We tried Factor—it was convenient, clean, but not quite right for us

• Factor is a meal delivery service that provides fully-cooked, single-serving meals that are ready to eat after two minutes in the microwave.
• The service is ideal for single adults, couples, and those counting calories, but may not be suitable for families with young children due to portion sizes.
• Meals cost between $11.99 and $16.49 per serving, making it a more expensive option compared to other meal kits.

Known for its fully prepared, calorie-conscious meals that heat up in just minutes, Factor has quickly become a popular option for busy adults, couples and anyone focused on healthy eating or weight loss.

I tested Factor with my family of four to see how it holds up for real-life dinners and whether it can replace traditional meal kits or weekly grocery shopping. While Factor delivered on convenience, nutrition and zero cleanup, it didn’t quite fit our family’s needs.

That said, it could be the perfect solution for other households. Use my review to see if you fit that mold.

What is Factor?

Factor is a subscription meal delivery service that ships fully cooked meals to your door. Instead of meal kits that ship recipes and ingredients, Factor’s meals are ready to heat up in your microwave.

Our experience with Factor

Moral of the story, my family is not the right fit for Factor. But Factor is a great meal delivery option for older couples and anyone counting calories.

As a busy family of four with two young kids, our dinners need to be a little more kid-friendly. Our toddler could only eat about half of the dinner we gave her and wasted a bunch of food—or I should say, the dogs dined on some fancy cavatappi pasta and half a mushroom swiss burger. My husband and I are very active, and we found ourselves supplementing each meal with a salad and a loaf of bread. So really, it comes down to our lifestyle not being the right fit.

However, what we did like about Factor makes it the ideal meal kit for other types of people:

• Meals are ready in two minutes
• Portions were perfect for lunch
• No dishes to clean up after
• Diet-friendly meals

To get other perspectives on Factor, I shared this meal kit with my retired parents and working in-laws. They both loved it. Here’s what they liked the most:

• Pre-portioned meals made prep easy
• The variety of menu options was a fun change from their typical meals
• Each dish came with a vegetable

The meals are healthy, balanced and so easy to make (you literally pop them in the microwave). While Factor may not have been the right fit for us, it is a great option for other households.

Factor pros and cons

Pros

The lack of dinner clean up was my favorite part of testing Factor. Instead of spending half an hour cleaning up dishes after dinner, I could spend that time playing with my kids and relaxing.

• Dinner is ready in two minutes
• No dishes to clean
• Not everyone has to eat the same meal

Cons

The main cons for us were the smaller portion sizes and the limited customization. For example, I am not a spice fan but my husband is. He ended up adding some hot sauce to each meal since they weren't quite as flavorful as he preferred.

• Smaller portions
• Limited customization (you can’t remove certain flavors or spices)

How Factor works

After you sign up for Factor, you can choose your dietary preferences, likes/dislikes and your preferred number of meals.

Factor offers more than just dinner. Every single type of meal is offered (breakfast, lunch and dinner), with the addition of snacks and protein shakes. So if you want a full-days’ worth of food brought to your door, Factor can deliver.

Each week, you have the option to choose your meals from a chef-curated menu of 100+ options. On your delivery day, a temperature-controlled box with all your meals is delivered. Put it in the fridge, and all your grocery shopping and meal prep is done.

When it’s time for dinner, you pick what you want to eat, follow the heating directions and bon appetit.

How easy is it to make Factor meals?

Making a Factor meal is as easy as it gets. All you have to do is choose your meal, open the package and put it in the microwave. After about two minutes, your dinner is ready to eat.

There’s no clean up besides utensils, all the plastic trays go right into the garbage.

Factor menu and meal options

Factor’s meals target adults who want to maintain a healthy diet and those who are interested in losing weight. As you sign up for Factor, you can choose from the following diets:

• Calorie Smart
• Keto
• High Protein
• Low Carb
• GLP-1 Support
• Fiber Filled
• Flexitarian (meaning you eat anything)

Factor is one of the few meal kits that claims to support GLP-1 weight loss. After trying these meals for a week, I would agree that they are the right portions to help adults with weight loss goals.

Factor pricing

Factor’s meals cost between $11.99 and $16.49 per serving, making it one of the more expensive meal delivery services available. The cost makes sense, considering each meal is pre-cooked and portioned out.

When I filled out the meal survey for our family, the recommended weekly kit with 36 meals would cost us $431.64. This sum includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. That cost is about double what we typically spend on a week of groceries.

Is Factor worth it?

For my family, Factor was not worth it. The meals weren’t quite enough for dinner, and instead of giving my toddler a smaller serving of the meal, she got an entire dish, which she wasn’t able to finish.

But for my parents and in-laws, Factor was perfect. My retired parents loved the meal variety. Both of them have very different tastes and felt like this meal kit had dishes that fit their needs. My in-laws still work, and they loved that they didn’t have to clean up after a large meal. For both of them, Factor is on the table (both literally and figuratively).

Who should try Factor?

Factor may not have fit my family’s lifestyle, but it would certainly be great for:

• Single adults or couples who want quick, easy meals
• Older adults watching their daily calories
• Anyone looking to lose weight
• Working adults who want a nutritious lunch

When we ate Factor for dinner, we found the meals to be a bit small. But for lunch? They were perfect. I often need to eat quickly between meetings, and the quick, two-minute cook times fit my schedule perfectly. Plus, I loved eating a nutritious lunch that hit every major food group. I was definitely meeting my daily veggie goals with Factor, and if that's your goal, Factor is for you.