AT A GLANCE
Short version. Want a suggested week: MealPot Pro (iPhone/iPad) or Eat This Much (macro targets). Want to schedule your own recipes: Plan to Eat, Paprika or AnyList Complete. Want free basic planning: Samsung Food or Meals Hub. Want a shared list first: AnyList.
How we compared. We checked each app’s own feature and pricing pages on 15 October 2026. MealPot publishes this comparison; follow the source links for each product and confirm current prices before paying.
Apps that suggest a week
MealPot — iPhone and iPad, free to download, with full generated plans and import in Pro. It suggests meals from preferences and household size, then writes an aisle-sorted list; the website has a browsable recipe catalogue.
Eat This Much — generates plans around calorie and macro targets. Its US pricing page lists a free tier and Premium at $5 a month on the displayed plan; verify the billing terms at checkout.
Meals Hub — free inside Albertsons Companies store apps, with Mealime’s recipe catalogue. Servings are fixed at 2, 4 or 6 and grocery ordering favors those stores; see our review.
Apps where you choose the recipes
Plan to Eat — $5.95 a month or $49 a year in the US. You save recipes, put them on a calendar and build a grocery list from the plan.
Paprika 3 — local recipe storage, manual meal calendar and grocery lists, with optional sync. The US iOS app is $4.99; desktop versions are priced separately.
AnyList Complete — $9.99 a year individual or $14.99 household in the US, with shared lists, recipes, meal calendar and groceries generated from the plan.
The free tiers
Samsung Food offers free recipe saving, planning and lists, with some personalised features in a paid tier. MealPot is free to download and its website recipe catalogue is browsable; full in-app plans and recipe import require Pro. Meals Hub is free inside Albertsons store apps.
Mealime says Pro is free during its farewell period before 21 October 2026; see the shutdown guide.
How to choose in ten minutes
- iPhone, want the week decided: MealPot.
- Any device, want your own recipes on a calendar: Plan to Eat.
- One-time purchase, own your recipe box: Paprika.
- Calorie and macro targets: Eat This Much.
- Free with a big library: Samsung Food; if you shop Albertsons stores, Meals Hub.
- Shared household list first: AnyList.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free meal planning app?
Samsung Food for breadth, Meals Hub if you shop at Albertsons stores, MealPot for a free-to-download planner with a browsable tested library. "Best" depends mostly on whether you want the plan generated or want to build it yourself.
What replaced Mealime?
Officially Meals Hub, inside Albertsons store apps. For a store-agnostic planner with the same plan-and-list shape, MealPot; see the full answer.
Is Plan to Eat worth the money?
For people who cook from their own saved recipes, yes — the calendar-plus-list loop is the strongest manual workflow. If you would rather the app choose the meals, a generated planner fits better.
Do any meal planning apps work on Android?
Plan to Eat, Paprika, Samsung Food and Eat This Much all do. MealPot is iPhone and iPad only. Meals Hub runs inside the Albertsons store apps on both platforms.
The honest pitch.
MealPot plans the week and writes the list. Free to download — judge it on one week.