Marley Spoon vs. Home Chef meal kits

Price: which is cheaper?

For couples, Home Chef costs less. Its site lists dinners from $7.99 a serving and says standard meals average $9.99, with extras such as breakfasts ($4.98) and desserts ($3.98) priced separately. The minimum weekly order is $50.95 including shipping on the Home Chef Plan, and shipping applies after your first box.

Marley Spoon advertises recipes from $8.90 a portion, but its plan page tells a fuller story. A box of 3 meals for 2 people is $71.94, or $11.99 a serving, and the smallest plan runs $12.99 a serving. The price falls to $8.99 a serving on the largest boxes, such as 6 meals for 4 people. Shipping is $10.99 a box, and voucher discounts apply to food, not shipping.

So the answer depends on household size. A couple ordering three dinners pays noticeably less at Home Chef. A family of four ordering most nights of the week gets closer to parity with Marley Spoon. Either way, intro discounts end after the first few boxes, so compare regular prices.

Cutoffs, skipping and canceling

Both are weekly subscriptions that renew until you skip or cancel, and both let you manage weeks in your account. The difference is timing.

Home Chef’s menu locks at noon Central time on the Friday before your delivery. One fixed deadline is easy to remember.

Marley Spoon’s cutoff is 11:59 p.m. local time, up to 6 or 7 days before delivery depending on your zip code, and its terms let it move the cutoff by up to 48 hours around holidays with 7 days’ notice. Changes after the cutoff are charged in full, and missed cutoffs are the most common billing complaint we found. You can cancel online, by phone at 866-228-4513, by email or by mail; keep the confirmation.

Marley Spoon’s terms also require individual arbitration and waive class actions. If you’re the kind of subscriber who decides on Sunday what you’ll cook next week, Home Chef’s schedule is more forgiving.

Menu and meal types

Home Chef offers 35+ meals and 18 extras each week. It sells Oven-Ready meals that cook in their own tray, recipes that take 15 minutes or less, a Family Menu in 4-serving portions, a premium Culinary Collection and Heat and Eat meals. Its Customize It feature lets you swap or upgrade proteins on many recipes.

Marley Spoon’s U.S. service runs as Martha Stewart and Marley Spoon under a licensing deal that was extended in 2023 through 2026. Its menu mixes meal kits with prepared meals and Market add-ons such as proteins, produce and snacks, which ship in the same box without another delivery charge. Plans cover 2, 3, 4 or 6 people.

For quick weeknight cooking and picky eaters, Home Chef’s oven-ready and customizable meals are the stronger fit. For cooks who like a wide recipe rotation and want to add groceries to the same box, Marley Spoon has an edge, as long as you watch the cutoff.

Reliability, complaints and company health

Marley Spoon’s U.S. boxes were packed and shipped by FreshRealm, which filed for Chapter 11 on April 27, 2026. Misfits Market has filled U.S. orders since then, and on August 21, 2026 Marley Spoon said it was in talks to make Misfits its permanent U.S. partner. Recent reviews describe missing items, delays and damaged boxes. The parent company is also under financial strain: group revenue fell 24% to 105.6 million euros in the first half of 2026, and it guided to a loss for the year.

The BBB rates Marley Spoon F with 127 complaints in three years. Home Chef rates A- as an accredited business, with 193 complaints. On Trustpilot the order flips: Marley Spoon scores 3.1 out of 5 and replies to most negative reviews, while Home Chef scores 2.3 and replies to few.

Neither record is spotless. Check each box the day it arrives, photograph problems, and if you plan to stop ordering, ask for a refund to your card rather than a credit.