As a coach and reviewer who tests meal delivery services through the lens of an active lifestyle, I’ve put both HelloFresh and Sunbasket through their paces.
When you’re lifting weights and grappling several times a week like me, food needs to pull its weight too with high protein, decent taste, and something that doesn’t eat up your whole evening.
So which one’s better for fueling your training? I’ve cooked their kits, compared their options, and even examined what real users say online. This comparison breaks down what each service offers, how they stack up for athletes, and whether either is worth your cash.
Quick Verdict
HelloFresh offers an impressive variety with over 100 weekly options at a reasonable price. It delivers tasty meals that satisfy without breaking the bank, making it ideal for casual active people who enjoy cooking and want to skip meal planning.
Sunbasket shines with organic ingredients and both meal kits and ready-to-heat options. Its commitment to quality and eco-friendly packaging appeals to health-conscious eaters who value convenience and clean eating.
However, for serious athletes and those focused on fitness goals, neither service truly hits the mark on protein content or portion sizes.
That’s why Trifecta Nutrition takes the crown for active individuals by delivering fully prepared, macro-optimized meals with 35- 50+ grams of protein per serving, requiring zero prep time.
| Feature | Winner |
|---|---|
| Customization | Sunbasket |
| Meal Kits and Variety | Sunbasket |
| Taste and Quality | Sunbasket |
| Packaging | Sunbasket |
| User Reviews | Draw |
| Cancelation Process | Draw |
| Price | Hello Fresh |
Winner
Based on my experience with each meal delivery service, neither Sunbasket nor Hello Fresh hold a light to Trifecta Nutrition.
Trifecta caters to any allergies or dietary preferences and has a Performance Line with meals that don’t skimp on protein or calories.
They are high protein, moderate carb, and lower in fat making them perfect for muscle building, fat loss, or sports performance related goals. Use code “liftbig40” for 40% OFF.
What Is HelloFresh?
HelloFresh is a subscription-based meal kit delivery service that ships pre-portioned ingredients and detailed recipes to your door.
Founded in 2011, it’s now a major player in the meal kit space, focusing on convenient home cooking without the hassle of planning or grocery shopping.
Each week, subscribers receive a box with ingredients for their chosen recipes, typically requiring 20-40 minutes of preparation time.
HelloFresh offers various plans like “Meat & Veggies,” “Veggie,” “Family Friendly,” and “Fit & Wholesome,” with a rotating menu featuring over 100 weekly options.
The service is designed for those who enjoy cooking but want to skip the meal planning and shopping steps. You can select meals based on preferences or cooking time, with the option to add breakfast items or extra proteins through their Marketplace.
Unlike fully prepared meal services, HelloFresh requires cooking effort, making it best for those who don’t mind spending some time in the kitchen. My Hello Fresh review goes into detail about my experience.
What Is Sunbasket?
Sunbasket is a meal delivery service launched in 2014 that focuses on providing fresh, healthy meals with an emphasis on organic and sustainably sourced ingredients.
Based in San Francisco, it caters to health-conscious eaters who value quality but lack time for extensive meal prep.
The service offers two main options: Meal Kits with pre-portioned ingredients and recipes for 20-40 minute cooking, and Fresh & Ready meals that are fully prepared and heat up in just 4-6 minutes.
This dual approach gives customers flexibility based on their schedule and cooking preferences.
Sunbasket stands out for its commitment to quality. 99% of produce is USDA-certified organic, and proteins are free of hormones and antibiotics.
The service accommodates various dietary preferences, including Paleo, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, and Carb-Conscious, with about 24 weekly meal choices.
Beyond dinners, Sunbasket offers add-ons through a market section, including breakfast items, snacks, and extra proteins.
Deliveries arrive in eco-friendly packaging that’s almost entirely recyclable or compostable, available across most of the contiguous U.S. My Sunbasket review goes into detail about my experience.
HelloFresh vs. Sunbasket: Main Differences
Customization
HelloFresh and Sunbasket offer different approaches to customization that cater to different types of eaters.
With HelloFresh, you start by selecting a plan like “Meat & Veggies” or “Fit & Wholesome,” then pick your meals weekly from their extensive menu.
