Is Thrive Market Worth It? Our Family’s Review
Is Thrive Market worth it? Will you actually save money and time using the online grocer? How does the membership work? We answer all of your burning questions in our family’s review.
What is Thrive Market?
If you’re not familiar with Thrive Market, it’s a membership-based website featuring organic brands, many natural products and health foods.
You’ll find a lot of:
- Pantry staples
- Baking supplies
- Healthy snacks
- Desserts
- Clean home goods
- Healthy personal care products
They also recently started selling:
- Grass-fed beef
- Sustainable seafood
- Organic chicken
- Pasture-raised pork
Ready to dive in and try Thrive Market without reading our entire review?
Use this link to start shopping at Thrive Market today. You’ll get 25% off your first order, a free gift and receive a free 30-day trial membership (affiliate link).
We do make a small commission if you join Thrive Market. We’re committed to only sharing the brands and partners we use and love with our community. We appreciate your support of The Real Simple Good Life and our partners.
Thrive Market Review: Our Family’s Experience
We have personally been Thrive Market members for several years now and recommend it to others for the following reasons:
It’s convenient
We really love shopping online at Thrive Market because it saves us time. Everything is delivered to our door! It’s easy to keep our pantry stocked with our favorite Paleo and Whole30 products.
Shopping is easy
You can shop by diet (Paleo, Keto) or category (Pets, Beauty) to get directly to the products you need.
Great variety
We love trying new healthy products. Thrive consistently stocks new brands and products to try.
It’s affordable
We’ve found that prices are generally comparable or lower at Thrive Market than at specialty stores like Whole Foods and Natural Grocers.
It’s easy to cancel
If you decide that you want to cancel, just email Thrive market or use the chat feature on their website – it’s easy!
Thrive Market Membership Cost: How it Works
There are two membership options to choose from:
- A monthly membership for $9.95 per month
- An annual membership for $59.95 per year
If you purchase an annual membership, Thrive actually guarantees that it will pay for itself through savings on purchases.
For example, if your membership fee was $60, and you only saved $40 in the year, they will automatically add a $20 credit to your account. Sounds pretty good huh? Read the full policy here.
Interested in giving it a try for free?
Try Thrive Market free for 30 days to see if you like it. Get 25% off your first order and a free gift using this link (affiliate link).
NOTE: If you decide you don’t want the membership you have to cancel it before the 30-day trial period expires.
Thrive Market Shipping
Getting healthy products delivered to your doorstep is the best feature of shopping at Thrive Market!
We have placed a lot of orders through Thrive Market and they are packaged very well.
For example:
- Glass is wrapped to prevent breaking
- Things like chips are packed so they don’t get crushed
- Items that could melt are shipped with an ice pack
Even though the packaging is always good, we have had a couple of orders where products were damaged/broken during shipping. When this happened we just sent them an email and the products were promptly re-shipped.
We think it’s important to note that Thrive is committed to better packaging, shipping and warehouse practices like:
- 100% post consumer recyclable packaging
- Carbon neutral shipping certification through carbonfund.org
- Smarter packing consistently to reduce packing materials
- Efficient warehouses (90% of waste is recycled or reused)
Most orders are delivered within 2-3 business days and shipping is free on orders over $49.
Shipping is only available to locations in the contiguous U.S. They currently don’t deliver to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Canada – but hope to in the future.
The best features of Thrive Market
Thrive Market has some unique features that make shopping very convenient, including:
Sort by diet
You can easily sort and filter products and pages by dietary needs. Just filter your page to only show products that are compliant with the diet you are looking for (Gluten-free, Paleo, Keto, Etc.)
Autoship
Set any product to automatically autoship monthly. Perfect for regular pantry staples or personal care items like toothpaste.
Kits
There are two types of kits: starter kits and themed kits. Starter kits generally contain between 5 and10 staple and popular products from categories such as Paleo, Whole30, Vegan, Keto, etc. Theme kits are a bundle of products from categories such as home cleaning, spices, gluten-free baking, snacks and best sellers.
Freebies
Occasionally when you order, Thrive Market will throw in a product absolutely free!
Thrive Market for the Paleo Diet
Thrive Market is THE place to shop online for all of your Paleo pantry staples. You can browse a list of our Thrive favorites here. Some of our most used Paleo pantry items are:
Coconut Aminos
We use coconut aminos in our Korean Beef Bowl and Sweet Potato Chicken Pad Thai recipes.
