HelloFresh and Dinnerly are two of the most well-known and largest meal kit providers in Australia, each serving thousands of meals each week. Whilst HelloFresh has dominated the market for years since they launched here in 2012, Dinnerly is a more recent entrant after launching in 2017 and seeing rapid growth.
There is a stark difference between the way these two position themselves in the market, with HelloFresh offering a relatively premium service and Dinnerly focusing on a low-cost, affordable offering. However, they both fundamentally offer a weekly box of ingredients that can be cooked up into tasty meals at home. This begs the question, “Which one is better for me?”
This comparison aims to answer that question, helping you work out which meal kit service is right for you. I’ll provide a brief summary of each service here, however you can also read my full reviews of HelloFresh and Dinnerly.
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Comparing Dinnerly and HelloFresh
HelloFresh vs Dinnerly : Offering
Let’s start by summarising the offerings from both HelloFresh and Dinnerly to understand their similarities and differences.
HelloFresh Offering
Service Options – With HelloFresh, you get the option of receiving meals for either 2, 4, or 6 people across 2, 3, 4 or 5 meals a week.
Meal Variety – The variety of recipes available each week gives you around 38 different unique meals to choose from, including at least 4 vegetarian and 4 plant-based meals. HelloFresh also offer ‘Gourmet‘, ‘Fast & Fancy’ and ‘Taste Tours’ options for an additional cost each week. You can see what meals will be available in the next month with their online menu.
Meal Customisation – HelloFresh allows some customisation of selected meals each week. Examples include switching out meat for a plant-based protein, adding additional cheese, doubling your protein quantity.
Delivery Options – HelloFresh deliver to all Metro areas in Australia, including Perth. Deliveries are made on every day of the week, however this can vary depending on the state/postcode you live within. All orders must be finalised within 4 – 6 days of your delivery date.
Additional Extras – HelloFresh also offer the ability to add on Sides, Fruit Boxes, Soups, and Snacks. You are also able to add ‘prepared meals’ from YouFoodz.
Dinnerly Offering
Service Options – Dinnerly offer a 2 or 4 person box across 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 meals per week.
Meal Variety – Each week, Dinnerly provide a rotating list of 55+ recipes, with around 15 of these being vegetarian. Each dish has between 6-7 ingredients that arrive with your delivery. Dinnerly make their menu available 4 weeks ahead, so you can see what meals will be available on their website.
Meal Customisation – Dinnerly offer customisation on selected meals, often limited to switching out a specific ingredient. The most common customisation elements include doubling the quantity of an ingredient, switching between meat and plant-based ingredients, or switching to low-calorie alternatives.
Delivery Options – Dinnerly deliver to all Australian states. Dates and times available will depend on your location, but your delivery slot and meal selections must be finalised at least 7 days before your delivery is due.
Additional Extras – Dinnerly offer a marketplace that includes snacks, drinks, side dishes, lunches, and desserts. The ‘ready meals’ come from ChefGood’s range. Dinnerly’s menu also includes ‘Saver’ meals that reduce the cost of your subscription.
HelloFresh vs Dinnerly Comparison
There are a few key differences to call out between these two services:
- Recipe Complexity – HelloFresh offer a slightly larger variety of meals that are also more complex in their nature, often using more ingredients. Dinnerly only provide simple recipes that can be completed with 6-7 ingredients.
- Larger Families – HelloFresh offer a 6-person meal service, whereas the largest Dinnerly box only serves 4 portions per meal.
- Prepared Meals – HelloFresh allow you to choose from a range of YouFoodz meals to add to your order, in comparison to Dinnerly who’s offering is provided by ChefGood.
- Saver Meals – Dinnerly offer a unique option to select simple meals that reduce the overall cost of your subscription.
HelloFresh vs Dinnerly : The Food
Now you’re clear on what you’re receiving, it’s important to talk about the end result – how good will the food be? This definitely comes down to a lot of personal preference, but hopefully I can give you a good idea about what you’ll receive with both meal kits.
The ingredients I have received with both meal kits have always been of equally high quality and freshness, whilst I do recognise that a small number of consumers can occasionally face issues with their ingredients.
HelloFresh Meals
Ingredients – Ingredients arrive in separate paper bags for each recipe, easily identifiable by a colour that matches one of the recipe cards. Where it makes sense, ingredients have been partially prepared e.g grated cheese. This means that you can get cooking immediately once you’ve decided which meal to cook.
Recipes – The recipes are exceptionally clear and easy to follow, making it very clear when you need to complete different parts of your meal. When a slightly more complex technique is required, the recipe also provides helpful hints & tips on how to complete it.
