Here’s my Thrive Market Review with everything you need to know so you can decide whether or not it’s a good fit for your lifestyle. Is Thrive Market worth it? It is cheaper than Whole Foods? Can you really save money shopping at Thrive Market? I talk about all of this and more.
If you’re ready to try Thrive Market, and don’t want to read my entire Thrive Market review, you can use my link to get a free gift (up to a $22 value) when you purchase a Thrive Market Membership! (1 month and 1-year memberships available).
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Thrive Market Review
Thrive Market is an online grocery store that offers natural and organic foods, household items, hygiene products, make-up, along with other items at comparable prices you’d find at your local grocery store. Even though I have access to numerous grocery stores I still utilize Thrive Market on a regular basis to get the organic items I need.
Whether we agree with it or not our schedules leave little time to fit in meal planning, the grocery store, and cooking meals. That’s not to say we shouldn’t do all these things, I think it’s important to keep a healthy lifestyle a priority. However, not many people want to work 40+ hours a week, drive around for activities, and then spend 2 hours at the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon. This is one of the reasons fast food and convenience items are so popular, because people just don’t want to spend their extra time grocery shopping, and companies are taking notice.
Over the last few years businesses have popped up everywhere working hard to make it more convenient for busy families to eat healthier. Up until then “convenience” or “fast” equaled processed and unhealthy. Well, fortunately, the tides are changing on this.
Today, it’s getting much easier to fit a healthy lifestyle into your busy schedule. One option for people who want to eat healthier without spending hours at the grocery store is Thrive Market.
Thrive Market is an online grocery store that offers organic and natural foods, cleaning supplies, and other items. It’s kind of like an online Whole Foods.
Anyway, I’ve been a Thrive Market member since 2015 and have ordered groceries on a regular basis since then. I want to share my honest thoughts so you can decide whether or not Thrive Market would be a good fit for you and your family.
If you’re ready to try Thrive Market and don’t want to read my entire Thrive Market review, you can use my link to get a free gift (up to a $22 value) when you purchase a Thrive Market Membership! (1 month and 1-year memberships available).
Is Thrive Market Worth The Membership Cost?
Let’s start with the money part because that’s the biggest concern with most people.
Recently, Thrive Market changed up their membership structure. It used to be you can only purchase a yearly membership but now they offer a 1-month and 1-year membership.
The 1-month membership is $9.95 a month and the 1-year is $59.95. Obviously, the 1-year is a better value but if you don’t want to commit to a year then the monthly membership is a good option. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Does Thrive Market offer a free trial?
Yes. Thrive Market does offer a 30-day free trial membership. This allows you to look over the products, do some price comparisons, and put in a couple of orders before committing to a membership.
But keep in mind…
You do need to give a credit card and will be automatically charged an annual membership if you don’t cancel before the 30-days are up. So, mark your calendar!
From all the research I’ve done on Thrive Market, this is the biggest complaint. They do list this in a few different places across their website, so I don’t feel they are trying to hide the fact you’ll be charged once your free trial is up. However, for whatever reason, people still miss it.
Anyway, if you want to give Thrive Market a try then sign up for their free 30-day trial. I started with the 30-day trial and found it to be very helpful. I was able to get a good feel for the brands, prices, and whether or not I’d use it. Obviously I think it’s a good fit considering I’ve been a member since 2015.
Is Thrive Market Cheaper than Whole Foods?
Alright, let’s talk about prices. Thrive Market is most comparable to Whole Foods in the products they offer. I also shop quite frequently at Whole Foods so I want to do a quick comparison.
Simply Organic Pure Vanilla extract (4 ounce) bottle Whole Foods $19.99 | Thrive Market $14.99
Simple Organic Spices are cheaper at Thrive Market by $1 – $2 a bottle.
KIND Bars Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt Whole Foods $20.28 | Thrive Market $15.49
Garden of Life Women’s Multi-vitamin Whole Foods $34.99 | Thrive Market $25.19
Kettle Chips Sea Salt 13 ounce bag Whole Foods $4.99 | Thrive Market $4.49
Dececco Pasta Whole Foods $3.29 a box | Thrive Market does not have this brand
Rao’s Marinara Sauce Whole Foods (32-ounce jar) $9.49 | Thrive Market (24-ounce jar) $7.49
Navitas Organics Organic Cacao Nibs (8 ounce bag) Whole Foods $9.99 | Thrive Market $6.99
Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese Shells and Real Aged Cheese (1-box) Whole Foods $2.99 | Thrive Market $1.99
Overall, I think the brands I purchase most are cheaper at Thrive Market than Whole Foods. Some items there’s a $5 difference which I think is pretty big.
