Subscription boxes are the next big thing – it seems like any items, from shoes to snacks, you can get delivered in a convenient little box to your work or home.
There’s logic behind this – first, and maybe most importantly, we’re busy people.
Between work, responsibilities at home, and trying to fit a social life somewhere in the cracks, it’s hard enough to figure out grocery shopping for the week, much less have snacks planned, packaged, and ready to go when we need them.
When 2 pm rolls around, you want a better option than that sad bag of chips from the vending machine.
I also love subscription boxes because they allow me to try samples of foods or beauty products that I wouldn’t necessarily pick up on my own, or ingredients that are cost prohibitive.
Let’s face it, I’m not going to spend $15 on a pound of Goji berries on a regular basis, no matter how many antioxidants they have.
If I love a particular snack, I can request more of it or like it in my next shipment, and if I hate it, I have the option to make sure it isn’t included in further boxes.
It’s the perfect blend of convenience and customization.
Being vegan doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the joy of getting a subscription box delivered to your desk. But which subscription boxes are best for vegans? How can you make sure you have enough options? We’ve broken down the best cruelty-free boxes, so you don’t have to!
List of Monthly Vegan Boxes
| Company | Price | Category | # of Products |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$12.95/month |
Food |
6 | |
|
$5.00/month (+ snacks) |
Food |
Varies | |
|
$29.95/2 months |
Food, Beauty |
4-5 | |
|
$33.00/month |
Food, Beauty, Household |
4-6 | |
|
$19.99/month |
Food |
3 | |
|
$29.00/month |
Beauty |
4-6 | |
|
$11.99/box |
Food |
8 | |
|
$42.49/box |
Food, Beauty |
15 |
Urth Box
from $12.99 per month – Our Top Choice
While Urth Box is not a strictly vegan subscription company, it does clearly mark its products and make it easy for you to designate what kinds of ingredients you need to avoid.
There’s no reason to click through hundreds of snacks and choose “do not send” – simply sign up for a Vegan box option and everything is taken care of. A straight snack box, Urth Box includes things like bars, cookies, juices, and sweets.
One of my favorite things about Urth Box is that you can see examples of what to expect right on the site. They feature an entire gallery of sample boxes where you can click through real photos submitted by users and see exactly what kinds of products you can expect to receive.
I also liked that Urth Box offers different tiers of subscription pricing depending on how many snacks you want. Someone who’s just looking to have a few snacks to tuck into their desk drawer at work can pay $12.99 per month for the “casual snacker” box, while “pro snackers” can pay $40.00 per month for 25+ snacks per box.
You can even spend $199.00 on 100+ full-size products for your office. The Urth Box ships free to the United States and offers paid shipping to Canada and the rest of the globe.
Another unique aspect of Urth Box is its loyalty program, which allows customers to purchase what they like at member discounts, and accumulate points that can be redeemed for products in their store. The layout of the website makes it easy to research and sign up without ever having to look around elsewhere on the internet.
The Downsides
Although the Urth Box is advertised at a seemingly low price, you have to sign up for longer terms plans to get that price. An example is, if you want to get the “Small” package at $19.99/month, you need to sign up for 6 months. Otherwise, it’s going to cost $29.99/month.
But you can always try it for a month, and if you love the experience, you can just upgrade your service to a 6 month or yearly plan to take advantage of the lower pricing.
Available at Urthbox.com (or read our review)Save $10 off your first month by clicking the link above – no coupon code needed!
NatureBox
from $5.00 per month
For people who like to customize their monthly snack stash, Naturebox is the answer. Instead of relying on someone to choose your munchies for you, Naturebox allows you to choose the treats that sound good to you with an “a la carte” approach.
Membership to Naturebox is $5.00 per month, which is applied to your purchase.
The snacks are also foods you can feel good about. All the foods are free from artificial ingredients, high fructose corn syrup, and hydrogenated oils.
Naturebox boasts an impressive catalog of snacks, which you can filter by dietary needs (they aren’t a strictly vegan company, but you can filter down to vegan-friendly options only). When you’ve selected all your snacks and added them to your cart, you can proceed to checkout. It’s more like traditional online shopping than other box subscriptions.
I like the variety of snacks Naturebox offers. Additionally, the ability to choose each snack means you’re more likely to enjoy what you’re getting – when someone else stocks your box, you may wind up with a lot of foods that aren’t to your liking. Naturebox eliminates that problem – if you hate spicy foods, you don’t have to include them.