Nutritional Yeast
We use nutritional yeast a lot to add a “cheesy” flavor to recipes like this Creamy Chicken Alfredo and this Easy Taco Casserole.
Arrowroot Starch
A Paleo pantry staple, arrowroot starch is used for baked goods like these Ginger Molasses Cookies and also as a thickener for sauces like in this Easy Chicken Marsala.
You can browse the entire Thrive Market Paleo category here.
Thrive Market for Whole30
First off, if you are considering a Whole30, be sure to check out our helpful Whole30 guide.
Thrive Market is a great place to shop for Whole30 compliant items, you can browse all of their Whole30 approved products here.
We created a Whole30 Starter Kit to go along with our free Whole30 meal plans.
This kit covers pantry staples you’ll need to follow the plans and crush the Whole30! In addition to this, Thrive carries time-saving Whole30 products like:
- Ketchup – Because who wants to make their own ketchup. It’s perfect for these Jicama Fries too!
- Beef Jerky – With several brands and flavors to choose from, it’s easy to pick up this protein packed snack.
- Marinades & Dressings – These can come in VERY handy when you need to make a Whole30 meal in a pinch. A few good sauces can help you make it through your Whole30.
Thrive Market for the Keto Diet
With the Keto diet blowing up lately, you might be looking for a good place to find Keto friendly products to stock up on.
Thrive is a great place to buy Keto products, here is a link to their dedicated Keto category.
Some of Keto favorites we always keep on hand are:
- Ghee – The perfect cooking fat for the Keto diet. Use it to add a buttery flavor to roasted veggies, for a stir-fry recipe like this Black Pepper Chicken, or for Keto treats like these Almond Butter Cookies.
- Keto Sweeteners – They have options like monkfruit, stevia, swerve and erythritol. We prefer to use erythritol to add a little sweetness to simple treats like these Healthy Peanut Butter Balls.
- Keto Snacks – Nuts, beef jerky and pork rinds FTW!
Conclusion: So is Thrive Market Worth it?
We love Thrive Market, mostly because it’s convenient and saves us time. But it’s not for everyone.
Generally, Thrive market is a good fit if you:
- Have trouble finding foods for your specific diet
- Don’t live close to specialty stores like Whole Foods
- Prefer to shop online vs. going to local stores
It might not be a good fit if you:
- Don’t follow a specific or restrictive diet
- Can find all of the products you need easily at local stores
- Prefer to shop in person and not online
- Don’t want to pay a membership fee to shop
Interested in giving Thrive Market a try after reading this review?
Use this link to start shopping at Thrive Market today. You’ll get 25% off your first order, a free gift and receive a free 30-day trial membership (affiliate link).
No strings attached, simply cancel if you don’t like the membership.
We do make a small commission if you shop at Thrive Market through this link. We’re committed to only sharing the brands and partners we use and love with our community. We appreciate your support of The Real Simple Good Life and our partners.
Thrive Market Frequently Asked Questions
They are both online marketplaces, but Thrive is specifically focused on selling a smaller number of healthy food and related lifestyle products. Get the details in our full review.
Anything for the Gluten-free, Paleo, Whole30, Vegan or Keto diets. Plus products for household, pets and kids. Get the details in our full review.
Yes, they have a free 30-day trial membership period. You must cancel your membership before the trial period is over to avoid paying a membership fee. Get the details in our full review.
Typically members save an average of $32 per order. With an annual membership cost of $60, you can save money with only two orders. Get the details in our full review.
The membership is offered on a yearly basis for $59.95 or a monthly basis for $9.95. Get the details in our full review.
Thrive provides free shipping on all orders over $49. Orders under this amount are charged standard shipping rates. Get the details in our full review.
You can cancel your Thrive Market membership at any time with no early termination fees by contacting them by live chat or by email. Get the details in our full review.
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A few years ago i ordered products from Thrive Market for The Wheat Belly Total Health Plan. Then the company discontinued most of the products. Is your company part of the Wheat Belly Way?
I am having problems finding those products, in any local stores. Also i need to place orders over the phone if possible. I appreciate any info you can help me with. Thank you. Going grain free, low carb,keto friendly for total health!
Hi there – we are not part of the Wheat Belly Way in any capacity. We have just personally found Thrive Market helpful for finding specialty products and pantry staples that we regularly use in our kitchen eating a real food, often paleo/whole30/low carb type of diet. Hope our full review is helpful.
