In my family we are freaks about the healthfulness of all our food and household products. We’re also always looking to save on the bills.

Quick Summaries Thrive Market - Good prices on a strong selection of food and household products

Vitacost - Good prices with promo codes, huge selection, some usability drawbacks

Melaleuca - All private-label, science-backed supplements, lots of incentives

iHerb - Very strong selection of supplements at good prices, low bar for free shipping

Live Superfoods - Decent selection of foods and supplements for enthusiasts

Sunfood - For serious health nuts, you'll find foods/supplements that are hard to find elsewhere

Boxed - Costco without the fee, smaller selection but great pricing on bulk items

That’s a fine line to walk. It’s not easy for us to shop at local stores for all the more natural products we want, even in our suburban location. In rural areas it would be impossible.

Site Selection Prices Shipping Fee Private Label Thrive Market Free > $49 $60/year Yes Vitacost Free > $49 No Yes Melaleuca Offset $19/year Yes iHerb Free > $20 No Yes Live Superfoods Free > $49 No Yes Sunfood Free > $49 No Yes Boxed Free > $49 No No

So we’ve done a lot of online shopping for more natural and healthy products, and can make some recommendations. Below you’ll find my scores for pricing and selection, notes on the differences between sites, and whether they carry private label items.

Private Label Items

Private label used to mean generic. It meant products that were just like the brand name versions except cheaper and a bit lower in quality. That’s not what we’re talking about here. Private label now typically means that they are filling a hole in the market or trying to make a just-as-good-or-better version for less money. You might find a product that is gluten-free and non-GMO but it’s not organic. So they make a private label version that is also organic, and it’s also attractively priced. I actively seek out products like that, so it’s a benefit in my book.

The Contenders

The sites below have some significant differences. Some are membership clubs like Costco and others aren’t. Some are primarily grocery stores and others are primarily health product stores that sell some groceries. If you want a healthier household, I would examine every single food and product that you use. The major areas are usually food, cleaning products and personal care items. Any substance your family comes in contact with basically. Since I don’t know which site is right for you, I’ll describe them as accurately as I can and you can decide. Here are the contenders.

Vitacost Selection Prices Shipping Free > $49 Membership Fee No Private Label Items Yes Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Vitacost is a stalwart retailer in the health and wellness space, they’ve been around for a long time and I’ve personally been using them for a long time. Shopping at Vitacost is a lot like shopping at a traditional grocery store. To get the very best prices you have to monitor what’s on sale, where the special deals are, and shop accordingly. Their prices are generally very good though. The Best Place to Buy Supplements Online Vitacost is our top pick for buying supplements specifically, because of their combination of selection, prices, promotions and private label items. iHerb is a close second, but Vitacost is usually the all-around best choice for supplements. Their selection is massive and they’ve branched out into creating their own private label items as well. Their site isn’t sleek but it moves quickly and makes it easy enough to get your shopping done. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Their smartphone app is an atrocity though. If you have a laptop or desktop to use for shopping, this isn’t really an issue but if you only have a smartphone it’s a pain. We’ve had a lot of problems with checking out and getting the app to remember anything about us from one session to the next.

Melaleuca Selection Prices Shipping Paid Membership Fee $19/year Private Label Items Yes Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save This is the other “shopping club” option on the list and it’s different from other options in some key ways. The site is more like a drug store, with a lot of household, personal care and supplement options as well as some food. All products are focused on natural wellness. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Natural wellness is a spectrum that ranges from people who don’t care at all (and probably shorten their life span) to people who wear tin foil hats and worry about the sourcing of every ingredient. I’m admittedly closer to the latter than the former. If you’re in the middle of the road and want to go more natural without going crazy—and while saving money—Melaleuca is probably the option for you. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save It does have a membership fee but it’s low and is sometimes reduced to $1 through promotions, so it’s not a big deal. The difference from Thrive Market is that you’re effectively committing to shop at least once per month while you’re a member. That’s the downside, but there are upsides you won’t find elsewhere, period. ALL of Melaleuca’s items are private label. They don’t sell anything else. They own the whole supply chain on every product from the farm to your table. That’s how they ensure that you save money, that the products are high quality, and that they know exactly what is in everything. Here are a few bullets about how Melaleuca is different: check They conduct human clinical trials on certain products to prove their effectiveness

check They hold patents on 60+ products

check They are a licensed pharmacy in the U.S., which means they are held to higher standards when it comes to the contents of their own products

check They give you rebates for shopping on other sites Melaleuca sells bundles of items to new customers at a large discount to get people to try their different products. They are also running a deal that gives you $100 worth of free products of your choosing over the first few months of membership. Click here for a short webinar that gives full details on the offer. Their shipping costs are offset by a loyalty program that pays you more than you would have paid in shipping costs. It is a completely different model and option for healthy discount shopping, and it turns many customers into raving fans. iHerb Selection Prices Shipping Free > $20 Membership Fee No Private Label Items No Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Despite the name, iHerb actually has a very large selection of items beyond herbs and supplements. They have well over 5,000 grocery items and cover all the drug store bases as well. iHerb has free shipping over $20, which is a low threshold and their prices are generally good. They don’t carry any of their own private label items. Instead, they seem to have featured deals on items where they have a special relationship with the manufacturer. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save The big drawback with iHerb in my experience is that the site itself is clunky to use. Even on a very fast computer I find it hard to scroll through the items quickly and get my shopping done without a lot of frustration. Their large selection makes that situation worse.

Sunfood Selection Prices Shipping Free > $49 Membership Fee No Private Label Items Yes Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Sunfood is a private label brand that you’ll see sold at other retailers and they also have their own site where you can buy everything they have directly. There’s no membership fee, there’s free shipping above $49 as usual, but it’s otherwise a little hard to compare Sunfood to other sites. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Sunfood is all about organic, non-GMO—and whenever possible, raw—food. Raw means the food isn’t subjected to temperatures higher than 118 degrees in processing. The selection at Sunfood is all about esoteric superfoods, which is why it’s a little hard to cross-shop prices. Everything is private labeled and they just carry a really wide variety of foods that are hard to find elsewhere. Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save As the name implies, Sunfood is mostly grocery items so the selection of drugstore-type items is relatively small. This isn’t a one-stop shop for all your needs, but it’s a fantastic addition to other sites for high-quality specialty items.

Final Thoughts