The 8 Best Online Grocery Shopping Sites in 2021

Best Online Grocery for Pickup or Delivery: Walmart

With a wide selection of groceries, personal care items, and home necessities, Walmart likely has everything you need at a great price. Browse by department or search for something specific using the Walmart Grocery website or the Walmart Grocery app for iOS or Android.

Walmart offers free same-day pickup at a Walmart location you select. Home delivery requires a minimum of $35 in purchases, and delivery fees vary according to the time slot. If you're a planner, schedule your grocery delivery or pickup up to three weeks in advance.

Walmart introduced a two-hour delivery option called Walmart Express Delivery, which is a direct competitor to Amazon's Prime Now service. Walmart's Express delivery option charges a flat $10 fee on top of the existing delivery charge, and there's no $35 order minimum. You are capped at 65 items, however, so the service is best used for a few items you need urgently.

Walmart has also introduced a subscription service called Walmart+ for $98 per year or $12.95 monthly after a 15-day free trial. With Walmart+, you'll get free delivery from your local store for orders of $35 and up as well as fuel discounts and free two-day and next-day shipping from Walmart.com. With the Walmart+ Mobile Scan & Go feature, you'll also gain the ability to check out with your phone while you're shopping.

Best Subscription Service for Grocery Shopping Online: Amazon Fresh

Amazon brings its online retail prowess to groceries with Amazon Fresh, a grocery delivery and pickup service available in select cities. Amazon Prime members enjoy free access to Amazon Fresh.

Amazon Fresh offers thousands of products. Search groceries or browse traditional categories such as Produce, Gluten-Free, Breads and Bakery, and more. Household, personal care, health, and beauty items are also available. If there's a subscribe and save option, you'll get a lower price for items you want to receive on a recurring basis.

Helpful filtering options refine search results to find exactly what you want. For example, if you're looking for meat, specify only organic or pasture-raised meats, low-fat meat, specific brands of meat, and more.

Amazon Fresh delivery is free on orders over the local set threshold. After that, delivery fees vary depending on your cart total. Grocery pickup is free for Prime members using an Amazon Fresh pickup location.

Visit Amazon.com/Fresh to see if delivery or pickup is available in your area.

Best Online Grocery Service for Multiple Stores: Instacart

Instacart lets you shop at various stores in your local area, including Costco, CVS, Ralph's, BevMo, Petco, and more. Shoppers subcontracted by Instacart deliver your items to your doorstep.

The Instacart website and apps for iOS and Android are easy to use. Move between stores and create separate shopping carts to get your errands done quickly and easily. Take advantage of each store's special offers and coupons to maximize savings.

It's easy to communicate with your shopper, designate substitutions, and add to your order after shopping has begun if you realize you forgot something. Instacart updates you with your shopper's progress and tells you when they're on the way.

Delivery fees vary according to time slots, availability, and peak hours, but you'll get free delivery on all orders over $35 with an Instacart Express $99 (or $9.99 per month) annual membership.

Visit Instacart to see if the service is available in your area.

Best Online Grocer for Fresh and Gourmet Foods: FreshDirect

FreshDirect focuses on delivering quality, fresh, organic food with a short supply chain, working directly with its local farms, dairies, fisheries, and other food partners. FreshDirect shoppers fill your online order from the company's facility, not local grocery stores, with a vast inventory of items ranging from specialty goods to supermarket staples. Shop from the website or the FreshDirect iOS and Android apps.

Freshness is key to FreshDirect's service. Items arrive in peak condition, along with information about how long the food will remain fresh. This information is great for weekly meal planning and preparation. Pricing is on par with local grocery stores. While FreshDirect doesn't accept outside coupons, the service offers regular deals and specials.

FreshDirect is available only in select East Coast locations. Delivery fees vary, but a $79 six-month subscription or $129 12-month subscription to FreshDirect DeliveryPass gets you unlimited free deliveries any day of the week as well as the ability to reserve future delivery time slots. (FreshDirect sometimes offers a 60-day free DeliveryPass trial.)

Not fussy about when your groceries get delivered? Try FreshDirect's $39 six-month DeliveryPass subscription for Tuesday through Thursday delivery.

Need your fresh groceries quickly? In some locations, FreshDirect is offering FreshDirect Express for select products, delivering groceries in as little as 60 minutes.

Best Online Service for Finding Seasonal, Local Products: LocalHarvest

LocalHarvest connects people looking for fresh, organic, farm-to-table produce and goods with farmers in their communities. Search LocalHarvest's online directory to find local food, farm events, and farmer-grown specialty products.

Shop by category, such as Meats, Fruits, Dairy & Eggs, and Chocolate & Desserts. Or, peruse subscription box options courtesy of Community Supported Agriculture deliveries, which allow you to subscribe to seasonal produce and visit select farms once each season.

LocalHarvest delivery fees vary according to vendor and subscription options.

Best Online Grocery for Hard-to-Find Items: ShopFoodEx

ShopFoodEx offers more than 15,000 grocery and household items to browse by category or search by brand or item. Make lists, find seasonal specials, and shop a limited array of warehouse items.

This isn't a local delivery site, so shipping rates can be rather high, even up to $16 for an item that costs only a few dollars. However, shipping rates are clearly stated before you order anything (rates vary depending on location), and the price may be worth it for a hard-to-find item. If you spend $100 or more, ShopFoodEx automatically drops shipping charges by 33 percent.

This grocery shopping site lets you check out as a guest without making a user account, which is helpful if you're in a hurry. It also supports deliveries to APO/FPO addresses.

Best Online Grocery for Organic Ingredients: GoBio!

Stock up on a massive array of organic and kosher cooking and baking ingredients with GoBio!. Canadian-owned and operated, GoBio! offers high-quality food delivered to the United States and Canada, with free shipping on orders over $85.

GoBio! helps people cook and bake wholesome, organic meals with its products, ranging from broth powder, gelatin, and bouillon cubes, to dessert mixes and gravy cubes. Check out the recipes page for inspiration for whipping up delicious, organic meals.