Savings Guide
Meal Kit Welcome Offers: Get the Discount Without the Surprise Renewal
HelloFresh, Factor, Home Chef and Blue Apron all lean on introductory offers. How they usually work and how to stay in control of your subscription.
Meal kit and prepared-meal services compete hard for new customers, which is why you'll almost always see an introductory offer from HelloFresh, Factor, Home Chef or Blue Apron. They can be a good deal if you go in knowing how they work.
How welcome offers usually work
Introductory discounts are commonly spread across your first several deliveries rather than applied all at once, and they apply to a subscription that continues automatically. The exact discount, the number of boxes it covers and any free-item extras change often, so read the offer terms on the sign-up page.
Stay in control of the subscription
- Note the weekly cut-off. Each service has a deadline for changing or skipping the next delivery. Miss it and that box ships.
- Skip freely. All the major services let you skip weeks from your account. Skipping is often easier than cancelling and keeps your options open.
- Set a reminder for the end of the discounted period so you can decide whether to keep going at full price.
- Check the full price per serving. Larger plans with more meals per week lower the per-serving cost, but only if you'll actually cook them.
Meal kit or prepared meals?
Meal kits (HelloFresh, Home Chef, Blue Apron) send ingredients and recipes; you cook. Prepared-meal services (Factor) send ready-to-heat meals. Prepared meals save time but usually cost more per serving. If you're choosing based on a welcome offer, compare the price you'll pay after it ends.
See current offers on our Food & Delivery page and New Customer Offers page.