12 Grocery Delivery Services That Will Bring Fresh Food Right to Your Door
Home cooking goes hand-in-hand with grocery shopping, but if you don’t want to shop IRL during the pandemic, you’re better off finding the best grocery delivery service for your cooking and eating routine. In addition to subscribing to a great meal kit delivery service, getting your groceries delivered to your home is a great way to stay safe while enjoying the pleasures of cooking at home—plus, it’s a wonderful time-saver for anyone who’s ever felt too busy to run errands (read: all of us, right?).
Between major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Target delivering orders the same day they’re placed, and brands like Thrive Market, Imperfect Foods, and Misfits Market offering a more bespoke shopping experience, you’re bound to find a service that suits your tastes. But, if this wide array of options has left you feeling spoiled for choice, don’t worry—below, we’ve highlighted some of the best grocery delivery services operating right now. Whether you’re shopping for a plant-based, all-organic family or a household that runs on extra snacks of every stripe, you’ll be able to stock your fridge and pantry with ease by the time you’re done reading.
All products featured on SELF are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
1FreshDirect
Good for: Ultra-fresh produce, meats, and dairy (plus brand-name staples).
The details: FreshDirect is wildly popular in the northeast for its directly sourced fruits and veggies, which spend as little as 90 minutes in a FreshDirect warehouse before making their way to your door. There’s also a wide selection of sale items, brand-name pantry staples, prepared foods, and alcohol that you can peruse on top of the aforementioned farm-fresh offerings.
Availability: The New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas, plus seasonal service to eastern Long Island and the New Jersey Shore.
Fees: Delivery fees range from $6 to $16, depending on your location. You can opt into DeliveryPass, which starts with a free 60-day trial then costs $79 for six months, and enjoy unlimited free delivery.
2Shipt
Good for: Last-minute orders.
The details: Shipt partners with major retailers like Target, Costco, and H-E-B to provide customers with rapid delivery. Shipt orders can arrive the same day you place them and in as little as one hour, plus easy access to the items you need, from groceries and pet supplies to household goods and office equipment. The shopper assigned to your order provides updates and substitution suggestions via text, and will accept additional item requests while filling your cart (in other words, don't sweat it if you forget to order more milk).
Availability: Based on zip code.
Fees: Annual memberships cost $99 per year and offer free delivery on orders over $35 (orders under $35 come with a $7 delivery fee). One-off orders without a membership come with a $10 delivery fee.
3Instacart
Good for: Simultaneously shopping local and big-box stores.
The details: As the largest online grocery delivery service, Instacart works with national, regional, and local stores to deliver groceries to over 5,500 cities in the U.S. and Canada. You can schedule your order, put it on standby for the next available personal shopper, or request priority delivery which will arrive in an hour or less, and you can shop from multiple retailers at once. If you dread running errands with multiple stops, Instacart is the solution to your woes.
Availability: Based on zip code.
Fees: Delivery fees start at $4 and most orders come with additional service fees. Purchasing an Instacart Express membership for $99 per year will get you free delivery and reduced service fees on orders over $35.
4Stop & Shop
Good for: Stop & Shop devotees.
The details: Once known as Peapod by Stop & Shop, Stop & Shop’s delivery service sends all the familiar items you’d find on the New England grocer’s shelves to your home in two-hour time windows (which you can schedule several days in advance). You can amend your order until the day before your delivery, and your online orders will earn Go Rewards points that can be put toward future purchases.
Availability: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.
Fees: Orders between $60 (the minimum order amount) and $100 come with a $10 delivery fee. Orders of $100 or more come with a $7 delivery fee. For free delivery on orders of $100 or more, opt into a GO Pass membership for $119 per year.
5Amazon Fresh
Good for: Affordable groceries that don’t skimp on selection.
The details: Amazon Fresh, the online retail behemoth’s very own grocery service, offers a highly similar shopping experience to browsing any other product category on its site: You can usually find exactly what you’re looking for (or an adequate substitute), wallet-friendly prices abound, and, if you make the right selections, you can enjoy free delivery.
