We compared flower bouquets from The Bouqs and UrbanStems, and UrbanStems only slightly edged out th

• The Bouqs Deluxe Buttercream vs. UrbanStems Double the Pink Champagne
• The Bouqs Deluxe Sweet Lavender vs. UrbanStems Double the Unicorn
• The Bouqs Festival of Lights vs. UrbanStems The Manor
• Product selection
• Packaging
• Sustainability
• The bottom line

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• The Bouqs and UrbanStems are two of the most popular flower delivery services we've tested.
• We had three testers compare similar bouquets from each brand to see which one was best.
• It was a close call, but UrbanStems' better packaging, easier ordering, and more modern arrangements made it the winner.

Gone are the days of having to call 1-800-FLOWERS to order a bouquet. Online flower brands make the process of sending flowers easier and more personal, since you can handpick the arrangement that best suits your recipient. 

We've ordered dozens and dozens of bouquets over the years as part of our testing for the best flower delivery services. Through many rounds of testing, two brands have consistently duked it out for top billing: The Bouqs and UrbanStems. While UrbanStems currently holds the top spot in our guide, our staff is still filled with loyalists to The Bouqs who often decry its lack of status in our rankings. What's more, The Bouqs recently claims it has addressed issues that led to inconsistent quality in the past. 

Given all that, we thought we'd settle the matter once and for all. We had three testers from across the country order a bouquet each from The Bouqs and UrbanStems. To keep things as fair as possible, each tester made sure the bouquet's they chose from each brand were similar in size and flower type. 

See how The Bouqs and UrbanStems compare below

The Bouqs Deluxe Buttercream vs. UrbanStems Double the Pink Champagne

Anna Popp, home and kitchen fellow, tested The Bouqs Deluxe Buttercream against the UrbanStems Double the Pink Champagne, both with an add-on vase. Here were her impressions: 

"The Bouqs bouquet was pleasantly colorful and I would have been happy if I received it as a gift. It did have a higher proportion of greenery to roses than the UrbanStems bouquet: 12 roses to UrbanStem's 16. 

The biggest issue I had with The Bouqs bouquet was it was much too big for the slender vase it came with. I had to shove the bouquet into the vase and the flowers looked cramped. In turn, I ended up breaking a few roses which was disappointing.

The UrbanStems bouquet, though containing more flowers, fit nicely in the glass vase and there was plenty of room to rearrange the bouquet to my taste. It was gorgeous and vibrant, and more visually interesting to me than The Bouqs bouquet.

Five days later, the UrbanStems bouquet had minor discoloration and wilting while The Bouqs  bouquet was mostly dead. 

Both brands delivered fresh, vibrant flowers but the minor inconveniences of The Bouqs bouquet made UrbanStems the clear winner for me. I spent $7 more on the UrbanStems bouquet and I think it's worth it to get the right sized vase and flowers that last longer with more roses than greenery." —Anna Popp, home and kitchen fellow 

Anna's winner: UrbanStems

The Bouqs Deluxe Sweet Lavender vs. UrbanStems Double the Unicorn

Lisa Sabatini, senior home editor, tried The Bouqs Deluxe Sweet Lavender versus UrbanStems Double the Unicorn. Here's what she had to say about her experience:

"The UrbanStems roses had browning at the edges of the petals and did not look very vibrant. The flowers were somewhat limp and one of the alstroemeria was broken at the stem. Leaves were also crumpled and one torn. Temperatures were in the mid-30s that day — it's possible that the colder temperatures affected the flowers, but the lack of moisture was certainly a factor. The bouquet didn't bounce back after being placed in water, but they also didn't wilt further.

The arrangement fit nearly inside the simple, attractive clear glass vase, requiring very little editing on my part. Still, the browned roses were a disappointment.

All of The Bouqs flowers survived their journey and appeared quite vibrant — no browning or wilting. After trimming the stems, all of which were strong and healthy, I found the bouquet was difficult to fit inside the slender metal vase. I broke a few statice stems in the process. Ultimately, the bouquet required a lot of editing to make for a good presentation.

