Best Subscription Boxes: Our Award Winners
Everyone always asks us "what are the BEST subscription boxes?" We turned the question over to the only people who know more about monthly subscription boxes than we do—our readers!
Each year, we host a vote for which of YOUR favorite box brands deserve more recognition. Whether you're looking for a subscription to help make your life easier and keep you up with current trends, or looking for practical gift ideas, we've got dozens of subscription boxes to explore.
Check out the lists of winners below to find out which boxes our readers recommend most. Want more best-ofs? Read our MSA Editors’ picks for categories like coffee, chocolate, and geek boxes!
Subscription Boxes for Every Person
For Women: FabFitFun
FabFitFun ($49.99) is a quarterly lifestyle box that includes top trendy picks for the season– everything from beauty products, skincare, fun accessories, and new wellness products with a total retail value of at least $200. Members also get great discounts on add-on products through their Edit Sale.
“The customization and add-on options put this one over the top! Not to mention the amazing variety of products. No more shoeboxes full of red lippies and liquid eyeliner! I’m lookin’ at you, Ipsy!” – Kim W
For Men: Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club (starting at $5) is a well-known razor subscription service that features high-quality products at affordable prices. In addition to razors, you can stock up on toothpaste, shampoo, and more to keep your bathroom fully stocked on a regular basis. Choose the frequency of your deliveries, the precise items you want to get, and cancel at any time.
“My husband loves his shaving subscription & it’s not overly complicated for him.” – Gina
For Teens: OwlCrate
OwlCrate ($29.99) sends literature-loving teens a new release, page-turning YA novel each month, plus 3 to 5 unique book-related goodies.
“A themed box of fun stuff that uses the senses and isn’t too babyish.” – Sunnymay
For Kids: KiwiCo
KiwiCo ($19.99) provides hands-on fun activity crates for kids of all ages, from 0 to 16+. Each age range is a different experience customized to your child's interests and capabilities to make every month a fun and educational experience.
“The projects they come up with are just astonishing. They put incredible thought into carrying out a theme in a really age appropriate way. My kids have discovered how tension works, circuits and gears. The projects are fun to make and turn out as described.” – Kristin
Clothing & Stylist Subscriptions
Best Overall Personal Stylist Service: Stitch Fix
StitchFix ($20 styling fee) is a personal styling service with options for women, men, and kids. Take an in-depth survey on size, style, and pricing, and your stylist will hand-pick 5 items just for you. Keep what you love and return what you don't.
“This is the only fashion box I’ve subscribed to. I like the pairings and offerings and how they’ve started adding on necessities for a decent price.” – Rowan
Women's Clothing: Rachel Zoe Box of Style
Rachel Zoe Box of Style ($99.99) features $400 worth of Zoe and her team's favorite fashion, beauty and lifestyle items for each season. You can expect gorgeous jewelry and accessories, cosmetics, beauty products, and other luxurious items.
“Style is on trend and well put together for every box.” – Liabc
Men's Clothing: Gentleman's Box
Gentleman’s Box ($29) will help get your classic, professional wardrobe up to speed. Boxes typically include stylish accessories like ties, socks, and pocket squares, as well as grooming product samples.
“Great value for young men getting started in business attire.” – Kathy S
Kids Clothing: kidpik
Kidpik is a clothing box just for girls sizes 4-16. Each box contains 7 high-quality fashion choices of apparel, shoes, and accessories designed to complete beautiful multiple mix and match outfits. Pay only for what you keep, with no styling fee and free shipping and returns.
“Love everything I get in my daughters Kidpik box – great way to get stylish clothes and shoes for kids!” – slchambers13
Beauty Boxes
Best Overall Beauty Box: Ipsy
Ipsy ($10) is one the most popular boxes we review! Readers love the variety (high-end and drugstore products, makeup and skincare, beauty tools and beauty products) and personalization they get from this super affordable subscription.
“The variety of brands and products ipsy provides can’t be beat. They really try to send products their customers like.” – Jamie G
Best Skincare Products: Allure Beauty Box
Allure Beauty Box ($15) is a monthly box from the editors of Allure Magazine, featuring a mix of deluxe and full-size samples from mostly high-end beauty brands. Recent boxes have included some of the hottest names in the skincare game—Sunday Riley, Caudalié, Drunk Elephant, La Mer, Glow Recipe, and more!
“For the latter half of 2018, Allure truly stepped up their game to deliver quality skincare items for you to sample. I’ve since made some amazing discoveries that I made full size purchases of” – JustJese
Best for Makeup: Boxycharm
Boxycharm ($21) will send you 4-5 full-size beauty products every month, curated from a mix of established and indie brands– and every box has a total retail value of over $100.
“Boxycharm is every makeup junkie’s holy grail” – GintareT
Boxes for All Budgets
Under $15: Birchbox
Birchbox ($15) was one of the first beauty subscription boxes, and it continues to be one of our readers’ faves! Get samples of top skin, hair, and makeup products, each month—it’s up to you whether you’d prefer to be surprised by what they pick for you or to see everything you’re getting before the box ships.
