A meal planning app has three jobs: keep the recipes, put them on the days of the week, and turn that week into a shopping list. Most of them stop there. Dinner does not: it has to fit the evening it lands on, somebody has to do the shop, and somebody pays for it.
This page compares eight. EpiHem is our own app, so it comes first: the recipes, the week's plan and the shopping list the plan writes, in the same app as the family's calendar and the receipts, with one subscription for the whole household. After it come Plan to Eat and Paprika, which are built around the recipes you collect yourself, AnyList and Cozi, which are list and family apps with a meal plan in them, and Samsung Food, eMeals and Eat This Much, which can hand you a plan. For each one you get what it does, what is free and what it costs. Mealime is closing, and has its own section below.
The short version
Which one fits depends on how much of the week you want the app to carry:
EpiHem: from the recipe to the receipt in one app
Most meal planning apps end at the shopping list. In EpiHem the meal plan is the middle of a chain: recipes come in at one end, the week's shopping list comes out, and when the shopping is done the receipt goes back in. It all happens in the same app as the family's calendar and shared lists, on iPhone, on Android and in any web browser, and one subscription covers everyone at home.
Recipes: save the ones you find, or describe a dish and get one
Meal planning in EpiHem starts in the recipe book. A recipe you found online is saved from its link. One that a friend sent goes in as pasted text, and one on paper goes in as a photo. And when there is no recipe at all, you describe what you feel like, a quick vegetarian pasta for four, say, and EpiHem creates the recipe for you. The recipe book knows more than 500 ingredients and their nutrition data.
The week: dinner on its day, under the day's events
Recipes go on the days of the week, and the plan shows a nutrition overview for it. Leftovers carry from one day to another, so Monday's dinner can be Tuesday's lunch. The meals also show on the family's shared calendar, on their days, under the day's events: practice on Tuesday and what is for dinner after it, in the same place, for everyone at home.
The shop: the week writes the list
When the week is planned, EpiHem writes its meals out as a shopping list, grouped by kind of food: bread, fruit and veg, meat, dairy, dry goods. The whole household shares that list live, on iPhone, on Android and on the web. Whoever passes the shop on the way home has the list as it is at that moment, and what one of you ticks off is ticked off for all of you.
After the shop: scan the receipt
Back home, scan the receipt. EpiHem reads the items line by line and works out who owes whom, so the week's food is settled in the app that planned it. The receipt can be attached to the list it was shopped from, and it shows on the calendar on its day. It is part of the same subscription.
One subscription for the whole household
Meal planning is part of Premium, together with the recipe book, receipt scanning and shared costs. Premium costs EUR 6.99 a month or EUR 49.99 a year, and one subscription covers the whole household, up to 8 people. Try it free for 14 days, with no card. The shared lists and the family calendar are free for a household of up to 4, and there are no ads on any plan. EpiHem is made in Sweden, and your household's data is stored in the EU.
Mealime is closing: what to use instead
Mealime's own site says: "Mealime will be discontinued as of October 21, 2026". According to the same page, personal data is deleted at shutdown, and the successor is Meals Hub, which sits inside the Albertsons Companies grocery apps. If there are recipes or plans in Mealime that you want to keep, save them somewhere else before that date.
EpiHem is where we would take them. A recipe goes in from a link, from pasted text or from a photo, so the ones you want to keep have a way in. From there the week's plan, the shopping list the household shares and the receipt are in one app, and Premium is free to try for 14 days with no card: long enough to plan two weeks of dinners and shop for them.
If you would rather have the dinners chosen for you, eMeals publishes ready-made weekly plans and Eat This Much generates plans to a calorie target. In both, the weekly plan is part of a paid subscription. For a free app, Samsung Food and AnyList have meal planning in their free versions, and so has Cozi, with ads. For a recipe manager, there are Plan to Eat, a paid subscription, and Paprika, a one-off purchase.
What to look for in a meal planning app
Five things decide whether a meal planning app is still in use after a month:
- Recipes get in fast. Saving a recipe from a link beats typing it in, and not every recipe is on a web page: some arrive in a message and some are on paper.
- The plan writes the shopping list. The point of planning is one shop for the week, and a list written by hand from the plan soon gets skipped. In Eat This Much the automatic grocery list is part of the paid subscription.
