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Article updated on February 16, 2024 at 8:48 PM PST

The 8 Best Coffee Subscriptions of 2024, Tested by Us

Coffee subscriptions make a fabulous gift. These are the best options for budget beans, espresso, curated coffee and more.

Our Experts

Written by 
David Watsky
Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement
David Watsky Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. He earned a BA in English from Northeastern, and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now, he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or the best way to cook bacon. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits.
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What to consider

Type of coffee subscription

Decide if you want a curated variety of coffees sent each month or a sure and steady delivery of a single roast you love.

Whole bean or ground

Most subscription services send whole beans but there are options for freshly ground coffee as well.

Cost and pricing

Decide on a bean budget and find a coffee club that fits.

Frequency of bean delivery

Most services will let you choose a delivery frequency of your choosing and some help you figure out exactly how much you'll need and when. 

Our Picks

See at Atlas Coffee Club
atlas-coffee-club-subscription
Best coffee subscription for the price
Atlas Coffee Club
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See at Grounds and Hounds
grounds-and-hounds-coffee-subscription
Best simple coffee subscription (and for dog lovers)
Grounds and Hounds
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See at Bean Box
bean-box-coffee-subscription-chowhound
Best for West Coast coffee diehards
Bean Box
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See at Bean & Bean
bean-and-bean
For female-powered, organic, fair-trade coffee
Bean & Bean
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See at Trade
trade-coffee-subscription
Best coffee subscription that evolves to your tastes
Trade Coffee
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See at Equator Coffees
equator
Best coffee subscription for most people
Equator Coffee
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See at MistoBox
mistobox
Best personalized coffee subscription
MistoBox
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See at Fellow
bags of coffee
Best coffee club curated by experts
Fellow Coffee
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View details

Enjoying coffee every morning is an easy habit to fall into, and certainly not a bad one. But you might be missing out on some intriguing beans if you limit yourself to a single variety. There are so many interesting coffees to try, all with distinct profiles and often made by small, creative, upstart producers. In fact, your favorite coffee may be one you haven't even tried yet.

Read more: Best Coffee Makers

What's the best coffee subscription in 2024?

If you're looking to give your morning bean routine a revamp, a quality coffee club will deliver it -- literally. We've tested all the top online java peddlers to find the best coffee subscriptions for 2024. Atlas Coffee Club has excellent coffee beans, freshly roasted and approachable prices. It's also simple to buy a membership for someone else, which is why Atlas tops our list as the best coffee club to gift someone (or yourself) this year.

woman holding glass off coffee opening box with coffee bag inside
Atlas Coffee Club

Best coffee clubs and subscriptions of 2024

See at Atlas Coffee Club

Best coffee subscription for the price

Atlas Coffee Club

If you're looking for the cheapest coffee club, Atlas is the most budget-friendly of the many we've tried. It might also be the most giftable of the coffee subscriptions since each delivery feels like something a friend would send while traveling the world.

Atlas Coffee Club delivers single-origin craft coffee from more than 50 countries and draws from independent coffee roasters where amazing coffee is produced. Not only is the coffee high quality -- I got incredible roasts from Peru, Tanzania and Costa Rica -- but every coffee subscription box delivery comes with a postcard featuring its country of origin, as well as a message with tasting notes and brewing tips.

Atlas makes gifting easy with free shipping to the US and three choices for subscription lengths to bestow on someone -- three, six or 12 months -- starting at $60.

See at Grounds and Hounds

Best simple coffee subscription (and for dog lovers)

Grounds and Hounds

"Every pound saves a hound," is the slogan of Grounds and Hounds coffee company, which donates 20% of all profits to dog rescue organizations. With blends like Morning Walk, Paper & Slippers and even a decaf roast called Hush Puppy, this is the perfect subscription for dog lovers. 

The coffee I had when I tried Ground and Hounds was fresh, smooth and mild but perhaps a little less exciting than some of the other clubs. A great subscription to please a wide range of coffee drinkers with nothing that will scare away a person with a less adventurous palate. You also won't find as many niche roasters with this service but what it does send is high quality and consistently good.

You can join the Grounds and Hounds Coffee Club with a subscription starting at $17 per 12-ounce bag. It's the ideal way to keep a steady supply of coffee at the ready for those post-walk mornings in front of the fireplace, with your best buddy snoozing at your feet.

See at Bean Box

Best for West Coast coffee diehards

Bean Box

Bean Box highlights renowned Seattle roasters and has two subscription options. The Coffee of the Month Club brings you 12 ounces of freshly roasted, hand-picked whole-bean coffee (you choose the roast, or leave it open to all possibilities: light roast, medium, dark, espresso or decaf) with tasting notes and tips for freshly brewing roasted coffee to perfection, plus a sample of artisanal chocolate to enjoy with your joe. Plans start at a very affordable $72 for three months. 