“It’s -hands down- my favorite! Amazing customer service and deals. My favorite hair brands, I’ve find them here! LOVE IT!” – slchambers13
Over $50: POPSUGAR Must Have Box
POPSUGAR Must-Have Box ($75) is a quarterly assortment of style, wellness, and beauty essentials curated by the editors of POPSUGAR.com. With a retail value of over $250 per box, it’s like getting a gift from your most trend-savvy friend every season.
“I can always find something I like in the quarterly boxes. It is such a good mix of really nice products I didn’t know I might like/need/want.” – Jody
Food & Drink Subscriptions
Best Snack Box: Graze
Graze ($13.99) offers over 100 different healthy snacks in super-handy single-serve packages. It’s a fantastic option for families looking to pack lunches or stock up on wholesome treats that are great on the go and customized to your preferences.
“We have been getting Graze for many years and love the small packs and how easy they are to carry out of the house” – M Williams
Best Weekly Meal Kit: Hello Fresh
Hello Fresh ($8.74-$9.99 per serving) serves up classic, crowd-pleasing flavors, plus a few fun twists. We love that their ingredients come bundled by recipe, so that you can easily take them from the fridge to the countertop and get started.
“First (and only) box subscription I use. It is great!” – Sherry
Best Wine: Winc
Winc (Starting at $13/bottle) offers members monthly recommended wines based on their preferences and ratings for past boxes. Use their suggestions or pick anything you want from their catalog, and easily skip months online if needed.
“Fast shipping is the best and many wines to choose from.” – Mendez
Boxes For All Interests
Best Ethical Choice: CAUSEBOX
CAUSEBOX ($54.95) curates at least $150 worth of products each quarter sourced from socially-conscious companies. This lifestyle box includes a broad variety of broads like cosmetics, home decor items, gifts, accessories, jewelry, and other self-care treats.
“I love how this box contributes to the betterment of the world while spoiling me rotten with high quality items.” – Lauralee M
For Avid Readers: BOTM
Book of the Month ($14.99) offers a curated monthly selection of 5 new hardcover books for subscribers to choose from. Pick which title you’d like to receive on the first of the month, or let Book of the Month choose for you.
“It is always so hard to choose between the 5 selections – every month. They do a great job curating.” – Kristin
For Adults-Only: Heart & Honey
Heart & Honey ($69.99) is an approachable lifestyle box with a sexual health and wellness focus, filled with a variety of items from toys to beauty and gifts.
“Classy and beautifully curated.” – Shannon S
For Dog Owners: BarkBox
BarkBox ($29) has unique themes each month, and comes filled with quirky toys, treats, and grooming products picked for your dog based on their size.
“Customer service was on point, they made it so personable for my pupper.” – Scarey
For Cat Lovers: Cat Lady Box
Cat Lady Box ($39.99) hand picks cat-themed gifts for their subscribers each month. Upgrade to Crazy Cat Lady Box to get surprises for your feline friends, too.
“This is a splurge at $40 a month but so worth it!” – Esoteric Tartan
Fandom & Pop Culture: Loot Crate
Loot Crate ($19.99) delivers the perfect box for the geek in your life who loves all things sci-fi, fantasy, and fandom. Collectibles and apparel are typically exclusive and have a $45+ retail value.
“I gifted this to my husband, and he loves this! Every month he gets a cool shirt, funky socks, and comical underwear.” – Cocoa Gaijin 412
Community Picks
Best for New Products
Looking to stay ahead of top trends and discover new beauty and lifestyle products before anyone else? Our readers recommend these 17 boxes for their top notch product curation.
Best for Newbies
New to the world of subscription boxes? These brands are a safe bet for those starting out, and promise a reliable value, trustworthy customer service, and excellent overall experience.
Best Loyalty Programs
Think outside the box! These subscription boxes have amazing benefits beyond their regular deliveries to your mailbox, in the form of rewards, exclusive sale offers, and more.
Check Out Past Winners
See the #1 picks for Best Boxes of 2018, Best Boxes of 2017, or browse more lists below:
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I’m honestly not sure which one I’d like to win, but my current two favorite boxes are FabFitFun and Book of the Month!
Im loving ipsy glam bag plus but I’d love to try fab fit fun!
Yes, ipsy ftw
I want to try vine oh!
My favorite sub box is Margot Elena! So many different scents and beautiful artwork and love the products in glass! My older teen son loves the Eureka crate projects. Fun to build and usable and nice to display! I would love a FFF box!
Favourite one for makeup: boxycharm
Fab Fit Fun is definitely my fave! I do like the Sephora monthly box though too.
I have FabFitFun & Ipsy and I love them both!
I would love to try CauseBox or Heart& Honey. I mean they arw on different ends of the spectrum but ultimately, they all make us happy. And the truth is we all deserve to be happy, no? These boxes are like our little treats to ourselves every month.