- The household sees the same list, on every phone. Whoever passes the shop on the way home needs the list as it is now. In AnyList, reaching the list on the web is part of the paid subscription.
- The plan fits the family's week. A ready-made plan decides the food, but it does not know that Tuesday is practice night at your house. A plan that sits on the family's calendar is made with the evening in view.
- The price covers everyone at home. Paprika is bought separately for each platform, and AnyList's paid subscription has one price for a person and another for a household.
EpiHem does all five with one Premium subscription for the whole household. How to plan a week is a different question, and our guide to weekly meal planning covers the routine itself.
Meal planning apps compared
We read each vendor's own site and its US App Store listing in October 2026, and what a vendor does not state there is left out. Eight columns do not make a readable table, so the apps are split by kind. First the ones built around your own recipes, EpiHem among them, with the two list and family apps that have a meal plan in them. A check means the feature is there and a dash that it is missing. On a phone the table scrolls sideways.
| Feature | EpiHem Our app | Plan to Eat | Paprika | AnyList | Cozi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your own recipe collection | Yes from a link, text or a photo; Premium | Yes from a web link | Yes through a built-in browser | Yes recipes become list items | Yes recipe box |
| Creates a recipe from your description | Yes Premium | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Yes an AI recipe creator, in the most expensive paid subscription |
| Meals planned on a calendar | Yes by the week, on the family's calendar; Premium | Yes week or month | Yes day, week or month | Yes free | Yes dinners on the calendar |
| Shopping list in the app | Yes from the week's meals, by kind of food; Premium | Yes from the plan, by category | Yes sorted by aisle | Yes recipes become list items | Yes from the planned dinners |
| Meal planning in the free version | No Premium | No no free version; 14-day trial | No no free version; a one-off purchase | Yes | Yes with ads |
| Who it covers | One subscription for the whole household, up to 8 people | One account shared in a household | A separate purchase for each platform, sync included | The paid subscription is sold for one person or for a household | Up to 12 people on one account |
| Runs on | iPhone, Android, web | iPhone, Android, web | iPhone and iPad, Android, Mac, Windows | iPhone, Android; web, Mac and Apple Watch are paid | iPhone, Android, web |
Then the three that can give you the plan. A half mark means the feature comes with a condition.
| Feature | Samsung Food | eMeals | Eat This Much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the plan comes from | Recipes you save from any website; AI-personalised plans are paid | Ready-made weekly plans in 15 food styles | Generated to a calorie target |
| Shopping list in the app | Yes free | Yes sent to Walmart, Kroger, Instacart | Yes automatic; paid |
| Meal planning in the free version | Yes | No no free version; 14-day trial | Partial a day at a time; the week is paid |
Price and what is free
Three of the eight have meal planning in a free version: AnyList, Samsung Food and, with ads, Cozi. Eat This Much plans a day at a time for free. Paprika is a one-off purchase for each platform, and the rest are paid subscriptions. EpiHem's covers the whole household, up to 8 people.
| Feature | EpiHem Our app | Plan to Eat | Paprika | AnyList | Cozi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | Shared lists and the family calendar for up to 4 people, no ads | None: a 14-day trial, no card | None | Lists, sharing and the meal planning calendar | With ads: recipe box and dinners on the calendar |
| Paid version | EUR 6.99 a month or EUR 49.99 a year, for the whole household | A subscription: about USD 6 a month or about USD 50 a year | A one-off purchase: about USD 5 on iPhone and iPad | A subscription: about USD 10 a year, or about USD 15 for a household | Subscriptions: Gold about USD 40 a year, Max about USD 80 |
The other apps' prices are rounded from what each vendor published in US dollars in October 2026. Prices change, so check the vendor's page before you pay. EpiHem's price is our own, in euros, and the app stores show it in your currency.
| Feature | Samsung Food | eMeals | Eat This Much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | Recipe saving, meal plans and shopping lists | None: a 14-day trial | Daily meal plans to a calorie target |
| Paid version | A subscription, Food+: about USD 7 a month or about USD 60 a year | A subscription: from about USD 5 a month on a 12-month plan | A subscription: about USD 5 a month, billed yearly |
The prices are rounded from what each vendor published in US dollars in October 2026. Prices change, so check the vendor's page before you pay.
