AT A GLANCE
The stated reason: Mealime’s notice says Albertsons Companies is moving the recipes and meal-planning experience into Meals Hub in its grocery apps and websites. The same core team supports it.
What to do now: The app is scheduled to close on 21 October 2026 and Mealime says personal data will be deleted. Back up a favourite recipe, save personal notes and this week’s plan, then test Meals Hub or another planner.
What Albertsons and Mealime have said
The closing notice is short. Mealime will be discontinued on 21 October 2026, every Mealime recipe will continue in Meals Hub, Pro is free until then, and personal data will be deleted at shutdown. It frames the move as bringing the planning experience to “millions more” shoppers through the store apps.
Albertsons has been building this direction since it expanded the Meal Plans tool inside its apps in 2023: shoppable recipes, budget targets and one-tap carts. Meals Hub is that tool with Mealime’s catalogue and team attached.
What the move means for shoppers
Meals Hub keeps Mealime’s recipes and planning tools inside Albertsons Companies store apps and websites. Its grocery ordering path is connected to those stores, while Mealime says the recipes, plans and shopping lists can still be used without a nearby Albertsons store.
If you shop elsewhere, test a full week before switching: choose dinners, make the list and check whether its quantities work at your store. If the catalogue is what matters most, Meals Hub is the official route.
What users are saying
The r/mealime thread from 2 September and a r/cookingforbeginners thread two days later ask the same two things: how to keep the recipes, and which app plans a week without tying you to one store. The petition’s wording is blunter: it objects to a planner “buried three menus deep inside grocery-store apps many of us don’t use”.
The complaint that comes up most is the missing export. Mealime never had one, and users asked for it on its own community forum as far back as 2019.
What it means for you
- Your recipes survive, your account does not. Favourites, notes, preferences and plans are deleted. Copy out what you cook before 21 October.
- Meals Hub is free and has the same catalogue. It suits you if you shop at an Albertsons Companies store and do not need a calendar or exact servings. Read our Meals Hub review before deciding.
- If you shop anywhere else, pick a store-agnostic planner. Our alternatives guide compares the options, and every Mealime dinner is rebuilt here with its grocery list.
Frequently asked questions
When exactly does Mealime shut down?
Mealime gives 21 October 2026 as the discontinuation date in its closing notice and app store listings.
Who owns Mealime?
Albertsons Companies, the US grocer behind Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and other banners. Mealime says the acquisition happened in 2021.
Is Meals Hub made by the same people?
Mealime says the same team manages both. The product is different: it lives inside the store apps and is designed around shopping at those stores.
Could the petition change the decision?
Nothing Albertsons has published suggests so, and the app’s own release notes continue to reference the shutdown. Plan on the date holding.
Why is there no export button?
Mealime never built one. Its recipes belong to its catalogue rather than to users, and the company’s answer to “where do my recipes go” is Meals Hub. Our free backup tool saves a readable copy from a public recipe link.
Keep your next week simple.
Every Mealime dinner, rebuilt and searchable, or find one from a saved link.