Want to know whether Vitacost or Thrive Market has better prices? Here is what you need to know!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for more details.
Both Vitacost and Thrive Market are known for carrying healthy foods and other healthy products at great prices. I like both Vitacost and Thrive Market, but there are definitely differences in the two.
Thrive Market has a membership fee of $59.95 a year (monthly membership is also available but costs more). Vitacost has no membership fee. However, Thrive has some awesome prices and gives freebies so it may save you quite a bit of money.
In order to compare Vitacost vs Thrive Market, I made a price chart. Some of the items on the chart are not exact matches, but I was looking for the items with the best prices. So, many times I compared the Thrive Market brand with Vitacost’s brands.
Both Vitacost brand items and Thrive Market items have very high ratings. And, personally, I have been impressed with both brands. I feel that with most all of these items you are going to get very similar quality whether they are exactly the same brand or a Vitacost or Thrive Market brand.
I also made some calculations for you if they didn’t carry the exact same size. So, that way you could compare which item was really the better bargain.
Thrive Market Prices VS Vitacost Prices
| Thrive Market | Price | Vitacost | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thrive Market Organic Green Lentils | $2.99 | Simple Truth Organic Green Lentils | $2.49 |
| Thrive Market Grain Free Taco Shells 5.5 oz | $3.99 | Siete Grain Free Taco Shells 5.5 oz | $5.99 |
| Otto's Cassava Flour 2 lb | $15.49 | Otto's Cassava Flour 2 lb | $14.99 |
| Jovial Organic Einkorn Whole Wheat Spaghetti | $3.29 | Jovial Organic Einkorn Whole Wheat Spaghetti | $3.63 |
| Thrive Market Organic Raw Cashews 16 oz | $10.99 | Vitacost Organic Raw Cashews-This is the price for 2 8oz bags (Vitacost doesn't carry 16 oz bags.) | $13.18 |
| Thrive Market Organic Raw Almonds 16 oz | $14.99 | Vitacost Organic Raw Almonds-This is the price for 2 8oz bags (Vitacost doesn't carry 16 oz bags.) | $17.00 |
| Jovial Organic Einkorn All Purpose Flour 32 oz | $6.49 | Jovial Organic Einkorn All Purpose Flour 32 oz | $7.65 |
| Birch Benders Paleo Pancake and Waffle Mix | $4.99 | Birch Benders Paleo Pancake and Waffle Mix | $4.88 |
| Jovial Organic Grain Free Cassava Penne Pasta 8 oz | $3.49 | Jovial Organic Grain Free Cassava Penne Pasta 8 oz | $3.95 |
| Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Spaghetti Style Gluten Free 16 oz | $3.79 | Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Spaghetti Style Gluten Free 16 oz | $3.35 |
| Thrive Market Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti (made only from brown rice) 16 oz | $2.79 | Vitacost doesn't make a pasta like this. | NA |
| One Degree Organic Sprouted Rolled Oats 24 oz | $5.29 | Pure Living Organic Sprouted Rolled Oats (a 16 oz bag is $6.17 so 24 oz would calculate to be $9.25) | $9.25 |
| Thrive Market Organic Virgin Coconut Oil 54 oz | $19.99 | Vitacost Organic Virgin Coconut Oil 54 oz | $16.99 |
| Thrive Market Coconut Oil Sweet Potato Chips 5 oz | $2.49 | Vitacost doesn't carry this | NA |
| Thrive Market Plantain Chips 5 oz (palm oil) | $1.99 | Vitacost doesn't have the healthy ones (made with palm oil) | NA |
| Larabar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bars - 16 count | $17.99 | Larabar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bars - 16 count | $19.99 |
| Molly's Suds Laundry Powder 120 loads | $18.49 | Molly's Suds Laundry Powder 120 loads | $21.99 |
| Dr. Tung's Smart Floss | $3.29 | Dr. Tung's Smart Floss | $3.71 |
| Herb Pharm Mullein Garlic Ear Oil | $12.00 | Herb Pharm Mullein Garlic Ear Oil | $10.79 |
| Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf 60 Capsules | $18.99 | Gaia Herbs Holy Basil Leaf 60 Capsules | $23.99 |
| Gaia Turmeric Supreme 120 capsules | $29.99 | Gaia Turmeric Supreme 120 capsules | $39.99 |
As you can see, sometimes the Thrive Market prices are very similar to Vitacost. Other times, there is quite a bit of difference. I have more to say about this, but first let’s talk about the sales and discounts available at Thrive Market and Vitacost.