Plan to Eat
What you get: A planner built around the recipes you collect yourself. Plan to Eat imports a recipe from a web link, you place recipes on a week or month planner, and the plan becomes a shopping list sorted by category. It scales recipes and tracks nutrition, runs on iPhone, on Android and on the web, and has no ads. One account is shared in a household.
Where it stops: At the shopping list, and at the end of the trial. There is no free version: after 14 days, with no card needed, Plan to Eat is a paid subscription at about USD 6 a month or about USD 50 a year on its own site, and about USD 55 a year through the App Store.
Paprika
What you get: The recipe manager you buy and keep. Paprika 3 saves recipes through a built-in browser, plans meals by day, week or month, sorts the shopping list by aisle and scales recipes. Recipes are stored on the device and can be read offline. It is a one-off purchase with no subscription, at about USD 5 on iPhone and iPad, and sync is included.
Where it stops: At the platform you bought it for. Paprika is bought once per platform, so iPhone and iPad, Android, Mac and Windows are separate purchases, and the Mac and Windows versions cost more. There is no free version.
AnyList
What you get: A grocery list first. Lists are shared and updated in real time, items sort into categories you can reorder per store, and items can be added with Siri and Alexa. The meal planning calendar is in the free app, and recipes become list items.
Where it stops: Outside the phone, AnyList is paid. Using it on the web, on a Mac or on an Apple Watch is part of a paid subscription, AnyList Complete, at about USD 10 a year for one person or about USD 15 a year for a household, and so is scaling a recipe. There is more on AnyList in our comparison of shared grocery list apps.
Cozi
What you get: A family organizer with a meal plan in it. The free version has a recipe box, and dinners are planned on the shared calendar with their ingredients sent to the shopping list. It runs on iPhone, on Android and on the web, and one account holds up to 12 people.
Where it stops: The free version shows ads and, Cozi says, takes events for the next 30 days only. Planning further ahead is a paid subscription, Cozi Gold, at about USD 40 a year, which also removes the ads. The AI meal planner and the AI recipe creator belong to a more expensive subscription, Cozi Max, at about USD 80 a year. Cozi does not scan receipts or split costs.
Samsung Food
What you get: A free start with recipes from around the web. Samsung Food, which was called Whisk until 2023, saves recipes from any website and has meal plans and shopping lists in its free version. It can also import a recipe from a photo, and it runs on iPhone and Android.
Where it stops: At the paid version. AI-personalised plans, more saved plans and nutrition tracking are part of a paid subscription, Food+, at about USD 7 a month or about USD 60 a year, and so is more of the photo import.
eMeals
What you get: The week's dinners chosen for you. eMeals publishes ready-made weekly plans in 15 food styles, and the shopping list can be sent to Walmart, Kroger, Instacart and others. It runs on the web, on iPhone and on Android.
Where it stops: There is no free version, only a 14-day trial. After it, eMeals is a paid subscription from about USD 5 a month, a price that applies on a 12-month plan. And a ready-made plan decides the food without knowing your week: fitting it around practice and late meetings is still your job.
Eat This Much
What you get: Meal plans generated to a calorie target, and the daily plans are free.
Where it stops: After one day. Planning a whole week and the automatic grocery list are part of a paid subscription, Eat This Much Premium, at about USD 5 a month, billed yearly.
Which one should you choose?
- You want the recipes, the week, the shopping list and the receipt in one app for the whole household: EpiHem. Try Premium free for 14 days, with no card, and plan the first week tonight.
- You want a planner built around your own recipes, and nothing around it: Plan to Eat, a paid subscription at about USD 50 a year.
- You want to pay once: Paprika, and count on buying it for each platform.
- The grocery list comes first: AnyList, free on the phone, and count on its paid subscription for the web.
- The family already uses Cozi: plan the dinners there, with ads, or pay about USD 40 a year for Cozi Gold.
- Free, with recipes saved from the web: Samsung Food.
- You want the dinners chosen for you: eMeals, a paid subscription, or Eat This Much for a calorie target.
What a plan could save your household is a sum you can do in the meal planning savings calculator. If the list is the part you care most about, our comparison of shared grocery list apps covers that side, and the one of family calendar apps covers the calendar.