The Downsides
On the flip side, however, Naturebox’s process is less convenient than other subscriptions. Whereas other services allow you to click a button and have your snacks delivered, Naturebox has a lot of snacks to flip through – this process takes time and effort.
Available at NatureBox.com
Love Goodly
$28-$29.95 per 2 months (Save $5 off your first month – coupon code: URBANVEGAN)
For around $30 bi-monthly, Love Goodly delivers a mix of 4-5 full-size beauty, skincare, wellness, healthy snacks, and style/home accessories right to your door. They always include beauty and skin care products but mix it up with the other items as well. Some products you could expect to receive are items like lipstick, tea, and samples of Ayurvedic toothpaste.
Everything is 100% vegan, so you don’t have to worry about receiving something you can’t use, and a portion of each purchase goes towards a cause.
Each box contains at least $60 worth of products, which includes full-size products as well as samples.
The beauty of Love Goodly comes in its variety of products. Whereas a service like Graze can get old, there is always the chance of receiving something new in one of the Love Goodly boxes, which keeps it from getting dull.
Will it be jewelry this month? Makeup brushes? Natural hair ties? There is an element of fun and surprise in each box delivery.
Additionally, Love Goodly boxes are gorgeous on a purely aesthetic scale – the packaging is just lovely, and they come with personal touches like handwritten notes from the curators. It feels like receiving a thoughtful gift from a friend, with the classiness of a posh store.
The Downsides
However, Love Goodly is not without its faults. Firstly, the box is very clearly marketed to women – from the products included, to the wording used on the notes, this isn’t the box for a couple or family who want to be able to share products between a man and a woman.
It’d be good if they had a way to designate the types of products to receive so vegan men could try out different snacks and products, too.
UPDATE (September 2017) – One of my past dislikes about this box was that there wasn’t any customization available. Which meant possibly receiving a blush or vegan lipstick in a color that didn’t match my skin tone, or isn’t to my taste.
But Love Goodly listened to their customers and made some changes! They now allow customers to personalize one item in the box. Usually, it will be one item that they specify – in past boxes; it has been eye shadow, lip gloss, etc.
Available at lovegoodly.com (or read our review)
Save $5 off your first month by using coupon code URBANVEGAN when you checkout
Goddess Provisions
from $33.00 per month
Goddess Provisions offers an interesting take on the subscription box service. This product goes far beyond just snacks, also incorporating beauty and home products to help you embrace your spiritual, feminine side.
Each box from Goddess Provisions contains 4-6 full-size products, though it sometimes incorporates samples. The products might be consumables like teas and superfood snacks. However, it also could contain things like beauty products, aromatherapy spray, and books.
Best of all? Goddess Provisions is an entirely vegan and cruelty-free company – there’s no guesswork about what you can be sent, and you know every dollar goes toward supporting a vegan-friendly company.
I really like that Goddess Provisions goes beyond typical snacks – after all, how many food subscriptions can you really have? Plus, the company offers a gift option, so you can finally get the perfect present for your yoga partner.
The Downsides
However, at $33 for 4-6 items, the price per item of this subscription box is a little higher than others. Plus, things like jewelry and scents are extremely subjective. That’s quite a bit of cash to drop per item on something that you don’t have any say over (and that doesn’t take your tastes and personality into account).
I’d like to see a little more customizability for the price, but I do appreciate that this service takes animal rights company-wide.
Available at Cratejoy.com
Louisville Jerky Company
from $19.99 per month
Louisville Jerky Company is known for its amazing vegan jerkies. They take that one step further by creating a subscription service, just for animal-friendly jerky!
A payment of $19.99 per month gets you three bags of meatless jerky. Two of those bags are traditional flavors, while one is a more experimental “small batch.” You can save a bit of cash by prepaying for several months ahead of time – save .50 cents per month by buying 6 months, or $1 per month by purchasing a full year’s subscription.
Each plan includes free shipping, so there aren’t any surprise fees when you get to the end of checkout.
This option is perfect for ex-jerky lovers, as well as those who may not be able to find Louisville Jerky Company’s products in stores. It makes a great gift idea for a vegan who has everything (and who loves jerky!).
The Downsides
My only complaint about this subscription box is that it’s a little boring – but that could be because I don’t love jerky enough to eat three bags every month for a whole year. However, for the jerky lover, this could be the ideal option.
