Mealime Alternatives After the October 21 Shutdown
Updated October 2026 · 4 min read
Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on PexelsPhoto by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels
Quick answer
Mealime was discontinued on October 21, 2026. Its recipes continue in Meals Hub, a free section of Albertsons store apps. If you want a planner that is not tied to one grocery chain, this guide compares the options by price, recipe import and who each one fits.
Checked October 30, 2026, against each company's own pages. Prices and limits change, so confirm on the vendor's site before you subscribe.
What happened to Mealime
Mealime's closing notice says the app was discontinued on October 21, 2026. Albertsons Companies, which bought Mealime in 2021, is moving the recipe library into Meals Hub. Meals Hub is a free section inside Albertsons Companies store apps and websites. Mealime says it works even if you do not shop at an Albertsons store.
Two details matter for planning. First, the closing notice does not offer an export of your saved data, so anything you made or edited yourself has to be copied by hand. Second, your account does not move over. Some preferences need to be set up again in the new place.
Step one: save what you actually cook
Do this before you choose anything new. It takes about ten minutes.
- Write down the names of the ten to fifteen dinners your household really eats.
- Copy the full text of any recipe you edited or wrote yourself.
- Note allergies, disliked foods and household size, because every planner asks for them again.
- Keep Mealime's own recipes by name only. Those recipes continue in Meals Hub.
Your options, side by side
| Option | Best for | What it costs (as the vendor states it) | Brings your own recipes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meals Hub (Albertsons) | People who loved Mealime's library or shop at Safeway, Vons and sister stores | Free | Uses the Mealime library |
| Plenishly | Households that want the week, the grocery list and the budget in one place | Free plan; Plenishly $9.99 a month or $99 a year | Yes, by link or pasted text |
| Plan to Eat | Cooks with a large personal recipe collection | $5.95 a month or $49 a year, 14-day trial | Yes, web clipper |
| AnyList | Shared grocery lists with a recipe box | Complete is $9.99 a year for one person or $14.99 a year for a household | Yes, limited on free |
| Samsung Food | People who want a very large recipe library and community | Plus is $6.99 a month or $59.99 a year, 7-day trial | Yes |
| Eat This Much | Macro and calorie targets | Free daily plans; weekly plans and grocery list are premium | Yes |
| Meals Hub (Albertsons) | People who loved Mealime's library or shop at Safeway, Vons and sister stores | Free | Uses the Mealime library |
| Plenishly | Households that want the week, the grocery list and the budget in one place | Free plan; Plenishly $9.99 a month or $99 a year | Yes, by link or pasted text |
| Plan to Eat | Cooks with a large personal recipe collection | $5.95 a month or $49 a year, 14-day trial | Yes, web clipper |
| AnyList | Shared grocery lists with a recipe box | Complete is $9.99 a year for one person or $14.99 a year for a household | Yes, limited on free |
How to choose
Stay in the Mealime style: Meals Hub. If what you liked was a quick recipe library with simple steps, Meals Hub is the official successor and it is free. The trade is that planning lives inside a grocery chain's app.
Want one calm place for the whole week: Plenishly. Pleny plans dinners for your household, builds the grocery list from the plan, and shows what the week costs against the target you set. You can bring recipes you already trust by pasting a link or text. The free plan covers the basics, and paid plans add more seats and tools. Plenishly is a smaller product than the larger libraries below, so it will not hold 180,000 recipes. It is built to decide the week for you, not to be a recipe encyclopedia.
Have hundreds of saved recipes: Plan to Eat. Its own pages describe a single price with no locked features and a 14-day free trial with no card. If your collection is the point, this is a strong fit.
Mostly need a shared list: AnyList. At $9.99 or $14.99 a year it is the lowest-cost paid option in this table. Free users can import five recipes from websites. Complete removes that limit and adds the meal calendar.
Want a huge library: Samsung Food. It advertises more than 180,000 recipes and is bought on a mobile device. Plus adds tailored seven-day plans and pantry-based search.
Counting macros: Eat This Much. It generates plans from calorie and nutrition targets. That is a different job from planning a calm family dinner, and it is excellent at that job.
Costs over a year
A family on a monthly plan pays twelve times the monthly price. On the vendors' stated prices, that is $71.40 for Plan to Eat if billed monthly, $83.88 for Samsung Food, and $119.88 for the Plenishly monthly plan. The yearly plans are lower: $49, $59.99 and $99. AnyList is $9.99 or $14.99 for the whole year. Meals Hub is free. Choose the billing period you will actually stick with, and set a reminder before the trial ends.
What to do this week
- Save your dinner list and edited recipes.
- Pick one option from the table and use its free tier or trial for one full week.
- Judge it on one question: did dinner get decided without extra effort?
- Only then pay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mealime's closing notice gives October 21, 2026 as the discontinuation date.
The closing notice does not offer an export or transfer of saved data. Copy anything you created or edited yourself by hand.
Mealime says no. Meals Hub is a free section of Albertsons Companies store apps and websites, and you can browse recipes and make plans even if you do not shop there.
That depends on what you valued. For a planner that connects dinners, the grocery list and the budget, try Plenishly. For a large personal recipe box, try Plan to Eat. For a shared list, try AnyList.