End Result – I was exceptionally impressed with every dish I tried from HelloFresh, managing to easily create restaurant-quality food that tasted fantastic. With the recipes being very simple to follow and taking between 30 – 45 minutes, this was a real surprise to create such great tasting meals.
In a separate post, I’ve compared the HelloFresh marketing images against what I was able to cook at home as a (very) amateur cook. Check that out at ‘HelloFresh: Expectations vs Reality’
Dinnerly Meals
Ingredients – With Dinnerly pitching as a budget Meal Kit, there are naturally going to be concerns about the quality of the ingredients. However, I’m really glad to say that I didn’t have a single issue with any of the ingredients I received. The meat was of a good quality and all vegetables were fresh. They weren’t separated by meal, so it took a bit of sleuthing to find all the relevant ingredients for each evening. It’s also important to note that there are ingredients that Dinnerly don’t send that you might expect, such as garlic or barbecue sauce. This is part of how they keep their costs low.
Recipes – Recipes for your meals are found on the Dinnerly website or app. These meals are generally very straightforward, although I still found myself confused by some of the instructions. In fact, I found it easier to cook from experience rather than the recipe. Check out my full Dinnerly review for more information.
End Result – Ultimately, the end result is where I find Dinnerly performs very well. They take a very minimal amount of ingredients and help you turn them into healthy, filling, tasty meals. The meals are basic, without a huge amount of depth to flavour, but feel filling and homely. This is generally down to the fact meals are often ‘one-pot’ and therefore one flavour. However, I’m not sure that’s a negative for a midweek meal that’s quick and easy to make. Each meal normally takes me 20 – 30 minutes to cook.
HelloFresh normally offer a stronger initial discount offer for new customers (and existing customers who haven’t used the service recently) which you can access by using our discount link.
Dinnerly’s offer is usually less than HelloFresh. However, considering the already low price for Dinnerly I find that it still makes your first box absolutely unbeatable value. Their best discount is obtainable through our exclusive discount link.
HelloFresh vs Dinnerly : The Cost
I’ve written a lot in this comparison about how Dinnerly positions itself as a budget option within the meal kit market, but how does it compare to HelloFresh? I did a full analysis of costs across the industry but for this comparison we focus on HelloFresh and Dinnerly.
Total price of a weekly meal kit
| People | Meals | HelloFresh | Dinnerly |
| 2 | 3 | $70.00 | $50.94 |
| 2 | 4 | $90.00 | $63.92 |
| 2 | 5 | $105.00 | $74.90 |
| 4 | 3 | $125.00 | $83.88 |
| 4 | 4 | $150.00 | $107.04 |
| 4 | 5 | $165.00 | $129.80 |
Dinnerly are, on average, a whopping 38% cheaper than HelloFresh. That’s a massive difference, especially for people who are working to a tight budget. There’s a minor additional cost of ingredients with Dinnerly but this is fairly insignificant against the total price difference.
Cost per portion comparison
As expected, Dinnerly does very well against HelloFresh for its cost per portion, managing to get down to $5.25 per portion. It’s notable that even HelloFresh’s largest box has a higher cost per portion than Dinnerly’s smallest. Also surprising is that the cost for 8 portions is only slightly lower (per portion) than 6 portions at HelloFresh. I think that’s highly unusual and suggests you should get either 6 or 10 portions if buying for 1-2 people.
Delivery Costs
| HelloFresh | Dinnerly |
| $9.99 per Delivery | $10.49 per Delivery |
Dinnerly have slightly higher delivery costs, but the difference isn’t very significant. Remember to factor these costs into your food budget when purchasing a meal kit.
It’s also important to be aware that delivery costs can be as high as $20 to rural areas. If you think this may apply to you, I suggest you check the delivery costs before you submit your order.
So which do I buy?! HelloFresh vs Dinnerly
The key factor here is always going to be Budget. If you’re looking to save money whilst still eating filling, healthy meals then Dinnerly is perfect for you. Potentially, this saves you up to $75 a week over HelloFresh. However, you will need to make sure you have those extra ingredients in your cupboard and be comfortable having more basic style meals.
If you’re interested in Dinnerly, you can read my full Dinnerly review or check out their upcoming menu on their website before ordering.
If you value creating some incredible Meals with a real depth to flavour and impressive aesthetics, then HelloFresh is a fantastic option. They definitely provide a more comprehensive Meal Box experience and create a more exciting dinner time experience. If you’d like to try a HelloFresh without the additional cost, we offer $200 in savings across your first 4 boxes .. making it cheaper than a standard Dinnerly box!
I hope you found my HelloFresh vs Dinnerly Comparison useful. If you did, let me know by following me on Instagram or giving our community a like on Facebook.
