Mealime is shutting down October 21. Here's a free place to land.
Mealime's own site says it shuts down on October 21, 2026, and accounts are deleted with it. If you want a planner that starts from your grocery budget and what's already in your kitchen, meet Plento Pasto. Plan as many weeks as you want, free, from a library of 10,000+ family-friendly recipes.
Why families switch from Mealime
Mealime is a solid recipe-first planner. If you're looking for a new home before it closes, here's what Plento Pasto does.
Bring your Mealime recipes with you
Copy your favorite Mealime recipe links and paste them into Plento Pasto. It reads each recipe and saves it to your recipes, free. On the web you can paste a whole list at once.
10,000+ family-friendly recipes
Mealime keeps a smaller, curated library. Plento Pasto plans from 10,000+ family-friendly recipes across cuisines, so your weeks don't blur together.
Unlimited planning, free, every week
Plan as many weeks as you want for free, with your budget, savings tracker, and kitchen scan included. No trial, no card.
Variety, and it learns your family
Thumbs-up and thumbs-down from each family member nudge future plans toward what everyone actually eats, with built-in variety so you're not on a five-recipe loop.
Plans around what you already own
Tell it what's in your kitchen (or snap a photo) and it plans around it, using up what you have before it adds to your list, so you buy less and waste less.
Set a budget, get a week
Give it your weekly grocery number and cooking days; it builds a week of dinners that fits and tracks what you save versus takeout. Budget-first, not recipe-first.
One list, sent for delivery in one tap
Every plan becomes one shopping list organized by grocery store section, with what you already have subtracted. Send it to a grocery delivery service in one tap, no retyping. Plus members also get an interactive checklist to tap off as you shop.
Plento Pasto vs Mealime, honestly
The short version: Mealime is a recipe app with meal planning. Plento Pasto is a budget planner that starts from your kitchen. Here's how they line up, based on Mealime's own pages and published reviews.
| Plento Pasto | Mealime | |
|---|---|---|
| After October 21 | Still here | Shuts down |
| Bring your Mealime recipes | Yes, paste the links | No export |
| Free weekly planning | Unlimited, always | Pro free for everyone until the shutdown |
| Recipe library | 10,000+ | Smaller, curated library |
| Plans to a grocery budget you set | Yes | Not a listed feature |
| Plans around what's in your kitchen | Yes, and subtracts it from your list | Pro: “What's in my fridge” |
| Tracks what you save | Yes | Not a listed feature |
| Learns your family's favorites | Thumbs up/down per family member | Favorites |
| Allergy & dietary handling | Yes (hard constraints + validator) | Yes (filters) |
| Shopping list by store section | Yes | Yes |
| Send your list for delivery | One tap | Not a listed feature |
| Detailed calorie / macro tracking | Not the focus | Yes (Pro) |
| Paid tier | Plus, $5/mo | Pro (free until the shutdown) |
Comparison reflects publicly available information as of October 2026. Features change, so check mealime.com for Mealime's current details. “Not a listed feature” means we couldn't find it on Mealime's site, not that it never existed. Plento Pasto cost figures are national-average estimates and vary by store and region.
When Mealime might still be your pick: if your main goal is tight calorie and macro tracking, Mealime Pro (or Eat This Much) is more focused on that. Plento Pasto is built around budget and family, not counting macros. We'd rather tell you that up front than pretend we're the answer to everything.
Switching from Mealime
Is Mealime really shutting down?
Yes. Mealime's site announces it will shut down on October 21, 2026, and its closing notice says Albertsons is moving the recipes into its own grocery-store apps, that Pro subscribers stop being charged now, and that all personal data is deleted at shutdown. There is no export, but you can bring your favorite recipes to Plento Pasto by pasting their links (see How do I switch below).
Is Plento Pasto a good Mealime alternative?
Yes, especially if you're on a budget. Plento Pasto plans unlimited weeks for free, works to a grocery budget you set, plans around what's already in your kitchen to cut waste, and draws from 10,000+ family-friendly recipes. You can also bring your Mealime recipes with you by pasting their links. It's built for the everyday family rather than macro-tracking.
Is Plento Pasto free like Mealime?
Yes, and it stays free. Mealime made Pro free for everyone as a farewell until it shuts down on October 21. Plento Pasto lets you plan as many weeks as you want for free, with your budget, savings tracker, kitchen scan, and full recipe search included. Plus ($5/month) adds foodie extras like cravings, swaps, and a checklist organized by store section.
Does Plento Pasto plan meals around my budget and pantry?
Yes. You set a weekly grocery number and tell it what's already in your kitchen (or snap a photo), and it plans a week that fits, using what you have before adding new items. That cuts both your bill and your food waste.
Will it work for picky eaters and allergies?
Yes. Allergies are treated as hard constraints and every recipe runs an allergen-safety check, and thumbs-up and thumbs-down from each family member steer future plans toward what your household actually eats.
How do I switch from Mealime to Plento Pasto?
Start free at app.plentopasto.com, or download Plento Pasto on the iOS App Store or Google Play. Set your household, budget, and cooking days, and generate your first week.
To keep your Mealime favorites: copy each recipe's link from Mealime, then in Plento Pasto go to Recipes, tap Add your own recipe, and paste it in. It reads the recipe and saves it to your recipes, free, and Mealime links don't count toward the daily limit before the shutdown. On the web you can paste a whole list of links at once.
If something you relied on in Mealime is missing, tell us. In September a mom switching from Mealime emailed three things she missed, and all three were in the app within a day. It's a two-person team, and we read every message: [email protected].
Give your Mealime budget a rest.
Plan this week free, around your kitchen and your number. Less time hunting deals, more time at the table.