Best Birthday Cake Delivery Services

Founded by a guy who wanted to send a birthday cake to his mother, Bake Me A Wish earns the best overall rating for its large selection, easy ordering capabilities, and reasonable shipping costs. With selections like strawberry funfetti cake, golden fudge celebration cake, and rainbow cake, you will find the perfect flavor for whoever is celebrating.

If you are throwing a birthday bash, Bake Me a Wish offers cakes with personalized birthday messages, as well as bakery towers that include cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and other goodies. Plus, every birthday cake comes in a colorful gift box along with a personalized birthday card.

Prices are competitive, and for extra savings, you can check out the company's daily deal, and sign up for its loyalty program to get rewards and discount codes. Bake Me A Wish also has certified kosher cakes.

Not every birthday cake needs to be iconic, shipped overnight, or cost you an arm and a leg. Sometimes the local market has just what you need and can help when you are too busy to leave home to get it.

Operating in over 5,000 North American cities, Instacart leverages technology to connect you with one of its personal shoppers, who fulfill your order and deliver it to your door within hours. When compared with overnight shipping costs, Instacart’s delivery fees are minimal, plus the company offers monthly and yearly memberships that include free delivery on orders over $35.

Instacart has partnered with national chains like Costco, Target, and Kroger, so birthday cake options include everything from Kirkland’s signature 12'' cheesecake to a box of eight Little Debbie birthday cakes (Target). Just put "cake" on your shopping list, and search different stores until you find what you want—or at least something close enough.

Goldbelly's curated online marketplace is a hub of North America’s most notable culinary creations. The company says it believes in the power of food and its ability to bring comfort and connection. The marketplace features items like St-Viateur’s bagels from Montreal, “Pie Holes” from Los Angeles, and a whole lot more gourmet and specialty items. When you’re shopping for that iconic birthday cake for a foodie in your life, Goldbelly is the place to start. 

Its website and smartphone app offer cakes from many of America’s leading bakeries, such as Ovenly, Carlo’s, Gambino’s, Carousel, We Take the Cake, and Caroline’s. Many bakeries, such as Red Truck, sell online exclusively through Goldbelly. 

Goldbelly facilitates the ordering and shipping process, in many cases with free shipping. A few shops do charge an extra shipping fee and you can pay for faster shipping. The prices of cakes vary a lot depending on the cake and shop. However, given that this is a specialty and gourmet service, it is not always the cheapest option. Goldbelly’s offers an extensive selection with something for everyone, including vegan, paleo, kosher, and even gluten-free cakes.

The company ships to all 50 states and shipping times vary, as many bakeries only ship on certain days of the week.

Are you looking for a cake that delivers the ultimate birthday essence? Check out Milk Bar’s birthday cakes. There are two choices: birthday cake or chocolate birthday cake, plus gluten-free versions of each.

But what Milk Bar’s menu lacks in breadth it more than makes up for with depth of craft. The website describes how the Milk Bar team worked for more than two years—led by founder and James Beard award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi—to achieve the perfect nostalgic birthday funfetti flavor. With that kind of commitment and attention to detail, it is no wonder that Milk Bar has garnered heaps of positive press and hundreds of enthusiastic customer reviews.

Prices start at $52, plus shipping, for a 6-inch birthday cake. Milk Bar also offers birthday gift sets that include additional items such as cake truffles, cookies, Milk Bar pie, and Christina Tosi’s book, "All About Cake." You can order ahead and even select a specific delivery day up to 30 days in advance.

If your birthday recipient loves chocolate, you may want to browse the goodies from Carousel Cakes of Nanuet, New York. Founded in 1965, Carousel is a trusted institution. The bakery's online menu features a large selection of cakes, 16 made with chocolate, including Chocolate Rum Cake, New York Blackout, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake.

In addition to its chocolate specialties, Carousel also crafts quintessential birthday flavors like its Nonpareil "Giggle" Cake. (Fun fact: Carousel's blue and red velvet cakes have been featured on Oprah’s list of favorite things.) All of Carousel's cakes are certified kosher.

Carousel ships its cakes through Goldbelly or NYC Delivery Doorman and also has in-person, discounted sales at its bakery outlet store. For example, the Chocolate Outrage Cake sells for $49 on Goldbelly and $17 at the store.

Shipments are only Monday through Friday, so we advise taking that into consideration when planning your purchase.

Among the many reasons Caroline’s Cakes stands out is its commitment to operating a nut-free bakery. Caroline’s employs strict measures to ensure no nuts can sneak in to spoil your birthday celebration. The bakery also has gluten-free options.

Caroline’s website offers a wide variety of cakes and other goodies, including 10 whimsical birthday cakes. Flavors include Caroline's famous seven-layer lemon cake, caramel cake, signature rainbow cake, and four-layer chocolate devil’s food cake. If you can’t decide which flavor you want, check out the "half cakes" option, allowing you to combine two different flavors into one cake.

Each round, 9-inch cake serves between 14 and 20 people and starts around $70, plus shipping. For an extra fee, there's also an option to add a set of polka dot plates, tableware, and candles that spell out "happy birthday" to your order.

Birthday cakes don’t have to involve a big party. When you want to send all your birthday love to just one special recipient, look no further than the personalized cake explosion boxes from Send a Cake.

Choose among eight flavor options plus an extra limited-time flavor, a box design, and up to 10 additional decorations to create a customized experience your loved one will never forget. You can spell the recipient’s name on the lid in bejeweled letters, add wind-up butterflies that emerge from the box, add your own photos to be printed on the inside of the box, and more. The mini cakes are 3 inches in diameter and come in flavors such as confetti sprinkle, chocolate tuxedo, and red velvet sparkle.

Send A Cake offers delivery six days a week. It also accepts orders well in advance. In fact, with Send a Cake, you could arrange your whole year of birthday gifting in one day.

Like Instacart, Postmates is a technology platform for local couriers. But instead of partnering with grocery stores, Postmates focuses on shops and restaurants. Many businesses on the app also offer same-day delivery, depending on your area and the specific restaurant's current availability.

Postmates really shines by featuring popular neighborhood establishments. Founder Bastian Lehmann has referred to his company as "the anti-Amazon," because while Amazon threatens local proprietors with crushing competition, Postmates helps mom-and-pop shops join the ever-growing, on-demand marketplace.

Postmates operates in thousands of cities in the U.S., which can cause delivery times and fees to vary, but they are generally under two hours and $10, respectively. For example, if the options in your area allow, you could plan a birthday party in the morning, order the cake, and receive it within a few hours.