Mealime Review Is the Meal-Planning App Worth It?

This Mealime review has to open with the store note, not with a feature tour. Version 4.21.35 on Apple and Play said Mealime is shutting down on 21 October 2026, that Pro is free until then, and that current Pro subscriptions will not renew. This is a source-reviewed guide, not a hands-on lab test. Listings were captured on 13 September 2026. This page is dated to publish after that close date, so treat Mealime as a closing or closed product unless a later official reversal appears.

Who this Mealime review is for

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Download Mealime Meal Plans & Recipes on the App Store · Get Mealime Meal Plans & Recipes on Google Play

Read this if you used Mealime and want a dated record of what the stores actually said. Read it if you are comparing planners after the close. Do not read it as a reason to start a new paid year.

Mealime suited busy households that wanted a short recipe list and a combined shop, not a macro generator. That job is closer to a weekly menu than to Foodvisor or Cal AI.

Skip the old Pro pitch if you need photo logging or a processing score. Those sit on other pages, including our Ivy review. If you still want a live planner, start with the best meal planning apps hub and check what is still on sale.

The shutdown date on the public listing

US App Store version 4.21.35, dated 2 September 2026, said: “Mealime is shutting down on October 21st, 2026. As a farewell thank-you, Pro is now free for everyone. If you're a current Pro subscriber, your subscription will not renew.” The UK listing carried the same note. Play’s “what’s new” block matched it word for word. Play said the Android build was updated on 31 August 2026.

A September 2026 public petition described an in-app banner and said Albertsons wanted users to move to a “Meals Hub.” We did not fetch an Albertsons press page that restated the date. The store release note is the official text we can date.

If you still have the app open after 21 October 2026, export or screenshot lists you need. Store copy did not describe a long data-export window on the pages we opened.

What Mealime listed as features

Apple and Play both sold weekly plans, diet and allergy filters, a combined grocery list, optional retailer send, and step-by-step cooks aimed at about 30 minutes. Play named 119 “dislikable” ingredients. US Apple copy claimed “over 7 million users.” Play and the UK Apple page said “over 5,000,000 people.” Those are marketing totals. They are not a Play install band. Play did not show an install band on our fetch.

Pro, while it was sold, was described on Play as extra recipes, nutrition numbers, calorie filters, recipe notes, previous-plan history and email support. A 2 February 2025 UK review said the free tier was usable for months and that Pro added more recipes and a per-meal calorie filter at £2.99 a month.

iOS required 15.6 or later. Age rating was 4+ on Apple and Everyone on Play. Apple listed iPhone, iPad, Mac (Apple silicon) and Apple Vision. Nutrition on recipes could sync to Apple Health, per the listing. That is an export path, not proof of a complete diary.

Recipe quality is taste, not science. A 23 January 2025 Play review liked the filters but called steps over-described and sometimes out of order. A 26 August 2025 review said the online-shop button sat under the status bar on a large phone. Those are store comments.

Mealime price and 12-month cost

US App Store body text, captured 13 September 2026, still said Pro was $2.99 a month, auto-renewing. The UK page said £2.99 a month. Play’s description still said $2.99 USD a month. The farewell note then said Pro was free and that renewals would stop.

A standing US year at $2.99 would have been $35.88. A UK year at £2.99 would have been £35.88. After the 2 September 2026 note, new 12-month spend should be treated as $0 / £0 if the “will not renew” line held. We did not open a bank statement to confirm every region cancelled on time. Check your Apple or Google subscriptions list if a charge still appears.

The US Information block on our fetch did not list a separate IAP table. The UK page also omitted a priced IAP grid in the section we received, aside from the £2.99 sentence in the body. Third-party blogs in 2026 quoted $5.99 on some surfaces. We did not see $5.99 on the official listings we opened, so we omit it.

Store ratings and public sentiment

Fifty-four thousand US Apple ratings at 4.8 is a large, self-selected sample. The UK sample is much smaller at 2,100 ratings. Play sits at 4.6 with tens of thousands of reviews. High stars measure warmth toward lists and 30-minute cooks. They do not measure nutrient accuracy.

Long-run users praised the shopping list. A 11 August 2025 US review described years of use and less takeaway. A 14 December 2021 UK review (still featured) liked retailer send. A 5 September 2026 Play review said the writer would not move to stores they did not have nearby. Shutdown sentiment is not the same as recipe sentiment.

Mealime privacy and Data Safety

Apple’s US and UK privacy labels, captured 13 September 2026, were thin. Data linked to you for developer advertising or marketing: email address and name. The developer had not marked accessibility features.

Play Data Safety said the app may share app info and performance with third parties. It may collect personal info, messages and three other types. Data is encrypted in transit. You can request deletion. The linked policy sat at mealime.com/privacy-policy. We report the store labels. We did not audit the full policy line by line on this pass.

Grocery-partner send can expose a shopping list to a retailer. That is a feature, not a hidden sensor. Turn it off if you only want an in-app tick list.

What independent sources measured

We found no randomised trial that assigned households to Mealime versus a control list and measured waste, spend or diet quality. Play’s “save hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars” line is marketing. It is not a published household study.

NHS Eatwell still asks most people to base meals on starchy food, fruit and vegetables, some protein and some dairy or alternatives. Mealime could point at those groups. It could not certify a plate. For protein context, see our protein intake guide.

What remains unverified

We did not confirm how long accounts or lists stay reachable after 21 October 2026. We did not verify every regional subscription cancel. We did not compare the Albertsons Meals Hub to Mealime’s old library. Recipe-library claims such as “no new recipes since November 2025” appeared on competitor blogs; official notes through August 2026 still said new batches were shipping, so we do not treat that blog line as a fact.