6 Best Cologne Subscription Boxes to Try Out New Scents

Best Overall: Scentbird

Price per box: $17 | Bottle size: 8 mL (0.27 oz) | Bottles per box: 1

Overview

When you think of subscription fragrance services, Scentbird is usually the first one that comes to mind. That’s because it pretty much pioneered the concept back when it launched in 2013. Many of those that have emerged since have followed in the footsteps of Scentbird’s original business model. How it works: Take a quiz to develop your scent profile, find fragrances you want to try, and the company will ship you a 30-day supply of your chosen scent to test out (a new one each month).

Scentbird also does a fabulous job of describing each of its scents and ascribing values to different attributes (i.e. the scent family, personality, occasion, season, level of complexity, and accords). The company's subscription box will set you back $17 per month, but if you find one you love, you can opt to buy a full-size option at a discounted price.

Scentbird doesn’t have the largest selection, per se—it currently offers hundreds of brands and more than 500 fragrances—but it stocks some in-demand indie ones that the other services on this list don’t have access to (the perks of being an industry innovator).

Best Variety: Scent Box

Price per box: $17–$78 | Bottle size: 8 mL (0.27 oz) | Bottles per box: 1–3

Overview

If you want a mind-boggling array of fragrances to choose from, then Scent Box should be right up your alley. Founded by two SoCal brothers with a love of fragrance exploration, the monthly subscription service costs $17 per month for one scent on the standard plan or $22-$30 on the premium and platinum plans (which grant access to additional extra-fancy brands).

Each month, the company will ship you a 30-day supply of a fragrance—a 0.27-ounce travel-size atomizer that has been tested to provide four sprays a day for 31 days. There are over 575 different designer fragrances for you to choose from with the Standard subscription (and more than 850 with the Premium subscription), and the company highlights a new one each month as their "scent of the month," if you’d rather just take recommendations than sort through the extensive library.

You can also fill out a brief questionnaire to filter your results based on your fragrance preferences, which is helpful if you know what you like (i.e. woodsy scents) and dislike. The company will select scents for you based on the quiz, but it also allows you to manually add ones that look interesting to you but might not have been in your scent profile.

Best of all, if you absolutely detest the scent that arrives, Scent Box allows you to exchange it for another option. It makes the whole experience relatively painless, efficient, and enjoyable.

Best Budget: Perfume.com

Price per box: $15 | Bottle size: 8 mL (0.27 oz) | Bottles per box: 1

Overview

The very foundation of fragrance subscription boxes is that they allow you to try designer fragrances without emptying your bank account for 3.4 ounces. The cost-prohibitive nature of the perfume industry can make it difficult to experiment.

Perfume.com’s Fragrance of the Month program solves that issue by offering you a 0.27-ounce fragrance atomizer for $15 per month. As one would expect from a company called Perfume.com, there are tons of brands and scents to choose from—over 500—and the list includes all of the most popular designer scents, from Dolce & Gabbana and Burberry to Giorgio Armani.

Plus, it’s beyond easy to get started: Just begin by browsing scents and adding them to your queue. If the sheer amount of offerings feels daunting, you can also let Perfume.com’s scent experts curate a selection for you. If you’re not sure a subscription service is right for you, this is a great budget option to test out the concept without breaking the bank.

Best for Fragrance Connoisseurs: Scent Trunk

Price per box: $18 | Bottle size: 5 mL (0.17 oz) | Bottles per box: 1

Overview

For those deeply involved with their personal scent, you’ll want to skip the mass subscriptions and try something more tailored. Scent Trunk is a standout in this category thanks to its customizable approach—it doesn’t offer any conventional colognes, but rather creates its own scents based on "the contemporary zeitgeist in art & culture, fashion & beauty, and food & travel." With a rotating roster of perfumers, the scents are all imaginative, fresh, and utterly unique.

The Original Edition monthly subscription box costs $18 and provides you with a 5 mL travel atomizer of your choice. Options include (but are not limited to) ylang-ylang, salt, truffle, black hemlock, and beeswax. The Original Edition subscription is considered a manual subscription, so you will need to go in to select a new scent each month if you wish to switch it up, otherwise, the reacquiring subscription will send you the same scent you selected for the previous month. Scent Trunk also offers two other subscriptions: Supernatural Future and Botanical Machinist, which are also $18 a month.

If you find a scent you like, you can buy a 5 mL, 30 mL, or 100 mL bottle. New ones are introduced each month and you can shop past editions.

Best for Trendsetters: Olfactif

Price per box: $22–$40 | Bottle size: 2 mL (0.07 oz) | Bottles per box: 3 or 6

Overview

If the thought of smelling like every Tom, Dick, and Harry you pass on the street makes you shudder, then you’ll want to head to Olfactif, which stocks an expansive array of ultra-niche scents. We’re talking colognes that very few people have ever heard of, the kind that someone will get a whiff of and go out of their way to ask you what you’re wearing.

There are more than 300 fragrances from indie gems such as Etat Libre d’Orange, Blackbird, Imaginary Authors, Amouage, and YOSH. The subscription service will send you three deluxe-sized samples a month for $22 and will give you discounts off any purchases you make from the site. That’s roughly 20% off a full bottle of any featured scent and about 10% off all other full bottles.

Olfactif is a standout because it brings niche perfumery to a wider audience—many of these fragrances are impossible to find unless you live in a city with independent perfume shops. It’s a great way to discover just how artistic and nuanced a scent can be and to find something that feels special and personal to you.

Whether you like a fragrance wardrobe or are on the hunt for a new signature scent, Olfactif is a great place to find something that’s truly new.

Best for Busy Guys: Debonair Scent

Price per box: $15 | Bottle size: 3 mL (0.1 oz) | Bottles per box: 3

Overview

If you’re the type of guy who just wants to find something that smells nice with minimum effort, Debonair is for you. From the slick (yet minimalist) site to the personalized quiz, Debonair knocks it out of the park when it comes to helping you discover your new favorite scent.

And the best part? You don't have to spend hours telling someone what you like and don’t like. The four-question profile consists of identifying the fragrance notes you tend to gravitate toward, how you want your cologne to make you feel (i.e. Adventurer, Bad Boy, Regular Guy, or Romantic Guy), how often you wear cologne, and the name of your favorite current scent.

Debonair's experts will get to work curating scents that fit your profile. You then get three of those colognes in 3-milliliter bottles sent your way for $15 per month. You can also save when you prepay for three, six, or 12 months. Quick, easy, and direct—just the way we like to do our shopping.