The system is flexible enough to hop between categories like grabbing a hearty protein one night and something lighter the next. I liked the ability to filter based on preferences, though you can’t modify individual recipes by swapping proteins or removing ingredients.
Sunbasket takes a similar approach but offers more diet-specific options. You can choose plans like Paleo, Carb-Conscious, or Gluten-Free, and still mix and match across categories.
Their menu lets you filter by calories, carbs, or protein content, which is clutch for tracking macros. Like HelloFresh, you can’t tweak individual recipes.
Both services let you upgrade proteins (HelloFresh offers premium cuts like ribeye for $6-$9 extra, while Sunbasket has organic meat options), but neither allows granular control over individual ingredients or portions.
For athletes or active people who need specific macros, both services work if you’re flexible, but you may need to supplement with protein or sides to hit your targets.
If I had to give the edge to one, Sunbasket’s diet-specific filters make it slightly better for those with particular nutritional needs, but both fall short of the customization offered by services like Home Chef.
Meal Variety, Kits, and Recipes
HelloFresh dominates the variety department with over 100 weekly options compared to Sunbasket’s more modest 24 choices. HelloFresh’s massive selection means you’ll never feel stuck in a rut.
I found plenty of protein-packed meals like spicy chicken sausages, beef stir-fries, and juicy burgers, usually delivering 25-40 grams of protein per serving.
Sunbasket compensates for its smaller menu with quality and diet-specific options. Their 24 weekly meals are split between kits and prepared meals, with roughly a third hitting the high-protein mark (30-40 grams).
Standouts include “Steak with Chimichurri” and “Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce”, which were perfect for my recovery meals.
Both services provide meal kits with pre-portioned ingredients that take 20-40 minutes to prepare. The recipe cards are clear and beginner-friendly, though some dishes require more chopping than I’d prefer after a long day.
The main difference is that Sunbasket also offers Fresh & Ready meals that heat up in just 4-6 minutes—a huge advantage when you’re beat from the gym and can’t face cooking.
For active folks, HelloFresh’s “Fit & Wholesome” category offers some lighter options, while Sunbasket’s diet-specific categories like “Paleo” deliver clean meals without the guesswork.
While HelloFresh wins on sheer volume, Sunbasket’s dual offering of kits and prepared meals gives it an edge for convenience, especially on busy training days.
If you’re vegetarian, neither service truly excels. HelloFresh’s veggie options lean heavily into pasta and cheese, while Sunbasket offers slightly more balanced plant-based meals but with limited protein.
Taste & Quality
The taste and quality comparison between these services reveals clear differences in their approach to ingredients and flavors. HelloFresh surprised me with consistently bold, satisfying meals despite their large-scale operation.
Dishes like “Garlic Butter Sirloin” and “Spicy Maple Chicken” delivered legitimate flavor that felt rewarding after a tough workout. The ingredients were fresher than expected.
Proteins arrived looking good, veggies were crisp, and overall, everything tasted like it came from a decent grocery store.
Sunbasket elevates the game with its commitment to organic, sustainable ingredients. Their 99% organic produce and hormone-free proteins translated to cleaner, more vibrant flavors.
Meals like “Pork Chops with Honey-Chipotle Glaze” and “Salmon with Lemon-Tahini Sauce” featured bold seasonings that didn’t hold back. Even their prepared Fresh & Ready meals maintained quality.
Both services provide enough protein for active people (typically 25-40 grams per serving), though neither quite hits the mark if you’re looking for 50+ grams post-heavy lifting. Sunbasket’s quality edge is noticeable.
Their organic ingredients and sustainable proteins offer cleaner flavors and better texture, though you pay a premium for this upgrade.
For taste, it’s hard to go wrong with either service. HelloFresh delivers reliable, crowd-pleasing meals with punchy flavors, while Sunbasket offers a more refined, health-conscious experience that feels closer to something you’d make with farmer’s market ingredients.
Packaging
The packaging approaches from these services reveal their different priorities. HelloFresh arrives in a sturdy cardboard box with a foil liner and ice packs to keep everything cold.
