8 Best Coffee Subscriptions of 2024, Tested by Us

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.

Best Food and Drink Subscriptions for 2024 See at CNET

Enjoying coffee every morning is an easy habit to fall into, and certainly not a bad one. 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

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. 

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. 

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.