5 Best HelloFresh Alternatives in Canada (2026)
HelloFresh is a solid meal kit service, but after a few months the cracks start to show. Recipes repeat. The per-serving price creeps up once your intro deal expires, and if you’re vegan, keto, or just bored of the same flavour profiles, the menu runs out of surprises quickly. We’ve heard all of these complaints from readers, and we’ve run into most of them ourselves.
So we tested five HelloFresh alternatives in Canada to see which ones actually deliver. The list ranges from the cheapest meal kits Canada has to offer (starting under $9 per serving) all the way to premium chef-cooked prepared meals. Looking for the most affordable meal kits in Canada? We’ve got that. Want something similar to HelloFresh with better variety, or ready to stop cooking altogether? That’s covered too.
At a Glance
| Service | Price/Serving | |
|---|---|---|
| Chefs Plate | From $8.99 | Try Chefs Plate |
| Factor | $11.99–$14.99 | Try Factor |
| CookUnity | From ~$10.49 | Try CookUnity |
| Fresh Prep | From ~$9.49 | Try Fresh Prep |
| Goodfood | From $9.99 | Try Goodfood |
1. Chefs Plate
Best For: The Budget-Conscious Cook
If you’re looking for a cheaper meal kit similar to HelloFresh, Chefs Plate is your best bet. It’s Canada’s most affordable meal kit, and the recipes are fast and uncomplicated. HelloFresh acquired Chefs Plate in 2018, but the two still operate as separate services with different menus and pricing.
How It’s Better Than HelloFresh
Chefs Plate wins on price and speed. Meals start at $8.99 per serving versus HelloFresh’s $9.99 or more, and the recipes clock in at 15 to 30 minutes. HelloFresh meals often run closer to 40. The trade-off is variety. Chefs Plate recipes play it safer, and you won’t get the global flavour range that HelloFresh goes for. But for weeknight cooking where you just want dinner on the table, that simplicity works in its favour.
Chefs Plate: Try Chef's Plate Meal Kits From $2.99 Per Serving!Price, Menu, and Dietary Options
Price: $8.99/serving (4-person plan) or $9.99 (2-person). Intro deals drop that to $2.99–$3.99, making it one of the cheapest meal kits in Canada.
Menu: About 24 recipes weekly, including Speedy, Family Friendly, and Vegetarian options.
Dietary Options: Limited to Meat & Veggies and Vegetarian plans. Not ideal for vegan, keto, or gluten-free diets. HelloFresh has more variety there.
Delivers to: ON, BC, AB, SK, MB, PEI, NB, NS. Free shipping on most plans.
When we tested Chefs Plate, the Firecracker Meatballs were a standout. Bold flavour, minimal prep, done in about 20 minutes. The recipes consistently felt simpler than HelloFresh without sacrificing taste.
Up to 20 Free Meals + Dollar Menu
- Canada's Most Affordable Meal Kit
- Dinner for two for less than $20
- Choose from 40+ fuss-free, flavourful recipes each week including family friendly and vegetarian options
- Get dinner done with new 15 minute meals each week
2. Factor
Best For: Busy People and Fitness Enthusiasts
Factor takes the opposite approach to HelloFresh. Also part of the HelloFresh group, Factor is a prepared meal delivery service, not a meal kit. Every meal arrives fresh and fully cooked. Heat it for two minutes and you’re done. There’s nothing to chop, no pan to wash. You toss the container and that’s it.
How It’s Better Than HelloFresh
Factor turns a 35-minute dinner into a two-minute fix. That’s the pitch, and it’s accurate (we timed it). The diet support is also stronger than what you’ll find with a standard meal kit. Factor has dedicated filters for Protein Plus, Keto, and Calorie Smart, so you’re not scrolling through a generic menu hoping to find something that fits. The downside is cost. At $12–$15 per single-serve meal, it’s noticeably pricier. You also can’t customize sides or swap ingredients. You eat what the chef decided. For us, that worked well on busy weeks but wasn’t realistic as a daily thing.
Price, Menu, and Dietary Options
Price: $11.99–$14.99 per meal depending on plan size (6–18 meals/week). Larger orders bring the per-meal cost down.
Menu: 40+ rotating single-serve meals each week, plus add-ons like juices, wellness shots, and keto-friendly desserts.
Dietary Options: Filter by Keto, Protein Plus (35g+ protein), Vegan & Veggie, or Calorie Smart (under 550 cal). One of the best alternatives for health-focused eating.
Delivers to: ON, QC, BC, AB, MB, SK, and Atlantic provinces. Flat $10.99 shipping per box.
The Middle Eastern Spiced Beef with Cauliflower Rice was one of the best meals we tried across all five services. It was filling and well-seasoned, and the tahini yogurt sauce made it feel more like restaurant leftovers than reheated food.
