Mealime is closing on 21 October 2026.

What Mealime has said, in its own words.

Mealime published a closing page. These are quotes from it, read on 9 September 2026.

Source: mealime.com/closing, fetched 9 September 2026.

The same page says Mealime was acquired by Albertsons Companies in 2021, and that planning moves to Meals Hub inside the Albertsons Companies store apps and websites, reached from the More icon in those apps. It also answers the obvious worry: if there is no Albertsons Companies store near you, the page says you can still browse recipes, create meal plans and generate shopping lists in Meals Hub.

So the first honest thing to say on a page like this one is that Mealime has already named a free destination, and if you shop at those stores and want the same recipes, that is the shortest path. Everything below is for people who want a different kind of planner instead.

Mealime is cheap, quick to start and very well liked.

On the US App Store on 9 September 2026, Mealime held 4.81 stars from 53,992 ratings, which is near the top of this whole category. Its subtitle is the plainest description of the job it does: "Meal Planner & Grocery List". Its own App Store description claims "over 7 million users".

Apple lists Mealime Meal Planner Pro at $2.99 a month, and the closing page winds the paid subscriptions down, so Pro recipes and features are now available to every Mealime user. Planning is built around Mealime's own recipe library: you set your diet and taste preferences, you pick meals from their catalogue, and the grocery list comes out of those choices.

That is a good product at a fair price, and none of what follows is a criticism of it. It is a description of a different starting point.

Source: App Store, US storefront, 9 September 2026, and mealime.com/closing.

What happens to your account on the closing date.

• The app stops on 21 October 2026. The closing page says personal data will be deleted when the application is shut down.
• Pro members are not charged again. Mealime says Pro subscribers will not be charged any additional subscription fees before that date.
• The recipes continue in Meals Hub, free, inside the Albertsons Companies store apps and websites.
• Your settings do not travel automatically. On transferring an account, the closing page says certain preferences and settings will need to be established directly within Meals Hub.
• Nothing exports into WhatsCook.ing. There is no recipe import here, from Mealime or from anywhere else. That is a real cost of switching and it is listed again below.

The practical consequence: whatever you want to keep, write it down before the date. A list of the ten dinners you actually cook is worth more than any export file.

WhatsCook.ing starts from your shelf, not from a recipe library.

Mealime asks what you like, then filters its catalogue. WhatsCook.ing asks what you have, then writes around it. That single change moves where the shopping list comes from, what the week costs you, and what happens after you cook.

• The week is written from a photograph of your kitchen. You photograph the shelf or the fridge, the app reads the items and their quantities, and the seven days are built around what is already there.
• The shopping list is only the gaps. Not every ingredient in the plan. Only what the week needs and your pantry does not already cover, totalled across the week and grouped by aisle.
• Cooking has a consequence. Marking a meal cooked scores the day across four pillars, calorie fit, protein adequacy, micronutrient coverage and heart health, and moves a BioAge estimate. It is a nutrition-derived estimate explained inside the app, not a medical measurement.
• Nothing is dropped at the end of the week. The finished week stays on screen, and one button plans the next one from the pantry as it is now.
• It asks before anything leaves the phone. Pantry photos are read by Google Gemini. Your answers about diet, goals and body metrics go to Anthropic, which writes the recipes. The app names both services and asks for permission first. Nothing is sold and nothing goes to advertising.

There is no import. Here is the path that actually works.

1. Write down the dishes you actually cook. Do it before 21 October, because the closing page says personal data is deleted when the app shuts down. Ten dinners is plenty.
2. Decide where your Mealime recipes live. Meals Hub keeps them at no cost inside the Albertsons Companies apps, and that is the route Mealime itself points to.
3. Start here by photographing your shelves, not by searching for recipes. The first week is written from what the photo finds, so a fuller photo of the cupboard and the fridge gives a better week.
4. Answer the questions about diet, allergies and goals properly. The diet you set is enforced on every meal in the week rather than suggested, so it is worth two careful minutes.
5. When a planned dinner is not the one you want, swap it. You get five swaps a week, each with a new dish, photo and macros, and a dish you rejected does not come back later that week.
6. Keep cooking your Mealime favourites alongside the plan. The app does not know them and will not pretend to. It plans the other nights.

Three planners worth your time, whether or not you try ours.

• Eat This Much. Describes itself as putting your diet on autopilot and builds a full plan against your calorie and macro targets, budget and schedule. 4.72 stars from 22,087 ratings, in-app tiers from $8.99. Pick it if hitting targets matters more than using up what you own.
• Samsung Food. A free meal planner and recipe saver, with premium at $6.99 a month or $59.99 a year. 4.78 stars from 6,333 ratings. Pick it if you save recipes from around the web and want a planner that costs nothing.
• Paprika Recipe Manager 3. One payment of $4.99, no subscription, and the highest rating in this set at 4.90 from 53,706 ratings. Pick it if you keep your own recipes and would rather own the app than rent it.

Source: App Store, US storefront, 9 September 2026.

A longer version of this list, including the apps that beat us, is at the best meal planning apps in 2026. If you have a specific question about how this one works, the questions page answers eighteen of the common ones.