Lovevery Review: Are the Play Kits Worth the Subscription?
Lovevery sells beautifully made, stage-based toys by subscription, and parents adore the Play Gym. The returns are fair; the warranty, the shipping fees on big items, and the auto-renewing prepay plans deserve a closer look.
The verdict in 60 seconds
- The Play Gym at $150 is the safest buy in the catalog, with free shipping and a full year of stage-based use.
- Baby Play Kits cost $88 each every two months on subscription, and toddler kits $132 every three months, so the program adds up fast.
- Most products can be returned within 30 days of delivery with a free prepaid label, but the Montessori Playshelf cannot be returned at all.
- Prepaid kit bundles roll onto a pay-per-kit plan automatically when they run out, which explains a run of surprise-charge complaints.
How Lovevery scored
Excellent, thoughtfully designed toys and fair returns, marked down for subscription friction, thin human support, and the absence of a real warranty.
- Product20/25
- Value14/25
- Service15/25
- Trust15/25
What we'd buy from Lovevery
The Play Gym $150
A full year of stage-based play in one mat, with free shipping.
The Play Gym is built around five developmental zones, with swappable high-contrast cards for the first weeks, a mirror for tummy time, sound squares, an organic cotton teether, and a wooden Montessori ball. A double-sided cover turns it into a toddler fort later. The mat and zones machine-wash cold. Lovevery notes that a replacement connector is sold only for gyms received after February 2024, so older owners have to go through support. It is a lot of money for a play mat, but it earns it.
- Best for
- Newborns through the first birthday
- Weak spot
- Pricey, and older gyms have fewer spare parts
The Play Kits, baby year $88 per kit
Six kits timed to developmental windows, each with a printed Play Guide.
From birth to twelve months, a kit arrives every two months with wooden and organic cotton playthings and a guide explaining how to use them. Shipping is free in the contiguous US and Canada, and Lovevery emails seven days before each shipment so you can skip or cancel. Buying a single kit without subscribing costs more, at $104 for the newborn kit. One oddity: the FAQ’s monthly cost and prepay discount figures do not match the current kit prices, so do your own math.
- Best for
- Parents who want a guided plan, not a toy aisle
- Weak spot
- Costs pile up across six shipments
The Block Set $95
Seventy solid wood pieces that stay useful from toddler years into school age.
The set includes counting cubes, shapes that stack on one side and roll on the other, arches, four wooden figures, threading blocks, and a shape-sorting box that converts into a pull car. A guide lists more than twenty activities by stage. Like the Play Gym, it ships free in the contiguous US and Canada. The weak spot is that a plain wooden block set costs much less; you are paying for the design and the activity guide, which some families will never open.
- Best for
- Toddlers and preschoolers, and gifting
- Weak spot
- Plain wooden blocks cost far less
The Music Set $120
Real, pentatonic instruments that sound good no matter what a toddler hits.
Six instruments, including pentatonic bells you can lift off a color-coded base, a color-tab pan flute, a concertina, stackable shakers, and an animal metronome that works. A Rhythm and Songs Book and a stage-based guide teach kids to make up their own songs. Because the bells use the pentatonic scale, random play still sounds pleasant. Care is fussier than most toys: the flute needs rinsing and bottle-brushing, and the jingle bracelet is spot-clean only.
- Best for
- Toddlers who bang on everything anyway
- Weak spot
- Some pieces need careful cleaning
The Play Kits, toddler years $132 per kit
Bigger kits every three months from the first birthday to age five.
After age one, kits arrive every three months and grow more ambitious, with puzzles, pretend play, early math, and emotional-learning books. A subscription also unlocks the Lovevery app and parent courses, and the app rates highly on the App Store. Lovevery says outgrown kits typically resell for 55 to 75 percent of the subscription price through its Pre-Loved marketplace. The catch: prepaid bundles convert to pay-per-kit automatically, and cancellations must land at least three days before the ship date.
