Factor vs. Freshly: A Dietitian’s Honest Comparison

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Subscription-based meal delivery services like Factor and Freshly can be an appealing option for those looking to save time on meal prep.

Both deliver fully prepared entrées that you can heat and enjoy in a matter of minutes. The two companies also offer options to fit a variety of tastes and preferences.

Although the brands share some similarities, several key differences set these two meal delivery services apart.

This article reviews everything you need to know about Factor and Freshly to help you determine which one to choose.

Here’s a closer look at how each service works.

Factor

Factor is a meal delivery service that aims to simplify healthy eating. The company’s former name is Factor 75.

The company provides fully prepared, preportioned entrées that you can reheat and enjoy with no cooking or cleanup required.

Factor also uses high quality, sustainably sourced ingredients and offers meals suitable for a variety of dietary patterns.

You can order 4–18 meals per week and can mix and match entrées from the company’s rotating menu to make your own custom plan.

Freshly

Freshly is a company based on the idea that eating healthy should be easy.

The brand has an extensive menu with a variety of fresh, ready-to-eat meals that are portioned individually for your convenience.

The company offers weekly subscriptions, which allow you to select 4–12 entrées per week to create a meal plan that’s tailored to you.

You can also add sides and proteins to your order, such as mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, grilled chicken breast, and turkey meatballs. These add-ons are designed to feed 2–4 people, depending on the item.

Finally, nutritional information and ingredient lists are available for each item, allowing you to choose meals that are free of specific ingredients.

Here’s what you can expect from the menu for each service.

Factor

Factor has a rotating menu with a variety of options for many dietary patterns and preferences.

The company clearly labels items that are keto-friendly, low calorie, vegan, and vegetarian.

Add-ons are also available, including cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, protein packs, and energy bites.

Each item includes a list of ingredients and details on the nutritional content for one serving.

Here are a few examples of meals from Factor available at the time of publication:

• Creamy Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Broccoli & Tomatoes
• Pork Tenderloin & Cheesy Cabbage with Garlic Butter Green Beans
• Vegetarian Ratatouille with Mascarpone Polenta
• Sliced Sausage & Veggie Medley with Roasted Potatoes

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Freshly

Freshly’s menu includes more than 30 options each week, all of which are ready to enjoy in under 3 minutes.

The company has several different menu categories available, including:

• Signature Collection: customer-favorite Freshly meals and sides
• FreshlyFit: gluten-free meals that are lower in carbs and higher in protein; majority of options are also free of added sugar
• Purely Plant: plant-based twists on globally inspired dishes and comfort food favorites
• Proteins & Sides: multiserving portions of signature Freshly favorites, including Freshly’s Masterful Mac & Cheese and Baked Turkey Meatballs

Each week, you can add items from any of these menus to your order to suit your preferences.

High protein, low calorie, low carb, and gluten-, soy-, and dairy-free items are all labeled so on the menu.

You can also view the main ingredients, amounts of protein, carbs, and fat as well as the number of calories in each meal.

Here are some of the meals that Freshly currently offers from each menu:

• Cauliflower Shell Bolognese (Signature Collection)
• Oven-Glazed Chicken Marsala (FreshlyFit)
• Middle Eastern Falafel (Purely Plant)

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For an extra fee, Factor offers add-ons such as soups, shakes, wellness shots, extra proteins, and snacks.

Factor charges a flat fee of $9.99 for all orders within the contiguous United States.

Freshly delivers throughout the continental United States. The company determines shipping fees, which are based on your location, during checkout.

Curious how these meal delivery services work? Here’s a quick look at how the signup processes compare with each other.

Factor

Factor makes it easy to get started by selecting your desired meal plan: Chef’s Choice, Keto, Calorie Smart, or Vegan & Veggie.

Unlike Freshly, you’ll need to add your address and credit card information before you’re able to select your meals.

The menu is updated weekly, and the service allows you to either create a custom order or have the service choose items for you.

Once your meals are selected, they’re prepared by chefs using fresh ingredients before being shipped directly to your door.

Freshly

To sign up for Freshly, you’ll first pick from one of five plans, depending on the number of meals you wish to receive each week.

Next, you’ll select your desired delivery day.

Once those details are complete, you’ll be prompted to pick your meals. To create a custom menu, you can filter by menu or dietary preferences, or sort entrées by their macronutrient content.

Freshly’s menu doesn’t change as often as Factor’s. However, the service claims that it adds at least one new entrée each week.

Meals can be selected and swapped out by logging into your customer portal, either online or by using the Freshly app.

Both Factor and Freshly offer low calorie, high protein meals that could be beneficial for weight loss.

Factor

Factor provides a variety of entrées that may help support weight loss.

In fact, the company has an assortment of low calorie meals on its menu, most of which generally contain fewer than 550 calories per serving.

Consuming fewer calories than you use each day can be an effective weight loss strategy (1).

Factor also has several high protein meals, each of which contains 30–50 grams of protein per serving.

Increasing your daily intake of protein can keep you feeling full between meals and may help regulate your appetite (2).

Furthermore, Factor offers meals that are suitable for ketogenic and plant-based diets. Studies on both of these diets suggest they may enhance weight loss (3, 4, 5).

