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Dog food has been pretty bad for basically forever. But fresh dog food subscription services are starting to change that. This comparison guide will pitch two leading brands against each other—Spot and Tango vs Ollie—to see which is better.
See our quick comparison table below to get the highlights, then read our in-depth, category-by-category comparison lower in this guide to see which one stands out.
In this comparison:
Spot and Tango vs Ollie: At a glance
 |  | |
| Price | Starts at $2 a day | Starts at $2 a day |
| Shipping | Free | Free |
| Promo discount | 50% off first order | 50% off first order |
| Fresh food protein options | Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Lamb | Beef, Turkey, Lamb |
| Sourcing | Beef, chicken, turkey, produce, seeds & oils from human-grade farms in the US. Lamb from free-range farms in the U.S. and Australia. | USDA-certified, human-grade ingredients from local U.S. suppliers |
| Other products | Ollie telehealth service | Two single-ingredient treats |
| Offers kibble alternative? | Yes | Yes |
| Offers topper plans? | Discontinued, but offers a mixed baked/fresh plan | Yes |
| Giving back | 1% of proceeds go to rescue shelters and organizations. They also regularly donate meals to rescue shelters. | No official donation |
>> Read more: The Farmer’s Dog vs Ollie
Ollie vs Spot and Tango: Which is right for your pup?
If you want to dig deeper into either service, you can learn more in our Ollie dog food review or our Spot and Tango review. But if you want to see how each compares in specific areas, click a category below to jump to that section.
- Price
- Meal options
- Ingredient quality
- Portioning
- Customizability
- Other products
- Packaging & sustainability
- Overall winner
Price
Spot & Tango advertises fresh food prices as low as $2 per day and Ollie advertises prices around $3 per day. However, these prices will apply only to the smallest dogs eating the cheapest recipes. The cost of each brand’s dry food will be lower.
We pulled some prices to give you a general idea of what you might pay for fresh food, but you should get a free quote for your own dog to get a more accurate number. Doing so is free and only takes about two minutes.
Fresh food prices
| Ollie (multiple recipes) | Spot & Tango (multiple & cheapest recipe) | |
| 5-lb. Chihuahua male | $3.14 / day | $3.26 / day ($2.86 if you order only the Turkey recipe) |
| 50-lb. Airedale Terrier male | $7.85 / day | $12.10 / day ($8.46 / day for only Turkey recipe) |
| 100-lb. Scottish Deerhound male | $15 / day | $17.46 / day ($14.63 / day for only Turkey recipe) |
Ollie baked food vs Spot & Kibble UnKibble
| Ollie baked food | Spot & Tango UnKibble | |
| 5-lb. Chihuahua male | $2 / day | $2.11 / day |
| 50-lb. Airedale Terrier male | $5.14 / day | $5.15 / day |
| 100-lb. Scottish Deerhound male | $9.86 / day | $9.11 / day |
Both services determine your price by weighing several factors, including your dog’s weight, breed, age, body type, spay/neuter status, and activity level. At Spot & Tango the recipes you choose also affect your price, and it can make a big difference. Ollie recipe prices only vary slightly.
The prices above reflect how you could pay substantially more for Spot & Tango if you want to feed your dog either the beef or lamb recipe. However, their Turkey & Red Quinoa recipe may be less expensive than Ollie depending on the size of the dog. This is why it is important to run your own price quote for your own dog and the recipe choice you prefer.
The dry food prices are roughly the same, with Ollie being slightly cheaper across the board.
Winner: Ollie
The numbers don’t lie. Our tests showed Ollie is cheaper, and the difference only grows as the dog’s size increases.
>> Read more:
Fresh meal options
Both brands employ veterinary nutritionists to craft their recipes and portion amounts. The result is high-quality, human-grade recipes that provide the precise amount of nutrition and calories each dog needs.
Below we’ll cover each brand’s fresh meal options. Both brands also offer high-quality dry food as an alternative to kibble, and you can read about those recipes lower in the other products section of this review.
Ollie
Ollie offers four fresh recipes, which feature whole meat as the main source of protein, nutrient-rich organ meat, then whole vegetables, seeds, and oils for added fiber, minerals, and vitamins.
