Methodology

MealPrepFinder is a price index first. Every number on this site can be traced to a page and a date.

Where prices come from

• We read each provider’s own public pages (pricing pages, plan pages, help centers). We don’t buy data, log in, or scrape sites that forbid it.
• Each price row stores the source URL, the exact text we read, the date checked and a source type: provider page, third-party source, or reported by the business owner.
• Each price also has a verification label: Provider-reported (what the provider publishes) or Independently verified (we reproduced it, e.g. a priced cart). Today all 33 sourced prices are provider-reported.
• When a site blocked direct reading, we sometimes read the provider’s own page through a search engine’s index; those rows say so.
• If a provider doesn’t publish a price we show “Price not listed”. We never estimate.

Freshness

• A refresh job re-reads every source and writes a dated snapshot. A price not re-confirmed in 30 days stays visible but is flagged “Needs re-check” and left out of averages and the Price Index.
• Newest check: Oct 25, 2026.

Diet and allergy tags

Tags appear only when the provider states them, with a link to where. They are not allergen guarantees.

Listings, archive and removals

Listings that shut down or can’t be re-verified move to the archive with a reason; nothing is silently deleted. Providers can ask not to be listed; we keep a do-not-list so they aren’t re-added.

Money and conflicts

• MealPrepFinder is built by the team behind MealConductor, a meal planning app. It’s badged “Our app” wherever it appears and gets no price advantage; its links carry UTM tags so we can measure referrals.
• We currently use no affiliate links. If that changes, affiliate links will be labeled and won’t affect order or the Price Index.
• Featured slots, if sold, are labeled and never change prices, rankings or methodology.

Outbound links

Outbound links include utm_source=mealprepfinder so providers can see where visitors came from.

Spot an outdated price? Tell us.