Mealime is shutting down October 21: what to use instead
Mealime closes October 21, 2026 and there is no export. How to save your recipes this week, plus an honest comparison of the apps worth switching to.
Mealime shuts down on October 21, 2026. Pro is free for everyone until then, and there is no export button. Your saved recipes, plans and lists are deleted with the app. This week: screenshot your favorites, write down your dietary filters, and pick a replacement you can search those recipes in.
What happens to your recipes and plans
Mealime's closing notice sets the date at October 21, 2026, and is blunt about your data: "All personal data will be deleted when the Mealime application is shut down" (mealime.com/closing, as of September 2026).
Pro is already free. The notice says Pro subscribers will not be charged again and that every Pro feature is now open to everyone. The App Store listing agrees, and prices Mealime Pro at $2.99 a month before the farewell (as of September 2026).
There is no export. No file, no download, no transfer of your own content. What moves is Mealime's recipe catalog, not your favorites, plans or lists.
The catalog moves to Meals Hub, a free recipe and meal planning tool from Albertsons Companies, built by the Mealime team. It lives inside the Albertsons store apps and websites: Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME Markets, Shaw's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Pavilions, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Haggen and Carrs. There is a web version, reached from the More icon in your store app (mealime.com/closing, as of September 2026).
That is the catch. Pickup and delivery run through Albertsons-owned stores, so if you shop at Kroger, Aldi, Costco or an independent, the shopping half does not reach you. A September 2026 review also found serving sizes fixed at 2, 4 or 6, no calendar for assigning a recipe to a day, no recipe clipper and no folders for your own recipes.
A user in r/cookingforbeginners put the mismatch plainly: "I don't want to order food, I want to make it."
How to save your favorites before October 21
Do it in one sitting. It takes about twenty minutes.
- Open your favorites and screenshot each recipe, ingredients and steps both.
- Type the recipe names into a plain note. Screenshots cannot be searched, and searching is what you need next.
- Photograph your current grocery list.
- Write down the eating style you had set and every allergen you had filtered, so you can set them again.
- Search those names in whichever app you pick next. Common weeknight dinners exist in more than one place. Add by hand only what you cannot find.
After October 21 the app is gone and the list goes with it.
Mealime alternatives compared
Mealime users name four needs: a built-in recipe database, a grocery list that writes itself, a list that works at whatever store they shop at, and a cook mode. As a user in r/cookingforbeginners said, "so few apps have a built-in recipe database". Prices below are as of September 2026.
| App | Built-in recipe database | Automatic grocery list | Works with any store | Cook mode | Price (September 2026) | Pantry and can-make |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meals Hub | Yes, the Mealime recipes plus more | Yes | No. Albertsons-owned stores for pickup and delivery | Not documented | Free | No pantry |
| Paprika 3 | No. You clip or type your own | Yes, combined and sorted by aisle | Yes | Yes. Screen stays on, current step highlighted | $4.99 iPhone and iPad, $29.99 Mac, bought once per platform | Pantry with quantities, purchase and expiry dates |
| Plan to Eat | No. You clip your own | Yes, aisle by aisle | Yes | Not documented | $5.95 a month or $49 a year, 14-day trial, no free tier | Not offered |
| SuperCook | Yes, matched across millions of recipes | No | Yes, no store tie | Not documented | Free | Ingredient pantry, recipes matched to it. No expiry dates |
| Samsung Food | Yes, about 240,000 recipes | Yes, with retailer integrations | Partly. One store on the shopping list | Not documented | Free with ads. Food+ $6.99 a month or $59.99 a year | Paid plan only, manual entry, ignores what is expiring soon |
| Well Stockd | Yes, about 3,950 meal-kit-style recipes, free | Yes, from the week's picks, free | Yes, any store, plus a one-tap Walmart cart | Yes, free | Free plan. Pro $4.99 a month or $39 a year | Inventory with expiry tracking and "can make now" matching, free |
The catalog, the grocery list, the Walmart cart and cook mode are all on the free plan. Make a free account, search your Mealime favorites, and see how many are already in there. Claim the switch offer
Who should pick which
Some of these will suit you better than we do. Here is the honest version.
