Ipsy vs Birchbox: One of These Nearly Died in 2022

The Bottom Line

These two launched the beauty subscription category within months of each other in 2010 and 2011. Only one of them has run continuously since.

• Choose Ipsy if you want the cheaper box, the ability to skip a month, and a company whose complaint process demonstrably works. Its own review scores are poor, and we say why below.
• Consider Birchbox Monthly only if the specific brands appeal to you and you are willing to accept a company that stopped shipping to paying customers in 2022 and currently answers none of its BBB complaints.

We recommend Ipsy. Not enthusiastically, because its Trustpilot score is worse than Birchbox’s, but the difference in operational risk is large and it runs the other way.

What Happened to Birchbox

This is the context most comparisons leave out, and it changes the decision.

Birchbox was founded in 2010 and effectively invented the beauty sample box. It sold to FemTec Health in October 2021 for around $45 million. In November 2022 it stopped shipping, while continuing to charge subscribers for boxes that never arrived, and suppliers reported unpaid debts. FemTec wound down, and in May 2023 Birchbox’s assets, not the company, were bought by Retention Brands, which restarted fulfilment later that year.

The brand you would be subscribing to today operates under a different legal entity. Its BBB profile was opened in April 2024, which is why the file looks short. Two facts on that file matter:

• The grade is F.
• All 20 complaints on record are unanswered. BBB’s stated reason for the grade is failure to respond.

That is the pattern this site treats as a serious warning. A small number of complaints is not reassuring when the company has replied to none of them, and when the complaint categories, billing and delivery, are the same ones that preceded the 2022 collapse.

Birchbox is genuinely operating. It takes signups and ships boxes. But it is a turnaround project, not the established brand its name implies. The same owner also runs Alltrue, another subscription box bought out of a 2022 failure.

Pricing

Ipsy raised the Original tier from $14 to $15 in April 2026. With shipping it lands at $16.99 a month delivered, still meaningfully below Birchbox.

Two warnings on the prices above. Ipsy’s own homepage still advertised the old $14 figure in one banner while its live plan page said $15, so check the total at checkout. Birchbox does not publish its price on its public pages at all: the figure comes from its help centre and billing documentation, and third-party sources still quote the long-obsolete $15. Confirm Birchbox’s price at checkout before you enter a card. A subscription that does not show you the price until you are inside the signup flow is worth being cautious about.

Ipsy Has Three Tiers, Renamed This Year

In March 2026 Ipsy renamed its whole lineup, so older reviews use names that no longer exist:

• IPSY Original, formerly Glam Bag: $15 a month, 5 deluxe samples, you pick 1 of the 5.
• IPSY Extra, formerly BoxyCharm: $32 a month, 5 full-size products, you pick 3 of 5.
• IPSY Ultimate, formerly Icon Box: $65 a quarter, 8 full-size products, you pick 3 of 8.

This matters for the comparison, because Birchbox at $25 sits between Original and Extra. If you are paying $25 for samples, the honest question is whether $32 for five full-size products is the better buy. For most people it is.

Customization

Both run a quiz and both let you pick one item, so the marketing sounds identical. The detail differs.

Ipsy uses a beauty quiz at signup, refines on your product ratings, and lets you choose one of the five items each month at the Original tier. Choice expands sharply at the higher tiers, to three of five and three of eight.

Birchbox builds a profile from skin and hair type and concerns, and its Sample Choice feature lets you select one item or take loyalty points instead. The rest is curated.

Roughly even at entry level. Ipsy wins decisively if you ever want more control, because there is somewhere to upgrade to.

The Skip Problem

This is the practical difference that costs people money.

Ipsy lets you skip any month from your account. Cancel by the 25th and you are not charged for the next cycle.

Birchbox has no self-service skip. Its help centre states that subscription plans cannot be paused and monthly boxes cannot be skipped, and then describes a manual route: email support or use live chat before the 1st of the month and the team will arrange it. For monthly members that means no charge and no box that month. For prepaid members it extends the membership rather than refunding anything.

So the option exists, but only by asking. That matters here more than it would elsewhere, because the most common complaints against this company are slow responses and unanswered contact. A skip that depends on support replying before a monthly deadline is a weaker guarantee than a button in your account.

Cancellation has the same shape. Month-to-month subscribers can cancel, but 3, 6, and 12-month prepaid plans cannot be cancelled mid-term. Prepaying Birchbox for a year is the single riskiest thing you could do in this comparison. If you try it, use the monthly plan.

Brands and Contents

Ipsy works with around 400 brand partners, spanning mass names like e.l.f. up to prestige lines including Tarte, NARS, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and Laura Mercier. The mix leans makeup. Boxes arrive in the branded pouch the service is known for.

Birchbox carries a smaller, more indie-prestige selection, with names like Sand & Sky, Wander Beauty, rms beauty, and Embryolisse. It skews toward skincare and haircare rather than colour cosmetics, and it ships in a box rather than a bag.

If you want recognisable prestige names, that is now Ipsy, which is a reversal of these brands’ historical reputations.

The Review Scores Disagree, and Here Is Why

This is the part that looks contradictory at first glance.

Ipsy: Trustpilot 2.2 out of 5 from about 6,200 reviews. BBB A+ with 342 complaints closed in three years. The complaints are about chatbot-only support, late or damaged shipments, near-expiry products, and cancellation friction. The A+ reflects that Ipsy answers them.

Birchbox: Trustpilot 3.9 out of 5 from about 1,100 reviews. BBB F with 20 complaints, none answered. The recent review text describes duplicate charges with slow refunds, shipping delays of a month or more, and samples arriving long past their date.

So Birchbox has the better headline score. Read past the average and it comes from a fifth of the sample, at a company that answers no complaints and has already failed once. Ipsy’s ugly 2.2 comes from a large, mature base of people who could reach a complaint process at all.

Neither is a service with delighted customers. The difference is that when something goes wrong at Ipsy, there is a documented route to a resolution.

Who Should Choose Ipsy?

Choose Ipsy if you:

• Want the lower monthly cost
• Need to skip months around travel or budget
• Care more about makeup than skincare
• Want the option to upgrade to full-size products later
• Want a company that answers complaints

Who Should Choose Birchbox?

Choose Birchbox if you:

• Specifically want its indie-prestige skincare and haircare brands
• Prefer a box to a makeup bag
• Are willing to stay on the monthly plan and never prepay
• Accept an F BBB grade with no complaint responses
• Understand you are buying from a rebuilt company, not the original one

Final Recommendation

For most people: Ipsy Original at $15. It is cheaper, skippable, cancellable, and backed by a complaint process that functions. Go in knowing that support is hard to reach and that its Trustpilot score is genuinely poor.

If you want full-size products: skip this comparison entirely and look at IPSY Extra at $32. Paying $25 for samples when $32 buys five full-size items is the weakest part of Birchbox’s offer.

If you still want Birchbox: take the monthly plan only, never a prepaid term, confirm the price at checkout, and keep your own records of every charge. The company is shipping, but its complaint record gives you no reason to expect help if it stops.