Better-for-you ingredients shipped directly to your door at a discount? We tested this online grocery shopping service to see if it's too good to be true.
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Not too long ago, the idea of doing all your grocery shopping online seemed almost too good to be true. Now, that dream has become a reality. You can order almost anything from the comfort of your couch for delivery straight to your door.
Thrive Market is one such company, offering nothing but clean, all-natural groceries at discounted prices. I spent hours combing their website to see if their advertised savings are as significant as the company claims. Then, I placed an order to see if they could change how I buy groceries.
Thrive Market
Thrive Market is an online grocery store where everything is organic or sustainably sourced and curated by experts.
What is Thrive Market?
Think of Thrive Market as a mix of Whole Foods, Costco and your favorite online grocery store. For a $12 monthly subscription fee (or $59.95 if billed annually), you can shop thousands of grocery, cleaning and personal care items that are natural and sustainable. They also carry many products that accommodate dietary preferences, like gluten-free, vegan and paleo.
Thrive Market’s products are also 100% non-GMO. The company chooses ingredients that have been vetted for safety, banning over 1,000 ingredients deemed unsafe, including antibiotics, artificial flavors and parabens. Though not every product they sell is organic, Thrive Market carries over 2,000 certified organic items, which isn’t too shabby.
In addition to dry goods, Thrive Market also sells frozen foods, including flash-frozen meat and seafood. They don’t offer refrigerated goods like eggs, produce or dairy to all customers, but the brand is working to open it to all members soon.
Their Mission
Besides giving everyone in the lower 48 states ready and easy access to healthy foods, Thrive Market’s greater mission includes ending food inequality. The company regularly partners with small food equity organizations like Foodcorps and FoodCycle LA. It has set a goal of providing at least $20 million of healthy groceries to people in need by 2030. Additionally, every annual membership sponsors a free membership for families that could use some help.
Thrive Market also prides itself on its sustainability. The company’s warehouses are TRUE Certified (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) for Zero Waste, meaning that they recycle or repurpose at least 90% of the materials used. Products are delivered using carbon-neutral ground shipping, in packaging is 100% recyclable or compostable. Whew!
How We Tested It
Even though I’m a professional food writer and recipe developer, I have a huge soft spot for ready-to-eat foods and meal delivery services. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! Sometimes, I’m way too tired to cook (or really do anything at all), and I have no issue boiling up some ramen noodles, tossing frozen snacks into the air fryer or microwaving a vacuum-sealed pouch of saag paneer. Not only that, as a single mom of two teenage boys, I like stocking the house with healthy(ish) foods my kids can eat on nights I’m too busy to cook dinner—particularly foods they can prepare for themselves without making a mess of the kitchen. Thrive Market reviews will say they’re a great option for ready-to-eat foods.
Ready-to-Eat Foods
But as with most things, you get what you pay for, and the cost of filling a few cabinets with the best ready-to-eat foods adds up quickly. Even when the savings seem slight, they quickly add up to something significant when buying in bulk. Through Thrive Market, I could buy several weeks’ worth of all-natural (and delicious!) instant ramen cups, tinned fish, boxed tofu, jarred simmer sauces and more for about $200. Had I bought the same items retail, not only would it have cost me at least 30% more, but I would likely have needed to visit multiple stores to get everything I wanted. Another great thing about Thrive Market is they can store massive amounts of inventory in their warehouses, so items rarely go out of stock.
That said, I wasn’t overly impressed with the savings for items I use in my home pantry. While the company has a price-matching program, searching for lower prices elsewhere is a tedious process that renders the convenience of online grocery shopping nearly irrelevant.
If I lived in a place where the nearest specialty supermarket was hours away, I wouldn’t care much about the overall savings—the fact that Thrive Market could get healthy, all-natural groceries to my doorstep would be well worth the prices, even if they’re not much different than retail prices. However, I’m a city mouse and can easily pick up natural/organic pantry items, grass-fed meat and sustainable seafood. Ready-to-eat foods, on the other hand, are a different story.
As for my haul, I couldn’t be happier. If I’m too tired to cook anything substantial, there’s something delicious in my pantry that can be ready in minutes. Thrive Market is a fantastic supplement to regular grocery shopping if you stick to sales and shop intelligently.
