Mealime Alternatives: Meal Planning Apps for Dietary Restrictions

Quick answer: Mealime shuts down on October 21, 2026, and its owner is moving users to Meals Hub. If you need another planner, pick one that excludes your own allergens or triggers. Good fits include Real Plans for AIP, Eat This Much for calorie targets, Plan to Eat for your own recipes, Little Lunches for families and Foodsage for checking ingredients.

Mealime made weekly planning simple: pick a plan, set your allergies and dislikes, and get recipes plus a grocery list. If you relied on those filters because of a food allergy, a condition like celiac disease, or a family with different needs, the shutdown means finding a replacement that still respects them. This guide compares five options by what they actually do, using each app's own site. It is general information, not medical advice.

What Is Happening to Mealime

Mealime's home page says the app "will shut down on October 21, 2026." According to its closing page, Albertsons Companies acquired Mealime in 2021 and is moving customers to Meals Hub, its recipe and meal-planning platform, which you reach by creating or signing in to an Albertsons Companies store app. Some preferences and settings have to be set up again there. Until the shutdown, Pro subscribers are not charged further and Pro recipes and features are free to everyone.

The practical point: the closing page says all personal data will be deleted when the app shuts down, and it does not mention an export tool. Save any recipes you want to keep before October 21. If you shop at an Albertsons-family store, Meals Hub is the official path. If not, or if you need tighter diet controls, the apps below are worth a look.

What to Look for in a Replacement

• It excludes your allergens or triggers everywhere. A filter that removes gluten from every recipe is different from a handful of recipes tagged "gluten-free". Test it: set your exclusions, generate a week, and read every recipe's ingredients.
• You can add your own exclusions. Look for a free-text or custom option for less common triggers, such as nightshades, coconut or a specific additive.
• It fits how you cook. Some apps generate plans for you; others plan around recipes you already have.
• The grocery list works for your household. Check servings, household size and whether the list can be edited or sent to delivery.
• The price is clear. Note what the free version includes and what needs a subscription, from the app's own pricing page or store listing.

One limit applies to all of them: a recipe filter works on recipe ingredients, not on the packaged products you buy. A broth, sauce or spice blend can contain an ingredient your filter was meant to exclude. If you avoid gluten, see hidden sources of gluten; for the difference between an allergy and an intolerance, see food intolerance vs. allergy.

Mealime Alternatives Compared

Real Plans: Best for the Autoimmune Protocol

Real Plans is built around special diets, and its AIP page says you can "select either Core or Modified AIP" for the elimination phase and add exclusions "to account for taste or additional sensitivities", such as coconut, onions or mushrooms. It cites more than 300 AIP recipes, has a mobile grocery list with Instacart and Amazon Fresh delivery, and works from any device, with iOS and Android apps.

• Best for: people following AIP who want a planner that understands its phases. For what AIP involves and what the evidence says, see our AIP diet guide.
• Keep in mind: the AIP page does not list a price; it mentions a 10-day money-back guarantee for web purchases.

Eat This Much: Best for Calorie and Macro Targets

Eat This Much generates a plan from a calorie goal and the number of meals you want. Its presets include Anything, Keto, Mediterranean, Paleo, Vegan and Vegetarian, the grocery list updates from your plan and can be delivered through Instacart or AmazonFresh, and a virtual pantry helps use up what you already have. It runs on the web, iOS and Android.

• Best for: people who plan around calorie or macro numbers.
• Keep in mind: its home page does not mention allergy exclusions, so check that before relying on it if you have an allergy. A free account is available, with paid tiers on its pricing page.

Plan to Eat: Best if You Have Your Own Recipes

Plan to Eat does not supply recipes. You clip recipes from websites into a personal collection, drag them onto a calendar, and it builds an aisle-by-aisle shopping list you can edit. There are apps for iOS and Android, plus the web.

• Best for: cooks with a collection of recipes that already fit their diet. Because you choose every recipe, you control every ingredient.
• Keep in mind: there are no ready-made plans. It has a 14-day free trial with no payment details, then costs $5.95 a month or $49 a year.

Little Lunches: Best for Family Meals From Baby to Teen

Little Lunches sends a new "dietitian-crafted" weekly plan of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and optional snacks, "tailored for every age, from baby to teen." Plans reflect your family's size, ages and the dietary restrictions saved in your profile, and shopping lists are made for you, with Instacart and Walmart delivery in the US. It is on iOS and Android.

• Best for: families planning for a baby or children alongside adults.
• Keep in mind: it is a subscription, with a free first meal plan (no credit card) and a trial before billing. Its site does not describe a dedicated allergy filter, so check how your restrictions are handled.

Foodsage: Best for Checking the Products You Buy

Foodsage starts from a profile: you choose your conditions (such as celiac disease, IBD, Hashimoto's or PCOS), custom sensitivities including FODMAP, and clean-eating goals. It builds personalized weekly meal plans around that profile, including AIP-diet and PCOS-friendly recipes, and lets you log meals and symptoms. Where it differs from the planners above is the grocery aisle: scan a barcode or photograph the ingredient list, and it flags the ingredients that match your profile and can suggest alternatives.

• Best for: people whose diet is shaped by a condition, sensitivity or allergy, who need to check the packaged ingredients a recipe calls for.
• Use both: many people can keep the planner they like for recipes and use Foodsage to check the broth, sauce or snack before it goes in the cart. For more scanners, see Yuka alternatives and how to choose an ingredient checker app.
• Keep in mind: it covers food only and does not diagnose or treat any condition. Meal plans are informational, not medical advice. Foodsage is free to download on iOS and Android, with in-app purchases that include a Premium subscription.

Which One Should You Pick?

• If you shop at an Albertsons-family store and liked Mealime as it was, start with Meals Hub, the official replacement.
• If you follow the Autoimmune Protocol, try Real Plans.
• If you plan around calories or macros, try Eat This Much.
• If you already have recipes that work for you, try Plan to Eat.
• If you are feeding a family with young children, try Little Lunches.
• If a condition, sensitivity or allergy shapes what you buy, try Foodsage, on its own or alongside one of the others.

A Planner Is Not a Label Check

Recipes and packaged products both change, and no planner can see what is in the specific jar or box you pick up. Read the label of every packaged ingredient, especially with celiac disease or a serious allergy, and talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before starting an elimination diet such as AIP. If you want help with the label part, learn more about Foodsage.