That said, it’s a good idea to speak with your doctor, a dietician, or another healthcare professional before trying a new dietary approach.

Freshly

When creating your weekly menu, Freshly allows you to sort items based on their nutritional value.

The company also labels items that contain fewer than 550 calories, which can be useful for those who are looking to lose weight by reducing their calorie intake (1).

Like Factor, Freshly provides an assortment of high protein meals to support appetite regulation (2, 6).

The service also offers a FreshlyFit plan, which includes lower carb entrées, many of which contain fewer than 20 grams of carbs per serving.

Some research has found that restricting your carb intake may help you reduce body fat and lose weight (7, 8).

I tried 1 week of both Factor and Freshly meals, and I found the services to be quite different.

Based on menu selection alone, I was most excited for Freshly, as the options sounded a bit more creative and exciting than Factor’s. In fact, I had a hard time narrowing down my choices.

Here are the Freshly dishes I ultimately ended up with:

• White Bean Turkey Chili Bowl
• Unwrapped Salsa Verde Burrito
• Buffalo Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
• Farmstead Baked Lentil Pasta
• Beef & Broccoli Bowl
• Sesame-Ginger Chicken and Noodles

Here are the Factor meals I tried:

• Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Zucchini Noodles
• Pesto Salmon with Creamed Spinach & Tomato Butter Haricot Verts
• Herbed Quinoa Pesto Bowl
• Smoky BBQ Chicken Breast with Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Corn & Green Bean Casserole
• Creamy Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Broccoli & Tomatoes
• Tomato & Roasted Vegetable Risotto with Toasted Pine Nuts

All of the meals were quick and easy to reheat, with most requiring just 2–3 minutes in the microwave. However, there were noticeable differences in flavor and textures between the two services.

With Freshly, I appreciated the creative use of plant-based proteins, such as lentil pasta and nutritional-yeast-based “cheese.” I also liked how each dish incorporated a variety of flavors and vegetables.

However, texture-wise, the ingredients were quite soft and even mushy at times. While I personally don’t mind softer textures, this is likely a downside for others.

In contrast, the Factor meals tasted a bit fresher and had a better overall texture than the Freshly ones.

Specifically, the Herbed Quinoa Pesto Bowl was my favorite, as the quinoa was cooked perfectly, the sweet potatoes were soft but not mushy, and the pesto tasted fresh without being overpowering.

Similarly, the chicken and salmon entrées all had a great variety of textures and flavors, though some of the meals could have used a larger portion of veggies.

Still unsure of which prepared meal delivery service is right for you? Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons of each.

Both Factor and Freshly stand out for offering fresh, never frozen prepared meals that are quick and easy to reheat in the microwave.

Similarly, the services prioritize using high quality ingredients and a variety of flavors with a rotating weekly menu that offers a range of meals to choose from.

While they both cater to some specialty diets, Factor may be a better choice if you’re following a low carb eating pattern, such as the ketogenic diet. However, both services offer low calorie menus that appeal to people looking to lose or maintain their weight.

From my firsthand experience, Freshly offers a more creative menu, with flavors and ingredient combinations that you might not otherwise try.

Whereas Factor’s menu initially seemed less exciting, but the meals themselves tasted fresher and had a better texture overall.

As the meals were quite different, it’s hard to choose a winner. That said, Factor just narrowly beats out Freshly due to its superior texture and freshness.

However, if budget is your main concern and you’re OK with softer textures, Freshly is an excellent alternative.

Apart from Factor and Freshly, there are many comparable meal delivery services available.

For example, HelloFresh provides meal kits with simple, step-by-step recipes and preportioned ingredients.

Not only is it one of the most affordable meal kit companies, but it also boasts an extensive rotating menu, with numerous options for those following a low carb, low calorie, Mediterranean, or vegetarian diet.

Trifecta Nutrition is another service that provides fully prepared meals and offers vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo, and “clean eating” meal plans.

Though it’s slightly more expensive in comparison with other meal delivery services, all dishes feature high quality ingredients, including organic produce, grass-fed beef, and pasture-raised pork. Many customers also note that the meals are flavorful, filling, and nutritious.

Similarly, The Good Kitchen is a meal delivery service that specializes in pre-made paleo- and keto-friendly dishes, along with an assortment of vegetarian, low fat, primal, and Whole30-approved meals.

While some customer reviews report that the taste and texture could be improved for some of The Good Kitchen meals, others note that it can be a convenient and time-saving alternative to cooking.

Here is a closer look at how each service compares:

Are Factor and Factor75 the same?

Yes. The company was originally called Factor75 but rebranded and changed its name to Factor in 2019.

Do Freshly meals have a lot of sodium?

Freshly meals generally provide an average of 500–850 mg of sodium per serving. Though Freshly doesn’t currently offer a low sodium menu, you can view the nutrition information of each dish when placing your order to make selections based on your needs.

Is HelloFresh cheaper than Freshly?

HelloFresh starts at $7.99 per serving, while Freshly is slightly more expensive and starts at $8.99 per serving. However, the price can vary for either service depending on the specific plan and number of meals that you order.