Availability: Based on zip code.
Fees: Delivery is free on orders of $35 or more if you select a two-hour delivery window at check out. One-hour delivery windows come with a fee that’ll be determined by your cart total.
6Walmart+
Good for: Everyday essentials.
The details: Walmart’s grocery section is vast and extremely reasonably priced, making it a great option for stocking up on pantry staples as well as beverages, frozen goodies, produce, and other must-haves in bulk quantities. Where delivery is not available, there’s likely an option to pick up your order or, for shelf-stable items, have it shipped via mail.
Availability: Based on zip code.
Fees: Memberships cost either $13 per month or $98 per year, and, depending on your location, provide you with free delivery on orders of $35 or more.
7Thrive Market
Good for: A curated, wellness-driven shopping experience.
The details: From organic wine and sustainable seafood to vegan-friendly snacks, the selection at Thrive Market skews heavily healthy, yet nourishing and downright delicious. The brand comes with a price-matching promise that guarantees it’ll match the cost of an item if you find it for less elsewhere, and you can set up recurring deliveries so you never run out of your favorite foods.
Availability: Nationwide, with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
Fees: Memberships cost $10 per month or $60 per year. Grocery orders of $49 or more are free to deliver, while smaller orders come with a $10 delivery fee.
8Imperfect Foods
Good for: Scheduled deliveries that reduce food waste.
The details: Imperfect Foods’ grocery boxes come brimming with perfectly good produce, pantry items, and meats that would otherwise be discarded due to its cosmetic imperfections, surplus, or discontinuation. Grocery boxes arrive on a weekly basis, but you can skip, adjust, or cancel your box at anytime.
Availability: The West Coast, Midwest, and Northeast.
Fees: Delivery fees start at $5.
9Farm to People
Good for: Supporting New York area farmers and food suppliers.
The details: This Brooklyn-based brand works with small-scale farms and local businesses to deliver fresh groceries, baked goods, beverages, meats, meals, and more to residents of the New York metro area. You can either subscribe for regular deliveries of Farm to People’s customizable boxes or shop its selection for individual items.
Availability: Manhattan, plus select areas of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and New Jersey.
Fees: Orders over $50 come with free delivery. Orders between $20 (the order minimum) and $50 come with a $5 delivery fee.
10Misfits Market
Good for: CSA-level produce on a budget.
The details: Another service that prioritizes reducing food waste, Misfits Market offers seasonal fruits and veggies, premium proteins, farm-fresh dairy products, and other groceries sourced from its curated selection of farms and suppliers. These items often come to Misfits Market due to excess supply or appearance, and, as a result, are sold for as much as 40% less than they would be at a conventional grocery store.
Availability: Nationwide, with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Fees: All orders come with a $30 minimum and a $6 shipping fee.
11Whole Foods Market
Good for: High-quality groceries with Amazon-grade convenience.
The details: Whole Foods, the grocery world’s standard bearer for fancy cheese, organic kale, and other crunchy-yet-luxe items, delivers to your home through Amazon Prime. Not only can you order everything you’d find at your local Whole Foods, you can get sale items for an additional 10% off with your Prime membership.
Availability: Based on zip code.
Fees: All orders come with a $10 delivery fee.
12Target
Good for: Avoiding too many in-store impulse purchases.
The details: Powered by Shipt with all the customer service benefits we mentioned earlier, Target’s same-day delivery service will ship groceries, household supplies, pet gear, personal care items, cookware, beauty products, home goods, and—need we go on? The retail chain that so many of us hold dear is a joy to browse in person, but if you’re trying to stick to a finite list of must-have items, shopping IRL can be overwhelming (or incur a receipt twice as long as you intended). Shopping from home will save time and keep you from a Target-splurge on yet another candle you won’t burn until next year.
Availability: Based on zip code.
Fees: Fees associated with ordering from Target are the same fees you encounter with a Shipt membership: Annual memberships cost $99 per year and offer free delivery on orders over $35 (orders under $35 come with a $7 delivery fee). One-off orders without a membership come with a $10 delivery fee.
SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.
