Meal planning
Mealime is shutting down on October 21, 2026 — here's what to use instead
Mealime has no export feature. Whatever you want to keep — favourite recipes, your usual grocery staples — has to come out by hand before the app goes. Below: the notice itself, what to do this week, and how PantryRx™ lines up feature for feature.
The full story, with the notice, the dates and every option we found, is in our post: Mealime is shutting down: what to save and what to use instead.
What happened
“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.”
Mealime's own App Store release notes, verified 19 September 2026 — read the listing on the App Store.
Mealime was acquired by Albertsons Companies in 2021. Its users are being directed to Meals Hub, a feature inside Albertsons' grocery apps — Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and Albertsons. Getting to it means holding an account in one of those store apps.
The part that catches people out is quieter: Mealime has no export feature, and the shutdown notice does not add one. There is no button that hands you your recipes, your meal plans or your grocery lists. If a recipe matters to you, it has to leave the app the slow way, and it has to happen before October 21.
Mealime shut down on October 21, 2026. Here is what to do now.
What to do after October 21
- Rebuild from what you saved. Type or paste your keeper recipes from your notes and screenshots into a new app. A recipe manager that imports from a web page saves time for recipes that came from a site.
- Re-enter your diet profile and allergens first. Then your weekly staples, so the first plan you generate already fits.
- Check for a stray charge. Look at Settings › Apple ID › Subscriptions (or Google Play › Payments & subscriptions). If you were billed after the notice, request a refund from Apple or Google.
- Delete the app once you have what you need. After October 21, 2026 Mealime's service is gone, so recipes still in the app may stop loading.
Do this before October 21
- Screenshot every recipe you actually cook. Ingredients and steps, two shots if it runs long. Mealime has no export, so this is the only way to keep them.
- Copy your top ten into a note as text. Screenshots aren't searchable; plain text can be pasted into any recipe app later.
- Photograph your usual grocery list and write down your diet and allergy settings. You'll want to re-enter them exactly in whatever you use next.
- Check your Apple subscriptions list. Mealime says Pro is now free for everyone and current Pro subscriptions will not renew. Confirm nothing is still set to bill you.
Feature for feature: Mealime → PantryRx
What you were using on the left, where it lives in PantryRx on the right.
| What you used in Mealime | In PantryRx |
|---|---|
| Weekly meal plan | This week — plan breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for 1–7 days, not just dinners |
| Shopping list, sorted by aisle | Groceries — one combined list by aisle, minus what's already in your pantry |
| Recipe library (best ones behind Pro) | Nearly 1,000 recipes, all free — no tier, no paywall |
| Diet profiles | The same 8 eating styles — Classic, Flexitarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescatarian, Low Carb, Keto, Paleo |
| Allergy filtering | 12 allergens enforced by deterministic rules on every recipe, not AI guesswork |
| Grocery delivery hand-off | Send the whole list to an Instacart cart in one tap |
| Cooking mode | Step-by-step mode with timers — plus hands-free: wave a hand to advance a step |
| Pantry tracking | Pantry-first planning — plans start from what you own and what's expiring |
| Pro subscription | Free. No subscription, no ads, no account |
| Account required | No account. Plans, pantry and preferences stay on your device |
| Apple Watch | Watch app — today's meals, cooking with wrist timers, grocery check-off in the aisle |
| Export your data | Mealime: none offered. PantryRx: export your data from Settings, any time |
PantryRx is free on the App Store: no subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads, no account. Everything runs on your device.
How to move across in 10 minutes
- 1. Install PantryRx. Free, and there is no account to create — it opens straight into the app.
- 2. Set your eating style and allergens. The same 8 eating styles you had in Mealime, plus 12 allergens that are enforced by rules on every one of the 974 recipes, not guessed at.
- 3. Tap your pantry staples. The things already in your kitchen. This is the bit Mealime never asked for, and it is what stops the plan sending you shopping for rice you already own.
- 4. Auto-plan the week. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for as many days as you want, built around your pantry and what is expiring first. The grocery list comes out sorted by aisle, minus what you own, and goes to an Instacart cart in one tap.
- 5. Paste in your keeper recipes. Open the recipe editor and type or paste each one from the note you made. They then plan and shop exactly like the built-in recipes.
The app is in 47 languages, switchable instantly in Settings, and runs on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — today's meals, wrist timers while you cook, and grocery check-off in the aisle.
Questions people are asking
Is Mealime really shutting down? ▾
Yes. Mealime's own App Store release notes say: “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 notice is on the Mealime App Store listing.
What happens to my Mealime Pro subscription? ▾
Mealime's notice says Pro is now free for everyone, and that a current Pro subscription will not renew. Nothing beyond that has been announced.
Can I export my recipes out of Mealime? ▾
No. Mealime has no export feature, and the shutdown notice offers no way to get recipes, meal plans or grocery lists out. Copying or screenshotting what you want to keep, before October 21, 2026, is the only route.
Where is Mealime sending its users? ▾
Mealime was acquired by Albertsons Companies in 2021, and users are being pointed to Meals Hub, a feature inside Albertsons' grocery apps — Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and Albertsons. Reaching it means having an account in one of those store apps.
Does PantryRx cost anything? ▾
No. PantryRx is free on the App Store. There is no subscription, no in-app purchase, no ads and no paid tier — all 974 recipes are there on the day you install it.
Do I need an account? ▾
No. PantryRx needs no account and no sign-in. Your plans, pantry and preferences stay on your device.
Is there an Android version? ▾
Not today. PantryRx runs on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
Can I import my Mealime recipes into PantryRx? ▾
No — and the reason is on the Mealime side: there is no export, so there is no file to import. PantryRx lets you write or paste in your own recipes, so the honest route is to copy your keepers out of Mealime by hand before October 21 and paste them into PantryRx's recipe editor.
PantryRx — free meal planning, no account, no subscription
974 recipes, 8 eating styles, 12 allergens, one aisle-sorted grocery list, hands-free cook mode. iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
Get PantryRx on the App Store →Read the full PantryRx app page · Offline recipe apps compared · Mealime shutdown: the full post
Mealime is a trademark of its owners. PantryRx is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Mealime or Albertsons Companies. The shutdown notice quoted above is Mealime's own wording from its App Store listing and is reproduced here for identification only.