- Beef: Beef, peas, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, beef kidney, beef liver…
Nutrition: Protein: 9%, Fat: 7%, Fiber: 2%, 1540 kcal ME/kg - Chicken: Chicken, carrots, peas, rice, chicken liver, potatoes, spinach, dicalcium phosphate, whole dried eggs, fish oil, blueberries…
Nutrition: Protein: 10%, Fat: 3%, Fiber: max 2%, 1298 kcal ME/kg - Turkey: Turkey, kale, lentils, carrots, coconut oil, turkey liver, blueberries, pumpkin, dicalcium phosphate, chia seeds…
Nutrition: Protein: 11%, Fat: 7%, Fiber: 2%, 1390 kcal ME/kg - Lamb: Lamb, butternut squash, lamb liver, kale, rice, chickpeas, cranberries, green beans, potatoes, dicalcium phosphate, chia seeds…
Nutrition: Protein: 10%, Fat: 7%, Fiber: 2%, 1804 kcal ME/kg
We love Ollie’s Turkey recipe, as well as its high protein and fat content for our active puppy. The Lamb recipe is also a great alternative for dogs with sensitivities to common meats.
Spot & Tango
Spot & Tango offers three fresh recipes. It doesn’t feature any organ meat, but it does do an excellent job incorporating healthy veggies, fruits, and grains to give your dog a well-rounded diet. The Turkey & Red Quinoa recipe has the highest protein content of either brand’s recipes, making it an interesting option for growing dogs.
- Turkey & Red Quinoa: Turkey, red quinoa, apple, spinach, carrots, peas, eggs…
Nutrition: Protein: 13.69%, Fat: 5.86%, Fiber: 1.44%, Calories: 326 Kcal per 8oz pack - Beef & Millet: Beef, millet, cranberries, spinach, carrots, peas, eggs…
Nutrition: Protein: 11.85%, Fat: 5.85%, Fiber: 1.04%, Calories: 322 Kcal per 8oz pack - Lamb & Brown rice: Lamb, brown rice, blueberries, spinach, carrots, peas, eggs…
Nutrition: Crude Protein, 11.80%, Fat: 6.64%, Fiber: 2.64%, Calories: 305 Kcal per 8oz pack
>> See Spot & Tango’s full recipes…
Winner: Ollie
It’s hard to pick a definite winner here since both brands serve up some seriously high-quality recipes. Ollie has a slight edge since it includes four fresh recipes (each for about the same price), but Spot and Tango is also a strong contender with its generally high protein content in each recipe.
Ingredient quality
Both Spot & Tango and Ollie source their ingredients from reputable farms cultivating human-grade ingredients.
All of Spot & Tango’s ingredients come from the U.S. and are prepared in small batches in a USDA-certified kitchen. The meals contain no artificial preservatives, additives, hormones, or GMOs. What they do contain are lots of named fruits and veggies, such as quinoa, carrots, apples, and eggs.
All of Spot & Tango’s recipes meet the AAFCO’s nutritional standards for puppies and adults. One area where the company has a slight edge is the fact that all of their recipes are high in protein.
As for Ollie, the only ingredient that comes from outside the U.S. is some of the lamb, but even that comes from pasture-fed, free-range farms in Australia, so you know you’re getting quality meat.
Aside from whole meats and healthy organ meats, Ollie packs their recipes with whole fruits and veggies like blueberries, peas, spinach, and carrots. I could really smell the blueberries in some of Spot and Tango’s recipes, and it was a nice break from that stale beefy scent you get with most dog food. Spot and Tango also adds superfoods like cod liver oil and chia seeds to give your pup all of the vitamins and minerals they need to look and feel great.
Ollie’s meals meet AAFCO standards for all life stages, including the growth of large dog breeds. This means you can feed it to all dogs from puppies to seniors. The beef recipe is slightly lower in protein content (which may be desirable for inactive dogs or dogs that need to lose weight), but one area where Ollie has an edge is in the use of organ meats.
While whole meats are always the first ingredient, organ meats like beef liver and kidney are added to increase each meal’s protein and nutrient content without over-relying on supplemental ingredients.
