If you've been looking for Mealime alternatives this week, it's because Mealime is going away. The meal-planning app, which holds a 4.8 average from more than 54,000 ratings on the US App Store, says it will be discontinued on October 21, 2026. What made it popular was the loop: pick a few quick recipes for the week, and it writes one grocery list, sorted by aisle, for all of them.
The best replacement depends on which half of that loop you'll miss. If it's the recipes themselves, there is an official successor. If it's the planning and the list, you have more choice. Below are six options, including DishPal, the dishes-to-shopping-list app we make, ranked by the need each one fits best.
What happens to Mealime on October 21
This is what Mealime's own closing page says, as of October 14, 2026:
- The app stops on October 21, 2026. Mealime was bought by Albertsons Companies in 2021, and its recipes are moving to Meals Hub inside the Albertsons Companies store apps.
- Pro is free until then. Pro subscribers won't be charged again, and every Pro recipe and feature is open to all users until the app closes.
- Your account doesn't move. Preferences such as diet and allergies have to be set up again in Meals Hub.
- Your data is deleted. Mealime says all personal data will be deleted when the app shuts down.
So the one thing worth doing before the 21st, whatever you switch to: go through the recipes you actually cook and save them somewhere you control. Mealime's recipes are also published on mealime.com, which apps with web import can read, and a screenshot of the ingredients and steps works in any app that reads screenshots.
1. DishPal — when you want the plan-to-list loop without an account
DishPal does the part of Mealime most people opened it for: you say what you want to cook this week, and it writes one shopping list with every ingredient listed once and the amounts added up, sorted by aisle. You don't need a recipe for it to work. “Tacos, a chicken curry and a big salad” is enough, typed or said out loud. It also keeps a fridge, freezer and pantry inventory and suggests what to make tonight from what's already there.
For Mealime's recipes, it can save a recipe from up to 6 screenshots or from pasted text, so screenshotting your favourites before the 21st is a practical way to bring them along. The free version includes manual lists, history, widgets, iCloud sync, the kitchen inventory, 3 AI uses a week (each list, recipe import or menu fill-in counts as one), 10 saved recipes and a three-day menu. Premium adds the full weekly menu, AI that fills empty dinners, family sharing through your own iCloud, the Apple Watch app, cooking mode and expiry reminders, with weekly, yearly (3-day trial) or lifetime plans.
The honest limits: DishPal doesn't come with a library of chef-written recipes, it can't import a recipe from a link, and it's iPhone and iPad only. There's no account and no ads.
2. Meals Hub — when you want the same Mealime recipes
Meals Hub is Mealime's official next home, built by the same team. Mealime says it includes all the Mealime recipes plus thousands more, keeps support for dietary preferences and restrictions, and is 100% free, including the recipes that used to need Pro. It isn't a separate app: you open an Albertsons Companies store app (Albertsons, Safeway and their sister chains), tap More, then Meals Hub. There's a web version on the store websites too.
The trade-off is that it lives inside a supermarket's app, built to sell you that store's groceries. Mealime says you can still browse recipes, build meal plans and make shopping lists if there is no Albertsons Companies store near you, but you'll need to sign in to one of their store apps to use it.
3. Plan to Eat — when you want to keep your own recipes from any site
Plan to Eat is for people who cooked from Mealime but also collect recipes from blogs, Instagram and TikTok. Its Recipe Clipper saves a recipe from any website, the meal-planning calendar runs a week or a month ahead with reusable menus, and the grocery list builds itself from the plan, organised by store and aisle. It works on iPhone, Android and the web, and one account covers the household.
There's no free plan. It's $5.95 a month or $49 a year on Plan to Eat's own site, after a 14-day trial that doesn't ask for a card, with a 60-day refund policy and no ads. Yearly plans don't renew automatically unless you turn that on.
4. Samsung Food — when you want a free planner with a big recipe catalogue
Samsung Food is the closest free match for Mealime's “give me ideas” side. Its App Store listing describes more than 240,000 public recipes, search by ingredient, filters for 14 diets, saving recipes from any website, weekly meal plans that turn into shopping lists, and shared grocery lists for the family, free on iPhone, iPad and the web.
The paid tier, Samsung Food+, adds AI-personalised weekly meal plans, recipe customisation, a step-by-step cooking mode for any recipe and automatic pantry management. Samsung Food doesn't list a price for it on its App Store page, so check in the app.