Available at Cratejoy.com
Orglamix
from $29.00 per month
Each month, Orglamix subscribers receive 4-6 beauty products that are non-toxic, vegan, natural, and cruelty-free. The boxes are based around seasonal themes.
When you sign up with Orglamix, you can choose the membership level you want (1, 6, or 12 months). You’ll also choose your preferences, to make sure that each box is carefully tailored to your tastes.
Previous Orglamix boxes have included things like natural mascara, organic eyeshadows, essential oils, coconut melt, and cheek tint.
I like this box because it provides a great introduction to natural and sustainable makeup. It can be hard to find a natural mascara or lipstick that’s good for you and the environment, that’s still effective and beautiful. Trying a variety of products allows you to find what works best for you so you can fill up your stash.
The Downsides
On the downside, because each product is small-batch, there isn’t a guarantee that you’ll be able to find the product outside the subscription service. The only thing worse than not being able to find a great natural lipstick is finding the perfect one, then being unable to get it in stores or online!
Available at Cratejoy.com
Graze
from $11.99 per box
Like most people, graze was my first foray into subscription boxes, with the 8-snack variety box. At a very modest $11.99 per box, this is a lower-cost, low-commitment box if you’re just looking for a few fun snacks to keep in your desk drawer at work.
I like graze because they allow me to try foods I wouldn’t usually try myself, or have seen recipes for and am too lazy to make them at home. It’s also nice that each snack comes in its individual package – I find one of the most challenging aspects of snacks like chips and dried fruit is having to portion it out or risk mindlessly eating out of a big bag.
Graze is wonderful in that you can pick out a pre-portioned snack and see the calorie content printed clearly on the packaging. It takes all the guesswork out of how much you should be eating – no measuring cups needed!
Graze isn’t an entirely vegan program. However, they do try to make it easy to make sure you only have vegan-friendly, plant-based snacks delivered to your door by noting any food allergies/dietary restrictions.
They also get a nice mix of sweet, salty, and savory food options and, like most subscription boxes, you can note if you like more of a particular flavor. If you’ve got a strong sweet tooth, they’ll put more dried fruits and chocolate into your monthly box, while chip-lovers can get a box filled with crunchy, salty snacks. They also offer nut mixes and fun, different products like shiitake mushroom broth, to keep you from getting bored.
The Downsides
Graze is one of the least customizable boxes available. While you can mark off that you want snacks without animal products, you don’t actually get to choose the eight products that make it into the final box.
If you really don’t like a particular snack, you can go in and mark it as “do not send”, but considering they offer over 100 snacks, it cancels out the convenience a little to have to click this for each and every option.
Ultimately, Graze is what gets a lot of people into subscription boxes in the first place, and is one worth considering.
Available at Graze.com
Healthy Surprise
$42.49 per box
Another subscription service that isn’t entirely vegan, Healthy Surprise caters to multiple “healthy” lifestyles, including Paleo and plant-based, and offers subscriptions in varying sizes, which can be useful for ordering for individuals or families.
Additionally, Healthy Surprise gives you the option of ordering a snack box, a personal care box, or a gift box to give as a present.
All Healthy Surprise’s snacks are free of gluten, soy, corn, wheat, and genetically modified organisms. This makes it a great option for people with multiple food allergies who may have a hard time finding tasty snacks that fit their lifestyle.
The Downsides
Because Healthy Surprise caters to Paleo eaters as well as other “healthy” lifestyles, I sometimes find images on their website a little jarring.
It can be hard to log in to change the preferences in my vegan box to see giant slabs of beef jerky on their home page. This may not bother you, but I find it to be a big turnoff – especially when I’m trying to pick out yummy plant-based snacks!
Additionally, I find Healthy Surprise’s website to be tough to navigate. It takes some exploration to figure out exactly where you need to go, and it can be frustrating trying to get a sense of exactly what snacks were available, how much customization you can do, etc.
Due to the overwhelming nature of the site and a lot of unanswered questions this box wouldn’t be my first option, but it is an option worth mentioning.
Available at healthysurprise.com
The Verdict
When it comes down to it, while there are so many great options available for vegans as far as subscription boxes go, I have to recommend the Urth Box as a perfect blend of price, ease of use, and customizability.
Subscribing to a snack or personal product box service can be a fun, easy way to keep your home or office stocked with snacks and beauty products you feel good about.
Treat yourself to a monthly or bi-monthly delivery of fun treats and samples, and enjoy taking in the world of vegan products one nibble at a time.