Winner: Ollie
Here’s another close call since Spot and Tango’s recipes are so high in protein. However, we have to honor Ollie’s use of organ meat to provide essential nutrients in their natural state.
Portioning
Both companies calculate your dog’s precise portions based on a number of unique attributes beyond just their weight. This is one of the many advantages fresh food subscriptions have over your typical kibble.
Small dogs may get multiple days’ worth of food from a single pack, while larger dogs will eat one pack per meal. In either case, your shipment will come with precise portioning instructions, so you’ll know exactly how much to feed your dog per meal.
As for the size of each portion, our 100-lb. Scottish Deerhound above was recommended 1,199 calories per day by Spot and Tango, but 1,223 calories by Ollie. This means that for Ollie’s price, they squeeze in a few more calories per meal. We’re not sure if and how much the calorie count will vary for other dogs.
Winner: Tie
Despite the slight discrepancy in calorie count, both companies package and portion their meals pretty similarly, so it’s a tie for us. Really, what’s worth considering here is the price per calorie, but we already covered pricing above.
Customizability
Spot and Tango offers two meal plans: full portions or topper portions. Full portions are what make these services super convenient since you never need to think about what to feed your dog or when to restock.
However, fresh food is expensive, so some dog owners opt for a topper portion to mix in with their dog’s current kibble. This still provides some nutritional benefits without as much added cost. Topper portions can also help keep picky eaters interested in their food.
Spot and Tango also makes it super easy to adjust your dog’s portions. Just log in and go to your current subscription plan. There you can incrementally increase or decrease the number of calories in each meal and see how it will affect your price. Just make sure you consult their team or your vet before making big portion changes, especially for small dogs.
Currently, Spot and Tango doesn’t allow you to customize your shipping schedule. Fresh food ships every two weeks and UnKibble ships every four weeks (learn more about Unkibble below). Of course, you can always skip a shipment, if needed.
Ollie used to offer topper portions, but they discontinued that service for new customers. Now, they offer a mixed plan (half fresh, half baked), which is essentially a topper plan if you’re happy to change your dog’s current kibble to Ollie’s healthy baked food. If you want to adjust your dog’s portions, you can log in and get in touch with their team to do that.
With Ollie, your shipping schedule is a little more flexible—you can get shipments as frequently as every two weeks or as rarely as every six weeks, depending on how often you want to receive packages and how big you want them to be.
Winner: Tie
Essentially, both services have topper plans. Ollie has discontinued its topper option and replaced it with a mixed plan. However, you have to purchase their baked food for this ‘topper’ plan. If you have a specific dry food you want to continue using, then choose Spot & Tango since their topper plan does not require you to purchase their dry food. Of course, if you prefer Ollie, you can always just feed your dog half the recommended amount and periodically skip shipments.
Other Products
Treats
Ollie recently discontinued their treat line.
Spot and Tango also offers two single-ingredient treats: Yam Yums and Chicken Munchies.
The yam/sweet potato treats are similar with both services. Ollie’s meat strips are a little more substantial, with a crunchy jerky texture. The Chicken Munchies have an airier freeze-dried texture.
Kibble alternatives
Both brands have created a dry food for those who want to keep costs down while still providing good nutrition. While they differ in how they are made, they both meet the AAFCO standards for All Life Stages, which means you can feed puppies, adults, and seniors.
Spot & Tango offers UnKibble, a “fresh dry” freeze-dried kibble alternative made from the same types of human-grade ingredients used in their fresh food.
Since UnKibble is freeze-dried, it doesn’t need to be stored in the fridge or freezer, and it comes at a lower price than fresh food. However, while it is a definite upgrade from other store-bought kibbles, it isn’t as good nutritionally as a real fresh diet, so we still recommend going with a fresh food option if you can afford it.
Here are the UnKibble recipes:
- Beef & Barley: Beef, Barley, Flax, Carrot, Green Beans, Beef Liver, Beef Heart, Beets, Cranberries, Rosemary, Kelp, nutrient mix.