Back-To-School Sale: Up to $90 off + Free shipping on your first box
Canada’s #1 Ready-to-Eat Meal Delivery
Ready in Minutes – no prep, no clean-up
30+ Dietitian-Approved Options
Meal plans for every lifestyle: Keto, Calorie Smart and Protein Plus
Fresh poultry, fish & veggie choices
3. CookUnity
Best For: Gourmet Variety and Chef-Crafted Meals
CookUnity is a newer arrival to the Canadian market, and it’s different from anything else on this list. It runs on a “chef collective” model: every dish is crafted by a real chef, often award-winning names like Patrick Kriss of Alo. Meals show up fresh and fully cooked. If you’ve ever wished you could eat at a good restaurant every night without leaving your house, this is the closest you’ll get.
How It’s Better Than HelloFresh
HelloFresh helps you learn to cook. CookUnity lets you eat like a chef. The menu has 100+ rotating dishes weekly, and the difference in quality is obvious from the first bite. Think Jamaican jerk lamb leg, beef khao soi, pad ka praow beef. Not the kind of thing you’d pull together on a Tuesday night. The catch is availability. CookUnity only delivers to the GTA right now, which rules it out for most of the country. But if you’re in the Toronto area and bored of HelloFresh’s rotation, nothing else on this list comes close in terms of food quality.
Price, Menu, and Dietary Options
Price: From ~$10.49 per meal, varying by plan size (4–16 meals/week) and dish type.
Menu: 100+ chef-driven dishes weekly, spanning Thai, Jamaican, Italian, Mexican, and more.
Dietary Options: Filters for Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Low Calorie, Keto, Vegan, and Vegetarian. One of the most versatile prepared meal delivery options in Canada.
Delivers to: Currently limited to the Greater Toronto Area. CookUnity is expanding, but check their site for availability if you’re outside the GTA.
We ordered 8 meals over two weeks and the quality gap compared to other prepared services was hard to miss. The beef khao soi had depth you wouldn’t expect from a delivered meal, and portion sizes were generous across the board.
Click to Get 30% off your first week!
- Gourmet meals freshly prepared by award-winning chefs.
- Diverse Menu, Wide variety of cuisines and dietary options.
- Flexible Plans, Choose from 4 to 16 meals per week, with easy adjustments.
- Sustainable Practices, Focus on zero waste with fresh food packaging.
4. Fresh Prep
Best For: Sustainability and Supporting Local
Fresh Prep is the only service on this list where the packaging itself is a selling point. This proudly Canadian, B-Corp-certified meal kit puts sustainability first. Originally based in Vancouver, it has expanded well beyond BC and now delivers to Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal across four provinces (BC, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec). Its standout feature is the reusable Zero Waste Kit, a durable container that replaces single-use plastics for pre-prepped ingredients. Your driver picks it up on the next delivery.
How It’s Better Than HelloFresh
Fresh Prep beats HelloFresh on sustainability, and cooking is faster too. Meals arrive in reusable cooler bags instead of cardboard boxes and plastic bags. A lot of the ingredients come pre-chopped, which made a noticeable difference in how long we spent in the kitchen. It’s also a true Canadian company that sources locally and offers Halal-certified poultry and lamb. HelloFresh doesn’t do that. The one thing to know: Fresh Prep’s menu is smaller than HelloFresh’s, so if you cook from it every week, you’ll cycle through options faster. For 2–3 meals a week, though, there’s plenty to work with.
Price, Menu, and Dietary Options
Price: From ~$9.49/serving, with free delivery on all orders. That often undercuts HelloFresh once you factor in its $9.99 shipping fee.
Menu: 35+ weekly options including meal kits and ready-to-eat meals, plus a “Market” section with 150+ local grocery add-ons.
Dietary Options: At least 50% of meals are vegetarian or vegan, plus Gluten-Aware and Dairy-Aware labels. Halal-certified meats make it a strong choice for mindful eaters.
Delivers to: BC, AB, ON, and QC, including Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal. Free delivery on all orders.
Compared to other kits we tested, Fresh Prep required the least prep work before we could actually start cooking. We also liked that the reusable containers get picked up on your next delivery, so there’s no extra trip to deal with.
Get 50% off first week for new users!
Sustainable meal kits delivered across Western Canada with pre-chopped, fresh ingredients.
Quick & easy recipes ready in 30 minutes — less waste, more convenience.
Flexible options every week: vegetarian, vegan, and family-friendly meals.
5. Goodfood
Best For: Menu Variety and One-Stop Grocery Shopping
Goodfood started as a Montreal-based meal kit company and has grown into something bigger. It’s now part meal kit, part online grocery store. Along with your weekly recipes, you can add from over 1,000 grocery items (fresh pasta, organic beef, snacks, cleaning essentials) and get everything in one delivery. Same-day delivery is available in parts of Toronto and Montreal.
How It’s Better Than HelloFresh
Where Goodfood pulls ahead of HelloFresh is selection. 50+ weekly recipes, 1,000+ grocery add-ons, and the ability to combine both in a single order. In practice, that meant one fewer trip to the store each week when we used it. HelloFresh doesn’t offer grocery items or same-day delivery. The weak spot is dietary labelling. Goodfood has vegan and keto-friendly meals, but they aren’t always clearly tagged. We found ourselves reading ingredient lists more than we’d like.
