Guides/Comparisons
Farmer’s Dog vs Ollie (2026): winner by plan, not by the pouch
Farmer’s Dog and Ollie are the two fresh-food subscriptions US dog owners actually compare. They are not interchangeable trophies. One sells a full-fresh plan and a freezer. The other sells full-fresh plus half-fresh and baked, which is how a 70-pound dog stays on the brand after the first invoice.
This is a buying guide, not a feeding trial and not veterinary advice. Both brands position recipes as complete and balanced when you buy a complete plan. Confirm the life-stage statement on the quote you are holding. Prices below are public ranges as of September 20, 2026 — your dog’s calorie math will move the number.
Gregory Greenstein·Editor, Petacent
Published September 20, 2026
Updated September 20, 2026
Pricing checked September 20, 2026
14 min read
Not a veterinarian, not medical advice. Petacent publishes buying guides. We do not diagnose, prescribe, or endorse treatments. Diet changes, pain, litter-box avoidance, and sudden behavior shifts belong with a licensed veterinarian who has examined your animal.
The short winner
Pick Farmer’s Dog if you want one full-fresh subscription, you like their portioning story, and the quote for your dog’s weight does not require a family meeting.
Pick Ollie if you want a half-fresh or mixed plan, more recipe types (fresh plus baked), or you are trying to keep a large dog on cooked food without replacing every kibble calorie at subscription prices.
Pick neither if the dog is doing well on a growth or adult kibble you can defend — start with our puppy food ranking — or if a veterinarian has already prescribed a therapeutic diet.
Plans and flexibility
This is the actual product difference. Farmer’s Dog is a full-fresh subscription: the packs are meant to cover the dog’s daily calories. That is clean. It is also why a Great Dane quote looks like a car payment.
Ollie sells full-fresh, half-fresh (about half the daily calories in fresh, the rest from another adequate food), and mixed bowls that can include baked recipes. If you want fresh as a topper with math, Ollie is the brand that productized that. Farmer’s Dog will not meet you there.
Recipe counts move. In public 2026 comparisons, Ollie still talks a wider protein set plus baked SKUs; Farmer’s Dog stays on a shorter fresh list and a cap on how many recipes ride in one shipment. If variety is the leak, Ollie. If you want fewer decisions, Farmer’s Dog.
Plan shape, not a nutrient lab
| Job | Farmer’s Dog | Ollie |
|---|---|---|
| Full daily calories in fresh | Yes — that is the product | Yes — Full Fresh |
| Half-fresh / topper plan | No | Yes |
| Baked recipes in the same brand | No | Yes |
| Typical recipes per shipment | Fewer (publicly often up to three) | More (publicly up to four, plus baked) |
| Pause / reschedule | Yes | Yes |
Price, dated September 20, 2026
Neither brand has a single shelf price. Both quote from weight, body condition, activity, and recipes. Treat any “as low as $2/day” banner as a small-dog teaser.
Public 2026 write-ups still cluster like this: small dogs often land roughly $70–$160/month on Farmer’s Dog; medium dogs wander through the mid-hundreds; large and giant dogs can run $280–$500+ on a full plan. Ollie full-fresh for many medium dogs is often quoted around $150–$180/month; half-fresh can cut that toward $75–$120 for the same dog. Side-by-side tests on a ~70 lb dog have shown Farmer’s Dog a bit cheaper on a two-week full-fresh order — on the order of tens of dollars, not half price.
First-box discounts (Ollie has publicly run deep first-order percentages; Farmer’s Dog has run trial-box promotions) are not the renewal. Rank the renewal. If the promo is the only reason the math works, you will be back on kibble in quarter two and the dog will notice.
| Scenario | What we would do |
|---|---|
| 20 lb adult, wants 100% fresh | Quote both; expect ~$100–$180/month neighborhood |
| 55–75 lb adult, wants 100% fresh | Quote both; expect a few hundred a month. Farmer’s Dog may win the two-week total. |
| 55–75 lb adult, wants some fresh | Ollie half-fresh. Farmer’s Dog is the wrong product. |
| Large-breed puppy on a budget | Kibble from the [puppy ranking](/reviews/best-dog-food-puppies), or Ollie half-fresh — not a giant full-fresh invoice. |
What is actually in the pack
Both cook recipes and freeze them. Both talk human-grade ingredients and veterinary nutritionists on staff. Both need you to thaw packs in the fridge like leftovers, not like kibble you forget in a garage.
We will not invent digestibility percentages. Stool quality, itch, and ear gunk are n-of-1. Transition over 7–10 days. If the dog vomits, stop being a hero and call your clinic.
Storage is a freezer tax. A two-week box for a large dog is a grocery run that never leaves. If your freezer is already a graveyard of popsicles, you will hate both brands equally.
Operations: freezer, pause, travel
Both let you skip or reschedule. Use that when you travel. Do not leave a thawing box with a neighbor who did not volunteer to be a sous-chef.
Pet sitters need a one-page note: which pack, how much, fridge time. This is why some households stay on kibble. There is no shame in a food a teenager can pour.
If you already buy bags on Chewy vs Amazon, a subscription is a second logistics system. Run one well before you run two.
Skip-ifs
Skip both if a therapeutic diet is on the table. Skip both if the only research you did was a founder video. Skip Farmer’s Dog if you need a half plan. Skip Ollie if you already have a Farmer’s Dog quote you like and you do not care about baked recipes.
Skip fresh entirely if the dog has a working stomach on a complete kibble and the household budget is the leak. Fresh is not a moral upgrade. It is a more expensive way to feed a complete diet — sometimes a pleasant one.