Masala Menu
Mealime shut down on October 21, 2026. Accounts, saved plans and grocery lists were deleted with the app. Mealime’s recipes live on in Meals Hub, inside Albertsons’ grocery apps, and if you’re looking for somewhere else to plan, the right replacement depends on what you used Mealime for.
Below: what happened, how to get back to the recipes you liked, and seven apps to consider, with an honest note on each, including ours.
What happened to Mealime
Mealime was one of the best-loved meal planning apps: pick a few dinners, and it built the grocery list for you. In its later years it was closely tied to Albertsons Companies, the US grocery group behind Safeway, Albertsons and other store brands, whose online grocery service it connected to from 2021.
According to Mealime’s closing notice:
- The app was discontinued on October 21, 2026.
- All personal data was deleted when the app shut down. The notice doesn’t mention an export.
- Paid subscriptions were wound down beforehand, and all Pro recipes and features were opened to every user for the final weeks.
- Mealime’s recipes moved to Meals Hub, a free meal planning feature in Albertsons Companies’ store apps and websites, run by the same team that developed Mealime’s recipes. Preferences and settings have to be set up again there.
Find the recipes you liked
Your saved plans are gone, but the recipes themselves aren’t:
- If you shop at an Albertsons Companies store (Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, Jewel-Osco and others), open its app or website and look for Meals Hub. Mealime’s recipes are there.
- Otherwise, write down the dishes you made most while you still remember them: the five or ten dinners that were on repeat. That list is the real value of years of meal planning, and it fits in any app below.
- Search for each dish by name on a recipe site you trust and save the version you like into your new app.
Choose by what you used Mealime for
Mealime did several jobs at once. Most replacements do one or two of them well, so start with the job that mattered to you.
| If you used Mealime to… | Look at |
|---|---|
| Pick dinners for me and build the grocery list | Albertsons Meals Hub (US), eMeals |
| Keep my own recipes, a meal calendar and a list | Paprika, Plan to Eat, Samsung Food |
| Hit calorie or macro targets | Eat This Much |
| Plan the meals I already cook, save recipes from links, no account | Masala Menu |
7 Mealime alternatives
Details as listed on each app’s site and store page in late October 2026. Prices and plans change often, so check before you subscribe.
1. Albertsons Meals Hub Albertsons store apps and websites
Best for: Mealime regulars who shop at an Albertsons Companies store. It’s the official successor: Mealime’s recipes, made by the same team, inside the store’s app and website, and free.
Price: free.
2. Masala Menu iPhone and Android
Best for: households that already know what they like to cook and want a calm weekly plan for it. Save recipes from links (food blogs, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok), plan breakfast to dinner across the week, and see each day’s nutrition from the recipes you’ve attached.
Price: free, with an optional Pro subscription for unlimited recipes, 4-week planning and grocery lists.
3. eMeals iPhone and Android
Best for: people who want someone else to choose the week. eMeals publishes weekly meal plans in many styles (kid-friendly, healthy, budget and more) with a grocery list built from each plan, which you can shop yourself or send to grocery pickup and delivery partners.
Price: subscription, with a free trial.
4. Paprika Recipe Manager iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows
Best for: serious recipe collectors. Paprika saves recipes from websites, and adds a meal calendar, a grocery list that combines ingredients, and pantry tracking. It’s been around for years and has a loyal following.
Price: a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, bought separately for each platform, with optional sync between them.
5. Plan to Eat iPhone, Android and web
Best for: families who want their own recipes on a shared, drag-and-drop calendar, with a shopping list built from it. A good fit if you cook from a lot of different blogs.
Price: subscription, with a free trial.
6. Samsung Food iPhone, Android and web
Best for: people who want a big recipe catalog and a free planner in one. Samsung Food (formerly Whisk) lets you save recipes, plan the week and keep shopping lists for free; the paid Food+ tier adds personalized meal plans and nutrition features.
Price: free, with an optional subscription.
7. Eat This Much iPhone, Android and web
Best for: anyone planning to a calorie or macro target. Set your targets and Eat This Much generates meals to meet them.
Price: free for single-day plans; a premium subscription adds automatic weekly plans with grocery lists.
Mealime shutdown FAQ
Can I export my Mealime data?
Not any more. Mealime’s closing notice says all personal data was deleted when the app shut down on October 21, 2026, and it doesn’t mention an export. The recipes themselves are still available in Meals Hub.
Is there a free Mealime alternative?
Yes. Albertsons Meals Hub is free and carries Mealime’s recipes. Samsung Food has a free tier with a planner and shopping lists, and Masala Menu is free for this week and next, with a limited number of saved recipes.
Does Meals Hub work outside the US?
Meals Hub is part of Albertsons Companies’ store apps and websites, and those stores are in the US. Outside the US, pick one of the other apps above.
Can I get my saved Mealime meal plans back?
No. Accounts, saved plans and grocery lists were deleted when Mealime shut down. Write down the dinners you made most, then save each recipe from a site you trust into your new app.
Which Mealime alternative builds the grocery list for me?
Meals Hub, eMeals and Eat This Much’s premium plan build a grocery list from the meals they plan for you, and Paprika and Plan to Eat build one from your own recipes. In Masala Menu, the weekly grocery list is one you write yourself, and it’s a Pro feature.