- Best for
- Families committed to a structured play program
- Weak spot
- Auto-renewal catches people out
Leave these on the shelf
The Montessori Playshelf
At $425 the birchwood shelf is handsome, but Lovevery will not accept returns of it because of its size, weight, and self-assembly, and it cannot ship to Alaska, Hawaii, military addresses, or Canada. A 24-month limited warranty covers replacement parts. For a piece of furniture you cannot send back, a well-reviewed low bookshelf does the same toy-rotation job.
The Real Life Play Kitchen
The working sink is a clever touch, and reviewers praise its looks, but at $325, or $350 for the Our Place edition, the return terms are tight: unopened only, within 60 days, minus a $35 fee, and final sale in Canada. Recent Trustpilot reviews mention long deliveries and missing screws. If you want it, inventory every part the day it arrives.
Lovevery against the field
Two brands a shopper is likely to be weighing at the same time. Words only; the numbers change too often to print.
| Row | Lovevery | KiwiCo | Melissa & Doug |
|---|---|---|---|
| Range | Stage-based Play Kits, a play gym, wooden sets, furniture, and books | Project-based activity crates, mostly for preschool and school-age kids | Huge catalog of wooden and pretend-play toys |
| Price position | Premium, especially across a multi-year subscription | Mid-market subscription crates | Budget to mid-market |
| Returns | Thirty days from delivery with a free prepaid label, big furniture excepted | Not verified for this review; check before subscribing | Mostly sold through big retailers, whose own return rules apply |
| Standout | Toys timed to developmental windows, with a guide that explains why | Build-it science and art projects for older kids | Wide availability and gift-friendly prices |
The fine print at Lovevery
Each line below was read on Lovevery's own site in October 2026. Policies move; if one has, tell us.
Who it's for, who should pass
Buy if you are
- a parent who wants expert-designed toys delivered in age order, with instructions
- willing to resell outgrown kits to recover part of the cost
- buying a standout baby shower gift, where the Play Gym is hard to beat
Pass if you are
- on a tight budget, since the full subscription runs into four figures
- likely to forget about an auto-renewing subscription
- needing quick phone support, which Lovevery does not offer
Questions readers ask
Can I buy a single Lovevery Play Kit without subscribing?
For many kits, yes. Lovevery offers a single Play Kit option at a higher price than the subscription, for example $104 rather than $88 for the newborn kit, though the help center says it is not available for every kit. Individual playthings from a kit are not sold separately, except as replacement parts through the Subscriber Shop.
How do I cancel a Lovevery subscription?
Sign in, open Account Settings, and choose Manage Subscription, where you can skip a kit or cancel. Do it at least three days before the next ship date; an order that has already shipped will still arrive. If you prepaid, you are refunded for kits you have not received but lose the prepay discount.
Do I have to send the Play Kit toys back?
No. Play Kits are a purchase, not a rental, and the playthings are yours to keep. You can donate them or list them on Lovevery Pre-Loved, the official resale marketplace, which is run by a third party called Archive and is available in the contiguous US only.
Our call
Lovevery makes some of the best-designed baby and toddler toys you can buy, and the Play Gym is close to a no-brainer gift. The business model asks more of you: a subscription that runs for years, prepay bundles that quietly roll into monthly billing, and no written warranty. Buy the Play Gym outright, try a kit or two, set a calendar reminder before each ship date, and resell what your child outgrows.
See it at LoveveryWhat we read
This is desk research: the brand's own pages plus published customer reviews, read in October 2026. Nothing was sent to us and nothing was tried in person.
- Lovevery product pages for The Play Gym, The Play Kits, The Block Set, The Music Set, The Real Life Play Kitchen, and The Montessori Playshelf
- Lovevery help center articles on returns, shipping rates, warranty, contact hours, cancelling, single kits, and Pre-Loved resale
- Lovevery product recalls page
- Trustpilot reviews of lovevery.com and the App Store listing for the Lovevery app