Inside, ingredients are organized in labeled paper bags, making it super convenient to grab what you need. Proteins sit at the bottom in vacuum-sealed packages, safely separated from other ingredients.
While HelloFresh claims to be environmentally conscious, the reality includes a fair amount of plastic—sauce packets, herb containers, and protein wraps that aren’t always recyclable.
The ice packs are reusable, and the cardboard breaks down easily, but you’ll still be tossing plastic with every meal.
Sunbasket takes eco-friendliness more seriously. Their boxes use recycled denim insulation, and they claim nearly 100% of their packaging is recyclable or compostable.
Meal kits come with ingredients neatly portioned in bags, while Fresh & Ready meals arrive in their own microwave-safe trays. The commitment to sustainability is evident as ice packs are drainable without toxic gel, and most components can be recycled.
From a practical standpoint, both services keep ingredients fresh and organized, making meal prep straightforward. I’ve left both boxes on my porch for hours in the sun with no issues. The difference comes down to environmental impact.
Sunbasket’s packaging creates noticeably less waste and uses more earth-friendly materials, making it the clear winner if sustainability matters to you.
Price
Both services position themselves as premium options, but there are significant differences in their pricing strategies. Here’s how they compare:
| Meal Delivery Service | Meal Kit Price Per Serving | Ready Meals Price Per Serving | Shipping | Weekly Minimum |
| HelloFresh | $9.99-$11.49 | N/A | $10.99 | $65.94 (6 servings) |
| Sunbasket | $11.49-$17.99 | $9.99-$15.00 | $9.99 | $55.00 (4 servings) |
For context, I tested HelloFresh’s 2-person, 4-meal plan at $90.91 total ($79.92 + $10.99 shipping), which works out to about $11.36 per serving with shipping.
For Sunbasket, a comparable plan with 6 meal kit servings runs about $80 before shipping, with Fresh & Ready meals starting at $55 for 4 servings.
Both services offer significant new customer discounts. I received 16 free servings from HelloFresh across my first four boxes, which substantially lowered the initial cost.
Cancelation Process
Both services offer straightforward cancellation processes that don’t require phone calls or customer service interactions.
With HelloFresh, you simply log into your account online or through the app, navigate to “My Subscriptions” under account settings, and select “Cancel Plan.”
They’ll ask why you’re leaving with options like “too expensive” or “not enough variety,” but it’s a quick process that ends with a confirmation email.
Sunbasket follows a similar approach. Everything’s handled through your online account. You access “Account Settings,” select “Pause or Cancel,” answer a brief “Why are you leaving?” prompt (which is optional), and receive an immediate confirmation.
Both services make it easy to pause deliveries instead of canceling outright, which is handy if you’re traveling or just need a break.
Neither service tries to guilt you into staying or buries the cancelation option behind multiple pages, and both were equally painless to stop when I wrapped up my testing.
User Reviews
Looking beyond my personal experience, I checked what everyday users say about both services. HelloFresh enjoys broad popularity, with Trustpilot showing a 3.7-star rating from over 65,000 reviews.
Users consistently praise the convenience and variety, with comments like “My husband and I love ordering from HelloFresh! The food is definitely fresh.
The recipes are easy to understand and taste great!” Reddit users highlight how it encourages trying new dishes, with one noting, “It’s made us try different things and so far we love everything.”
Sunbasket garners similar praise for taste and quality, with users specifically mentioning the organic ingredients and flavor profiles. One reviewer gushed, “The flavors are amazing and way better than other kits I’ve tried!”
Others appreciate the freshness: “The veggies and meats are so fresh, it’s like they just picked them.” The eco-friendly packaging also scores points, with comments like, “Love that I’m not drowning in plastic.”
The main criticism for both services concerns pricing, though Sunbasket receives more complaints about this given its premium positioning.
Some Sunbasket users also mention portion sizes being insufficient, particularly for larger appetites: “Great for me, but my husband’s still hungry.”
Delivery issues appear in reviews for both services, with occasional reports of late or missing boxes, though most acknowledge that customer service resolves problems promptly.
Overall, the sentiment is positive when users’ expectations align with what each service offers. HelloFresh for variety and accessibility, Sunbasket for quality and sustainability.
