Shopify for meal prep businesses
Shopify for meal prep: subscriptions or weekly orders?
For auto-renewing weekly boxes, Shopify is a good choice: Shopify's own Subscriptions app is free. If your customers order each week from a changing menu, before a cut-off, a pre-order menu does it without a subscription stack.
Free plan: 50 orders a month, 0% commission, no card needed.
Free plan, 50 orders a month, 0% commission. Paid plans from US$17 a month.
The short answer
It depends on how your customers buy
Model 1: a subscription. The customer signs up once for "10 meals a week" and is charged every week until they pause or cancel. Shopify fits this well: Shopify Subscriptions is free, made by Shopify, with weekly, monthly or yearly billing, discounts, and skip, pause and cancel for the customer.
Model 2: weekly orders. You post next week's menu on Thursday, customers order by Sunday night, and you cook and deliver on Monday and Wednesday. There's no recurring charge: each week is a new order. This is a pre-order with a cut-off and delivery days.
Many meal prep businesses start with Model 2 and move to Model 1 when they have regulars. Choose the tool for the model you run today.
- Auto-renewing subscriptions: Shopify, with its free Subscriptions app
- Delivery days and cut-offs: a delivery date app on Shopify
- Weekly pre-orders: Menuthere Lite, US$17 a month
- Menuthere has no recurring billing
Two models, two setups
What each model needs on each platform
Checked on Shopify's App Store and Menuthere's docs on 20 October 2026.
| Need | On Shopify | On Menuthere |
|---|---|---|
| Charge every week automatically | Shopify Subscriptions, free | Not available |
| Customer skips or pauses a week | Shopify Subscriptions, free | Not needed: they just don't order that week |
| Build your own box of 10 meals | Appstle Subscriptions Business, US$30 a month, has build-a-box | Add-on groups: "choose up to 10", with two of the same allowed |
| Delivery on Monday and Wednesday only | A delivery date app, such as Stellar from US$14.99 a month with blackout dates | Fixed time ranges on the days you choose, from Lite |
| Order by Sunday night for Monday | Cut-off times in the date app | Earliest booking time and "start from tomorrow", from Lite |
| A new menu each week | Edit products, or unpublish last week's | Show dishes only on set days, or switch them on and off, every plan |
| Calories on each meal | No built-in field: metafields or an app such as It's Got: Nutrition Facts, from US$8 | kcal and the 14 allergens on each dish, every plan |
What to watch
Meal prep on Shopify: the add-ons
Delivery days need an app
Shopify's local delivery has zones and prices, but the customer can't pick a delivery date in Shopify's own settings. Stellar is free to 50 orders and US$14.99 a month unlimited; Buunto starts at US$12.99 for 100 orders.
Subscriptions are free on Shopify
Shopify Subscriptions costs nothing and is made by Shopify. Appstle is free to US$500 a month of subscription revenue, then US$10, US$30 or US$100; Recharge starts at US$25.
Calories and allergens
Meal prep buyers read the numbers. Shopify has no nutrition field; you add metafields or an app. In England, businesses with 250 or more employees must show kcal on menus, online too.
Delivery rounds
Shopify's free Local Delivery app plans driver routes up to 100 stops, which suits a twice-weekly round.
A worked example
150 weekly orders a month, two delivery days
Customers order from a weekly menu by a cut-off and get delivery on Monday or Wednesday. Monthly billing in US dollars, before card fees.
| Cost line | Shopify, weekly orders | Shopify, subscriptions | Menuthere Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Basic: US$39 | Basic: US$39 | US$17 |
| Delivery days and cut-off | Stellar Starter: US$14.99 | Stellar Starter: US$14.99 | Included |
| Recurring billing | Not needed | Shopify Subscriptions: free | Not available |
| Build-a-box with 10 meals | An options app such as Easify Pro: US$9.99 | Appstle Business: US$30 | Included (add-on group) |
| Monthly total before card fees | US$63.98 | US$83.99 | US$17 |
Shopify Basic is US$29 a month billed yearly; Menuthere's yearly billing charges 10 months for 12. Without Shopify Payments, Shopify adds 2% of sales on Basic. If you need auto-renewing subscriptions, the Shopify column is the one to price.
When Shopify is the better choice
Subscriptions and shipping? Choose Shopify.
You charge customers every week automatically. Shopify Subscriptions is free and does it well. Menuthere doesn't have recurring billing.
You ship chilled or frozen meals by courier to a wide area. That is a shipping business, and Shopify is built for it. Menuthere doesn't ship parcels.
Use both if you sell both ways: Shopify for subscribers, Menuthere for customers who order week by week and for local pickup.
How to start
Next week's menu, taking orders by Sunday
- 1
Create the free page
Go to get started and add your business. No card on Free.
- 2
Add the week's meals
Upload a photo or PDF of the menu, then add kcal, allergens and a "choose your meals" group.
- 3
Set delivery days and cut-off
On Lite, turn on prebooking with your delivery days, slots and the notice you need.
- 4
Share it every week
Post the link with the new menu on Instagram and WhatsApp, and pin it on your Google Business Profile.
Questions owners ask
Answered, plainly.
Sources (12) · checked 2026-10-20
- Shopify pricing (US dollars) · Shopify, read 20 October 2026
- Setting up local delivery · Shopify Help Center, read 20 October 2026
- Metafields · Shopify Help Center, read 20 October 2026
- Shopify Subscriptions · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Appstle Subscriptions · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Recharge Subscriptions · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Delivery Date & Pickup Stellar · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Buunto – Delivery Date Picker · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Easify Custom Product Options · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- It's Got: Nutrition Facts · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Shopify Local Delivery · Shopify App Store, read 20 October 2026
- Calorie labelling in the out of home sector · Department of Health and Social Care, GOV.UK, read 20 October 2026
Weekly orders with a cut-off, one link
Make next week's meal prep menu from a photo or PDF. Free to start, 0% commission.
