Best Free Meal Planners 2026: 6 Options Compared
Best free Meal Planners compared: Mealie, KitchenOwl, Tandoor Recipes, grocy and 2 more, with free-plan limits, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 24, 2026.
•3 min read•Learning & Everyday Apps
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mealie | Free (Free self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner; SQLite default is recommended for up to 20 users) | Self-hosted (Docker), Web browser | A shared recipe library for the family | Docs only |
| KitchenOwl | Free (Free open-source shared grocery list and recipe app) | Self-hosted, Web browser, Android, iOS | Shared shopping lists and meal plans | Docs only |
| Tandoor Recipes | Free (Free to self-host; docs list no paid tier or hosted pricing) | Self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, Unraid, Synology), Web browser | Larger recipe collections | Docs only |
| grocy | Free (Free: open-source under MIT; no paid plan on the license page) | Web, PHP server | Managing pantry stock and meals together | Docs only |
| Eat This Much | Free (A free account exists; the site does not list what it excludes) | Web, iOS, Android | Plans built around calorie targets | Docs only |
| Samsung Food | Free (Free tier with recipe book, meal planner and shopping list; Samsung Food+ is a paid upgrade) | iOS, Android, Web browser | Recipe discovery and grocery lists | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- You want to host recipes for the family (Mealie is the pick)
- You want groceries and pantry stock tracked too (grocy is the pick)
- You want the app to set calorie targets for you (Eat This Much is the pick)
- You like browsing public recipes (Samsung Food is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You need paid-tier features, uptime guarantees or support that these free plans leave out
A free meal planner usually does one of three jobs: store your recipes, schedule them across a week, or turn the plan into a shopping list. Mealie, KitchenOwl and Tandoor Recipes are self-hosted recipe managers with meal calendars and shopping lists; Mealie and KitchenOwl are AGPL-3.0 open source, while Tandoor uses a Commons Clause licence that forbids selling the software, so it is free to run but not strictly open source. Grocy broadens the idea to a household: stock, groceries and a meal plan in an MIT-licensed web app. All four need a server or Docker, so they suit people already comfortable with that. If you want a hosted option, Eat This Much builds plans around calorie and macro targets and offers a free account, though the page does not list what the free account excludes, and Samsung Food is free with in-app purchases for AI planning in Samsung Food+. The trade-off is effort versus automation. Self-hosted tools give you full control and no subscription but you enter the recipes; hosted planners generate menus for you but may paywall the useful settings. Note that Mealime announced it would shut down on October 21, 2026, so avoid starting a library there.
Mealie
AGPL-3.0 self-hosted recipe manager with a meal planner and shopping lists. Importing recipes from URLs saves time; you run the server.
Price: Free (Free self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner; SQLite default is recommended for up to 20 users) (Mealie pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted (Docker), Web browser. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 13.7k GitHub stars · latest release v3.29.0 (Oct 17, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: A shared recipe library for the family.
KitchenOwl
AGPL-3.0 grocery and recipe app with weekly meal planning, available on Android, iOS and web. Self-hosting needs a server.
Price: Free (Free open-source shared grocery list and recipe app) (KitchenOwl pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted, Web browser, Android, iOS. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 3.8k GitHub stars · latest release v0.7.10 (Jul 26, 2026) · last commit Oct 18, 2026
Best for: Shared shopping lists and meal plans.
Worth knowing: License verified from the repository LICENSE/COPYING file on GitHub on 2026-10-24; platforms listed from project knowledge, not re-verified on the project site.
Tandoor Recipes
Free to self-host, with meal plans and shopping lists generated from recipes. Its Commons Clause licence is source-available, not open source.
Price: Free (Free to self-host; docs list no paid tier or hosted pricing) (Tandoor Recipes pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, Unraid, Synology), Web browser. Commons Clause (source-available).
Best for: Larger recipe collections.
grocy
MIT-licensed household manager covering groceries, stock and a meal plan. More than a meal planner, and it takes setup.
Price: Free (Free: open-source under MIT; no paid plan on the license page) (grocy pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Web, PHP server. MIT (open source).
Project activity: 9.6k GitHub stars · latest release v4.7.1 (Sep 4, 2026) · last commit Sep 16, 2026
Best for: Managing pantry stock and meals together.
Eat This Much
Hosted planner with a free account for generating meal plans around macro targets. The page checked does not list free limits or the premium price.
Price: Free (A free account exists; the site does not list what it excludes) (Eat This Much pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Plans built around calorie targets.
Samsung Food
Free with in-app purchases; Samsung Food+ adds AI-personalised weekly plans. Large public recipe collection and shopping lists.
Price: Free (Free tier with recipe book, meal planner and shopping list; Samsung Food+ is a paid upgrade) (Samsung Food pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web browser. Proprietary.
Best for: Recipe discovery and grocery lists.
Which one to pick
- You want to host recipes for the family: Mealie
- You want groceries and pantry stock tracked too: grocy
- You want the app to set calorie targets for you: Eat This Much
- You like browsing public recipes: Samsung Food
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Mealie, KitchenOwl, Tandoor Recipes, grocy, Eat This Much, Samsung Food: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing, license and product pages checked 2026-10-24: Mealie, KitchenOwl, Tandoor Recipes, grocy, Eat This Much, Samsung Food. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.