If you like more variety of coffee, the Bean Box coffee sampler includes four 1.8-ounce bags of coffee in whole bean or ground format; again, you can pick your roast preference. You'll get a caramel with this option, which starts at $24 for one month. In any case, shipping is included and you can pause or skip deliveries at any time if need be.

See at Bean & Bean

For female-powered, organic, fair-trade coffee

Bean & Bean

This NYC-based roaster sends some of the best organic, fair-trade coffee from various regions around the world to you in signature bright purple packaging. Many of the service's producers are female-owned and you can use a filter to narrow your search to include only those. In a trial run of Bean & Bean, I got some of the most interesting coffees of any club on the list. I tried the organic Peru Las Damas (chocolate lemon and orange notes) and a female-owned Santa Felisha Purple Gesha honey coffee from Guatemala and both were fresh-tasting, complex and flavorful.

This is one of the pricier services and breaks down to about $19 a bag (inclusive of shipping). But considering it's mostly organic and fair-trade coffee that supports female-owned businesses and the coffee is all roasted and ground to order, I think it's worth the extra few bucks a month.

See at Trade

Best coffee subscription that evolves to your tastes

Trade Coffee

This is one of the smartest coffee subscriptions I tried. Trade has taste algorithms down to a science, and just about every coffee I had delivered was right in my flavor wheelhouse. As far as types of coffee subscription options go, you can get the trade subscription of classic flavors for $15.75 per bag or the trade plus subscription with many flavors, countries, and processing options for $19.95 per bag.

With a slick website and fun marketing copy, this is the cool kid coffee club, to be certain. The good news is that Trade has some great beans too. If you love traveling around the US, and always check out the local coffee scene when you do, a Trade coffee subscription box is a good one for you. They've got all the best coffee roasters from across the country, like Gimme! from the East Coast, Sightglass from the West Coast, Intelligentsia from the third coast and even more artisan coffee roasters. 

See at Equator Coffees

Best coffee subscription for most people

Equator Coffee

While some subscriptions had some misses together with the hits, I tried Equator Coffee for a few months and there wasn't a bad bean in the bunch. Yes, taste is subjective, but for me, this was the most consistent coffee subscription service, sending fresh, flavorful and interesting whole beans from places like Ethiopia and Colombia. 

Curated blend subscriptions start at $16 and will net you one 12-ounce bag of coffee per month (free shipping). The single-origin subscription is $19 a month. If you don't want to commit to a subscription, Equator has an entire shop of fabulous coffee available for a one-time send. Shipping is free on orders over $40.

See at MistoBox

Best personalized coffee subscription

MistoBox

Some folks can be particular about their coffee beans and Mistobox understands that. Celebrates it, even. 

This is another coffee club we tried and it really does feel like a club. When you join this slick coffee subscription club, it'll take you through a tasting quiz to hone in on exactly what types of coffee you like. You'll answer questions about the preferred roast level and intensity, blends versus single-origin and more. MistoBox even wants to know how you take your coffee -- black, with cream or espresso-style. From there it'll pull from a roster of over 50 roasters and get the best beans in your hands monthly. The service will then use an algorithm based on what you liked and didn't like to keep the coffee you do like rolling in.

With shipping ($5 per order) a 12-ounce bag of beans will run you in the neighborhood of $15 a bag but you can save a little by paying upfront for a longer subscription. I tried this subscription and found it had one of the most impressive rosters of producers including cult favorites such as Methodical, Bixby Brothers and Ritual.

See at Fellow

Best coffee club curated by experts

Fellow Coffee

Fellow's coffee subscription scores points for combining high-quality coffee beans with a simple, no-fuss ordering and delivery system. The whole beans I received in my month-long trial of Fellow were both excellent and interesting and included a dreamy Agaro Ethiopian roast with notes of peach and bergamot. 

This coffee subscription service has a new and unique text-to-order system. First, you'll sign up for Fellow's program and provide your mobile number. Each week the expert panel selects a new coffee and texts you the pick. It's then up to you to decide if you want to order a bag or two. Prices vary from week to week.

crema-coffee-subscription

A coffee subscription ensures you never run out of java.

Crema.co

How we test coffee subscriptions

To test these coffee clubs, we start from the beginning just as any coffee-drinking customer would including filling out questionnaires and quizzes that are standard on most coffee subscriptions nowadays. From there, we'll select at least three deliveries of whole beans. Once we're signed up, we track how accurate and consistent the monthly or weekly shipments are. Most importantly, we grade each service on how fresh good the coffee tastes and smells and whether it delivers on the initial promise of finding new and interesting coffee we love based on that initial information gathering and our real-time feedback. 