My favorite box is Birchbox, but I would love to try Ipsy for the cosmetic bag!
I only receive IPSY but have always wanted to try Sephora, FFF and allure . My budget won’t allow it so any thing i win would be wonderful:)
Fabfitfun is my favorite but I would love to try the new Popsugar quarterly!
That was my answer until I scrolled down. I want to try/win Globein. I think my mother’s day gift to myself will be fabfitfun.
I would love to try Rachel Zoe Box of Style or Popsugar.
This would be my answer too
Same here!
Ipsy Glam Bag Plus is the best 👌
I want to try the fabfitfun box and or the morpheme brush one. I hope I win 🤞🤞🤞💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
I’ve never tried Rachel Zoe and have always wanted to. I have couple of her items I’ve gotten through swaps and have loved them.
I love Ipsy GBP and also get the GB and boxycharm. The test tube from new beauty was great the first time and mediocre the second for me. I really want to try KiwiCo for my 2 yo son next and a food recipe one but not sure which is the best. I am just obsessed with subscriptions now!
Popsugar, British beauty box & Ipsy plus.
My favorite at the moment is Margot Elena.
Hard to pick just one! H2BAR is one of my favorites, as well as BF and Facetory.
Ikebana is my current favorite. It hasn’t been reviewed but I really enjoy creating the Japanese flower arrangements and learning about the art.
I would love to try BoxyCharm, Popsugar Must Have, or Box of Style. I already have and love FabFitFun!
FabFitFun is my fav.
FabFitFun
Heart and Honey would be great to try.
I’ve been subscribed to the Fabfitfun box since Winter 2018 and like it so far. The winter box was really great with the Moroccan Gold hair products. The spring 2019 box wasn’t as nice but I still enjoyed the edit sale afterwards. I’ve been trying Boxycharm and Ipsy Plus on and off, and there have been a lot of hits and misses. It doesn’t seem like they go by your beauty profile 100%, which is frustrating. I used to like Allure Beauty Box but now they’ve got too many variations, which is my least favorite part of subscription boxes. I’ve heard good things about the New Beauty Test Tube and would love to try it, as I am a skincare junkie.
My favorite is fab fit fun but I would love to try popsugar or coastal
I love my FabFitFun and Ipsy subscriptions! I would love to try any of them but aim going to say Test Tube!
Would love to try Fab Fit Fun, seems like the perfect box to start summer with!
I would love to try Causebox. I been wanting to try it but, haven’t bitten the bullet yet.
I’ve gotten many subscriptions and I have to say Causebox has been a real fav! I definitely think it’s worth it! I also sort of want to try the Pusheen box even though I’m a grown adult. That cat is too darn cute!
My favorite right now is popsugar would love to try coastal co
My favorite was Rachel Zoe, but I think some boxes are hit or miss so it’s hard to stay on board for this cost
PSMH would be nice to try! Ive always been a fan of Fab Fit Fun; Cause box has been on my eye as well!
Popsugar
My favorite is Test Tube Beauty!
I love book of the month!!
I would love to try popsugar must have box!
I would try Winc!
My favorite is fabfitfun, I’d love to try Causebox too.
My favorite is testtube. Would love to try pop sugar or heart and honey!
I’d love the Zoe box or the popsugar box cause they seem so sumptuous.
Right now my favorite is Book of the Month, I feel like I have to much stuff that all the others send out. Actually cancelled a lot of boxes recently. If I have to get another job in an office I would love to try Stitch Fix, but working from home right now and don’t need more clothes.
I want to try Coastal Co. Everything in the reviews looks great!
BOXYCHARM!!!!!! THEN FAB FIT FUN OF COURSE.
My favorite box is FabFitFun! Love the variety and value.
Coastal co looks amazing!
Causebox
I would pick FabFitFun. Even though I’m not always a fan of the quality of the accessories, you do get some high end skincare and makeup.
We love a good bottle of wine in my house, and I’ve always wanted to try Winc. I’d love to try it out to see if it would be worth it for my house to subscribe.
I’d really like to try the Heart & Honey subscription. I’ve looked at it numerous times but haven’t gotten it yet…..
I love BoxyCharm the best!
Ipsy glam bag is my favorite! I hate all the variations on boxycharm and my first month with ipsy plus is may and I´m so dissapointed 🙁
Stalking Coastal Co and PSMH but they are a bit pricier would love to win one of them!
IPSY – I want good mascara and lip color, without the commitment of spending 12-30$ per item. Seriously – I don’t wear lip color that often. Now I don’t need to buy an entire tube.
Popsugar Must Have is one of my longest subscriptions that I would have a hard time giving up!
Oui Please!
I really love the new beauty test tube!
I would pick Hello Fresh if I won.
Cat Lady Box. They have such cool things.
Globein is one of my favorite boxes, but I haven’t been able to afford it lately, so hopefully I win!
I’d like to try Coastal Co. or Globe In.