Pros
- Makes healthy foods accessible
- Offers significant savings if you’re a smart shopper
- Daily freebie offers
- Flash sales that offer deep discounts
- Not too difficult to meet the free shipping threshold on non-frozen items
- Price-matching program
- Thrive Cash rewards program
Cons
- Not all foods are offered at significant discounts
- Frozen foods require a $60 minimum; free shipping offered with $120 purchase
- Price-matching program is tedious to take advantage of
Thrive Market Features
Shopping Thrive Market requires a membership. But if you regularly purchase specialty groceries, the fee will pay for itself in no time. In fact, the company guarantees that if you don’t recoup your annual membership fee in savings each year, they’ll pay you the difference in store credit. Monthly memberships cost $12 and don’t come with the benefit of a free trial period. Thrive Market reviews will tell you it’s a better decision to spring for the $59.99 annual subscription, which not only saves you $84 but also lets you cancel within 30 days for a full refund.
Shipping
Thrive Market ships anywhere within the lower 48 states. Orders are usually processed within 12 hours once they’re placed and shipped within 24 hours. Pantry items and dry goods usually arrive within two to four days after an order is placed, while frozen goods take between two to three business days to arrive once shipped. It’s important to note that Thrive Market only ships out frozen orders on Mondays through Thursdays to prevent any shipping delays over the weekend.
Thrive offers an auto-ship program for goods you buy regularly that can save you an additional 5–10% off their already discounted prices. Autoship orders can be set for every 4, 8 or 12 weeks, and can be canceled, postponed or rescheduled as needed.
One of the best parts of Thrive Market is that there’s free shipping, provided you reach a minimum order threshold:
- Grocery: Free shipping on orders over $49; otherwise, $5.95
- Frozen items: Free shipping on orders over $99; otherwise $19.95
- Wine: Free shipping on orders over $79; otherwise, $13.95
It might be worth paying the extra $5.95 if you’ve only got a small grocery order, but for frozen and wine purchases, you’ll probably want to fill up that cart a bit more to take advantage of free shipping.
Thrive Cash
In addition to their regularly discounted prices, some items allow you to earn Thrive Cash, which is essentially a cash-back store credit program. Thrive Cash is automatically applied to your next order as long as it’s within 30 days. The company also offers Thrive Cash as a part of its price-matching program. If you find a product you want at a lower price, you can submit a screenshot or photo of the item and its advertised discounted price. Once Thrive reviews your photos, you will be sent the cost difference in Thrive Cash.
Another benefit to a Thrive Market membership is the frequent freebies, usually offered daily. Provided you purchase at least $49 worth of groceries, that day’s featured freebie will be automatically added to your cart.
Additional Testing in 2026
Taste of Home contributor Barbara Bellesi Zito signed up for a Thrive Market membership and ordered her first box in January 2026, right before a major snowstorm was due to hit New York City and other metro areas. She was surprised—and thrilled—that the company kept to its one-business-day shipping schedule.
“I placed my order on Thursday at 6 p.m., and it arrived early Saturday afternoon,” Barbara says, adding that she was sent tracking updates via email. “I was prepared to be flexible, fully expecting a delayed delivery and out-of-stock products amid the mad rush to stock up on essentials. But everything I ordered showed up on schedule and perfectly packed before the first flakes fell.”
Here’s what else she had to say about her inaugural Thrive Market experience:
Ordering/Website Navigation
It’s easy to navigate the Thrive Market site and fill a cart, but Barbara spent quite a bit of time browsing because many of the brands were new to her. “If you’re on the site for the first time, I recommend having a shopping list just as you might at a physical store,” she says. “Otherwise, it can be quite overwhelming to search through so many products to fill your first cart. But browsing from the comfort of my couch beats venturing to a crowded store in the freezing cold any day of the week!”
The website also makes it easy if you’re shopping for keto, paleo, gluten-free, raw, vegan, organic or vegetarian eating plans. Just find the Diets & Lifestyles menu, click on the category that fits your dietary needs and you’ll find hundreds and even thousands of products.
Product Variety
Barbara was impressed by Thrive Market’s vast inventory and spent some quality time on the site for the purposes of this review. “Again, it was nice browsing new-to-me products from my laptop rather than standing in crowded aisles and checkout lines at the supermarket,” she says.