Both bouquets had their hits and misses. If you were to offer me one of the two in the future, I would choose The Bouqs, simply because the flowers were very vibrant and healthy. The same cannot be said for UrbanStems, though the bouquet came nicely arranged and with more flowers." —Lisa Sabatini, senior home editor

Lisa's winner: The Bouqs

The Bouqs Festival of Lights vs. UrbanStems The Manor

I ordered a simple white winter arrangement from both services — Festival of Lights from The Bouqs and The Manor from UrbanStems — and both bouquets had their hits and misses. 

The Bouqs bouquet came with fresher roses, but there were fewer of them. I counted just six, with the rest filled by white carnations. All of the flowers were very vibrant and lively, but the arrangement itself reminded me of something you might pick up from the grocery store. There was a lot of bright green filler and the flowers didn't seem to be arranged in any thoughtful way. I had to edit it a bit for a more cohesive look.

The roses in the UrbanStems bouquet had some browning around the edges and a little bit of wilting. I couldn't tell if this was true browning, or if the roses were intended to be a pinkish brown, but the result was that a few of the blooms didn't look very fresh. After snapping the pic above I pulled off some of the wilted rose petals, which freshened it up a bit. I liked the filler in this bouquet more; there was a nice amount of greenery that made it look much more bespoke than The Bouqs bouquet.

Since each bouquet seemed to have the opposite problem, it was hard to declare a true winner. If you were to ask me what service I would use again, I'd probably say UrbanStems since I've had a better experience with them than The Bouqs in the past, but if I were to go on this test alone, I'd call it a tie.

Lauren's winner: Tie

Product selection

Both sites offer a selection of fresh bouquets, dried bouquets, plants, gifts, and subscriptions. The Bouqs has about twice as many fresh bouquets than UrbanStems, but all three of our testers preferred the look of UrbanStems' bouquets, which were more modern, whimsical, and garden-inspired. We also found the site was easier to navigate, with the ability to sort by color, occasion, number of stems, price range, and more. You have an option to add a vase on the product page from UrbanStems, but it isn't automatically selected like it is on The Bouqs, which was a sneaky detail we didn't love. 

In terms of pricing and delivery, the services are pretty comparable, but UrbanStems has a wider range of high-end bouquets. Both services offer same-day and next-day delivery, though same-day depends on your zip code. Shipping costs are slightly higher from The Bouqs.

Product selection winner: UrbanStems may have fewer options, but we liked them more and the ordering and navigating process was easier. 

Packaging

All our testers confirmed that bouquets from both brands arrived securely packaged.

UrbanStems bouquets had more impressive packaging were easier to unbox. The boxes have simple liftoff lids and the cards we wrote were neatly attached. The flowers were wrapped in craft paper and placed inside a lightweight glass vase protected in bubble wrap. One tester did say the the amount of moisture in the insert wrapped around flowers was low, and one of their roses did not survive the journey and broke off from the bouquet. 

Bouqs packaging was more hit or miss. A zip tie that runs through the outside of the box holds the bouquet in place. However, one tester reported that the zip tie broke away from their box in transit, leaving the flowers loose in the box (though still protected by plastic cylinders and tissue paper). In all cases, the card was dropped inside the box, making for a rather unremarkable presentation.

Packaging winner: UrbanStems

Sustainability

Neither brand is very direct about its sustainability practices.

The Bouqs claims to take a farm-direct approach, but doesn't specify the sustainability of those farms or whether they promote fair labor practices. 

Likewise, UrbanStems says it "make(s) it a priority to work directly with our Rainforest Alliance Certified farms" but does not specify what percentage of its flowers come from these farms or make note of any fair labor practices. 

Sustainability winner: None. If sustainability is of utmost importance to you, we recommend choosing another flower brand with more transparency regarding where its flowers come from. 

The bottom line

Overall winner: UrbanStems

Both services delivered beautiful bouquets and we would happily use either to send flowers to family or friends. However, better packaging, easier ordering, and more modern arrangements gave UrbanStems the edge. 

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