Mealime alternatives: pick by what you need next
Meals Hub is the official free continuation of Mealime’s recipes. Carby is a Mealime alternative when you want dinners built around your store and grocery budget. eMeals, Plan to Eat and The Dinner Daily cover pickup, saved recipes and store sales. This is a feature comparison, not a ranking test.
Pricing comparison
Meals Hub is free. Carby’s web yearly plan is $39.99 after a 3-day trial. eMeals starts at $4.99 a month on a 12-month term. Plan to Eat is $49 a year or $5.95 a month after a 14-day no-card trial. The Dinner Daily is $58 a year or $24 for three months after a 14-day card-required trial. Grocery bills are separate.
| App | Starter price | If you stay a year | Trial | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mealime / Meals Hub | Free in Meals Hub, including recipes that used to need Mealime Pro | $0 for Meals Hub. Mealime Pro subscribers are not charged further fees before the October 21, 2026 shutdown. | Meals Hub is free. No Carby-style trial. | Not applicable to a free successor. Mealime paid billing is winding down per the closing notice. |
| Carby | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day 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. | 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. |
| eMeals | As low as $4.99 a month on a 12-month term, or $37.50 for 3 months | $59.88 if you stay 12 months at the advertised $4.99/month 12-month rate. Repeating the $37.50 3-month plan four times is $150. Grocery is extra. | 14-day free trial. Terms say the card is collected at signup and charged when the trial ends unless you cancel. | Cancel during the trial: no payment. Cancel after the trial: eMeals says you do not get a refund of subscription payments. Cancel at least 48 hours before renewal. App Store purchases follow Apple's terms. |
| Plan to Eat | $5.95/month or $49/year after a 14-day trial with no card | $49 if you pick yearly. $71.40 if you stay on monthly at $5.95 for 12 months. | 14 days, no credit card. Their pricing page says there is nothing to cancel if you stop. | 60-day money-back guarantee, no-questions-asked, on plantoeat.com purchases. Yearly does not auto-renew unless you turn auto-renew on. |
| The Dinner Daily | $24 for three months or $58 for a year | $58 on the annual plan. Repeating the $24 three-month plan four times is $96. Grocery is extra. | 14-day trial. FAQ: a credit card is required; no charge until day 15; cancel during the trial and you are not charged. | Terms (updated 1-1-2020): no charge if you cancel in the first 14 days. After that, no refund; access continues until the end of the paid term. Subscriptions auto-renew unless you cancel in Account Settings. |
Grocery purchases are extra on every row. Read the checkout you actually see.
What each tool is best for
- Keeping Mealime’s recipes at $0: Mealime / Meals Hub
- Mealime’s team is moving planning into Meals Hub inside Albertsons Companies apps. You can still make lists if you shop elsewhere. Preferences are set again in Meals Hub. Mealime accounts do not transfer into Carby. Compare
- A dinner budget at a named US store: Carby
- Carby uses its own catalog. You set store, household and budget. Public store pages show estimated costs, not live shelf prices. It does not import Mealime. Compare
- Sending a list to pickup or delivery: eMeals
- eMeals lets you pick meals across food styles and send ingredients to Walmart, Kroger, Amazon or Instacart, or shop the list yourself. You can add your own recipes. Compare
- Cooking from recipes you already saved: Plan to Eat
- Plan to Eat clips recipes, puts them on a calendar and builds an aisle list. It does not generate a Carby-style budgeted store catalog week. Compare
- Menus built around weekly store sales: The Dinner Daily
- The Dinner Daily sends five dinners matched to a supported store’s flyer. Any Store works without a flyer. It is a web app you add to the home screen. Compare
Verdict
Stay with Meals Hub if the Mealime catalog at no cost is the job. Choose Carby if a spending limit at Walmart, Aldi or another named store is the job. Choose eMeals for retailer pickup. Choose Plan to Eat for your own recipe file. Choose The Dinner Daily for sale-flyer menus.
See Carby vs Mealime and Meals Hub side by sideSources checked October 20, 2026: Mealime closing notice · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1079999103 · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · eMeals homepage FAQ · eMeals terms of use · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 575756462 · Plan to Eat homepage · Plan to Eat pricing · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1215348056 · The Dinner Daily FAQ · The Dinner Daily pricing · The Dinner Daily terms. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.