Shared grocery list app for iPhone and Android: one kitchen
Run one kitchen from two phones: one shared list, one shared inventory and one shared plan across iPhone and Android.
Three things have to be shared and the rest should not be: the shopping list, what is in the house, and the week's plan. Everything else, including personal lists and preferences, works better kept separate. If your two phones run different platforms, the built-in apps will not carry all three.
The three things that have to be shared
The first is the shopping list, on both phones, updating in real time. When one of you finishes the milk it should reach the other person's list within seconds, because a list that syncs when you next open the app is wrong in the aisle.
The second is the inventory. A list tells you what to buy; an inventory tells you what you already own, and without one you keep buying a second jar of something sitting unopened at the back of a cupboard. This is the half almost nobody shares.
The third is the week's plan, which does not need to be seven dinners. Three or four, written where you can both see them, turns a fridge full of ingredients into ingredients with a job. A shared shopping list alone only solves the first of the three.
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What should stay personal
Not everything belongs in the shared space, and putting it all there is the quickest way to make the shared part unusable. Work lunches, gifts and anything meant to be a surprise want their own small personal list beside the household one. Preferences stay personal too: a shared plan works when each of you keeps your own favourites and swaps, and stops working the moment one person's taste becomes the house default.
The iPhone and Android problem
Plenty of kitchens have one phone from each platform, which quietly removes the answer half of those households would otherwise use. The notes and reminders apps that come with a phone are built for that phone's own world, and the sharing they do best is with devices of the same kind. Whatever you pick, install it on both phones and share one real list before you move anything important into it. That gap is why people search for a shared grocery list app that works across iPhone and Android, rather than for a grocery list app.
Who updates what, and when
One rule beats any division of labour. Whoever notices something has run out adds it. Whoever shops checks it off. Whoever cooks updates the inventory. Nobody is the designated updater, because the moment there is one, there is also somebody quietly resenting the job.
An r/ProductivityHQ thread on family grocery lists put the wish plainly: "so I'm not the only one responsible for remembering we're out of milk". The grocery-tracking threads describe it working: "if I am at a store and my husband is at a different store i can see in real time if he picks up milk and eggs so i dont 'double buy'". Both depend on the update landing on the other phone while it still matters.
The two-minute habit that keeps it honest
Two minutes a night from either phone keeps the whole system true. Open the inventory, look at what expires soonest, and move one or two of those items into tomorrow's dinner. That is the entire habit. Skip it for a week and the inventory drifts and you stop trusting it, and the repair is the same two minutes rather than a full re-count.
Apps that do all three
Every app here shares a list on both platforms, so that column is left out. The question is what else comes with it.
| App | Price as of September 2026 | Free tier | Shared inventory | Shared plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Well Stockd | $7.99 a month or $79 a year | 2 custom lists, the catalog, inventory with expiry dates, a limited number of voice fills each month | Yes, with expiry dates, shared through household sync | Yes, the weekly planner, shared through household sync |
| AnyList | Complete $9.99 a year for one person, $14.99 a year for a household | Yes, with Complete above it | No inventory and no expiry dates | Meal-planning calendar, Complete only |
| OurGroceries | Free with ads; ad removal reported at $0.99 a month, $5.99 a year or $19.99 once | Yes, free with ads | No | No |
| Cozi | Free with ads; Cozi Gold $39 a year covering everyone on the account | Yes, free with ads | No pantry inventory | Family calendar first, with meal planning beside it |
Those prices and features were checked in September 2026. The pattern is the point: almost nothing covers the last two columns. AnyList is a good shared list with a planning calendar and nothing underneath it, OurGroceries keeps to the list, and Cozi is a family calendar that happens to hold one. What the shared kitchen adds is the inventory under all of it.
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Setting it up together
Do the setup side by side and give it ten minutes. Install the same app on both phones, create the shared kitchen on one, and invite the other. Then walk to the fridge together, add the staples you always keep, and sketch the next few dinners between you. Doing it together matters more than it sounds, because a system one person built alone is one the other never quite trusts.
What changes in the first week
The duplicates go first, usually around day three, once you have both checked the app before a shop. By the end of the week the plan carries its own weight and dinner stops being a question somebody answers at six. The inventory earns its place more quietly, by telling you which two things need using before the weekend.
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Where to go next
This page is the general version. Each of these goes deeper on one kind of household:
- Shared grocery list apps for couples, for the list half when there are two of you.
- Shared pantry apps, for the inventory half and what is worth tracking.
- Meal planning apps for couples, for planning around two schedules.
- Family meal planning apps, for a house with children and the rotation method.
- Roommate grocery apps, for a shared kitchen that is not a couple.
FAQ
How do you share a grocery list between iPhone and Android?
Pick an app that ships on both the App Store and Google Play, install it on both phones, and create one shared list rather than two. Add items through the week, check them off in the store, and keep anything personal on a separate list.
Is there a free shared grocery list app?
Yes, several. Well Stockd Free gives you 2 custom lists, inventory with expiry tracking and a limited number of voice fills each month. As of September 2026, AnyList has a free tier and both OurGroceries and Cozi are free with ads.
How do you share a shopping list with family?
Create one household list inside an app everyone can install, and invite the rest of the house to it. Add items the moment you notice them and check them off the moment you buy them, so that real-time sync has something to sync.
Can two people share a pantry inventory?
Yes, but only with an app built for it, because a shared list is not a shared inventory. In Well Stockd one Pro account creates the shared kitchen and both of you cook from the same inventory, favourites and plan. As of September 2026 AnyList has no inventory and no expiry dates, so it cannot share that half at all.
What is the best shared shopping list app?
It depends on how much of the kitchen you want to share. For the list on its own, several free apps do the job. For the list, the inventory and the plan together, the table above shows how few cover all three. Start free and trial Pro for a week before deciding.