Thrive Market and Whole Foods have their own store brand, both are very comparable in prices. For example, a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce is $1.49 for both the Thrive Market brand and 365 Brand (Whole Foods store brand). The Thrive Market brand is super affordable and they have a huge selection of items under their brand. In my opinion, the Thrive Market brand along with the prices on the other items I purchase make Thrive Market well worth the price of membership.
Something to consider is Thrive Market is a smaller online store compared to Whole Foods. So, there are times that Thrive Market will be out of items that can be easily purchased at Whole Foods.
Also, you can’t purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. So, you’ll still need to go to the grocery store to grab fresh produce. Thrive Market does sell meats but I find it easier to grab fresh meats at Whole Foods.
Another thing to consider is Thrive Market items need to be shipped which usually takes about 3-5 days and sometimes a little longer depending on where you are in the country. So, I find it helpful to order once a month or so in bulk pantry items I’m going to need. Anything I need right away I’ll just go to the store to get.
One other way Thrive Market keeps items affordable is they offer membership deals and discounts all the time. Once a month or so I’ll receive a coupon for 10 – 15% off my total bill. Hint hint…that’s usually when I do a stuck up. They also offer sales on certain brands and offer lots of freebies to try.
If you’re ready to try Thrive Market and don’t want to read my entire Thrive Market review, you can use my link to get a free gift (up to a $22 value) when you purchase a Thrive Market Membership! (1 month and 1-year memberships available).
Is Thrive Market Comparable to Cosco, Sam’s Club, or BJ’s Wholesale?
Overall, I think Thrive Market prices are very comparable (if not cheaper than) to Whole Foods and other grocery stores. However, in my opinion, I wouldn’t compare Thrive Market prices to wholesale prices. I belong to BJ’s Wholesale and I can say that the prices there are always cheaper.
Of course, they don’t carry the same brands but wholesale stores have grown leaps and bounds with their organic offerings. I can find organic meats, peanut butter, olive oil, pasta, rice, sauce, bread, and many other products. Yes, I need to purchase a larger size but the price is often much cheaper than any grocery store, including Thrive Market. So, in my opinion, I think Thrive Market can definitely compete with grocery chains but prices are not necessarily “wholesale pricing”.
Alright, I think I’ve established that Thrive Market’s prices are reasonable and you’re not going to get ripped off. In fact, I’ll even say I think the $59.95 annual membership is worth it. Oh, and did I mention you get free shipping with orders over $49? You do. So, let’s move beyond prices.
Who would benefit most from a membership?
In my opinion, there are 2 types of people that can benefit from shopping at Thrive Market.
First, is the person looking for convenience ← that’s me. Whether you agree or disagree, like it or not, we live in a very busy world and companies have taken notice and capitalized off this. There’s no denying that ordering groceries online and having them delivered to our door, is nothing short of amazing.
I know it’s difficult for some people to wrap their brains around ordering groceries online. We are used to spending hours on Saturday mornings shopping for the week. However, think about this. Remember when ordering clothing online was considered abnormal? I certainly do. Well, today you can order just about anything online and it will show up on your doorstep in about 3 days. Grocery shopping has finally caught up with the rest of the online world. You can log into Thrive Market, place an order, and in about 3 – 5 days it will be at your home. Gone are the days of wasting Saturday morning fighting at the grocery store.
The second type of person that I think could really benefit from Thrive Market is someone who doesn’t have access to larger grocery chains. I live in an area where I’m within driving distance to Wegmans, BJ’s Wholesale, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods. If I need almond butter, coconut oil, or organic avocado oil it’s very likely I can find it. Of course, that means I have to get in my car, drive there, and hope the store has it in stock – but I can still get there. However, many people don’t have access to 4-5 major grocery stores.
For example, in the summer, I spend a lot of time at our cabin in the country. There’s one small Tops Supermarket and an even smaller “natural food” store in town. The selection is limited and prices are outrageous. If I lived there full-time it would be quite the effort to get my hands on Justin’s almond butter, Rao’s marinara, or organic coconut oil.
Thrive Market provides access to quality organic food and products to people who quite possibly didn’t have it before.
I think this is a big deal!