Nutrients: Protein 26.58%, Fat 16.43%, Fiber 3.18%, Calories: 4749 kcal/kg - Cod & Salmon: Cod, Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin, Sunflower Seeds, Tapioca, Strawberries, Carrots, Spinach, Parsley, Rosemary, Kelp, nutrient mix
Nutrients: Protein 29.67%, Fat 22.06%, Fiber 1.15%, Calories 4,131 kcal/kg
Replacing their treats, Ollie has recently launched a dry, baked kibble alternative. This baked food still uses the same high-quality, human-grade ingredients as the fresh food. But unlike UnKibble, these ingredients are not freeze-dried. They are ground and mixed just like their fresh food. Then the mixture is cold formed and gently baked on human-standard equipment.
The baked food contains some different ingredients than the fresh food, but is still loaded with meat—more than 45%, according to Ollie. And, it’s still free of preservatives, unwanted fillers, corn, soy, or wheat. It’s convenient in that it is shelf stable, easy to serve, and keeps costs down.
Here are Ollie’s Baked food recipes:
- Chicken and Carrot: Chicken, oats, whole dried eggs, chicken liver, chickpeas, pea flour, carrots, sweet potatoes, calcium carbonate, spinach, sunflower oil, dicalcium phosphate, vitamin E supplement, apples, fish oil, rosemary extract, nutrient mix.
Nutrition: Protein 26%, Fat 16%, Fiber 4%, Calories: 3850 kcal ME/kg. - Beef and Sweet Potato: Beef, oats, beef liver, lentil flour, sweet potatoes, carrots, calcium carbonate, sunflower oil, dicalcium phosphate, vitamin E supplement, salt, spinach, blueberries, fish oil, rosemary extract, nutrient mix.
Nutrition: Protein 26%, Fat 16%, Fiber 4%, Calories: 3850 kcal ME/kg.
Telehealth services
Ollie offers a free telehealth service with every meal plan. With OllieHealth you may be able to save yourself a trip to the vet to ask preventative care questions and discuss everyday topics like nutrition or joint care. Talk to veterinarians via instant chat or schedule a video call 17 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This telehealth service is offered in the Ollie app. The app makes managing your dog’s subscription even easier. In the app you can update your recipes, delivery date, and get a notification when your shipment arrives.
Winner: Ollie
Both brands offer a kibble alternative. Spot & Tango also offers treats, but Ollie offers OllieHealth, which can be helpful when you need a professional opinion for minor issues when a visit to the vet would be impractical. Other brands, such as Pawp Pet Insurance, charge around $24+ per month for this type of service, so Ollie has an edge in this category.
Packaging & sustainability
Both companies pack their fresh food over dry ice to keep it completely frozen throughout the shipment, and the cardboard boxes and insulating liners are recyclable.
Both companies also package their meals similarly in flat, square or rectangular plastic that makes it easy to stack your meals in the freezer.
Spot and Tango’s meal packs are also recyclable once rinsed, but due to Ollie’s easy-peel seal, their meal packs need to be disposed of in the trash. However, Ollie does allow you to extend your shipping schedule to as long as every 6 weeks to cut down on packaging.
Some dogs will receive each meal preportioned in its own pack, but others will have multiple meals per pack. Because of this, Spot and Tango sends a plastic clip you can use to seal your leftovers in its original packaging. If you order UnKibble, they also send you a pre-measured scoop.
Ollie sends you an air-tight, food-grade, silicone “puptainer” to store your fresh food leftovers and a plastic scoop to remove your food from the pack. If you order the baked food, you’ll receive a silicone bowl to feed your dog.
Winner: Ollie for its reusable container, Spot & Tango for sustainability
We love the container Ollie sends with your first shipment. It looks really nice and frankly, we use it for our own leftovers when we don’t have any dog food to store. However, we also like that Spot and Tango’s meal packs can be recycled, so each brand stands out in different ways in this category.
Overall winner: Ollie
Both Ollie and Spot and Tango offer excellent, human-grade diets that will overhaul your dog’s holistic nutrition. However, if you read through the sections above, Ollie stands out as the winner in the most important categories, including price, meal options, and ingredient quality.
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