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Factors to consider when choosing a coffee subscription

Type of coffee subscription

Some coffee subscriptions do a lot of work in helping you find the perfect beans with questionnaires and rating systems while others simply send what you already know you love. If you're open to new coffee types and beans from small roasters, there are services such as Trade and Fellow that specialize in sending a variety of beans. If it's coffee consistency you seek, a service such as Grounds and Hounds or even a recurring subscription from FreshDirect would likely be a better fit.

Whole bean or ground

Most coffee subscriptions encourage you to order whole beans and grind them yourself since that will maximize freshness. But if you prefer to skip that step, several services on this list will gladly put it through the coffee grinder before mailing it to you.

Cost and pricing

Coffee bean subscriptions typically cost more than your bag of Folgers or Starbucks Pike Place Roast from the local grocery store but that's because they focus on quality, harder-to-find beans and roasting fresh before sending to you. That said, some subscriptions can be had for as cheap as $13 a bag, while other premium coffee clubs can cost over $20 per bag. Decide what your budget is for coffee per month and activate a membership that fits in it.

Frequency of bean delivery

Most coffee subscription services will let you choose a delivery frequency of your choosing and some help you figure out exactly how much you'll need and when. 

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Why you might want to try a coffee subscription

Unbeatable selection of coffee, often from small, indie producers

Local roasters and good markets are one way to try a few new coffees here and there. To open up an entire globe of coffee options, a good coffee subscription or coffee club will give you the most variety for ordering and tasting beans. For curious coffee drinkers who aren't set in their ways, a coffee subscription is an excellent way to try new styles and roasts from small producers of this mandatory morning beverage. 

Plus, most coffee clubs on this list source from small, independent and fair-trade roasters. Many of these purveyors wouldn't have much reach without online customers, so consider your subscription a boon to small businesses. (You can save that bag of Starbucks or Folgers for when the in-laws visit).

Coffee clubs send fresh coffee, roasted just before shipping

While variety is a huge reason to love coffee clubs, freshness is arguably just as important and the best coffee clubs will roast your beans just before sending them, with no time wasted on a shelf store where it loses punch and flavor. Trust me, you'll notice the difference between fresh and stale store-bought as soon as you open the bag. 

Read more: Best Tea Subscriptions

A coffee subscription means you'll always have beans around 

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of a coffee subscription or coffee-of-the-month club is convenience. Coffee is one of those groceries you forget to chuck in the cart, and it's never fun when you realize it the next morning. A coffee subscription ensures good beans are always on hand. And if a subscription feels like too much, most coffee clubs and online coffee retailers offer a one-time send of beans -- ground or whole -- to try out the goods without commitment. 

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Coffee clubs and subscriptions FAQs

What are the benefits of a coffee club subscription?

The biggest benefits of joining a coffee club are convenience, variety, quality and freshness. Because you can tailor your coffee delivery to the amount you use, you'll likely never be without it. As they say, "it's better to be looking at it than looking for it." 

The best coffee clubs and subscriptions offer high-quality single-origin and blended roasts from small roasters around the world. If you're keen on trying new and interesting coffee, a coffee subscription is one of the easiest ways to do it. With regards to freshness, coffee clubs are often roasted just before they're sent to you and many will provide the roast date ahead of time -- the same can't be said for buying beans in the grocery store. 

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Can you change the subscription frequency?

Yes. Nearly every coffee club we tested allows for flexibility in how much coffee you'll receive, even after you sign up. You might want to do a little quick math in your head to estimate how much coffee you consume in a given month, but many of the coffee vendors help you do that in the initial quiz or questionnaire to help you find a perfect coffee cadence. 

Most services offer a month-to-month plan (easy to change or cancel) but also three-, six- or 12-month commitments at a discounted monthly price The latter may be more difficult to change, so be sure to read the fine print before signing up for a longer coffee subscription contract.

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Is a coffee club subscription worth it?

Coffee subscriptions and monthly clubs are great for having coffee always in stock, securing extremely high-quality and freshly roasted beans and also trying new types of coffee, but most aren't going to save you money over budget, store-bought coffee. If you're happy drinking Folgers or Cafe Bustelo, a coffee club may be a pricier option and not worth it. If you're more of a coffee connoisseur type who tends to opt for high-end beans at the market, a coffee club won't be as big of a splurge.

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Can you gift a coffee club or subscription?

Great gifts for coffee drinkers are abundant these days. There are coffee grinders, mugs and the actual coffee maker itself, of course -- although that last one may be best left for someone to choose themselves. What a coffee drinker can never have enough of is beans, which is why giving a coffee subscription that delivers high-quality and unique coffee is about as foolproof as it gets.

Most services allow you to send a one-time delivery of coffee to a loved one, or you can sign them up for a three-, six- or 12-month subscription and keep them caffeinated with good beans all year. Most also offer a gift certificate option so the recipient can pick the beans themselves. 

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