I paid for a yearly membership to Thrive Market last week but my order took too long to deliver. Instead of two day shipping, it’s 5-7 days. I can’t meal plan that far out so I requested to cancel my account and have the subscription fee refunded. They canceled my account but refused my request for a refund, despite their TOS that state: Annual members may cancel for any reason within their first 30 days of membership for a full refund. When I filed a dispute with Visa they told me that Thrive Market is one of the few companies who signed up for chargeback insurance – read into that what you will. Wish I had read their reviews before I gave them my credit card number. Live and learn.
Sorry to hear that Shannon. We’ve only had good experiences with Thrive and haven’t gone through the cancellation process personally. Thanks for sharing.
How long is a #10 unopened can of Thrive Quick Oats safe to eat?
We have 9 cans “Manufactured Nov/05/2010
Hi there, we have never purchased that item. You should reach out to Thrive Market directly with product specific questions. 🙂
I’ve been thinking unsuccessful in finding contact information for Thrive Market.
Can you help with that?
Thanks so much!
If you go to this page, there are several contact options at the bottom.
Two things to touch on :
1) Their meat selection is just way too expensive and not customizable enough. You’ll spend a -minimum- of $100. Sometimes I just need some ground beef and chicken, why do I have to spend 100+ everytime?
2) Their membership cancellation is a NIGHTMARE. If I knew nothing else about Thrive Market I would avoid like the plague if I knew that in order to cancel I would have to sit in a chat queue for 15 min waiting to talk to a rep who will try to upsell\change your mind about cancelling for another 15 minutes. This is 2021, every online service has a way to simply click to deactivate your membership. Why someone should have to WAIT in a line in order to cancel a membership is cumbersome and completely, utterly, unnecessary.
Kind of annoying (and frankly disqualifying) that they won’t let me browse without submitting my email address.
That’s fair. I get the hesitation and frustration, and that’s why we tried to give readers an idea of the kinds of products we purchase through Thrive Market in this post. Hopefully that’s helpful.
@Bunny I feel exactly the same! 🙁
I have been a member of Thrive Market for years. I place orders 4-6 times a year and any time there has been an order issue it has been quickly resolved. When they have sales on my most used products is when I order and still save compared to walking into a speciality food store by us. I think it’s great you mention their packaging of products upon shipping. Many other business I have ordered from consistently have very damaged items upon arrival. Only once have I received a crushed box, and that wasn’t Thrive Market’s fault.
Thanks for the feedback. We have never had any issues with Thrive Market and are always happy to get a box delivered. We order one about once a month 🙂
I did the Thrive market trial membership, and found that cancelling is quite easy. A 5 minute process. Much improved, apparently, from previous years. Regarding a previous question: The items were in stock and shipping was quick – a few days. No Covid delays in Oct 2020.
Glad to hear that, thanks!
I absolutely love Thrive Market, I have been a member with them for several years now and love their products. This is a great post for those wanting to know more about Thrive Market.
We love Thrive Market too, we order from them often and it saves us a lot of time. Glad you thought the post was helpful!
How has their stock and shipping been during Covid-19? I can’t join if their stock is always out and shipping is overly delayed.
Hey there – they were behind on shipping with Covid-19, but are back to shipping out new orders in 48 hours or less! As for stock, some things are out of stock, but I looked up the items we typically order – ghee, marinara sauce, coconut aminos, fish sauce, meat sticks, coffee, cleaning products, grain free chips/crackers, etc. and they are all in stock currently. The main things I noticed were out were coconut milk and almond milk.
Ugh! Was excited to find your website and loved so much about it until I realized you are affiliated with Thrive Market. They are such a dishonest company. Tricking people with their membership fees, not refunding items that are spoiled, and the prices are either the same as local stores or more expensive. Very deceitful company. Read their reviews from non-affiliated sites.
Lynda – Thanks for sharing your opinion. We’ve personally had nothing but positive experiences with Thrive and we were members long before we became affiliates with them. In our opinion, the membership fees are clear and worth the price and the product prices are competitive. We love the convenience of being able to get quality products delivered to our door and cut some of the hassle out of shopping. Hopefully you enjoy our website and recipes.
Just starting a medically necessary Paleo diet and have been totally lost as to how to begin? Your site has been extremely helpful and provided resources as well! Thank you so much!! Recipes are great if you know what the ingredients are and how to get them! Thanks again.
You’re very welcome and we hope you give some of our recipes a try! Also, we hope the Paleo diet is as life changing for you as it has been for us 🙂