Factor Review

Wednesday, June 18th

2025 Weight Loss Meal Delivery Reviews

Factor

• Price per serving: Starts at $10.99
• Discount: 50% off first month
• Shipment frequency: Weekly
• Daily meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Calories per meal: 550
• Number of recipes: Not specified
• Prep time: A few minutes

Founded in 2013, Factor took its name from a simple but powerful philosophy: 75% of fitness results come from nutrition. This insight has propelled them to offer fresh, microwavable meals for those looking to optimize their health and fitness outcomes. It's a straightforward concept - eat well to live well. But, as we dive deeper, does Factor manage to deliver on this promise, especially with their Calorie Smart plan? Let's find out.

Calorie Smart plan for weight loss

The Calorie Smart plan from Factor promises an enticing proposition: "Sticking to a low-calorie diet has never been easier". With meals averaging around 550 calories, this plan takes the guesswork and tedium out of maintaining a calorie-conscious diet. If you've ever found yourself stuck in a food rut, eating the same bland meals day in and day out to avoid the hassle of calorie counting, Factor's pre-prepared meals might sound like a game-changer.

Mix and match at no extra cost

First things first, navigate to the "Our Plans" section on the Factor website. Here, you'll find the Calorie Smart option among others. The beauty of Factor's offering is that you can mix and match meals from different plans - just select whatever you need in addition to the Calorie Smart option (Keto, Flexitarian, Protein Plus, or Vegan & Veggie) at no extra charge.

Starts at $10.99 a serving

Deciding on the number of meals per week is next on your checklist. With options ranging from 6 to 18 meals, Factor stands out for its simplicity. You won't be bogged down with calculations for different family members - just pick the number that suits your weekly needs. To give you an idea of cost, an order of 8 meals totals $103.92, breaking down to $12.99 per serving. Opting for the larger 18-meal plan brings the cost per serving down to $10.99. This is in the mid-to-high price range for the weight loss meal delivery services in our review.

Sample menu available

After choosing your plan and meal count, you'll be prompted to enter your email and billing information. Then the exciting part begins: picking your meals. If you're not ready to commit, you can skip this step for now and preview their weekly menu first.

Save on your subscription

Factor knows how to reel in new customers with tempting offers. Landing on their site might greet you with a hefty 50% off your first month and 20% off the following month if you sign up for texts. They even throw in the promise of free wellness shots for life. On a different day, you might find an offer for $130 off your order, plus those free wellness shots (two per box, as long as you maintain your subscription).

Sample menu hides low-calorie options

Browsing Factor's sample menu to find Calorie Smart options is less straightforward than you might hope. There's a noticeable gap in user-friendliness here, as the website doesn't allow you to filter meals by your chosen plan directly. If you're committed to staying under 550 calories per meal, prepare for a bit of legwork. You need to click on each meal individually to check if it has the blue "Calorie Smart" label - a process that's more time-consuming than helpful.

No telling how many weekly options are Calorie-Smart

While Factor says they offer around 35 meals and over 45 add-ons each week, there's a catch. It's unclear how many of these options are actually Calorie Smart without investigating each one. This lack of transparency can be frustrating if you're trying to quickly plan your meals for the week. The add-ons range from breakfast items to snacks like cheesecakes, juices, smoothies, cold brew lattes, and peanut butter bites, but again, the calorie-conscious customer is left to hunt down which options fit their diet.

A typical day with Factor

Given the hurdles in menu navigation, we've done some of the legwork for you to illustrate what a day on the Calorie Smart plan might look like. For breakfast, you could go with an option from the Add-Ons, like the Bacon, Cheddar & Pepper Egg White Frittata. For lunch, the Chicken & Mushroom Tetrazzini would keep you going. To round off the day, the Parmesan-Asiago Chicken Melt is on the menu for dinner. All of these options are Calorie Smart.

Ready in minutes

When it comes to meal prep, Factor couldn't make it easier. There's literally nothing for you to do except heat and eat. Their gourmet chefs take care of the cooking and packaging, delivering fresh (never frozen) meals straight to your door. With no thawing required, you can have a meal ready in minutes, a perfect solution for busy lifestyles or those moments when cooking is the last thing on your mind.

