One of Shopify's longest-running subscription apps versus a newer, meal-focused alternative. Here's an honest breakdown.
Bold Subscriptions has been around for years and powers subscriptions for thousands of Shopify stores. It has a mature feature set, enterprise-grade capabilities, and a build-a-box tool that works across product categories. If you're a larger store with complex subscription needs across many product types, Bold has the depth to handle it. MealSubs is a different kind of app. It's built on Shopify's modern native APIs, specifically for meal plan businesses. Delivery day scheduling, meal-specific build-a-box, and min/max item controls are all built in. It's simpler to set up, cheaper, and has zero transaction fees on every plan. The tradeoff is scope: MealSubs only does meal plans.
| Feature | MealSubs | Bold |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose-Built for Meals | ✓ | ✗General subscriptions |
| Enterprise / High-Volume | ✗SMB focused | ✓ |
| Delivery Day Scheduling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Build-a-Box | ✓Meal-specific | ✓Generic |
| Min/Max Item Controls | ✓ | Limited |
| Customer Self-Service Portal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shopify Native API | ✓Built on it | PartialLegacy + native migration |
| Transaction Fees | 0% on all plans | 1% on some plans |
| Starting Price | $29/mo | $49.99/mo |
| Setup Complexity | Simple5 min | More involvedMigration may be needed |
Bold has been in the Shopify subscription space longer than almost anyone. They've handled the edge cases, built the integrations, and have enterprise-level support. If you're doing high volume and need an app with a long track record, Bold has that credibility.
Bold's build-a-box works across any product type. Beauty products, snacks, wellness items, you name it. If your subscription business spans multiple categories and you want one flexible build-a-box solution, Bold handles that well.
Subscribe-and-save, prepaid subscriptions, tiered pricing, custom billing intervals. Bold supports a wide range of subscription models that cover most use cases. For stores with diverse subscription needs, this flexibility matters.
MealSubs has delivery day scheduling built in from the start. Pick which days of the week customers can receive meals, and orders get grouped by day automatically. Your kitchen gets a clear prep schedule. Bold doesn't offer this natively, and workarounds tend to be clunky.
Both apps have build-a-box, but they work differently. Bold's is general purpose and works for any product type. MealSubs' is designed around the meal workflow: customers browse your weekly menu, pick their meals within min/max limits, and select their delivery day. It's a more opinionated experience that makes sense for meal prep and meal kit businesses specifically.
MealSubs is built entirely on Shopify's native Subscriptions API and metaobjects. Everything works with Shopify checkout, themes, and customer accounts out of the box. Bold has been migrating from legacy architecture to Shopify native, which is a long process. Some merchants still need to migrate their existing subscriptions, and the experience can be inconsistent during that transition.
Bold starts at $49.99/mo with a 1% transaction fee on the Core plan. To drop the transaction fee, you need the $199.99/mo tier. MealSubs starts at $29/mo with zero transaction fees on every plan.
If you need Bold's enterprise features and broad subscription model support, the higher price may be justified. But for meal plan businesses, MealSubs delivers more relevant features at a lower cost with no transaction fees.
Bold is a solid choice for larger stores that need a proven, general-purpose subscription platform with enterprise support. If you sell across multiple categories and need maximum flexibility, Bold has the maturity and breadth to support that.
MealSubs is the better pick for meal prep and meal kit businesses that want an app built specifically for how they operate. Delivery scheduling, meal selection, item limits, zero transaction fees, and a quick setup on Shopify's modern APIs. It does one thing and does it well.
MealSubs is built for exactly that. Try it free for 14 days, no credit card required.
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