Costco Vs Sam's Club: Where Should You Order Your Custom Sheet Cake?

A custom sheet cake can wow your guests and take your dessert table to the next level. Even the most amateur party planner can level up their celebration with the cake customizations found at Sam's Club or Costco. These membership-required warehouse stores are known for big quantities at low costs, and that reputation extends to their custom sheet cake offerings.

To decide where to order your sheet cake, you'll want to consider several factors. The cake needs to taste great, of course, and ideally it will be easy on your wallet as well as your taste buds. There's plenty more to consider too: How easy is it to order and pick up a sheet cake? What cake and frosting combinations are offered? How much customization is possible? These points may be more or less important to you depending on the specifics of your party, but to help you make the right decision, we've compared Sam's Club and Costco sheet cakes on all of these aspects of the cake ordering experience. See which store comes out on top when it comes to ordering a custom sheet cake.

It might be impossible to find a cake that everyone truly loves, but according to some corners of the internet, Costco's sheet cake may come close. It's not hard to find Reddit posts, video reviews, and food blogs praising the store-made cakes. In a post asking if the vanilla sheet cake was "worth it," one Redditor said the vanilla cake was "hands down the best cake." Another called it "a piece of culinary art," saying they'd walk nearly an hour to buy one of these cakes.

There's little of this loyalty to Sam's Club sheet cakes, though they also get praise on social media. Sam's Club makes good cake, but it just doesn't cling to the mind and the taste buds like Costco cake seems to. Instead, it's a pretty standard grocery store cake.

Perhaps the surest sign Costco cake is something special is the number of people who have found or developed their own versions of the recipe. There are dozens of copycat recipes for Costco's vanilla cake available online for home bakers who crave it and want to recreate it at home. There's not the same demand for Sam's Club copycat cake recipes. Overall, Costco takes the cake for taste.

For the party on a true shoestring budget, head straight to Sam's Club for your custom sheet cake. A half sheet cake, which serves up to 48 people, costs around $20.98 at most Sam's Club locations. A full sheet cake, serving up to 96 people, costs about $40.98. This is the best price you'll get for a sheet cake, and all customization options are included in the cost. Costco's sheet cakes are also a good deal, but the total cost is a little higher: as of February 2025, the cost for a half sheet cake was around $26.99. Since then, some online users have reported that their warehouse charges $27.99 for a half sheet cake.

Though the custom Costco sheet cake costs more than Sam's Club's, it's still a good deal. It gets even better when you consider that Costco's cake is two layers with filling in between, while the Sam's Club cake is a single layer, no filling. Costco also has more options for cake designs, so while it does cost more to order your sheet cake at Costco rather than Sam's Club, you're getting good value for your dollar. All in all, Sam's Club has better pricing for its custom sheet cakes than Costco.

If you try to order a custom Costco cake online, you'll quickly find that it's an impossible task: every Costco location only accepts custom sheet cake orders in-person at its bakery kiosk. Costco bakeries don't accept orders by phone, and there's little bakery information even on Costco' s website. Thankfully, many Costco cake enthusiasts have shared photos of the kiosks and paper order forms online to help people make a plan before they head into the bakery.

Sam's Club, by comparison, feels downright futuristic in its online cake ordering experience. When you click "customize," you'll move step-by-step through options for cake flavor, frosting, and decorations. The tool automatically generates an image of your selections, previewing what your cake will look like. The preview doesn't look particularly realistic, but it gives you an idea of how the colors, embellishment, and message will look. The cake customization interface is available on both the website and the Scan & Go app.

One advantage to Costco's in-person order policy (they don't even accept orders by phone) is that you can talk to a bakery employee if you need help, minimizing the potential for errors. Still, it can be a hassle to make the trip to Costco solely to place a cake order, making Sam's Club a better option for the convenience of placing an order online.

