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It’s no secret that finding time for date night can be a challenge once you have kids.

My husband and I don’t have a trusted babysitter, so going on an actual date is a rare occasion. We try to do date night at home, but it can be a challenge to come up with something new to do. So when I heard about the DateBox monthly ‘date in a box’ subscription, I thought it was definitely worth a try!

DateBox is basically everything you need for a date night, and it’s customized based on your relationship. You can choose if you’d like an ‘at home’ date (perfect for new parents, homebodies, or anyone with kids who doesn’t have a babysitter, aka, ME), or there is an option for an ‘out on the town’ date, where everything is set up for you.  We chose the at home date for our first box.

The details below reflect our original experience with DateBox. Subscription options, prices, and availability may have changed since this review was first published. Check the provider’s current information before making a purchase.

Here’s what we thought.

Disclosure: This is an independent review based on our experience with a DateBox we purchased ourselves. We were not paid to write this review. This post contains a referral link, and if you make a qualifying purchase through it, we may each receive a benefit. The original referral offer may no longer be available, so check the terms before purchasing.

First Impressions

The box looked very nice and I was excited to open it! Since you don’t know what’s included until it arrives, we decided part of the fun was opening it together and finding out what our date would be. The box included ingredients and directions on how to make snacks, ‘icebreaker’ type questions, a link to a playlist that coordinates with date activity, and a main activity to do together.

For us, the unboxing was part of the experience. Rather than planning an activity ourselves, we could open the box and discover what we would be doing together. If you prefer to know exactly what you’re getting before purchasing, check whether the provider offers a preview of the activities or box contents.

Snacks

The box included a small bag of popcorn kernels and sugar with directions to make kettle corn, 2 packets of spiced cider, and a box with the base ingredient for making caramel apples. Detailed directions on how to make the kettle corn and caramel apples were included. Once we looked at the snacks, we opted not to eat them and ended up making our own version.

The caramel apple kit still required sugar, and the packet was basically artificial flavor and caramel coloring (yuck!), so we opted to make our own caramel apple dip using real food ingredients that we had on hand (I used this recipe, it turned out delicious!).

For our preferences, making the dip ourselves was a better fit because we could choose the ingredients. However, we didn’t conduct a nutritional comparison, so I can’t claim that our homemade version was definitively healthier. If ingredient quality matters to you, check the product’s ingredient list before deciding whether the included snacks suit your needs.

We skipped the popcorn all together and drank wine instead of apple cider.

I was less than impressed with the snack options in the box, and this was the main reason we decided to go with the digital date for our second month.

If you enjoy choosing your own food and drinks, this is worth considering when comparing physical date-night boxes with digital activities. A physical box may offer convenience, but its included snacks might not suit everyone’s preferences.

Activity

The box included a list of ‘icebreaker’ questions, meant to help get the conversation flowing in the beginning of the date. We flew through these pretty quickly, but still thought they were pretty good. Some were a little redundant, and since we’ve been married for 12 years, maybe not quite ‘advanced’ enough for us. However they spurred some other questions and conversation which is always a good thing.

The main activity was an escape room type exercise. Everything was included in the box and instructions were very clear. We were both pretty excited about doing this! My husband has been to an actual escape room event with his coworkers, and he’s told me several times he thought I would really enjoy it and that we would do well at one together. He was right, I did really enjoy this! It was fun to figure out the ‘puzzle’ together, and we were both excited when we finished before the timer. We are already looking for more of these types of activities to do together in the future.

The escape-room activity was our favorite part of the box. We enjoyed working through the clues together, and finishing before the timer gave us a clear goal to work toward. Based on our experience, this type of activity may be a good fit for couples who enjoy puzzles, friendly competition, and solving problems as a team.

If you are thinking of a similar subscription, check the activity difficulty, estimated completion time, and any additional supplies required before purchasing.

Value

The at-home date box we received was priced at $40 per month when we purchased it. I bought it using a promotional offer for $20 and felt it was worth that price, even though we didn’t eat the included snacks. However, I’m not sure I would have paid the full $40 because some of the food items weren’t a good fit for us. At the time, the digital version was listed at $7.99 per month, so we decided to try that option next and make our own food and drinks to go with it.

These are historical prices from our original purchase, not verified current rates. Before publishing this review as a current buying guide, confirm whether the original service and digital plan are still available. If they are no longer offered, retain these figures only as historical context and clearly state that they applied when the review was written.

When comparing the value of a date-night subscription, do pay attention to the activities included, the amount of preparation required, any additional supplies you need, and whether you will use all the items provided. A less expensive digital option may suit you better if you prefer to choose your own snacks and drinks.

Overall

We both overall really enjoyed the DateBox. It was something different for us to do that really encouraged conversation and team work, and we both liked the escape room activity. We agree the snacks were not for us, so for the next month we decided to try the digital only option so that we are not paying for snacks we aren’t going to eat.

The biggest benefit was having a ready-made activity that gave us something different to do together at home. The snacks were less appealing to us, so the physical box wasn’t a perfect fit for our preferences. If you enjoy solving puzzles and want a planned activity without having to come up with the idea yourself, a date-night box may be worth considering. But if you prefer to select your own food and activities, compare the available options before committing to a subscription.