Mealime Is Shutting Down: What to Use Instead
Mealime's site says the app is discontinued as of October 21, 2026. Albertsons Companies, which bought Mealime in 2021, is moving users to Meals Hub inside its grocery store apps, and all personal data in Mealime is deleted when it shuts down. If Mealime planned your week and wrote your grocery list, this page is a plain guide to what to save first and where to go next, including where Pluck fits and where it doesn't.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Pluck | Mealime |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available on iOS and Android | Discontinued as of October 21, 2026 |
| Where the recipes come from | Recipes you save (videos, websites, photos) | Mealime's own recipe catalog, plus web import |
| Meal planning | Yes (weekly; free: current week) | Yes (pick recipes for a plan) |
| Plans the week for you | Fill my week, from your own recipes (Plus and Pro) | Yes, from its catalog |
| Diet and allergy presets | No (limit Fill my week to tags you choose) | Yes (8 diet types, 10 allergies, disliked ingredients) |
| Grocery list | Yes (merged, sorted by aisle, shared with up to 5 people) | Yes (combined, by store department) |
| Shared grocery list | Yes (with up to 5 others, live, free) | No (send the list, or share one login) |
| Save recipes from websites | Yes (AI, any page) | Yes (web import) |
| Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook | Yes (reads the video) | Not documented |
| Photo / handwriting | Yes (cookbooks, handwriting, screenshots) | Not documented |
| Cook mode | Yes (step timers, ingredients per step) | Yes (hands-free) |
| Nutrition | No | Yes |
| Grocery delivery | No | Store and delivery partners (US) |
| App languages | 6 | English only |
| Price | Free; paid plans from $2.99/mo | Pro was $2.99/mo; free for everyone until the shutdown |
Where Mealime falls short
It ends on October 21, 2026
Mealime's own site says the app is discontinued as of that date. Paid subscriptions are being wound down and every Pro recipe and feature is open to all users until then.
Your data is deleted, and there is no export
Mealime says "all personal data will be deleted when the Mealime application is shut down", and it offers no export or migration tool. Favourites, notes and the recipes you imported have to be saved by hand before that date.
The replacement lives in a grocery chain's app
Mealime points its users to Meals Hub, which is part of the store apps and websites of Albertsons Companies (Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, Jewel-Osco and others). Mealime says Meals Hub still works if you can't shop at one of those stores, but it is a US grocery chain's app, and preferences have to be set up again there.
What Pluck does differently
A week planned from recipes you chose
On Plus and Pro, Fill my week fills the empty days of your meal plan from your own recipe box: favourites mixed with ones you haven't tried, nothing repeated from last week, and dishes that share fresh ingredients. Turn on leftovers and tonight's dinner is tomorrow's lunch. You swap what you don't want before anything is added. How it works.
One grocery list, shared
Pluck builds one list from the week or from a single recipe, with duplicates merged, amounts added up and items sorted by aisle. Invite up to 5 people and everyone adds and ticks off items live, free on every plan.
Recipes from anywhere, including the ones you rescue
Pluck saves from any website, from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook videos, and from photos. A screenshot of a recipe in Mealime works too.
Cook mode with timers
One step at a time in large text, the ingredients for that step, and timers that ring even when the app is closed. Finish the recipe and Pluck counts it in your cooking log.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mealime shutting down?
Yes. Mealime's site says the app is discontinued as of October 21, 2026. Albertsons Companies acquired Mealime in 2021 and is moving its users to Meals Hub in its grocery store apps. Pro features are free for everyone until the shutdown, and subscribers are not charged again.
Can I save my Mealime recipes before it closes?
Mealime offers no export, and it says personal data is deleted at the shutdown, so save what you want to keep before October 21, 2026. For a recipe you imported from a website, paste the original link into Pluck. For Mealime's own recipes, take a screenshot: Pluck's photo extraction reads a screenshot into an editable recipe with ingredients and steps. Each one uses an extraction (3 a month on the free plan, 50 on Plus).
What is the best Mealime alternative?
It depends on what Mealime did for you. If you want recipes picked for you by diet, look at Meals Hub, where Mealime's recipes are moving, or at an app with its own recipe catalog. If you would rather plan from recipes you choose yourself, Pluck saves them from anywhere, plans the week from them and builds the grocery list.
Does Pluck build a meal plan automatically like Mealime did?
On Plus and Pro, yes. Fill my week plans the empty days from your own saved recipes, dinner by default and breakfast, lunch and snacks if you choose. It needs at least 5 saved recipes. The difference from Mealime: Pluck plans from your recipe box, not from a catalog filtered by diet.
Does Pluck have a recipe catalog like Mealime?
No. Pluck doesn't come with recipes to browse. Everything in it is a recipe you saved: from a website, a cooking video, a photo of a cookbook page, or an import from another recipe app.
What did Mealime do that Pluck doesn't?
Three things: a built-in catalog of quick recipes with diet and allergy presets, nutrition information, and links to grocery delivery in the US. Pluck has none of those. It also has no web app.
Read our comparison of the best recipe apps in 2026.
Related reading: Best Recipe Apps 2026, Best recipe app for meal planning, An AI meal planner that uses your own recipes, Pluck vs Samsung Food, Pluck vs Plan to Eat, and Yummly alternatives.
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