Meal kits have evolved dramatically in the 13 years since Blue Apron launched in the US. Today, nine major meal kit services operate across the country and their convenient dinner packages have become comparatively cheaper and better suited to people with dietary restrictions. 

Increased competition has brought variety and consumer-friendly makeovers to meal delivery services, but much of the population is still skeptical. In a recent CNET survey of more than 2,600 US adults, most of those who hadn't yet tried a service (61%) had some kind of preconceived notion holding them back.

Barrier 1: Meal kit cost

More than 60% of respondents said high cost has kept them from trying meal kits. While meal kits were once a pricier alternative to buying groceries and cooking at home, stubborn grocery inflation in the past several years has challenged that. In fact, meal kit prices have stayed relatively stable, with some brands providing better or equal value compared to purchasing expensive ingredients at the store.

Read more: Meal Kits Have Gotten Cheap, but Are They Cheaper Than Groceries?

Inflation hasn't affected meal kits much

Grocery prices have ballooned more than 35% since 2012. A previous CNET survey from 2024 found that the rising cost of groceries was the biggest financial pain point for most Americans. 

Because meal kit services thrive on customer retention and competition is stiff, most companies aren't willing to raise prices at the risk of turning off existing and new subscribers. 

Consider Blue Apron, CNET's top-rated meal kit service for 2025. When Blue Apron launched in 2012, the average cost per serving was $10. That per-serving cost has barely risen since then. Today, most meals on Blue Apron's current menu are between $10 and $12 per serving. 

HelloFresh, the most popular meal kit service in the US (and Blue Apron's biggest rival), costs $10 per serving for all but one of its subscription plans. Other meal kit services are even cheaper. EveryPlate and Dinnerly offer plans with recipes that cost about $6 to $8 per serving.

Budget grocery shopping and cooking at home still net the biggest savings compared to eating out at restaurants and ordering delivery. However, meal kits offer more meaningful savings, on top of convenience, than they did when they were first introduced. 

Barrier 2: Subscription commitment 

Another common response for why meal kits were off the table is the subscription requirement. Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed said they don't want to commit to another subscription service. 

The aversion to subscriptions isn't unfounded. Just last month, HelloFresh was ordered to pay $7.5 million after a California court found the meal kit company guilty of misleading customers about its subscription model.

Blue Apron removes subscription requirement

Blue Apron, perhaps inspired by the ongoing suit against its rival, had been quietly planning to eliminate its subscription requirement and announced the news just days after the HelloFresh judgment.

Blue Apron now represents the only major meal kit service that doesn't require users to sign up for a subscription, although there is a subscription option for those who want it. Customers can order any of the service's more than 30 recipes a la carte and without a recurring charge. That might encourage other companies to do the same.  

Methodology 

CNET commissioned YouGov to conduct the survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov. Total sample size was 2,607 adults, of whom 2,172 had not used a meal kit delivery service. Fieldwork was undertaken from July 16-18. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18 and older).