Mealime Is Shutting Down: Save Your Recipes

If you opened Mealime this month and saw the shutdown notice, you're not alone, and it's a real loss. A lot of people built their whole week around that app. Here's what's happening, what you'll lose, and what to do this week so you don't lose the recipes you love.

The Short Answer

Mealime shuts down on October 21, 2026. When it does, all personal data is deleted, including your saved recipes and meal plans. Mealime's closing page doesn't offer an export. Mealime is owned by Albertsons, and its features are moving to Meals Hub inside the Albertsons store apps (Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and others). Before October 21, open each recipe you want to keep, save or copy it, and screenshot your current meal plan and grocery list. That's it. Do it once, and nothing is lost.

What's Happening, in Plain Words

Here's what Mealime says on its closing page and in its latest App Store release notes (version 4.21.37, October 2, 2026):

• The date: "Mealime will be discontinued as of October 21, 2026."
• Your data: "All personal data will be deleted when the Mealime application is shut down."
• Where it's going: Mealime's features move to Meals Hub, which lives in the Albertsons Companies grocery apps and websites. You sign in to your store app, tap More in the bottom right, then tap Meals Hub.
• The recipes themselves: Mealime says "all Mealime recipes will continue to be available on Meals Hub."
• Your settings: Some preferences "will need to be established directly within Meals Hub." The closing page doesn't say your saved favorites or past meal plans move over.
• Pro: Pro is now free for everyone, and current subscriptions won't renew. "Pro subscribers will not be charged any additional subscription fees."

The short version: the recipe library survives at Albertsons. Your personal collection, the recipes you picked out of that library and the plans you built, is what disappears on the 21st.

Save Your Mealime Recipes Before October 21

These steps work with no new app. Set aside 20 minutes tonight.

1. Make a list of the recipes you actually cook. Open Mealime and go through your saved recipes. Write down the names of the ones your household asks for. Be honest: the 10 you make on repeat matter more than the 80 you saved once.
2. Find each one on mealime.com. Mealime's recipes are public web pages right now, at addresses like `mealime.com/recipes/...`. Search "mealime" plus the recipe name, or browse mealime.com/recipes.
3. Save each recipe page. Pick whatever you'll actually use:

• Bookmark it in your browser.
• Print it, or "print to PDF" and save it in your Files app.
• Copy and paste the ingredients and steps into a note.

1. Screenshot your current meal plan. Every day, every recipe. This is the one thing you can't find on the website.
2. Screenshot your grocery list. Especially if you've got a week of shopping on it right now.
3. Don't wait for the last day. Mealime hasn't said whether the recipe pages on mealime.com stay up after October 21. Save what you love now, while you know it's there.

That's enough to keep every recipe safe, even if you never download anything else.

Move Them Into Aldenté

If you want your recipes back in an app with a meal plan and a grocery list, Aldenté can import recipe pages from most websites, and that includes Mealime's. It brings over the title, photo, ingredients, steps, servings and total time. It's on iPhone and iPad.

1. Download Aldenté and make an account. Saving recipes is free, with no limit on how many.
2. Open the Mealime recipe in Safari on your iPhone.
3. Tap Share, then tap Save to Aldenté. The first time, you may need to scroll the row of apps or tap More to find it.
4. Review the preview, then tap Save.
5. Repeat for each recipe you want to keep. Start with the ones you cook most.
6. Put a few on this week's plan. Add them to the meal plan, and their ingredients go straight to your grocery list.

This works today because the recipe pages are still on mealime.com. Nobody knows if they'll stay up after October 21, so do it now. Two small notes: Mealime pages don't list a prep time, so you'll see total time only, and you can add your own photos once you've cooked a dish.

If your old plan was the part you loved most, here's a simple weekly routine for turning a pile of saved recipes into dinners you actually make.

What to Look for in a Mealime Replacement

Mealime did a specific job well. Before you pick anything, decide which parts of that job you need.

