Free alternatives to Mealime Pro

Meal plans and groceries run through a tiny home ERP, because apparently the fridge needed one.

Versus paying: Grocy can schedule meals and combine groceries, but it offers no comparable curated recipe library, preference-aware plan generation, nutrition coaching, or guided cooking flow.

Setup: Docker container/Compose, or install the PHP application on a web server

Watch for: The first obstacle is deploying and exposing a PHP/Docker web app; the larger practical hurdle is configuring locations, units, products, barcodes, and household routines before its ERP-like screens become useful.

9,358 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

A household recipe server with meal plans and grocery lists; you supply the server and patience.

Versus paying: Mealie organizes the user's recipes well, but it does not reproduce Mealime's curated weekly recommendations, dietary personalization, nutritional guidance, or one-tap generated plan.

Setup: Docker Compose

Watch for: A non-expert needs Docker, persistent volumes, an update/backup routine, and usually a domain plus HTTPS; importing recipe sites also produces parsing failures that must be cleaned up manually.

12,900 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

Plan from your own recipes and combine ingredients into shopping lists; nutrition coaching is not the point.

Versus paying: RecipeSage handles personal recipes and shopping lists, but the user must choose the meals; Mealime's guided discovery, automatic plan generation, and nutrition layer are missing.

Setup: Hosted signup at RecipeSage, or Docker Compose for self-hosting

Watch for: The public service has no setup blocker; self-hosting adds Docker, a database, mail, storage, HTTPS, and backups, while both versions have less refined native-mobile interaction than Paprika or AnyList.

Your recipes become a weekly plan and one shopping list; the useful loop stays on the free tier.

Versus paying: Samsung Food offers recommendations and planning, but its ad- and ecosystem-driven experience is less focused than Mealime's dietary filters, portioned plans, guided cooking, and nutrition design.

Setup: Install the mobile app or use the web app, then create a Samsung Food account

The full recipe-plan-shopping loop; free for personal self-hosting, but the license is not actually open source.

Versus paying: Tandoor supports planning from stored recipes, but there is no Mealime-style curated catalog, preference engine, automatic weekly plan, or polished guided cooking experience.

Setup: Docker Compose with PostgreSQL; manual Django deployment is also documented

Watch for: The first obstacle is a multi-container Django/PostgreSQL deployment with secrets, volumes, HTTPS, email, and backups; its Commons-Clause-modified AGPL license is also not an OSI-approved open-source license.