisystem’s microwave-ready meals. 

Nutrisystem’s meals are cooked, frozen and then shipped to you. All you have to do is heat and eat them. Some Nutrisystem meals can be heated in the microwave, while others are best heated in the oven or on the stove. There’s also a huge range of snacks that don’t require any prep whatsoever!

On average, a Nutrisystem meal will only take around 3-5 minutes to prepare.

HelloFresh, on the other hand, requires a little more work on your part. You’ll be shipped a box with all your necessary ingredients for the week, conveniently organized into bags. You’ll have to do the cutting, chopping, and cooking yourself, which can take between 15 and 60 minutes.

HelloFresh won’t make you do all the work, though. Things like sauces will be premade for you and you’ll receive only the amount you need to reduce food waste.

Customer Support

Winner: HelloFresh

When things go wrong, you’ll need a solid customer service team to take care of you. Between these two companies, HelloFresh sneaks in another win with 24-hour help available. 

That’s not to say Nutrisystem has poor customer support, though. It does have a dedicated online chat and phone line that is available 8:00 am - 8:00 pm on weekdays, and 8:00 am - 5:30 pm on weekends. There are also two email addresses for specific questions about weight loss and customer service.

HelloFresh, on the other hand, has a 24/7 virtual assistant, as well as a dedicated phone line. The only downside is that customer service is closed for some holidays like Christmas and New Years.

Pricing

Winner: It’s a tie! 

Price are a bit tricky to compare when it comes to these two meal delivery services because they are structured pretty differently.

Nutrisystem’s Basic plan starts at $9.74 per day. That includes three main meals, and two snacks. Nutrisystem plans are sold by the month, so for 30 days, with auto-ship, that’s $292.20. Without auto-ship, the basic plan starts at $15.74 per day. You also have the option of the Complete Plan at $5.62 per day, but it requires a 6-month commitment, ultimately costing you $1799.99.

That price also goes up for the Vegetarian plan ($11.86 per day), or for the men’s plans which include an extra snack and sell for around $10 per day with auto-shipments or $18 without. Nutrisystem doesn’t charge a shipping fee, but there’s a $9.99 “packaging fee” applied to every order.

Now, let’s dive into HelloFresh. Prices for the plans vary based on how many recipes you order each week, and how many servings you want to include in each. For the cheapest plan, you’ll be paying $57.95 per week, or $231.80 per month, for two meals with two servings each.

With the most expensive HelloFresh plan, you’ll be spending $189.75 per week, or $759.00 per month, which gets you four meals a week, each of which has six servings. 

HelloFresh’s Cheapest and Most Expensive Meal Plan Options 

Ultimately, which plan is the right price for you depends on what you’re looking for in a meal delivery service. If you want a full day’s meals covered, then Nutrisystem is the better deal.

But, if you’re okay with supplementing your kit for any meals that aren’t covered, then HelloFresh can be a great time and money saver.

Features Comparison: HelloFresh vs. Nutrisystem

And The Winner Is: HelloFresh 

Overall, HelloFresh and Nutrisystem are very different meal delivery services. However, HelloFresh comes out on top thanks to its wide menu variety, flexible delivery, and fresh approach to healthy eating. You’re also guaranteed to get high-quality ingredients and have plenty of family-friendly recipes to choose from.

If you’re looking for a meal delivery service specifically to help you lose weight though, then Nutrisystem could be the one for you.

Both of these services made our list of the best meal delivery services of 2023, so be sure to check this out for even more great options!

FAQ

Which is healthier, Nutrisystem or HelloFresh?

Both of these meal delivery services are designed to be healthy, so the healthiest one for you will depend on your goals.

I go into this in more detail in my Menu Variety section above.

Nutrisystem is designed to be a healthy weight loss system, but if you aren’t looking specifically to lose weight, then HelloFresh is a great way to source healthy recipes and fresh ingredients conveniently. 

Is Nutrisystem better than HelloFresh for losing weight?

Nutrisystem is at its core a weight loss system, so it’ll be better for helping you lose weight than HelloFresh. However, HelloFresh does have a low calorie plan, which can help support weight loss without being as strict as Nutrisystem. 

Is HelloFresh cheaper than Nutrisystem?

HelloFresh and Nutrisystem will actually end up costing you about the same amount. Meals from HelloFresh start at $7.49 per serving, while Nutrisystem will cost you anywhere from $9.74 - $18 per day, depending on your auto-ship status. Which service better suits your budget will depend on whether you want a full day’s meals, or just lunches and dinners.

My Pricing section above goes into even more detail.