Meal planning

The ledger

Newest first. A fact, a company’s own claim about itself and a user’s opinion are all here, and the tag on each row is which one you are reading.

• Busy families and people on a dietPRODUCTFACTOct 1, 2026

  Eat This Much differentiates on macro/calorie automation, letting users <cite index="11-2">tell us your diet goals, the foods you like, your budget, and what your schedule looks like, and we'll automatically generate a complete meal plan to meet your requirements</cite>.

  Baseline for macro-based automation as a comparison feature in the diet segment

  play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eatthismuch&hl=en_US
• Busy families and people on a dietPOSITIONINGCOMPANY CLAIMOct 1, 2026

  PlateJoy positions itself specifically for weight loss, with the app asking <cite index="10-2,10-4">a series of questions about your dietary restrictions and preferences</cite> and populating plans based on calorie goals.

  Baseline positioning for the diet-focused half of this segment

  easymealpreprecipes.com/best-meal-planning-apps/
• Busy families and people on a dietPOSITIONINGCOMPANY CLAIMOct 1, 2026

  Ollie for Meals positions itself as an AI-first family meal planner, claiming to create <cite index="2-7">personalized meal plans, healthy recipes, and grocery lists — all tailored to your family's tastes, routines, and health goals</cite> with just a few taps.

  Represents the AI-personalization positioning trend families may compare against traditional recipe-organizer apps

  apps.apple.com/us/app/ollie-ai-family-meal-planner/id6480014476
• Busy families and people on a dietPRICINGFACTOct 1, 2026

  Plan to Eat's pricing baseline: <cite index="4-10">FREE 14 day trial (no credit card needed to sign up), then $4.95/month or $39/year ($3.25/month)</cite>, while Prepear's paid tier is <cite index="4-19,4-20">Free and paid version, with Prepear Gold offering a 30 Day free trial, then $9.99/month</cite>.

  Establishes the mid-to-upper pricing range buyers compare family planners against

  www.scratchtobasics.com/best-meal-planning-apps/
• Busy families and people on a dietPRICINGFACTOct 1, 2026

  Mealime offers a free base app with an optional Pro subscription; <cite index="8-1,8-2">Mealime Meal Planner Pro offers an auto-renewing subscription option at a price of $2.99 USD / month, including exclusive Pro-only recipes and nutritional information</cite>.

  Sets the low end of the pricing baseline for this segment's apps

  play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mealime&hl=en_US
• Plan to EatCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONOct 1, 2026

  A third-party pricing comparison notes the product's dated feel: "it's also not cheap for software that looks like it was built in 2009 and hasn't changed much since" and that it <cite index="6-8">does not support photo import for physical recipes and the interface is dated.</cite>

  Signals a recurring competitive knock on UI modernity and missing photo-import feature

  www.useladle.com/blog/plan-to-eat-alternative
• Plan to EatPRODUCTCOMPANY CLAIMOct 1, 2026

  Core features include unlimited recipe storage and planning: <cite index="2-13">We do not have any restrictions on how many recipes you can add to your meal planning calendar or how many recipes you can have in your account!</cite> Household sharing is included in every subscription: <cite index="12-2,12-3">Plan to Eat includes household sharing in every subscription. Your whole family can access the same recipe book, meal plan, and grocery list.</cite>

  Baseline feature set buyers compare against competitors like Mealime

  www.plantoeat.com/blog/2023/04/mealime-app-review-pros-and-cons/
• Plan to EatPOSITIONINGCOMPANY CLAIMOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="7-1">Plan to Eat is the all-in-one meal planning tool that allows you to have the same intentionality and control as your current system but in a flexible and functional app.</cite> The company frames its paid-only model as a trust signal: <cite index="7-8">Our service is 100% funded by our subscription fees.</cite>

  Baseline positioning against free, ad/data-supported competitors

  www.plantoeat.com/about/
• Plan to EatPRICINGFACTOct 1, 2026

  iOS App Store purchases cost more than the web price: <cite index="1-7">Purchasing through the Apple App Store is $54.99 because Apple charges us a fee for payments made through the app.</cite>

  Affects buyers deciding whether to subscribe via web vs. app

  learn.plantoeat.com/help/how-much-does-plan-to-eat-cost
• Plan to EatPRICINGFACTOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="7-4">It's $5.95/month or $49/year.</cite> No free plan exists; <cite index="2-5">We do not ask for credit card information before starting a free 14-day trial.</cite>

  Establishes baseline pricing for comparison against future changes

  www.plantoeat.com/about/
• MealimeCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="16-8,16-9">All personal data will be deleted when the app is shut down, accounts do not transfer to Meals Hub, and some preferences will need to be set up again there.</cite>

  Users lose saved recipes, notes, and preferences with no migration path, a point of friction that could drive churn to alternative apps during this transition window.

  www.drizzlelemons.com/alternatives/mealime
• MealimeCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="12-2,12-3">A user said there really isn't anything else that compares for planning meals, using up what you have, and exploring new cuisines all in one place, and that the Meals Hub replacement limits you to specific grocery store chains with an interface more "shop at our store" than "plan your menu."</cite>