1. A weekly meal plan. Do you want the app to build the week for you, or do you just want a calendar you fill in yourself?
2. A grocery list that writes itself. Mealime's best trick was turning a plan into a list. Look for that, plus a pantry, so you're not buying a third jar of cumin.
3. Quick recipes with simple ingredients. Mealime's recipes were short and weeknight-friendly. If that's what you liked, look for an app with recipes in that style, or one that lets you bring your own.
4. Works where you live. Some planners are tied to one grocery chain. That's great if you shop there, and a problem if you don't, or if you move.
5. Works on your phone. iPhone, Android, or both in your house? This decides more than any feature.
6. The real cost. What's free, what's paid, and whether it's a subscription or a one-time price.
7. Ads. Some free apps pay for themselves with ads. Know before you commit.

Mealime Alternatives, Compared

Albertsons Meals Hub is the official path, and it has a lot going for it. It's free, it keeps the Mealime recipe library, and Mealime's team is behind it. If you already shop at Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco or another Albertsons store, try it first. The trade-off is that it lives inside a grocery store's app, so it's built around that store.

Plan to Eat is the closest thing to "Mealime, but with my own recipes." You collect recipes from any site, drag them onto a calendar, and it builds the shopping list. It works on iPhone, Android and the web, and it's been around for years. It's paid after the trial, with no free tier.

Paprika is the classic recipe box. Pay once, own it, and it syncs across iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows. It has a meal planner, grocery list and pantry. If you hate subscriptions, or your household mixes iPhone and Android, Paprika is a safe pick.

Samsung Food is free, works on iPhone and Android, and has a huge recipe library plus meal planning. If you want something that feels closest to Mealime's "pick from a library" style on an Android phone, start here.

AnyList is the cleanest shared grocery list around, and it's cheap. If the list was the part of Mealime you used most, AnyList does that one job very well, on every platform.

Aldenté is for people who save recipes from everywhere (Mealime, TikTok, Instagram, food blogs) and want them in one place to plan and cook from. Saving is free with no limit, the grocery list and pantry are free, and you can share one list with the people you live with. Meal plan generation is free once, then part of Premium (see pricing). The honest limit: it's iPhone and iPad only. If you or your partner are on Android, pick one of the cross-platform apps above.

FAQ

When does Mealime shut down?

October 21, 2026. Mealime's closing page says the app "will be discontinued as of October 21, 2026," and all personal data is deleted when it shuts down.

Can I export my Mealime recipes?

Mealime's closing page doesn't offer an export. The way to keep them is to save each recipe yourself before October 21: bookmark, print or copy the recipe page on mealime.com, or share it into a recipe app. Screenshot your meal plan and grocery list too.

Will mealime.com recipe pages stay online?

They're online today, at addresses like `mealime.com/recipes/...`. Mealime hasn't said whether they'll stay up after October 21. Mealime says its recipes will remain available in Meals Hub, but don't count on the old web pages. Save the ones you love now.

What happens to Mealime Pro?

Pro is free for everyone until the shutdown, and current Pro subscriptions won't renew. Mealime says Pro subscribers "will not be charged any additional subscription fees" before October 21. Mealime also says Meals Hub is "100% free, including recipes previously available through Mealime Pro."

What's a good Mealime alternative on iPhone?

If you shop at an Albertsons store, try Meals Hub first, since it keeps Mealime's recipes. If you want your own recipes from anywhere with a free grocery list and pantry, Aldenté is built for that. Plan to Eat and Paprika are also solid on iPhone.

What's a good Mealime alternative on Android?

Aldenté isn't on Android. Samsung Food is free and closest to Mealime's library style. Plan to Eat is a strong paid planner. Paprika is a one-time purchase that syncs everywhere, and AnyList is great if you mostly need a shared grocery list. Meals Hub works in the Albertsons store apps too.

One Last Thing

Losing an app you used every week is annoying. Losing the recipes your family actually likes is worse. Spend 20 minutes this week saving the ones you cook, wherever you decide to cook them next. The recipes are what matter.