Best meal planning apps: 12 free and paid options
Compare flexible household plans, recipe calendars and supplied menus, with the cost of planning features made clear.
By The Scullery team · Written
Updated
A meal planning app should make it easier to decide what to cook and work out what to buy. Scullery offers shared shortlists and flexible meal plans for free. Other apps focus on calendars, supplied menus or nutrition targets, so start with the kind of help your household wants.
Compare 12 meal planning apps
We make Scullery; this comparison uses official pages checked on 15 September 2026, not a hands-on ranking. Links lead to feature and pricing sources. Dollar prices are USD; store prices and billing options vary by country.
| App and platforms | Cost | Best suited to | Check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scullery Web | Free — no subscription or app purchase | Shared shortlists and flexible plans | Free account needed; AI usage limits |
| Plan to Eat iOS, Android, web | $49/year or $5.95/month; 14-day trial | Calendar built from saved recipes | Subscription after trial |
| Paprika iOS, Android, Mac, Windows | One-time purchase per platform | Reusable menus beside recipes | Separate platform purchases |
| AnyList iOS, Android; paid web/Mac | Free lists; Complete $9.99/year individual, $14.99/household | Planning around shared shopping | Calendar requires Complete |
| Samsung Food iOS, Android, web | Free; optional Food+ $59.99/year | Saving and planning discovered recipes | Personalised plans require Food+ |
| Crouton iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch | Free download; paid Plus | Weekly planning from Apple collections | Apple devices only |
| Recipe Keeper iOS, Android, Mac, Windows | Free trial; iOS Pro $19.99 | Planning with scanned family recipes | Pro pricing varies by platform |
| Eat This Much iOS, Android, web | Free daily plans; Premium $60/year | Automatic plans around nutrition goals | Weekly plans and lists paid |
| MealPrepPro iOS, Android | Subscription; 7-day trial | Batch preparation and nutrition targets | Meal-prep focus; recurring cost |
| eMeals iOS, Android | Dinner $59.99/year; 14-day trial | Choosing from supplied weekly menus | Extra meal plans cost more |
| Cozi iOS, Android, web | Free; Gold $39/year; Max $79/year | Meals beside the family calendar | AI meal planner requires Max |
| Mealie Self-hosted web | Free software; hosting costs separate | Planning on your own server | Server setup and maintenance |
Free planning or a paid menu service?
Scullery has no subscription or app purchase cost. Shortlist household favourites, choose meals together and leave them flexible or assign days. Ingredients can feed the shared shopping list.
Scullery runs in phone and desktop browsers. Create a free account to start; AI features have usage limits.
Plan to Eat suits a calendar built from your own recipes. eMeals supplies menus to choose from; Eat This Much focuses on generating plans around nutrition goals. Samsung Food offers a free starting point, with personalised planning extras in Food+.
What about Mealime?
Mealime's official notice says the app will close on 21 October 2026, with recipes and planning moving to Meals Hub in Albertsons Companies apps. Check that transition before choosing it from an older roundup.
Try a week that changes
Imagine planning curry, a traybake and pasta, then going out on Wednesday. Move that meal, check its shopping ingredients and ask another household member to check the revised plan.
Start with three meals and room for changes. Compare the features you'll actually use after any trial ends.
