Meal Train
Meal Train is a Burlington, Vermont-based web platform that lets individuals organize community meal delivery for friends and family facing life events such as new babies, surgeries, illness, and loss, serving roughly 20,000 families daily through free coordination tools with optional paid subscriptions and donation features for organizations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersBurlington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
Meal Train firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Meal Train
- Legal name
- Meal Train LLC
- Website
- https://mealtrain.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Meal Train is a Burlington, Vermont-based web platform that lets individuals organize community meal delivery for friends and family facing life events such as new babies, surgeries, illness, and loss, serving roughly 20,000 families daily through free coordination tools with optional paid subscriptions and donation features for organizations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Meal Train is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burlington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Meal Train business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Meal Train Pro Subscription: Organizations pay $15/month for Pro accounts that provide unlimited Meal Train Plus pages, up to 10 administrators, and a custom group URL (mealtrain.com/your-org). Annual billing available via invoice.
- Donation Platform Fees: Meal Train retains 5% platform fee plus 2.9% + $0.30 per donation transaction processed through Stripe. This is the primary revenue driver from the free user base.
- Gift Card Commissions: Gift cards are processed through InComm/TheGiftCardShop.com (US) and GiftCards.ca (Canada). While Meal Train does not directly sell gift cards, the platform facilitates these transactions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free basic Meal Train page for individuals |
| Subscription | Monthly | Meal Train Pro for organizations |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Donation Fund transaction fees |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Meal Train product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Meal Train is a web-based platform that enables individuals to create free Meal Train pages coordinating community meal support for friends and family during life events such as new baby arrivals, surgery recovery, illness, or loss. The platform provides calendar-based scheduling to prevent duplicate meal deliveries, dietary preference communication, optional donation funds processed via Stripe, and gift card fulfillment through partner networks. A paid Meal Train Pro subscription at $15/month serves organizations managing multiple pages with up to 10 administrators.
Product overview
Meal Train offers a platform for coordinating community meal support around life events. The core product is a free Meal Train page service that organizes meal delivery scheduling. Two paid tiers exist: Meal Train Plus (enhanced scheduling with multiple activities per day, included in Pro) and Meal Train Pro ($15/month for organizations managing multiple pages). A separate free tool called Potluck enables group event meal coordination. Key features include Donation Fund (monetary donations via Stripe), Gift Cards (via InComm/GiftCards.ca), and social sharing via Facebook. The platform supports sign-in through Google and Facebook OAuth.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Meal Train Pro: A paid subscription service at $15/month for organizations managing multiple Meal Train pages, with features including unlimited pages, up to 10 administrators, and custom group URLs.
- Potluck
Products and services
- Meal Train (Core) Free community meal coordination service that enables organizers to create a Meal Train page for recipients facing life events (birth, surgery, illness, loss, etc.), allowing friends, family, and neighbors to sign up for meal delivery dates with calendar-based scheduling, email notifications, and dietary preference sharing.
- Meal Train Plus Enhanced version of Meal Train that allows multiple activities per day and multiple volunteers per activity, supporting needs beyond simple meal coordination. Users can categorize needs (e.g., breakfast, main dish, dessert) for each date.
- Meal Train Pro Paid subscription at $15/month for organizations managing multiple Meal Train pages. Includes unlimited Meal Train Plus pages, up to 10 administrators, and a custom group URL (mealtrain.com/your-org). Annual billing available via invoice for nonprofits.
- Potluck Free online tool for organizing group events with one date and many participants. Organizers can create categories (sides, beverages, mains), set quantities needed, and invite others to sign up to bring items. Includes optional donation fund feature.
Quantifiable outcome
- Meal Train pages with a photo and story have 5X the participation rates
Companies that use Meal Train
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Meal Train technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
Feature5 records
Meal Train partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- DoorDashflagshipMeal Train and DoorDash partnered to provide $50,000 in support through gift cards to families in need. The collaboration included a promotion that added $10 to every $100 gift card purchased on MealTrain.com, expanding community aid efforts. DoorDash gift cards can be purchased through the Meal Train platform and redeemed by recipients.