My Experience With HelloFresh And Sunbasket
After weeks of testing both services, I’ve got a clear sense of how they stack up for someone with an active lifestyle.
I approached each with the same questions: Can they fuel my training? Are they worth the cash? Do they save enough time to justify the cost?
With HelloFresh, I opted for the “Meat & Veggies” plan, picking protein-heavy options like their “Garlic Butter Sirloin” and “Spicy Maple Chicken.” The flavors consistently impressed me—bold, satisfying, and far from the bland territory some meal kits inhabit.
Most dishes delivered 25-40 grams of protein, which worked as a solid base for my nutrition needs, though I sometimes doubled up servings after particularly intense training days.
The cooking process was straightforward, at 20-40 minutes from box to plate, and clear recipe cards that never left me guessing. That said, after a grueling grappling session, even that time commitment occasionally felt like a burden.
Switching to Sunbasket, I tested both their Meal Kits and Fresh & Ready options. Their “Steak with Chimichurri” and “Paleo Beef Chili” kits pack similar protein numbers (30-40 grams) with noticeably cleaner, more vibrant flavors thanks to the organic ingredients.
The real game-changer, though, was their Fresh & Ready meals. Popping the “Chicken with Creamy Mushroom Sauce” in the microwave for 6 minutes felt like cheating the system after I had to take care of my toddler until 9 pm.
The quality difference between the services was subtle but real. Sunbasket’s ingredients simply tasted fresher and more carefully sourced, though HelloFresh never disappointed.
The portion sizes for both left me wanting more after heavy training days and neither truly caters to the athlete who needs massive calorie intake.
Price-wise, HelloFresh delivered better value, while Sunbasket’s premium positioning reflected in my weekly bill. The convenience factor was comparable for the meal kits, but Sunbasket’s prepared meals provided an extra level of ease that HelloFresh doesn’t offer.
For my lifestyle, both services proved useful but imperfect. The protein content worked for moderate training days but fell short after intense sessions.
The convenience saved weeknight headaches, but the cost made me question whether I could justify it long-term.
If I had to pick one based solely on my experience as someone who trains hard and values both nutrition and convenience, Sunbasket’s dual offering of kits and prepared meals gave it the edge, despite the higher price point.
Should You Pick HelloFresh Or Sunbasket?
After thoroughly testing both services, the decision between HelloFresh and Sunbasket ultimately depends on your priorities and lifestyle. Let me break down who should choose each service.
Go with HelloFresh if you’re looking for variety and value. With over 100 weekly options and pricing around $9.99-$11.49 per serving, it’s the more budget-friendly choice that still delivers on flavor and quality.
The “Meat & Veggies” plan works well for active people who want decent protein content without breaking the bank.
HelloFresh is ideal if you enjoy cooking but want to eliminate planning and shopping, and don’t mind spending 20-40 minutes in the kitchen.
Choose Sunbasket if quality ingredients and dietary options are your priority. The organic produce and responsibly sourced proteins justify the higher price tag.
Their Fresh & Ready meals are a game-changer for those nights when you don’t want to touch a pan, making this service better for busy people with unpredictable schedules. If you follow specific diets like Paleo or Gluten-Free, Sunbasket’s curated options make life easier.
However, neither is truly optimized for serious athletes or individuals with high protein needs. Both fall short on portion sizes after intense training, and the protein content (25-40 grams per serving) is adequate but not exceptional for muscle recovery and growth.
That’s why I ultimately recommend Trifecta Nutrition for active people serious about their fitness goals. Unlike HelloFresh and Sunbasket, Trifecta delivers fully prepared, high-protein meals specifically designed for athletes, with options packing 35-50+ grams of protein per serving.
Their meals arrive ready to heat, eliminating all prep time, and the macros are dialed in for recovery and performance.
At around $16 per meal, Trifecta’s pricing sits between HelloFresh and Sunbasket’s premium options, but the time saved and nutritional benefits make it the superior choice for anyone who trains hard regularly.
Trifecta
Trifecta Nutrition
A clean, high protein meal delivery service that doesn’t skimp on quality or portions. Use code “liftbig40” for 40% OFF.