As a healthy lifestyle blogger, I can’t tell you the number of times people tell me they don’t have access to natural and organic foods. That is no longer the case. Anyone with internet and a credit card can go onto Thrive Market and easily purchase brands they never had access too.
Plus like I said earlier, the prices are comparable to grocery stores making it affordable to most people. In my opinion, this is a game-changer.
If you’re ready to try Thrive Market and don’t want to read my entire Thrive Market review, you can use my link to get a free gift (up to a $22 value) when you purchase a Thrive Market Membership! (1 month and 1-year memberships available).
Who wouldn’t benefit from a membership?
If you have access to grocery stores, don’t mind driving around and spending time at the grocery store, enjoy price comparison, and live for couponing and finding the best deals then I don’t think Thrive Market is something you have a need for or will benefit from. Thrive Market does offer coupons but you’re not going to get $1 toothpaste deals or .50 boxes of mac n cheese.
Also, if you’re not concerned with organic and natural products then you probably don’t need to shop at Thrive Market. Their entire business is about offering organic and natural brands – they don’t carry Froot Loops and Doritos.
Pros and Cons
I wanted to add some pros and cons to my Thrive Market review just in case you’re still on the fence.
Pros:
- You can shop for organic and natural brands from the comfort of your home.
- Thrive Market carries all the popular organic and natural brands like Annie’s, Spectrum, Simply Organic, KIND, Newman’s Own, Bob’s Red Mill, Lara Bar, Eden Organic, and many others.
- Thrive Market also carries hard to find organic and natural brands. A big perk for me is knowing whether or not an item is in stock simply by checking their website. I hate when I drive to a store only to find the item I want is sold out or they don’t carry it. I don’t waste any time with Thrive Market and that’s a huge bonus.
- Prices are very comparable, if not cheaper, than in-store prices.
- Free delivery if you spend $49 or more and groceries get delivered in about 3 days.
- Thrive Market sends regular coupons and deals to your email. For example, I receive a 15% of the total order about once a month or so. I stock up when I get it.
- Thrive Market offers more than food. You can get toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, baby food and supplies, make-up and other beauty supplies, vitamins and supplements, and many other items.
- Thrive Market is a good company that gives back to the community. For every membership purchased they give one to a family in need.
- They offer a Thrive Market brand to help you save more money on organic and natural items.
- Thrive Market has an app, making it very easy to add items to your list, along with ordering them. The app is also a great way to stay updated with sales and coupons.
- All your orders are saved on the website. I find this helpful with keeping track of my grocery budget and when I need to reorder an item.
Cons
- There is a $59.95 annual membership cost. However, if you don’t make your membership up in savings Thrive Market will give you back the difference. So I guess that can be a pro.
- You need to plan ahead. It takes 3 -5 days (and sometimes longer) to get your items. This is an issue if you ordered an item you need right away. I recommend planning a few weeks at a time because of this. For example, if you eat KIND granola bars every week you’re better off ordering for the month instead of trying to order by the week and then not getting the box in time.
- You need to pay shipping for orders under $49. Therefore, if you need something small you either need to pay shipping or wait until you order more. However, Thrive Market does offer free shipping on all purchases sometimes. Although this doesn’t help if I need garlic powder now.
- They don’t offer fruits, vegetables, and other perishables. They now offer meats but it would be nice to have the option to order other perishables from Thrive Market someday. Meal Kit delivery services send perishables so maybe they’ll consider it someday. I’m all about a one-stop-shop.
Helpful Shopping Tips
As a Thrive Market customer since 2015, I feel like I can offer some shopping advice.
- Plan in advance. I know I said this already but I want to mention it again. Personally, I think Thrive Market works best when you shop for the month or at least 2 weeks at a time. Don’t expect to get an order the next day – this isn’t Amazon Prime. Put together a 2-week meal plan, look in your pantry, and then place a Thrive Market order. Give yourself 3-4 days for groceries to get there.
- Stay organized. If you’re just looking to stock your pantry then it doesn’t matter when you place your order. However, I recommend staying organized. Keep track of the items in your pantry and make a list of the things that need to be reordered.
- Create a shopping list inside Thrive Market. This is super helpful. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the items Thrive Market offers. I recommend, after you join, to search out all your favorite products and save them to your favorites. Then create them into lists. For example, you can create a pasta list, canned good list, cleaning list, etc. When you’re ready to shop head into your lists and add what you need to the cart.