Sales and Discounts at Thrive Market vs Vitacost
Set and Save (Autoship)
Now, that you have seen all the prices of individual items, let’s talk about sales and discounts. Vitacost offers a 5% discount if you put items on a “Set and Save”. This means you can set it up where you receive certain items at defined intervals. (For example, you can choose to have coconut oil sent to you every 90 days. You can also have it sent more often or less often.) Thrive Market offers an even better discount for their autoship program-they give a 10% discount if you set up items on autoship.
Coupons, Sales, and Discounts
Both Thrive Market and Vitacost send coupons when you sign up for emails. They are usually around 10-15% off of your order. They also both also have sales on certain brands and items and these savings are stackable with the coupons that cover your entire order.
Vitacost has one perk that Thrive Market does not have-you can get cashback on your Vitacost order if you order through Topcashback or Ebates. Lately, I have been getting a higher cashback through Topcashback for Vitacost. Whenever I order anything from Vitacost, I first go to one of the cashback sites. I have earned hundreds of dollars this way and I am ordering items I would have ordered anyway. Usually, I get between 4%-10% cashback on my Vitacost orders.
If you want to order from Vitacost, definitely go sign up for TopCashBack!
Thrive Market has their own special perk that you can’t get through Vitacost-free items! If you order a certain amount, you get a free item. These items change, so you can get all different free items. (When you sign up for Thrive Market, you can get a free item and 25% off of your first order-This is a really great deal!)
Deals at Vitacost
Here are some things that are better priced at Vitacost. I would recommend ordering these items from Vitacost because they really are a great deal:
- Coconut oil
- Nature Nate’s honey-this is a really delicious honey and is priced a few dollars lower than any of Thrive Market’s honeys.
- Seventh Generation Products (like feminine pads and dishwasher detergent)
- Dr. Woods Castile Soap
Don’t forget that you can get cashback from Vitacost. If you are interested in ordering from Vitacost definitely sign up for Topcashback first. I just recently ordered over $90 worth of Christmas presents with the money I earned from Topcashback!
Does Thrive Market Really Save You Money?
Thrive Market’s membership cost is worth it if you want exceptionally healthy foods and you want to pay less. The yearly membership fee comes to less than $5.00 a month. You can easily save more than that-especially if you are interested in a specific diet-like paleo, or gluten free. Their prices on healthy snacks and grain free items are truly awesome.
They have snacks that Vitacost doesn’t offer like coconut oil sweet potato chips and plantain chips made with healthy oils. The Thrive Market prices on these snacks are super cheap compared to other places I have seen them.
Thrive Market has supplements by Gaia Herbs for excellent prices. Gaia herbs has been tested and is very pure (very low heavy metal contamination). This is especially important for herbs like turmeric which can have high levels of lead.
Let’s compare Vitacost vs Thrive Market so that you can get an idea of how much you can save. Here is an example order for Thrive Market and Vitacost:
| Thrive Market | Vitacost | |
|---|---|---|
| Grain Free Taco Shells-2 packages | $7.98 | $11.98 |
| Organic Raw Almonds 16 oz | $14.99 | $17.00 |
| Sprouted Rolled Oats | $5.29 | $9.25 |
| Larabar Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bars - 16 count | $17.99 | $19.99 |
| Molly's Suds Laundry Powder 120 loads | $18.49 | $21.99 |
| Gaia Turmeric Supreme 120 capsules | $29.99 | $39.99 |
| Total | $94.73 | $120.20 |
| Set and Save Savings | -10% | -5% |
| Free Item Included in Order | YES | NO |
| Grand Total After Set and Save | $85.26 | $114.19 |
As you can see, you can easily save close to $30.00 just on this one order. If you made an order like this once a month, you could save close to $360.00 for the year! That easily off sets the $59.95 membership fee. Sign up for Thrive now and you will save even more-they have a deal going on where you can save 25% off of your first order and get a free gift!
Thrive Market VS Vitacost Conclusion
Vitacost has some things that are better priced than Thrive Market. (Hint-use the chart and Vitacost deals info in this article to know what is a better deal at Vitacost).
However, I would definitely recommend getting a Thrive Market membership as well. You just can’t beat some of their prices. Plus Thrive makes it super easy to shop by preferences or special diet. If you need low fodmap, paleo, vegetarian etc, you will find a lot of selection at Thrive. Basically, everything I have seen at Thrive could be considered clean eating, and that is saying something-there are some awesome healthy foods at Thrive Market!
Thrive has a great deal going on right now that will save you even more:
Thanks for listing it out like this! I’ve gotten stuff from both places, but never really done a comparison. It’s helpful!
Hi Raia! I know what you mean-lists can really help me to compare options and make decisions!
Thank you for taking the time to do this!
You are so welcome Kaitlyn!