- StripecoreStripe handles all payment processing for the Donation Fund feature. Stripe processes donations, manages the Connected Account Agreement, and handles identity verification (last four digits of SSN and DOB) for anti-money laundering compliance. Meal Train does not directly collect financial information.
- InComm/TheGiftCardShop.comcoreGift card orders in the United States are processed and fulfilled by InComm/TheGiftCardShop.com. Gift cards purchased are automatically sent to the recipient's email address.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Meal Train competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SignUpGenius: SignUpGenius is a widely used sign-up and scheduling platform frequently used for meal coordination, classroom events, and group activities — directly competing with Meal Train's scheduling core and broader group sign-up utility.
- Take Them a Meal: Take Them a Meal is the most direct Meal Train competitor — a meal coordination platform with similar features (date scheduling, organizer/recipient model, online sign-ups) targeting the same life-event use cases such as new babies, illness, and recovery.
- CareCalendar: CareCalendar is a meal and task coordination tool originally designed for families supporting someone during a medical crisis — historically a direct Meal Train competitor serving similar life-event-driven meal-giving use cases.
- Lotsa Helping Hands: Lotsa Helping Hands is a community coordination platform for caregivers and people in need, offering meal scheduling, task coordination, and a community wall — overlapping Meal Train's meal-giving use case with broader caregiving features.
- MealBaby: MealBaby was a meal-coordination platform specifically for new parents, directly competing with Meal Train's most popular use case (new-baby meal support) and providing alternative scheduling and sign-up functionality.
Broad incumbents
- GroupMe: GroupMe is a group messaging app frequently used informally for meal coordination; while not purpose-built for it, it represents the free, general-purpose substitute risk Meal Train faces when groups lack the appetite for a dedicated platform.
- Evite: Evite is the largest digital invitation platform in the U.S. and offers group coordination and gift features adjacent to Meal Train's organizer/recipient model, though focused on event invitations rather than meal logistics.
- Punchbowl: Punchbowl is a digital invitation and event management platform with sign-up and coordination features; broader than Meal Train in scope (invitations, RSVPs, gifts) but overlaps on event and meal coordination.
Emerging players
- SignUp.com: SignUp.com is a general-purpose online sign-up and event organization tool that competes with Meal Train on the coordination layer, particularly for community events and recurring group activities like meals and potlucks.
- Meal Maker: Meal Maker is a smaller meal coordination app targeting similar life-event use cases (babies, illness, bereavement) — a niche emerging competitor with overlapping value proposition but a more limited brand and reach.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Meal Train social profiles
Digital presenceMeal Train financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Meal Train leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Meal Train funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Meal Train M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Meal Train
What does Meal Train do?
Meal Train is a web-based platform that enables individuals to create free Meal Train pages coordinating community meal support for friends and family during life events such as new baby arrivals, surgery recovery, illness, or loss. The platform provides calendar-based scheduling to prevent duplicate meal deliveries, dietary preference communication, optional donation funds processed via Stripe, and gift card fulfillment through partner networks. A paid Meal Train Pro subscription at $15/month serves organizations managing multiple pages with up to 10 administrators.
Is Meal Train a public or private company?
Meal Train is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Meal Train founded?
Meal Train was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Meal Train based?
Meal Train is headquartered in Burlington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Meal Train make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Meal Train Pro Subscription is the primary driver. The others are donation Platform Fees and gift Card Commissions.
Who are Meal Train's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SignUpGenius, Take Them a Meal, CareCalendar, Lotsa Helping Hands and MealBaby. Broad incumbents are GroupMe, Evite and Punchbowl. Emerging players are SignUp.com and Meal Maker.
Does Meal Train have an API?
No public API is recorded for Meal Train.