  Early user sentiment suggests the Meals Hub replacement is perceived as more retailer-driven and less flexible than Mealime, which may push users toward independent meal-planning competitors.

  play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mealime&hl=en
• MealimePRICINGFACTOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="16-7">Pro recipes and features are now available to all users, and current Pro subscribers will not be charged again before the shutdown.</cite>

  All paywalled features (nutrition info, extra recipes, macro tracking) are temporarily free during the wind-down, eliminating the former free/Pro pricing tier distinction.

  www.drizzlelemons.com/alternatives/mealime
• MealimePRODUCTFACTOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="16-3">Mealime was acquired by Albertsons Companies in 2021, and the page explains that its recipes and planning tools are moving into Meals Hub, the recipe feature inside the grocer's store apps.</cite>

  Mealime's functionality is being absorbed into Albertsons' retail-branded 'Meals Hub' rather than continuing as an independent app, shifting its positioning from standalone meal planner to grocery-retailer feature.

  www.drizzlelemons.com/alternatives/mealime
• MealimePEOPLEFACTOct 1, 2026

  <cite index="15-1,15-2">Mealime announced in its current US App Store listing and Google Play listing that the service will shut down on October 21, 2026, and as a farewell, Pro is now free for everyone with existing Pro subscriptions not renewing.</cite>

  The entity is being discontinued entirely, which is the single most material fact for any competitive tracking — Mealime will no longer exist as a standalone product after Oct 21, 2026.

  mealthinker.com/blog/mealime-alternative
• Plans nobody sticks toCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONSep 30, 2026

  Users of newer entrants like Samsung Food report that recipes don't reflect what's already in their pantry and that adding ingredients to the shopping list adds everything even when they already have items, with only a vague warning about possibly having salt or pepper.

  Extends the complaint theme of poor pantry-awareness/ingredient friction into newer, still-active apps, suggesting the underlying 'plan abandonment' driver persists across the category rather than being specific to any one dying app.

  play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foodient.whisk&hl=en_US
• Plans nobody sticks toCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONSep 30, 2026

  Reviewers have repeatedly flagged that popular meal-planning apps feel overloaded with spice or ingredients and require excessive pots, pans, and kitchen items for a single meal, and a separate reviewer independently begged developers to fix recipes that are over-described, out of order, and inconsistent in listing ingredient amounts.

  Establishes a recurring third-party-independent complaint theme (ingredient/equipment overload, inconsistent recipes) that underlies why plans get abandoned.

  www.slideshare.net/slideshow/ux-case-studypdf/252112130
• Plans nobody sticks toDISCOURSEFACTSep 30, 2026

  As of September 2026, three major meal-planning apps have folded in quick succession: Yummly shut off its servers in late 2024, PlateJoy folded during 2025, and Mealime is scheduled to shut down October 21, 2026, with its catalogue rolled into Albertsons' Meals Hub and no data export offered.

  Signals the 'nobody sticks to plans' discourse now extends to the apps themselves, not just their users; roundup sites are actively re-ranking recommendations away from Mealime.

  www.foodieprep.ai/blog/meal-planning-apps-with-builtin-grocery-lists-a-2026-sidebyside-review
• Eat This MuchCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONSep 30, 2026

  A competitor comparison piece notes that one of the most common complaints about Eat This Much is that excluding foods is tedious, requiring users to manually click to exclude every variation and capitalization of a food item.

  Highlights a specific UX friction point competitors may target in positioning.

  mealthinker.com/blog/mealthinker-vs-eat-this-much
• Eat This MuchCOMPLAINTUSER OPINIONSep 30, 2026

  Multiple independent reviews cite recurring complaints about Eat This Much's grocery lists being oversized, poorly organized, or mismatched with recipe quantities, and about limited recipe variety leading to repetition.

  Recurring complaint theme (grocery list sizing/organization) now sighted across multiple independent sources, crossing the third-sighting materiality threshold.

  ultimatemealplans.com/eat-this-much-review/
• Eat This MuchPRICINGUSER OPINIONSep 30, 2026

  A 2026 review characterized Professional tier pricing as opaque and per-client, only quoted after contacting sales, contrasting it with transparent B2B alternatives.

  Notes a positioning weakness for the coach/B2B segment versus competitors with published pricing.

  www.promealplan.com/en/blog/eat-this-much-review-2026
• Eat This MuchPRICINGCOMPANY CLAIMSep 30, 2026

  The Professional (coach-facing) tier has two named plans: Control starting at $49/month (billed quarterly), which gives branded emails/PDFs and recipe collections but no client app access, and Collaborate starting at $59/month (billed quarterly), which adds client access to the Eat This Much app and website.

  Establishes baseline B2B/coach pricing and packaging structure for future comparison.

  nutriadmin.com/blog/eat-this-much-vs-nutriadmin-comparison/
• Eat This MuchPRICINGCOMPANY CLAIMSep 30, 2026

  Third-party sources report Eat This Much Premium is priced at roughly $14.99/month or $9/month standard, discounted to about $5/month on an annual plan, with a free tier limited to generating one day of meal plans at a time.

  Sets the baseline consumer pricing anchor for competitive comparison.

  www.promealplan.com/en/blog/eat-this-much-review-2026