Bella & Duke vs Tails.com: raw food or tailored kibble?

The short verdict

Choose Tails.com if price, storage and convenience matter most: it’s a dry food made up for your dog, it needs no freezer and there’s nothing to defrost or disinfect. Choose Bella & Duke if you want to feed raw, you’re comfortable handling raw meat and you can find the freezer space and the budget.

We moved from foods that included Tails.com to Bella & Duke, and we earn account credit if you use our friend code, so weigh our view with that in mind. Plenty of dogs do well on a good dry food, and this page says plainly where Tails.com is the better choice.

Bella & Duke vs Tails.com at a glance

Figures come from Bella & Duke’s own pages and Tails.com’s site, checked 15 November 2026. Tails.com blocks the automated checks we use, so its figures are marked “reported”: check them on its site before you decide.

Raw vs tailored kibble

These are two very different ways to feed a dog. Tails.com sells tailored dry food (kibble), plus wet food, blended to the profile you give it. Bella & Duke sells raw complete meals that arrive frozen and are defrosted before each meal.

Bella & Duke describes its complete meals as at least 80% meat and 20% fruit, veg and healthy fats. Its range covers Adult Premium Complete, Puppy, Senior, Working Dog, Working Puppy, Superfood and Pure Meat + Bone. Dry food is cooked and dried so it keeps at room temperature, which is where most of its practical advantages come from.

Vets differ on raw: some are supportive, many are cautious, and both raw and dry foods can be complete and balanced. Our raw vs kibble guide sets out the general pros and cons, and what vets say, in more depth.

Cost: dry food is usually cheaper

Tails.com will usually cost less per day than raw. Bella & Duke advertises prices from £1.18 a day, based on a 5–10 kg, 4-year-old dog on Adult Premium Complete with an 8 kg delivery. For Tails.com, the figure we found in search results was from 62p a day (reported; check their site). We couldn’t confirm it on its own pricing page, and we don’t know which dog it’s based on, so don’t compare the two too closely.

What’s certain is that both prices rise with your dog’s size and activity. Raw food is fed by weight, broadly a share of your dog’s body weight each day, so a large or very active dog eats a lot of it. Our raw dog food cost per day guide shows how that adds up, and the raw feeding calculator gives a daily amount for your dog.

If the budget is tight, a good dry food you can afford every month is better than a raw food you can only afford for three boxes.

New-customer offers

Both brands discount the start of a subscription. Our Bella & Duke friend code gives 40% off your first two boxes, then 20% off the third, with a maximum discount on each box:

Tails.com: Large first-box discounts are advertised (reported; check their site). We couldn’t read the current figure on its site, so we won’t quote one.

A big percentage off a cheaper food can still be a smaller saving in pounds than a smaller percentage off a dearer one, and the reverse. Compare the total you’d pay for the first few boxes, then the full price after the offer ends, because that’s what you’ll pay for years. The friend code is for households that have never had a Bella & Duke account or delivery and it cannot be combined with any other offer. Our Bella & Duke discount code page has the details, and our raw dog food offers page covers other brands.

Delivery and storage

Dry food needs no freezer, and that’s one of Tails.com’s biggest advantages. A bag of kibble sits in a cupboard. Bella & Duke arrives frozen in a double-insulated box with dry ice, designed to stay frozen over a two-day delivery, and the smallest delivery is 4 kg, all of which has to fit in your freezer.

Bella & Duke delivers by DPD, free to the UK mainland, with surcharges for Northern Ireland, the Highlands and the islands. You choose the day but not a time slot, so someone needs to be in or you need a safe place for a frozen box. If a delivery runs late, Bella & Duke’s rule is that if the tubs are still cold to the touch (4°C or below) you can refreeze them. Our storing and defrosting guide covers how to make room.

Convenience and handling

Tails.com is simpler every day. With dry food you scoop and serve. With raw, you move tomorrow’s portion to the fridge the day before (Bella & Duke says defrosting takes around 24 hours), use it within up to four days, and clean bowls and surfaces afterwards.

Raw meat also carries bacteria. The Food Standards Agency tested 380 samples (277 dog, 103 cat) of raw pet food bought from March 2023 to February 2024 and found harmful bacteria in 35% of them. The survey didn’t name brands. That’s a reason for kitchen hygiene, and for households with very young, elderly or vulnerable people to think carefully. Our guide is raw dog food safe? explains what the FSA and vets say.

Dry food is also easier for holidays, dog sitters and kennels: there’s nothing to defrost and no raw handling to explain.

Who each suits

Tails.com suits owners who want a convenient, cheaper food made up for their dog. Bella & Duke suits owners who specifically want raw and are set up for it.

If you’re thinking of moving from dry food to raw, take it slowly and talk to your vet first, especially for puppies, older dogs and dogs with a health condition. Our guide to switching from kibble to raw has a simple plan.

Where Tails.com wins

Tails.com wins on price, storage and convenience, and for many households those three decide it.

• Price. Dry food is usually much cheaper per day than raw, especially for bigger dogs.
• Storage. No freezer space, no defrosting, no fridge planning.
• Handling. No raw meat in the kitchen, which matters in homes with young children or vulnerable people.
• Flexibility. Easy to take away, hand to a dog sitter or keep as a back-up.

What we noticed after moving to raw

That’s two dogs in one house, and we can’t say how much was the food and how much was everything else. Many dogs do well on Tails.com. If yours is thriving on dry food, there may be no reason to change. For the full picture of how Bella & Duke has worked for us, read our Bella & Duke review.