Price, Menu, and Dietary Options
Price: From $9.99/serving for standard plans, up to $16.49 for premium or low-carb options. Free delivery on larger orders often makes it more cost-effective than HelloFresh.
Menu: 50+ weekly recipes including 15-minute kits and ready-to-eat meals, plus 1,000+ grocery add-ons.
Dietary Options: Vegetarian, Family Friendly, and Clean15 (low-carb) plans. Vegan and keto-friendly meals exist but aren’t consistently labelled.
Delivers to: QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC, and the Maritimes. Same-day delivery in select areas of Toronto and Montreal.
The grocery add-on feature was the real differentiator when we tested Goodfood. Throwing eggs, bread, and snacks into the same order as meal kits eliminated a separate grocery run that week.
How We Chose These Alternatives
We didn’t just compare spec sheets. We ordered, cooked, and ate meals from each of these services over multiple weeks. Some were impressive from the first box. Others took a few rounds before we could form a real opinion.
Here’s what we weighed most heavily:
Meal Type and Convenience: We included both hands-on meal kits (Chefs Plate, Goodfood) and fully prepared services (Factor, CookUnity) because the right format depends entirely on how much time you have.
Price and Value: Not just per-serving cost, but whether the experience justified the price. Chefs Plate is cheap and the food is good for what you pay. CookUnity costs more, but the quality backs it up. Both earned their spot.
Menu Variety: Recipe fatigue is the #1 reason people cancel HelloFresh. Goodfood and CookUnity stood out for keeping things interesting week after week.
Dietary Options: Factor and Fresh Prep were the strongest here. Actual filters, not just a handful of labelled meals buried in the menu.
Sustainability: Fresh Prep and Goodfood both prioritize Canadian sourcing and eco-friendly packaging. If that matters to you, they’re noticeably ahead of the rest.
Which HelloFresh Alternative is Right for You?
After testing all five, the quick answer is this: if you want a cheaper version of HelloFresh with less fuss, go with Chefs Plate. It’s the closest experience at a lower price. If you’re done with cooking altogether, Factor is the most practical prepared meal service for most Canadians, and CookUnity is the best-tasting one (if you’re in the GTA).
For more specific needs:
Budget is your top priority: Chefs Plate. Intro deals under $3/serving, 15-minute prep options.
Maximum convenience: Factor. Fully cooked and dietitian-designed. Ready in two minutes.
Gourmet variety: CookUnity. 100+ chef-crafted dishes weekly. GTA-only for now.
Sustainability and local support: Fresh Prep. B-Corp certified, reusable packaging, free delivery across four provinces.
Largest menu and grocery options: Goodfood. 50+ recipes plus 1,000+ grocery items in one order.
Most of these services run intro discounts, so you can try one or two without committing to full price.
Other Services We Considered
A few other Canadian services didn’t make the top five but are worth a look depending on where you live. WeCook offers fully prepared meals in Quebec and Ontario, though the delivery area is more limited. Cook It used to be a popular Quebec-based meal kit, but Fresh Prep absorbed it during their eastern expansion. In the GTA, SPATULA Foods delivers flash-frozen chef meals, and LiveFit Foods is worth checking out if you want macro-counted plans built around fitness goals.
HelloFresh Head-to-Head Comparisons
Want a deeper dive on a specific matchup? We’ve done detailed side-by-side breakdowns:
- Chefs Plate VS HelloFresh — Budget vs. variety: which delivers more value per dollar?
- HelloFresh VS Factor — Meal kit cooking vs. ready-to-eat convenience
- Fresh Prep VS HelloFresh — Sustainability and local sourcing compared
- HelloFresh VS GoodFood — Canada’s two biggest meal kits, head to head
- HelloFresh VS GoodFood VS Chefs Plate — The Big 3 compared in one guide
- HelloFresh VS Blue Apron — Cross-border comparison for Canadians who’ve tried both
- HomeChef VS HelloFresh — How HomeChef’s customization compares
Explore Our Other HelloFresh Articles
- Is HelloFresh worth it?
- Is HelloFresh Healthy?
- Is HelloFresh Keto?
- Is HelloFresh Gluten Free?
- How to Pause HelloFresh?
- How to Cancel HelloFresh?
- HelloFresh Recipes
- HelloFresh Promo Code
- HelloFresh’s Free Breakfast for Life Deal
- HelloFresh in Edmonton
- HelloFresh in Mississauga
- HelloFresh in Ottawa
- HelloFresh in Toronto
Explore Our In-Depth Meal Kit Reviews
- HelloFresh Review
- Chefs Plate Review
- GoodFood Review
- HomeChef Review
- Fresh Prep Review
- Factor Meals Review
- CookUnity Review
Looking for the cheapest meal kits? Use our cost comparison tool to find your best budget-friendly option now!
Not sure which meal kit is right for you? Compare Canada’s top meal kit delivery services and find your perfect match!
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