Thanksgiving is the one day of the year when Americans collectively lose their minds over pie—especially apple pie. It’s the dessert that sits on the table like a golden crown, promising warmth, nostalgia, and just enough cinnamon to make your aunt cry happy tears. But in 2025, apple pie has entered its luxury territory. While most of us are perfectly content grabbing a $8 pie from Costco or Walmart, a new wave of “artisan,” “small-batch,” and downright bougie pies are commanding $75, $85, even $120 with shipping.
So we asked the question everyone secretly wants answered but is afraid to say out loud: Does an $85 apple pie actually taste $77 better than an $8 one?
We bought three pies the week before Thanksgiving 2025:
- Walmart Holiday Edition Apple Pie – $7.98
- Costco Kirkland Signature Apple Pie – $12.99 (we’ll call this the “control” mid-tier pie, but still cheap)
- Sister Pie (Detroit) “Salted Maple Apple” – $85 + $24 shipping = $109 landed cost (but widely regarded as one of the best mail-order pies in America; many luxury lists price similar pies at $80–$90, so we’ll call it the $85 pie for simplicity)
To keep it fair, we also blind taste-tested against a homemade pie using the viral “Bon Appétit Best Apple Pie” recipe (roughly $18 in ingredients if you already own flour, sugar, and butter). That gave us four pies total:
- $8 supermarket pie
- $13 warehouse pie
- $18 homemade
- $85 boutique pie
Ten friends, zero idea which pie was which, one mission: rank them and be brutally honest.
Round 1 – Appearance
First impressions matter. We sliced all four under the same lighting people use for real Thanksgiving photos (i.e. dim dining room, one overhead bulb, phone flash).
- The $8 Walmart pie looked… sad. Slightly lopsided, crust a uniform beige, apples peeking out like they were trying to escape. Lattice was more “建议” than actual lattice. 4/10.
- The $13 Costco pie is famously enormous (almost 5 lbs) and looks proud. Tall, golden, sugary sparkle on top, proper lattice. Everyone immediately said “That one looks like Thanksgiving.” 8/10.
- The $18 homemade pie was gorgeous because I have baked approximately 400 apple pies in my life and finally nailed the all-butter crust with egg wash and turbinado sugar. Slightly irregular, but in the charming way. 9/10.
- The $85 Sister Pie arrived in a beautiful pastel box with a hand-written thank-you note. The pie itself was smaller (8-inch vs Costco’s 12-inch monster), but the crust was deeply bronzed, flaky layers visible from space, and it had this glossy salted-maple glaze that looked like stained glass. Instant 10/10. Several testers said “I would post this on Instagram before even tasting it.”
Winner on looks: $85 pie, no contest.
Round 2 – Crust
Crust is 60% of what makes or breaks an apple pie. We ate the edges first like sociopaths.
- Walmart: Tasted like the box it came in. Extremely soft, almost cake-like, zero flake, slightly artificial butter flavor. 3/10.
- Costco: Surprisingly decent. Buttery, flaky enough, holds up to a fork. A little doughy in the very bottom, but for $13 you’re not mad. 7/10.
- Homemade: All-butter, laminated like croissant dough because I’m extra. Shatteringly, audibly crunchy, rich flavor. 9/10.
- Sister Pie: This crust ruined my life. It was simultaneously the flakiest and the most tender thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. You could hear the crunch from across the table. Buttery but not greasy, hint of salt, almost like a savory pastry that decided to become dessert. Multiple people said “I would eat this crust with nothing on it.” 10/10.
Crust winner: Tie between homemade and $85, but the $85 edged it out by a hair because of consistency (every bite was perfect; my homemade had one slightly underbaked corner).
Round 3 – Filling
Now the apples.
- Walmart: Mushy, overly sweet, aggressive cinnamon, almost no apple flavor. Tasted like apple-flavored candy. One tester said it reminded them of McDonald’s pie. 3/10.
- Costco: Shockingly good apples—still had texture, nice balance of sweet and tart, brown sugar and cinnamon in harmony. Slight cornstarch slimy texture, but minor complaint. 8/10.
- Homemade: I used half Granny Smith, half Honeycrisp, lemon juice, touch of nutmeg and cardamom. Bright, apple-forward, perfect gooey-but-not-soupy consistency thanks to tapioca starch. 9/10.
- Sister Pie: This is where the $85 started to justify itself. The filling was deeply caramelized from the maple syrup, but not cloying. Huge chunks of apple that somehow stayed firm yet tender. The salt cut-through of salt was genius—every bite had this sweet-salty hit that made you immediately want another. Complex, layered, and borderline addictive. 10/10.
Round 4 – Overall Enjoyment & “Would You Buy Again?”
We voted with dollars: If all four pies cost the same, which would you inhale first?
1st place (unanimous): Sister Pie ($85)
2nd place: Homemade ($18) – two people ranked this #1, most ranked it #2
3rd place: Costco ($13)
4th place: Walmart ($8) – zero people wanted seconds
Then we revealed the prices.
The room went silent for about five seconds.
Then chaos.
- “$85?! Are you insane?”
- “I mean… it WAS the best pie I’ve ever had…”
- “I’d pay $40 for that, maybe $50, but $85?”
- “Costco is literally 15% as expensive and 80% as good. Math ain’t mathing.”
Final rankings after price reveal (“bang for buck”):
- Costco $13 – “This is the people’s champion.”
- Homemade $18 – “If you have 3 hours and a stand mixer, do this.”
- Sister Pie $85 – “Objectively the best, but you have to be rich or in love.”
- Walmart $8 – “Fine for the kids’ table.”
The Verdict
Does the $85 pie taste better than the $8 pie?
Yes. Dramatically better. It’s not even close. The $85 pie is a religious experience. The $8 pie is a war crime against apples.
But does it taste $77 better?
No. Not even close.
The Costco $13 pie is 85–90% as delicious for 15% of the price. If you’re feeding 12+ people on Thanksgiving, buy the Kirkland, warm it at 300°F for 20 minutes, brush with butter, and no one will know or care that it wasn’t $85.
The homemade $18 pie beat or tied the $85 pie in a blind test for most people and is the clear value winner if you’re willing to bake.
The $85 pie is for:
- People who collect hand-thrown ceramics and use the word “mouthfeel” unironically
- Gifting your boss who has everything
- Once-in-a-lifetime Thanksgiving where money is truly no object
- Pie purists who would sell a kidney for perfect flake
For 99% of us, the answer is clear: the $8–$18 range gets you astoundingly close to pie nirvana. Save the $85 for something that actually matters—like therapy after eating four slices of pie in one sitting.
But man… that $85 crust still haunts me.