Before you order a custom sheet cake at either Sam's Club or Costco, there are a few things to know about bakery availability at these stores. Most importantly, not all Sam's Club locations have bakeries, so even if there is a warehouse near you, check to make sure it offers custom sheet cakes. All Costco locations have bakery departments, but like Sam's Club, there's not necessarily a location in your area. In the United States, there are 600 Sam's Club locations and about 624 Costco warehouses, but they aren't evenly distributed across the country: You're more likely to find a Costco near you on the West Coast or in New England, but Sam's Club reigns in the South and Midwest.

Another key point about these stores: both Costco and Sam's Club require a membership to shop there. This business structure is part of why these brands can offer such steep discounts, so if you're not already a member with one of them, you'll have to join before you can place a custom cake order. Costco's annual fee is a little higher than Sam's Club's, but for both brands, the bakery department is available with the lowest tier membership. Overall, Costco comes out on top for availability of its custom sheet cakes.

Both Costco and Sam's Club keep it classic when it comes to cake flavors: you'll only find white cake or chocolate cake at either store. This keeps the process simple and the prices low, so you're getting a better cake ordering experience. And since these bakeries only offer two kinds of cake, you can feel more confident that they're experts in what they're baking.

Sam's Club does offer an option for marbled cake. In this technique, bakers layer chocolate and white cake batter before baking to create an intricate pattern of swirls when you cut into it. You can preview this in the online order interface, so you can see how the marble pattern looks with your other custom decorations. Costco doesn't offer any flavor combinations for its sheet cakes, but the marbled cake option is just one of several ways Sam's Club lets you mix and match chocolate and vanilla. Sam's Club, then, is the better option when it comes to custom sheet cake flavors.

Just as they do with cake flavors, Costco and Sam's Club stick to simple options when it comes to frosting. Costco always pairs its vanilla buttercream with its white cake and its chocolate buttercream with its chocolate cake, keeping your choices as streamlined as possible. You'll only have to check one box on the order form, and the minimal options make it easier for the bakery to fill your order quickly and perfectly.

At Sam's Club, you can choose either chocolate or vanilla frosting, regardless of whether you've chosen white, chocolate, or marble cake. The vanilla frosting can be dyed approximately 16 different colors, but this option only appears in the online order system if you choose "none" when asked if you'd like roses or balloons as decoration. You won't be able to order a pink-frosted cake with yellow roses — it's one or the other.

Sam's Club also offers a choice between buttercream or whipped varieties of frosting. American buttercream, which is typically what you'll find on grocery store cakes, tends to be a sweet and sturdy frosting well-suited to sitting out for the duration of a party. Whipped frostings aren't as dense as buttercream because they are mixed on high speed to incorporate air, much like a whipped cream. While the whipped frosting might give cake eaters a lighter bite, keep in mind that it may need to be refrigerated for longer than its buttercream counterpart. Sam's Club wins the frosting competition.

With your Costco sheet cake, you'll get a light mousse filling that matches the flavor you've already chosen for your cake and frosting: chocolate or vanilla. Costco cake fans don't have anything bad to say about the chocolate filling, but it's the vanilla cheesecake mousse filling that has many people coming back again and again. The sweet, creamy, and slightly tangy layer is often pointed out by food bloggers and Redditors singing the Costco cake's praises.

You won't find any filling options at Sam's Club. Its sheet cakes are only one layer covered in frosting, not two with filling in-between, like Costco's, but there are some good reasons to skip the filling. Sticking to a single layer of cake helps Sam's Club keep its custom sheet cakes at a lower price compared to Costco, and the lighter cake can be a good option if you'll be serving it alongside other desserts. Costco comes out on top for filling flavors.

Both Costco and Sam's Club offer a selection of predesigned frosting decorations to adorn the custom sheet cakes. You'll choose your design and colors and include a personal message to be written on the cake. The specific decoration options will depend on the bakery location where you're placing your order, especially if you're ordering your cake from Costco.

