Urthbox Review & Unboxing: The Best Vegan Snack Box?

Subscription boxes have exploded in popularity in the last decade. Between 2011 and 2016, the industry nearly doubled each year! In more recent years, things have slowed a bit, but now we’re seeing more niche options arrive—like vegan snack boxes!

Urthbox is a subscription box for organic, non-GMO, and natural snacks. There are four options: Classic, Gluten-Free, Vegan, or Diet. You sign up, and they send you a box of snacks monthly. It changes each month, so you’re always discovering new snacks.

I recently got a vegan Urthbox subscription, and today I’m reporting back about it: Is Urthbox worth it? Is it legit? What kind of snacks can you expect? And how much do you get for the money? Let’s take a look!

Vegan Urthbox Unboxing

The picture above was my first one. It was actually impressive how much they packed into the box. I just ordered the “Small” size, and it still had this much (15 snacks).

Another interesting factor is how many of the snacks were new to me. After 13 years of being vegan, they were still able to surprise me. For example, they sent me vegan tuna. What??

Here’s everything my (small) vegan Urthbox included:

• Bush’s Bean Chips (Sea Salt flavor)
• Chocolate Power Raw Pea Protein by Growing Naturals
• Sprouted Organic Snacking Seeds (Spicy Fiesta flavor) by Go Raw
• Organic Sprouted Bar (Banana Flaxseed flavor) by Go Raw
• Kibo Chickpea Chips (Mediterranean Herbs flavor)
• Fish-Free Tuna by Good Catch
• Cauli Rice (Riced Cauliflower and Broccoli) by Full Green
• The Neat Egg (Vegan Egg Substitute)
• Apple Sauce + Probiotics by North Coast Organic
• Cookie+ Protein Cookie (Espresso Dark Chocolate flavor)
• Nutritional Yeast (Non-fortified) by Foods Alive
• Salted Roasted Peanuts by Hampton Farms (2)
• Fruit Infusions Water Enhancer (Lemon Mint flavor)
• Xoca Cacao Fruit Soda (with Ginger)

So as you can see, there were several different kinds of snacks and products.

Here I’ve broken it down into a few categories:

• Chips: Made from beans and chickpeas.
• Other on-the-go snacks: Bar, cookie, flavored seeds.
• Cooking + baking ingredients: Egg substitute, protein powder, nutritional yeast.
• Whole foods: Cauliflower/broccoli rice, peanuts, apple sauce (no added sugar).
• “Mock” animal products: Vegan tuna, egg substitute.
• Beverages: Fruit soda and enhanced water.

Of course, the contents of the box change each month, so you may get quite a different mix.

Urthbox Vegan Review

Now that you’ve seen the contents of my first vegan box, let’s dig into some of the details of the product and the experience.

Overall, I do recommend Urthbox, especially for new vegans—but it may not be for everyone. So let’s talk about the pros and cons—starting with the cons.

The Negatives of Urthbox

I would say these are the 3 biggest potential downsides of Urthbox:

• The value is good, but not incredible. I got 15 snacks for $35. That’s decent. Some of these organic snacks would cost $4 or $5 at the store. But others were pretty small, basically a sample, so they’re probably only worth $1 or $2. And then shipping was free. So overall, it’s a fair value—but not a crazy bargain. [Update: It looks like Urthbox has made their boxes a bit more affordable since I got mine, so it may be a bit better deal now.]

• You can’t order more specific kinds of boxes. They have 4 options, including a Vegan box—but I’d be interested in one that is actually 100% “whole food plant-based,” without any refined sugar or oil. Or I’d be interested in combining the Vegan + Diet options, so my snacks fit both those criteria. But instead I just had the Vegan box. Luckily, it’s still a pretty healthy selection.

• The ordering process is a little confusing. The default option is for Urthbox to be a subscription. So if you just want to try 1 box for now, be careful. I’m guessing quite a few people accidentally get a subscription when they just wanted to start by trying 1 box.

The Positives of Urthbox

With the potential negatives out of the way, now let’s cover some of the best things about Urthbox. Here are 4 of the aspects I like the most:

• Impressive variety and novelty. I’ve been vegan for 13 years, but I still hadn’t tried most of these products before! And some were really good (my favorite was the cookie). So if your diet has been lacking sizzle and spark, this could really help. And I mean, the focus is snacks. So let’s be real: This is a fun box to get in the mail.

• Convenience. This is really the main selling point of subscription boxes. And especially for a new vegan, this would be massively helpful. You don’t have to go to the store and read a bunch of labels to check what snacks are vegan. You just get a curated variety box of vegan snacks delivered right to your door to try.

• High-quality products. Urthbox features non-GMO, organic, and natural snacks, so you’re not getting “bottom of the barrel” processed foods. There were several brands I was familiar with and trust, along with some “new to me” brands. And like I said, that cookie was amazing.

• It was 100% vegan. Since Urthbox isn’t a fully vegan company, I worried if they might mess it up and send me something with honey, gelatin, or some wacky animal byproduct. But no such mistakes were made. Successful 100% vegan snacking.

Who Is Urthbox Best For?

So, who should get Urthbox? I think there’s a few kinds of people who may benefit the most. I wrote these

• 1. New vegans: As a new vegan, there’s so much to explore and discover. It can be helpful to have curated selections, especially where you don’t have to read the labels at the store. It would be an awesome gift to get a new vegan (or to get for yourself as a new vegan)! [The same would apply to someone new to eating gluten-free, if you select the Gluten-Free option.]

• 2. Rural vegans: If you live in a small town without natural food stores or anything, then you probably won’t be able to find most of these kinds of snacks at your grocery store. So this will give you a lifeline with some truly interesting products each month. [The same would apply to someone who is gluten-free in a rural area, if you select the Gluten-Free option.]

• 3. People who love variety and novelty in their diet. It’s way too easy to fall into routines with your diet. If you want to try some new stuff, this is a great way to cut down the amount of time it takes to search out those new, interesting snacking options.

• 4. People who love getting fun packages in the mail. It’s honestly just really fun to receive a box of snacks in the mail. It’s like getting a “care package” or “gift basket” in the mail from a good friend who knows your dietary preferences. Who wouldn’t want that once a month?

3 More Urthbox Questions

As an Urthbox customer, here are my answers to some of the common questions I’m seeing pop up when I search for Urthbox online.

Is Urthbox Legit?

Urthbox is most certainly a legit company. They clearly deliver on their promise of sending convenient selections of high-quality natural and organic snacks each month. All the snacks were vegan, as promised, and it was quite a novel selection.

The only thing to be aware of is making sure you don’t accidentally stay subscribed longer than you want. But honestly, that’s an issue with all “subscription” type businesses—so it’s not like Urthbox is any worse than other subscription companies in this regard.

Where Is Urthbox Based?

Urthbox is based in San Francisco, California.

When Will My First Urthbox Box Arrive?

In most cases, your first box from Urthbox will arrive in the middle of the month after you sign up. This was the explanation I got in my order confirmation: “All new orders are shipped on the week of the 15th of the following calendar month.”

And that seems accurate to my experience. I signed up on the 15th, and then my package arrived around the 18th of the next month. So, it was about a 1-month delay at the start.