Between birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, it’s easy to run out of gift ideas. Don’t throw your hands in the air just yet—consider a subscription box. There are boxes for nearly every interest, and your giftee gets to try a bunch of stuff that would be far too expensive for you to compile yourself. You can buy them one month, but we think three months makes the perfect gift, because they’ll get that warm giddy feeling again and again.
I’m also a firm believer that you need to gift yourself every so often. These boxes work whether you’re buying for yourself or someone else.
None of the options below require contracts, so you can cancel at any time. (Just check the fine print for how many days prior to billing you need to notify them.) If you purchase a multiple-month subscription, you can cancel the auto-renew, but you won’t get money back for the boxes that didn’t ship yet. We’ve noted when the boxes have separate gift options, which typically cost a little more, but you won’t have to worry about canceling.
Keep in mind that subscription boxes tend to ship at a very specific time every month, so they won’t mail out immediately upon ordering if you’re rushing for a last-minute gift.
Be sure to check out our many other gift guides, like Gifts for Teens and 25 Gifts Under $25, plus, some of our personal favorite gifts, like a cat tarot deck and tea tumbler.
Updated July 2023: We’ve added Firstleaf wine box and Conscious Step socks. We’ve also updated pricing throughout.