Sam's Club offers the same decoration options at each of its bakery locations. For frosting designs, you can choose between roses or balloons in one of four color combinations, which also determines the color and style of the border. Or, you can skip the balloons and roses and choose one of about 16 custom colors for the frosting base, the border, and the personalized message. Sam's Club doesn't allow customizations beyond these to keep the online order process streamlined.

Since Costco still has an in-person-only ordering system, you'll have to visit your local warehouse to confirm what styles you can request for your cake. Most of the pictures we found online of order forms and bakery kiosks suggest that Costco typically offers eight or nine different cake designs. Roses and balloon cake decorations seem to be available at all bakery locations, as well as a "scored" cake option, where the decorator leaves lines in the frosting to note where to cut the cake and puts a small rosebud on each slice. Many Costco locations offer candle, rainbow, and baby shower designs. Seasonal designs for graduation, Independence Day, or Christmas are common too. Overall, Costco is the better option when it comes to custom sheet cake decoration options.

Placing your cake order in advance can help you guarantee you'll get exactly the cake you need. This is especially important if you're planning a party in a busy time of year, like graduation season or the winter holidays. (It's also nice to simply cross a task off your to-do list nice and early).

If you want to cross "order cake" off your to-do list, you can do so up to 30 days in advance at Sam's Club. You'll choose a time slot to pick up your cake when you finalize your order in the online system. Most Costco locations seem to accept custom sheet cake orders up to a week in advance. You can check with your local warehouse to see if it will accept it earlier. The order form includes space for the date and time you plan to pick up the cake, and if it's after normal bakery hours, many locations will simply leave the cake in a designated cooler for you. We've chose Sam's Club over Costco when it comes to advance ordering options.

Not everyone prefers to plan ahead, and even the best planners sometimes need last-minute cake. Sam's Club and Costco are both good options in this scenario, as they typically require just 24 hours of advance notice for a custom sheet cake. Two days of advance notice may be better, however: Sam's Club needs cake orders by 2 p.m. for next-day pickup, and some Costco locations request 48 hours of advance notice. Be sure to check with your local store to confirm these notice times.

If you do miss the minimum notice deadline, both stores' bakery departments sometimes offer generic, undecorated cakes among the regular products. These are the same cakes, frostings, and fillings you'd get if you placed a special order, but your flavor and decoration options will be subject to that day's availability rather than guaranteed for you. It won't be a custom sheet cake, but it will still be a good cake. This one's a tie.

After comparing Costco and Sam's Club on these criteria, we think Costco is the overall better bet for the best custom sheet cake at the best price. You'll still get a good cake if you order one from Sam's Club, and it's got a few advantages over Costco. You won't find a cheaper custom cake than the ones at Sam's Club, and the online ordering system is fast and streamlined. Sam's Club also offers the option to frost the entire cake a custom color, though if you opt for, say, purple frosting, you won't be able to add other designs.

The Costco sheet cakes really do have something different, making up for the higher price and the old-fashioned, paper-only ordering system. This cake tastes so good it's developed a cult following on the internet, and the vanilla cheesecake filling plays a big role in the love consumers have for it. Only Costco offers filling in its cake, meaning you're getting two layers as opposed to Sam's Club's one. In addition to giving you a higher quantity of a highly-reviewed cake, Costco offers more design options and is more widely available in the United States. It's a delicious choice for any celebration you're throwing.

To make our recommendation for where you should order your custom sheet cake, we scoured food blogs, video reviews, social media posts, and Reddit threads to find as much information as we could about Costco and Sam's Club custom sheet cake offerings. For Sam's Club, much of our information was sourced directly from its website. We mocked up several custom cakes in the online ordering tool to explore every available customization option. Since Costco has little online information about its bakery, we relied more heavily on consumer-generated information. By comparing sources from locations across the United States, we were able to build a more comprehensive picture of the custom cake options available at each of these brands. Remember, your local Costco or Sam's Club may have different sheet cake offerings, so confirm with a warehouse near you before placing your order.