5. Paprika — when you'd rather pay once than subscribe
Paprika Recipe Manager 3 is a recipe archive you own. Its built-in browser downloads a recipe from a website into a clean card, and it builds daily, weekly or monthly meal plans, a grocery list that combines ingredients and sorts them by aisle, and a pantry with expiry dates around your collection. Recipes are stored on the device and open with no connection.
It's a one-time purchase, $4.99 for iPhone and iPad on the US App Store, sold separately for Mac, Windows and Android. Unlike Mealime, it doesn't suggest recipes for you: it's at its best when you already know what you like to cook.
6. AnyList — when the shared list matters more than the recipes
If what you really used Mealime for was the shopping list your partner could see, AnyList is the safe choice. Shared lists are free on iPhone and Android and update for everyone as you edit. Recipe import from websites, a meal-planning calendar and the Mac, web and Apple Watch apps are part of AnyList Complete, which AnyList's site lists at $9.99 a year for one person or $14.99 a year for a household. We compare it with Paprika in detail in AnyList vs Paprika.
How the Mealime alternatives compare
| DishPal | Meals Hub | Plan to Eat | Samsung Food | Paprika | AnyList | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recipe ideas included | No; you name the dishes | Mealime's recipes and more | — | 240,000+ public recipes | No | No |
| Save your own recipes | Screenshots or pasted text | — | Any website, Instagram, TikTok | Any website | Built-in browser | Websites (Complete) |
| Weekly meal plan | 3 days free; full week Premium | Yes | Week, month or longer | Yes | Daily, weekly, monthly | Calendar (Complete) |
| Grocery list from the plan | One list, amounts added up | Yes | By store and aisle | Yes | Combined, by aisle | Add recipe ingredients |
| Account needed | No | Store app sign-in | Yes | — | Only for Cloud Sync | — |
| Price | Free; Premium weekly, yearly or lifetime | Free | $5.95/mo or $49/yr | Free; Food+ paid | $4.99 once (iPhone/iPad, US) | Free; Complete $9.99–$14.99/yr |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad | Store apps and websites | iPhone, Android, web | iPhone, iPad, web | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, web |
A dash means the app doesn't publish that detail, so we haven't guessed. Details come from each app's App Store listing and website as of October 14, 2026; prices vary by country and plans change, so check before you buy.
Which one should you pick?
- You miss the recipes: Meals Hub, if a grocery store's app doesn't bother you. Samsung Food, if you'd rather keep groceries and recipes apart.
- You have your own recipes: Plan to Eat for a household subscription across iPhone and Android, Paprika to pay once.
- You mostly want the list: DishPal, to go straight from “what are we eating this week” to one list with what's already in the fridge taken into account, or AnyList, if the list has to be shared with Android.
If you're also rethinking how you track what you eat, not just what you buy, our guide to food journal apps covers that side.
Frequently asked questions
When is Mealime shutting down?
Mealime says the app will be discontinued on October 21, 2026. Pro subscribers are not charged again before then, and all Pro recipes and features are open to every Mealime user until it closes. Mealime also says all personal data will be deleted when the app shuts down.
What is replacing Mealime?
Mealime is moving its recipes to Meals Hub, a free recipe and meal-planning section inside the Albertsons Companies grocery store apps, run by the same team. You find it under More in a store app such as Albertsons or Safeway, and Mealime says it still works for planning and shopping lists if there is no Albertsons Companies store near you.
Can I move my Mealime recipes to another app?
Not as an export. Mealime says account information does not transfer, and preferences have to be set up again in Meals Hub. Its recipes are also published on mealime.com, so while the site is up you can save the ones you cook most into an app that imports from web pages, such as Plan to Eat, Paprika or Samsung Food, or screenshot them for an app that reads screenshots, such as DishPal.
What is the best free Mealime alternative?
Meals Hub is free and keeps the Mealime recipes, if you are happy to use a grocery store's app. Samsung Food is free on iPhone, iPad and the web with a large recipe catalogue, weekly plans and shared shopping lists. DishPal is free to download on iPhone and iPad with 3 AI uses a week, 10 recipes, a three-day menu and a kitchen inventory, and needs no account.
Name the week's dishes, get one list
Every ingredient once, amounts added up, sorted by aisle. No account, no ads.
Download DishPal on the App Store →Read more about DishPal, or see our AnyList alternatives if the shared list is what you need. Questions? Email us.