Cost
Barbara’s subtotal on her first order was $104.09, but with a 30% discount on eligible items, it was reduced to $87.48. Shipping was free, and she opted to pay the extra $1.95 “worker health & safety” fee. (The site says it goes to support employee health and wellness programs.) Here’s a look at her first haul:
- Thrive Market, Creamy Almond Butter, 16 oz jar
- Thrive Market, Organic Honey Bear. 12 oz bottle
- Thrive Market, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Tunisian, 16.9 oz plastic bottle
- Thrive Market, Organic Balsamic Glaze, 8.4 fl oz bottle
- Rao’s Homemade, Marinara Sauce, 24 oz jar
- Rao’s Homemade, Spaghetti, 16 oz bag
- Rao’s Homemade, Chicken Noodle Soup, 16 oz jar
- Rao’s Homemade, Creamy Tomato Soup, 16 oz jar
- Olipop, Prebiotic Soda, Cream Soda, 4 cans (12 fl oz each)
- Orgain, Organic Protein Shake, Vanilla, 4 cartons (11 oz each)
- Simple Mills, Almond Flour Crackers, Fine Ground Sea Salt. 4.25 oz box
- 2 x Tasty Bite, Organic Jasmine Rice, 8.8 oz pouch
- Mrs. Meyer’s, Hand Soap, Rain Water, 12.5 fl oz bottle
- barkTHINS, Snacking Chocolate, Dark Chocolate Pretzel & Sea Salt, 4.7 oz pouch
- Nature’s Path, Organic Honey Almond Gluten Free Granola, 11 oz bag
- Annie’s, Microwaveable Mac & Cheese Cups, Real Aged Cheddar, 4 cups (2.01 oz each)
- Kodiak, Protein Packed Buttermilk Flapjack & Waffle Mix, 20 oz box
“I focused on a variety of products for my first order, but it should be noted that there are discounts and Thrive Cash available when you purchase a product in multiples,” Barbara said. Even without stocking up, she was particularly impressed with some of the sale prices, like the Thrive Market-branded almond butter and EVOO.
Another thing that impressed Barbara was that she got to pick a free gift with her first order: an Aloha Protein Bars Variety Pack, which included four protein bars.
Despite sales, discounts and freebies, it still pays to price check when shopping at Thrive Market, especially for brands you already use. While Barbara was pleased with her overall cost savings in her first grocery haul, she found that some of her regular brands were pricier at Thrive Market. “I’m willing to pay more for organic products, not to mention the convenience of grocery delivery. But there were some products that just couldn’t compete with the prices at my local supermarket, which also offers delivery,” Barbara said. For example, her favorite Nature’s Bakery Gluten-Free Fig Bars were priced 60% higher at Thrive Market than at her local Shop-Rite. Suffice it to say, she didn’t click “add to cart” on those.
Additionally, there were quite a few products that required a two-item minimum purchase, notably almond milk and protein pasta. “It’s just me and my husband, so we didn’t need that much almond milk, even with a snowstorm coming! I would have been fine with adding two boxes of protein pasta, but I wasn’t allowed to mix and match the brand’s pasta types, so I wound up going with another non-protein brand instead,” Barbara said.
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery was free because Barbara hit the minimum order amount. “Free shipping is too good to miss, and I’ll happily add a few extra things to my cart to nab it,” Barbara says. The box was heavy, but it arrived well packed and in excellent condition. Barbara said, “I loved that the materials were all recyclable—no packing peanuts or bubble wrap here!”
Product Freshness
Barbara ordered pantry and shelf-stable items, and all were stamped with expiration dates far in the future. Notably, each item arrived looking pristine—no dents or tears in sight. “They really package the items with care,” she says.
Ease of Cancelling/Changing Orders
Thrive Market makes it very easy to make account adjustments, which is a good thing because Barbara hadn’t realized that her first order was set as recurring. She found out that she was due to get the same order in four weeks when she logged back into her account to shop. “I don’t remember that being clear to me when putting things in my cart. But once I realized it was set as recurring, it was easy to go back into my account and switch off recurring orders,” Barbara says.
Overall Value
A Thrive Market annual membership is worth it for the product selection, ease of delivery and cost savings, although the latter can be hit or miss. Still, Barbara’s discount and freebies on her first haul paid back a good chunk of that fee already, and she expects to find more savings with subsequent orders.
Final Verdict
After conducting my own and reading many Thrive Market reviews, I can guarantee that this online grocery store is a godsend to anyone in the lower 48 states who doesn’t have easy access to natural groceries. It’s also excellent for people who are on restrictive diets like paleo or keto and who need to shop for a wide variety of specialty products. As for savings, they can be significant if you shop smart, making Thrive Market well worth the membership cost.
Where to Buy Thrive Market
Thrive Market
The Thrive Market reviews are in! Get groceries without artificial flavors or synthetic preservatives.
You can sign up for your own membership exclusively on the Thrive Market website. Savings await!
FAQ
Can I browse Thrive Market without a membership?
To browse Thrive Market, you need to sign up for a membership. According to the company’s website, this is meant to protect the brands they carry, as many do not want their products publicly advertised at deeply discounted prices. Once you sign up, you’ll have full access to Thrive Market’s catalog featuring thousands of products. If you decide the prices aren’t low enough for you, you can cancel your subscription within 30 days for a full refund.
How much does a Thrive Market membership cost?
A Thrive Market membership costs $59.95 annually, or you can subscribe on a monthly basis for $12. Annual memberships come with a 30-day cancellation window, while monthly memberships do not.
