The reference box
What makes Sips by different
Sips by is a personalized tea discovery box: four teas a month, matched to your taste from tea brands big and small. If you're weighing companies like Sips by, these are the parts worth matching.
- Contents
- Four teas a month. Loose leaf or bagged, caffeinated or herbal, or a mix of each.
- How it matches
- A tea quiz builds your taste profile. You rate each month's teas, and those ratings shape the next box.
- Brands
- About 100 tea brands, from big international names to local tea shops and farms, plus Sips by's own lines such as Cookie Tea and Tiny Bee Tea.
Compare the boxes
| Box | Best fit | Cost and commitment | Delivery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sips by Box Reference box |
Four teas from about 100 brands, matched by quiz and ratings | Four teas in each monthly box | Monthly, loose leaf or bagged |
| Simple Loose Leaf Tea Discovery Subscription | Teas from several tea companies, picked around your preferences | $14.90 a month for two teas, up to $24.90 for four. Free shipping. | Monthly. Ships from the US. |
| TeaFavors Personalized Tea Subscription | Four tea styles a month, adjusted to what you like | $15 a month for four teas. Free US shipping. | Monthly, on the 1st after your first box. Ships from the US. |
| Tea Runners | A tea style you choose, with teas you can swap from a monthly menu | $27.82 a month, or $32.10 for the Pure box. Free shipping to the US and Canada. | Monthly. Ships from the US. |
| MyTeabox Monthly Subscription | Three teas from a Canadian seller | $18 a month for three teas. Free shipping to Canada and the US. | Monthly. First box ships within 48 hours, from Canada. |
Those are month-to-month prices. All four alternatives also sell prepaid 3-, 6-, and 12-month plans, and the longer plans cost less per box, so a card below can show a lower starting price than the table.
The alternatives
Closest match on Cratejoy
Simple Loose Leaf Tea Discovery Subscription vs Sips by
Best for: The Sips by fan who likes opening teas from a different tea company every month.
Simple Loose Leaf Tea Company buys from tea companies across the US and directly from small farms in Asia. You pick a tea family (all types, herbal, black, or green) and two, three, or four teas a month, then fill out a tea preference profile. Each tea comes in a resealable 23 g pouch, enough for about 12 cups, with tasting notes and steeping instructions.
What feels familiar
Like Sips by, it draws from many tea makers and lets your profile steer the box. The two-tea plan is the lowest month-to-month price on this list.
What changes
Simple Loose Leaf hand-packs every tea into its own pouches, so the box doesn't arrive as a stack of other brands' packets. It's all loose leaf, and the price climbs with each tea you add.
Four teas picked for you
TeaFavors Personalized Tea Subscription vs Sips by
Best for: The Sips by fan who wants four teas a month, shaped by their taste, at the lowest four-tea price here.
The default TeaFavors box holds 20 g each of four styles: a black tea, a green tea, an herbal or spiced blend, and a fruity one, enough for 40-plus cups. Tell the seller what you like, and it adjusts the teas. One January box paired a rose-flavored black tea with an organic Japanese sencha, a ginger-coconut rooibos, and a strawberry herbal blend.
What feels familiar
Four teas a month, picked around your preferences. No box here comes closer to the Sips by format.
What changes
There's no quiz and no monthly rating, so you send the seller your preferences yourself. The default box mixes four styles, caffeinated and not, which means an herbal-only drinker should ask for swaps.
A say in each box
Tea Runners vs Sips by
Best for: The Sips by fan who likes steering the box and wants a hand in choosing each month's teas.
Tea Runners has sold loose leaf subscriptions since 2017, buying from tea blenders in the US and Canada and from small farms in Asia. Each box holds four teas, about 30 to 40 cups, with tasting notes and steeping instructions on every pouch. On Cratejoy you start with a box type (Original, Black, Herbal, or Pure), and the seller says subscribers who join its mailing list can swap teas from a monthly menu of 30-plus.
What feels familiar
Four teas a month from a mix of blenders and farms, and an all-herbal box for anyone who drinks caffeine-free. Trading out a tea you know you won't drink is the nearest thing here to Sips by's ratings.
What changes
It's the priciest pick here, and the choosing is yours to do. There's no quiz building a profile in the background.
Ships from Canada
MyTeabox Monthly Subscription vs Sips by
Best for: Canadian tea drinkers, or anyone who'd rather finish three teas than half-finish four.
MyTeabox, a seller based in Canada, hand-packages three loose leaf teas a month, enough for 25 to 30 cups, and sends them by Canada Post or USPS. Pick a Variety, Black, or Herbal box.
What feels familiar
Tea drinkers in Canada get a box that mails from inside the country. The Variety box is the one to choose if you like your Sips by box mixed.
What changes
Three teas instead of four, and the box type is your only setting. There's no profile or rating to fine-tune what arrives.
The honest part
What none of these replace
No box here matches you across about 100 brands and learns from a rating after every delivery. Simple Loose Leaf and Tea Runners buy from many suppliers but send the teas in their own pouches, and TeaFavors adjusts to you by message. All four send loose leaf, so none matches Sips by's bagged option. If brand variety is what you want most, start with Simple Loose Leaf. If it's the price and the personal touch, start with TeaFavors.
How we chose these boxes
We went through the tea subscriptions on Cratejoy, kept the ones open to new subscribers, and matched each to something Sips by fans like: teas from many sources, picks shaped by your taste, a say in the box, or shipping to Canada. For a wider list, see our guide to the best tea subscription boxes. The photo at the top is Sips by's own image of its discovery box.
Questions before you pick
What's the closest thing to Sips by?
Simple Loose Leaf's Tea Discovery Subscription sends teas from several tea companies, chosen around a preference profile. For four personalized teas a month, try TeaFavors at $15.
Which tea subscription costs the least?
Simple Loose Leaf starts at $14.90 a month for two teas, and TeaFavors is $15 a month for four. Both ship free in the US.
Is there a caffeine-free option like Sips by's herbal mix?
Yes. Tea Runners and MyTeabox each have an Herbal box, and Simple Loose Leaf lets you choose herbal teas only.
Do any of these send tea bags instead of loose leaf?
All four send loose leaf tea. If you prefer bagged tea, the Teacup and Tea Club on Cratejoy pairs a vintage teacup and saucer with an assortment of individually wrapped teas each month.
Which ones ship to Canada?
Tea Runners and MyTeabox ship free to Canada. TeaFavors ships outside the US at standard shipping rates.