- Watch (or wait) for coupons. Like I said earlier I receive a 10 – 15% off total order coupon from Thrive Market on a regular basis. I add items to my favorites and then when my coupon arrives I stock up.
I hope you found my Thrive Market review helpful.
If you’re ready to try Thrive Market you can use my link to get a free gift (up to a $22 value) when you purchase a Thrive Market Membership! (1 month and 1-year memberships available).
If you have any other Thrive Market questions please ask in the comments below and I’d be happy to answer them. Also, I’d love to hear about your Thrive Market experience. What are your tips?
Here’s another Thrive Market Review Post I put together.
My Favorite Things to Purchase at Thrive Market
Along with a video
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Here are my thoughts
Thrive should carry St,. Amour vegan cookies and sugar free granola.
HealthyCookiesDirect
Thanks for sharing the review and the tips for buying.
I would also say that folks should mark a calendar reminder for that $59.95 renewal fee. It can smack your account just when you least expect it! Don’t forget too that they’ll offer “free with purchase” frequently. I’ve received chips, laundry soap and lots of other things just for ordering items I normally was buying.
That’s really good advice!
You said they don’t offer perishables but I saw options to buy meat. Is this new?
Yes that is new. I haven’t tried their meat services yet.
I just want to say that I signed up for the free 30-day trial. I wasn’t super impressed but decided to give it a year to see how I liked it. I didn’t find their selection to be that great and – as you mentioned – the prices really aren’t any more competitive than the stores (or frankly Amazon, Target, Instacart delivery). So after a year I decided to cancel my membership – not worth paying $60 a year for access to the site since I already pay for Amazon Prime and don’t have to pay anything for Target delivery. This is where my opinion of Thrive truly dropped – you can’t cancel yourself on the website or in the app. You have to contact them. So I did – I live chatted. After repeated hard sells from the chat rep they finally confirmed she would cancel it and said I’d get an email confirming it within a few minutes. Did I get the email? Nope. Was my subscription cancelled. Nope. So then I had to reach out to them by email. What response did I receive, “We strive to respond to all inquiries within 6 hours. We occasionally receive a high volume of requests from our members and it may take up to 24 hours for us to read and respond to everyone. If you need immediate assistance, we are online 24/7.” with a link to the live chat app. Nope. Not okay. THEN I had to call them – and of course waited on hold – being directed to ‘live chat’ or ‘text’ if I didn’t want to wait. I am suspicious of anyone who makes it this hard to cancel a membership.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I still have my membership so I haven’t had the experience with trying to cancel. But I agree that making canceling easy needs to be a priority with all of these companies. Thanks for your feedback.
Thrive Market should definitely offer free shipping on all orders with that high of a membership fee. Thanks for this review!!
They say that every membership gives a family in need a free membership. I find that difficult to swallow. How can “a family in need” afford these prices? Granted you are paying for convenience $60 a year worth of convenience but a family that is having a difficult time would be hard pressed to pay these prices – that is why they don’t shop organic, Paleo, etc. they cannot afford it. Thrive should donate that money (or products) to a food kitchen where it would do more good.
I actually was approved for a free membership, all I buy from them is nutritional yeast, Brami Lupini snacks and Wonder noodles. Pretty much everything else I can get in store. Their prices are not comparable to in store verses having them right away when you purchase in store.
I qualify for the family in need membership, (Thank you to the people who pay and Thrive!), I am a disabled veteran. My son and I have to eat clean/organic/gluten free, for health reasons, we have no choice. The prices at Thrive are cheaper for us than the stores in our very expensive state, and they have things we need that I can’t even find in our stores. Thrive makes it possible and affordable for us!
Informative review. I would add to the Pros list that their packing is amazing. Our daughter sends us packages, and bread, crackers, etc have all arrived without a crumb. Our cats love the boxes and the packing material. I’m also skeptical about the “family in need”. When I saw that, I thought about friends who would love the products. But I know they couldn’t afford them.
Thanks for this review. I have been looking into different options for getting food to my door. I live in a town with one very small grocery store, must drive over 30 miles to the nearest Wal-Mart/HEB and almost two hours to any large market with lots of healthy choices. I am pinched on time. I do have a question? Does Thrive have any way to save a cart, send an automatic shipment? Or does saving to your favorites mean you can quickly add what you need to a new car? I am trying to automate as much of my daily living as I can. Thanks for taking the time to write this for those of us who are researching.