- Meals Hub, if you already shop at Safeway, Albertsons, Vons or another Albertsons store. The recipes are the ones you know, pickup is built in, and it costs nothing.
- Mealime vs Paprika: pick Paprika if what you loved was collecting recipes from the web. One-time purchase, real cook mode, and a pantry with quantities and expiry dates. The trade: it ships with no recipes, and you buy it again on each platform.
- Mealime vs Plan to Eat: pick Plan to Eat if you already have a recipe collection and want a proper planning calendar around it. Same empty start as Paprika, and it is subscription only.
- Mealime vs eMeals: pick eMeals if you want someone else to decide the menu every week. Done-for-you plans from about $4.99 a month on an annual subscription, with Walmart, Kroger, Amazon and Instacart connected (emeals.com, as of September 2026).
- SuperCook, if you want free and only want the "what can I make right now" answer. No grocery list, no cook mode, no expiry dates.
- Samsung Food, if you want the biggest free catalog and do not need a real pantry. The pantry sits on the paid tier and does not know what is going off.
- Well Stockd, if what you want back is Mealime's shape. Open the app, see real weeknight dinners, tap a few, get a list, cook from your phone.
What you keep with Well Stockd
You keep the part of Mealime you used every week. About 3,950 meal-kit-style recipes built for weeknights, a shopping list that writes itself from the week's picks, cook mode on your phone, and a one-tap Walmart cart if you want one. All free, and the list works at any store.
Then the part Mealime never had. Add what is in your fridge and pantry, with dates, and the catalog filters down to what you can make tonight. Expiry tracking is free too, so the app tells you what to cook first.
Pro adds the weekly planner, household sync so two phones share one kitchen, the hands-free cook assistant, custom substitutions, and unlimited lists and saved recipes. It is $4.99 a month or $39 a year, with a 7-day trial that does not ask for a card. Full breakdown on pricing.
Coming from Mealime, take the switch offer: one free Pro month, then the yearly plan at $39, roughly what Mealime Pro cost for a year. Claim it in Settings once you have a free account. Details at wellstockd.com/switch/mealime.
Plan next week from what is already in your kitchen. Start the free Pro month, then keep it for $39 a year. Claim the switch offer
FAQ
Is Mealime shutting down?
Yes, on October 21, 2026. Pro is free for everyone until then, existing Pro subscriptions will not renew, and all personal data is deleted when the app shuts down (mealime.com/closing, as of September 2026).
What happened to Mealime?
The Mealime team moved to Albertsons Companies and built Meals Hub, a free tool inside the Albertsons store apps and websites. Mealime's recipe catalog moves there. Your favorites, plans and lists do not, because there is no export (mealime.com/closing, as of September 2026).
What is the best Mealime alternative?
It depends which half of Mealime you used. For a built-in weeknight catalog with a free grocery list and cook mode, Well Stockd is closest. For collecting recipes from the web, Paprika at $4.99 on iPhone. For a planning calendar around your own collection, Plan to Eat at $5.95 a month (September 2026).
What apps are like Mealime?
Meals Hub, Well Stockd, Samsung Food and SuperCook all give you recipes you did not have to add yourself. Paprika and Plan to Eat are organizers, so you supply the recipes. Only Meals Hub, Samsung Food and Well Stockd pair a catalog with an automatic grocery list.
Mealime vs Plan to Eat: which is closer to what Mealime did?
Neither is a straight swap. Plan to Eat has the stronger planning calendar and an aisle-by-aisle list, but no built-in recipe database, so you start with an empty book. It is subscription only at $5.95 a month or $49 a year after a 14-day trial (September 2026).
Is Mealime worth it?
Right now it costs nothing, because Pro was opened to everyone for the final weeks. It stops working on October 21, 2026, so treat it as a free month and spend that month moving your favorites somewhere else.