Carby vs Mealime: what should you use next?
Choose Meals Hub if you want to keep Mealime’s recipes for free. Choose Carby if you want a dinner plan built around your store, household and grocery budget, with estimated costs before you shop.
Side by side
| Criterion | Carby | Mealime / Meals Hub |
|---|---|---|
| What it plans | Weekly dinners built around a named US grocery store and a budget you type first, with estimated ingredient costs and one aisle-grouped list. | Mealime’s recipe catalog continues in free Meals Hub inside Albertsons Companies apps and websites after Mealime closes October 21, 2026. |
| Starter price | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | Free in Meals Hub, including recipes that used to need Mealime Pro |
| Cost if you stay a year | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | $0 for Meals Hub. Mealime Pro subscribers are not charged further fees before the October 21, 2026 shutdown. |
| Trial | 3-day trial on the web yearly offer visitors actually see. Monthly ($9.99) and weekly ($4.99) plans also exist. Read the checkout. | Meals Hub is free. No Carby-style trial. |
| Refunds | Web Stripe charges: email within 30 days of the charge for a refund. App Store charges go through Apple. Cancel during the trial and you are not charged. | Not applicable to a free successor. Mealime paid billing is winding down per the closing notice. |
| Grocery list | One shopping list for the week, grouped by aisle. You shop it yourself. | You can still generate shopping lists in Meals Hub, including if you do not shop at an Albertsons store. |
| Store cost estimates | Yes | No |
| Retailer cart | No. Carby does not send items to Walmart, Instacart or another retailer cart. | Shopping is described as easy inside Albertsons Companies apps. This page does not claim a cart hand-off for non-Albertsons stores. |
| App Store rating (Mealime app) | 4.0 from 29 ratings (small sample) | 4.8 from 54,137 ratings. That rating is the Mealime iPhone app, not a separate Meals Hub listing. |
Cost if you actually stay
Carby: $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial
Mealime / Meals Hub: $0 for Meals Hub. Mealime Pro subscribers are not charged further fees before the October 21, 2026 shutdown.
Mealime closes October 21, 2026. Meals Hub is free. Carby web yearly is $39.99 after a 3-day trial; 30-day web refunds via email. Carby does not import a Mealime account. Grocery purchases are extra on both sides. App Store billing, if you subscribe to Carby there, is managed by Apple.
Where they win
- Price: Meals Hub is $0, including former Pro recipes.
- Familiar recipes: the Mealime catalog continues there.
- You can still make lists if you do not shop at an Albertsons store.
Where we win
- The plan starts from a grocery budget you type.
- Public store pages show catalog cost estimates for a named US store.
- You are not required to open an Albertsons app to plan.
Choose us if / pick them if
Choose Carby if: Choose Carby if you shop Walmart, Aldi or another named store and want estimated dinner costs under a cap you set. You will start a new plan. Nothing transfers.
Pick Mealime / Meals Hub if: Pick Meals Hub if keeping Mealime’s recipes at no cost is the whole job, and you are willing to set preferences again in an Albertsons Companies app.
How to switch meal planners without losing the grocery listSources checked October 20, 2026: App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · Mealime closing notice · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1079999103. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.