The hidden unhealthy truth: saturated fats

Factor wants to be seen as your go-to for healthy eating, but take a closer look and you might be surprised. For those who aren't choosing vegan options, you'll find a lot of saturated fats lurking in your meals. If you're trying to keep your protein up but avoid dairy fat, Factor might not be your best bet. Customers have shared their letdowns, pointing out that the quality of the meals has dropped since they first tried Factor. What's more, the nutritional information on Factor's site doesn't quite tell the whole story, especially about the trans fats and saturated fats, which seem to have quietly increased. Many meals, even the ones you'd hope would be lighter, come loaded with oil, butter, or cream. It's hard to see how these fit the bill of healthy eating when they push you over your daily nutritional goals.

Too many calories for some

Even when you opt for the so-called Calorie Smart meals, there's a catch. Some customers find the meals too heavy on sauces, making it hard to even taste the main ingredients. Plus, servings are generous, often reaching 500-700 calories. While that might work for some, it won't be ideal for smaller individuals (like petite women) or others with lower calorie needs. This mismatch has led some customers to consider canceling their subscriptions, despite liking a few of the dishes.

Transparency concerns around ingredients

Factor talks a big game about sourcing high-quality, organic, and grass-fed ingredients. Yet, when customers dig a bit deeper, they hit a wall of vagueness. A story shared from a Reddit post highlights a customer's journey from curiosity to cancellation. This customer's attempts to learn more about the ingredient sourcing were met with evasion and generic responses. Even more alarming, a conversation with a company representative yielded an admission that while Factor's vegetables might be of high quality, the meat and seafood are not. Factor's public statements on ingredient sourcing are filled with assurances of freshness and sustainability, but they don't include specifics on their suppliers.

Pause from your account settings

Adjusting your Factor meal deliveries requires a bit of navigation. To skip a week, you'll need to log into your account on their website or app, find the "Edit Delivery" option for the week you want to skip, and hit the "Skip Week" button. This pause means you won't be charged for the weeks you're not receiving meals. However, the system only allows you to pause deliveries week by week; it automatically resumes the next week unless you pause it again.

Too difficult to cancel

Canceling your subscription is where things get a bit more cumbersome. In order to actually stop your orders and close your account, you're required to reach out to Factor's Customer Care via email or phone, providing your full name and registered email address. This extra step to deactivate an account isn't exactly user-friendly - ideally, it should be as simple as a button click directly from your account.

The fine print on shipping

Factor tucks away its shipping costs in the terms and conditions, where it's noted as "approximately $9.99," though some customers have reported paying $10.99. Despite this slight ambiguity, Factor does get your meals to you fresh. They use insulated liners and gel packs in their packaging, promising freshness until at least 10pm local time on the delivery day. Deliveries, handled by reliable third-party companies, usually arrive by 9pm. If you're not around, the package will be left at your door. Factor plans for contingencies like bad weather, aiming to deliver as soon as it's safe, and will coordinate with you for alternative arrangements if your location is inaccessible.

Good overall reputation

Factor's reputation among customers is a mix of highs and lows. They've earned a strong 3.9 out of 5 "Great" rating on Trustpilot from over 51,000 reviews, along with an "A+" rating from the Better Business Bureau. This suggests that many customers find Factor reliable and trustworthy. However, when you look closer at individual reviews, the story gets more complicated.

Varied customer experiences

Some customers who started off happy with Factor ended up disappointed. They've shared problems like inconsistent amounts of protein in meals, missing meals in their orders, and unsatisfying responses from customer service regarding mix-ups. Delays in delivery have also been a common complaint, making it hard for customers to rely on Factor for their meals. On the flipside, there are customers who are happy with the tasty food, on-time deliveries, and the ease of using Factor's ordering system. They feel Factor has met or exceeded their expectations. While it's common for two customers of any given meal delivery service to have widely differing experiences with delivery or food quality, when we see consistent reports that customer service is slow to act or not consistent in their resolutions, we have to dock that meal delivery service a couple of points.

Not the best for weight loss

In wrapping up our review of Factor's weight loss meal delivery plan, our main takeaway is that while some customers (like men or very active women) may experience weight loss, it's not the best service for everyone else looking to drop a few pounds. Between the potential scarcity of Calorie Smart meals on the menu, the unhealthy ingredients in those meals, and the higher calorie count, you'll probably have more success elsewhere. We also think their customer service could be doing a better job. In other words, we don't recommend Factor very highly as a weight loss meal delivery service.