Hi Lindsey, I looked into this for you and yes Thrive Market does offer autoship for there products.
I wanted to add a comment:)
I have a Thrive Gives membership, I am disabled and it’s hard for Me to get to stores all the time (someone else purchased a membership so mine was paid for by that other persons paid membership) I also mainly shop Wegmans/Aldi and everything I order from Thrive, saves Me money on each item and the gas/time it would take to drive to the store/stores.
As You stated, you just have to plan ahead and not order something You need tomorrow lol 🙂 my savings per item ranges from .30 cents to almost $2. My most recent order totaled $142. I had a thrive coupon for the order and paid $123. All these items at Wegmans would have cost $158 total(can’t compare Aldi because they don’t carry some of the items)
Also, depending on order total, You get free shipping and free gifts (a lot are full sized products on this order I received free shipping, a 16 oz jar of ghee and a protein powder full size sample)
As Our Author stayed, check it out, try a 30 day membership and see if it’s worth it for You 🙂
This is great feedback!! And I totally agree, if you use Thrive correctly and plan for things you can actually save a lot of money and time.
Thank you, Tammy! This review is very helpful. I’m a blogger newbie always starving for excellent affiliate programs and products and enjoyed reading your article. I want to offer my readers the ABSOLUTE BEST products with honesty and transparency. I’ve been thinking about joining Thrive Market affiliate program and this review is what made me decide today to go ahead with it and do it with the confidence that my readers will find high-quality products at relatively affordable price. It’s also helpful to hear the honest opinion directly from customers who after all didn’t benefit from Thrive Market, and their pain points, so thank you for allowing constructive feedback comments as well as positive feedback. BTW your blog is very well written, great inspiration for newbies like me, thank you for that too!
A really, I think you can find better deals elsewhere without paying a membership fee. Most prices are equal to Amazon, even if they say they have a 30% discount.
While I agree with people who say you can get many of these items on Amazon. One thing to consider is Amazon’s packing sucks! I have Amazon Prime and use it on a daily basis due to the fact that we live rurally. Whenever I order a food item from Amazon, it comes in a box with everything else. I have had a case of canned dog food and bottles of bbq sauce in the same box with one little air bubble or protection. Needless to say, the products are almost always damaged or broken. I will be placing my first order with Thrive. If their packing is appropriate for the product, I definitely will continue shopping with them. While I love the convenience of Amazon Prime, I hate the way they pack thier items.
I agree Thrive Market is convenient and has specialty items that are sometimes hard to find. However, if the items you buy are basic, it is not a convenient service. You can get groceries delivered in most places nowadays for basic items. I also noted that you mentioned the biggest complaint is that they charge the fee after 30 days. I think they make it difficult for you to cancel. Other services allow you to cancel online, but with Thrive you have to call or email them and request it. That sounds simple enough right?! Except once you do, they continue to offer you things to not cancel and keep trying the service. They offer you coupons and additional free days to keep you on. I think that is a hassle. Most people know if the service works for them after 30 days. It should not be so difficult to cancel. That may be why people go over the 30 days, then complain about Thrive. I would be more hesitant to join a membership if company makes it difficult to cancel.
My wife and I are super busy working people in the Bay Area. We have used Thrive delivery for staples like paper towels, coffee, soap and the like. We ordered a box last Saturday and have been waking up and checking the stoop every day since… but nothing there. Yesterday we checked the tracking and our box had moved from Livermore, CA (an hour south of here) to Arizona! My wife did a live chat asking for it to be sent overnight and was offered a stock answer something like “we do not have the capability of overnight shipping but we can set up a carrier for your area that you can track the package online.” Uh, we can already see that and it’s moving the wrong direction, people. So we are now OUT of said items and have to go to a store when we don’t have time to, and have a box of duplicate supplies supposedly en route. We are excited to cancel this service after our box may finally appear.
This is a no brainer in my household. Me and my husband are starting a Keto Lifestyle Diet and we have just been verified as a military member so the membership fee was waived and I am taking advantage of lots of deals and discounts plus the site is very user friendly.
Thank you for your feedback. Bless
This helps a ton, thx for the review!
You’re very welcome.
Placed my first order on April 25 and got email saying package won’t be delivered until May 5 as of yesterday April 29. Today April 30 email now says delivery will be May 7. Not sure where the 3 day delivery is?
Right now they are so behind because of everything going on. I know my order was super late too. Hopefully things will get back on track soon.