Hub · The Farmer’s Dog alternatives
We don’t yet publish a score for The Farmer’s Dog. Here are the fresh-cooked and highest-scoring dog foods we do verify and score on the PetScored rubric, ranked.
Our rubric scores a food against a fixed, verifiable label: a guaranteed-analysis panel, an AAFCO adequacy statement, a named ingredient list, and a cost-per-1,000-kcal value computation. A custom, per-dog fresh subscription diet doesn’t fit that source model cleanly yet, so we hold it rather than publish a number we can’t defend. That is a limitation on our side, not a verdict on the food. “We won’t score what we can’t verify” is the whole point of the site.
What we can do is point you at the foods we do verify. If the appeal of a fresh subscription is the gently-cooked format, the first list is the like-for-like set. If the appeal is simply a high-quality, well-substantiated diet, the second list is the highest-scoring dog food we publish in any format.
Filter: gently-cooked fresh format with a verifiable panel. Rank: composite score. This is the closest format match to a fresh subscription diet.
Freshpet
$5.38 / 1,000 kcal · 10% below median
Fresh refrigerated chicken leads a short, recognizable panel and the recipe is all-life-stages adequate. The tradeoff, in our view, is high moisture, so calories per dollar run higher than kibble, plus peas and egg early in the deck for sensitive dogs.
JustFoodForDogs
$19.66 / 1,000 kcal · 228% above median
A transparent fresh-food recipe with clearly named whole-food ingredients and veterinary formulation. The main downside is cost, which remains well above traditional diets.
Nom Nom
$18.90 / 1,000 kcal · 215% above median
Fresh preparation and a concise ingredient list are the strongest attributes here. The tradeoff is a high moisture content and premium price compared with dry food.
Ollie
$7.87 / 1,000 kcal · 31% above median
DTC fresh-cooked food with simple named ingredients and AAFCO all-life-stages adequacy. High cost per calorie is the real tradeoff; premium positioning earns the price only if your dog's other dimensions need it.
JustFoodForDogs
$10.11 / 1,000 kcal · 68% above median
The ingredient list is refreshingly short and recognizable, with all-life-stages adequacy as a major plus. Cost is substantially higher than kibble, as expected for fresh food.
Filter: all scored dog food. Rank: composite score. In our view these are the strongest verified options on the rubric, and most are far cheaper per 1,000 kcal than a fresh diet.
Hill's Science Diet
$1.52 / 1,000 kcal
A clinically oriented formula with moderate calories and broad availability. The tradeoff is that brewers rice, rather than animal protein, leads the ingredient list.
Fromm
$0.89 / 1,000 kcal · 51% below median
A grain-inclusive chicken recipe with named meat meals, menhaden fish meal, and a modest cheese and egg inclusion. Family-owned brand with a strong transparency record; value-priced for the tier.
Purina Pro Plan
$1.46 / 1,000 kcal · 46% above median
Source-backed adult maintenance dry food with salmon first, specific grains, and AAFCO feeding-test language. Main watch-outs are fish/beef-fat sensitivity flags, natural flavor, partial Brand Trust, and a recent brand-level Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets wet dog food mislabeling recall that remains disclosed.
Blue Buffalo
$1.98 / 1,000 kcal · 10% below median
Limited-ingredient-positioned dry food with salmon first, official product identity, and retailer-controlled GA/calorie fields. Watch-outs are formal AAFCO text not captured, pea-family ingredients, natural flavor, partial Brand Trust, and price freshness.
Blue Buffalo
$1.40 / 1,000 kcal · 22% below median
Source-backed adult maintenance kibble with named chicken sources and specific grains. Main watch-outs are chicken sensitivity, legumes on the label, natural flavor, vegetable juice color, and a Brand Trust record that still needs stronger primary evidence.
Diamond Naturals
$0.90 / 1,000 kcal · 36% below median
Budget-tier grain-free with named salmon protein and a transparent fish-and-legume base. Strong value per calorie. Fish + legume stack matters for sensitivity-aware dogs.
A fresh, gently-cooked format is not the same as a higher-quality diet under our rubric. We do not credit “human-grade,” “fresh,” or “whole-food” as scoring features; none of those terms are AAFCO-defined. The legal claim that matters is the AAFCO adequacy statement on the label.
If you are switching because of a suspected food sensitivity, that is a job for a vet-led elimination diet, not a lateral switch on the strength of a fresh-food claim. PetScored does not score for individual sensitivities; our Sensitivity Risk dimension reflects population-level ingredient exposure, not a diagnosis for your dog.
FAQ
Our rubric scores a food against a fixed, verifiable label: a guaranteed-analysis panel, an AAFCO adequacy statement, a named ingredient list, and a cost-per-1,000-kcal value computation. Custom, per-dog fresh subscription diets don't fit that source model cleanly yet, so we hold them rather than publish a number we can't defend. That is a limitation on our side, not a verdict on the food.
The fresh-cooked foods we do score are the closest format match: Freshpet, Ollie, Nom Nom, and JustFoodForDogs all sell gently-cooked recipes with a published panel we can verify. Of those, Freshpet currently posts the highest composite on our rubric. They are ranked in the first list below.
Our rubric does not credit a format. It scores verifiable nutrition fit, ingredient clarity, brand trust, sensitivity exposure, and value, and a gently-cooked recipe earns none of those automatically. In practice our highest-scoring dog foods are kibble, because a complete, AAFCO-substantiated dry food with a clear panel and a reasonable cost per 1,000 kcal scores well regardless of how premium the marketing is. Fresh is a format, not a quality guarantee.
We don't publish a price for The Farmer's Dog, so we won't claim a head-to-head cost comparison. What we can show is each scored food's own cost per 1,000 kcal, which is the value figure under the rubric. Fresh-cooked foods as a category tend to be expensive per calorie; the kibble alternatives in the second list are usually far cheaper.
