Best apps · Pantry
The 6 best pantry inventory apps to waste less food.
A pantry app earns its place when it stops you buying a third jar of cumin and reminds you about the chicken before it turns. The catch is effort: if keeping it up to date is a chore, nobody does. Here are six that make it easier, and how they differ.
By Hedgehog Chef · · 5-minute read
The short answer
Hedgehog Chef is our pick when the pantry should feed the rest of the kitchen: expiry dates and reminders, "What can I make?" from what you have, and a shopping list that skips what's already there. KitchenPal is the most complete standalone pantry app, NoWaste has the cheapest paid tier and a shared inventory, Pantry Check is a fast barcode-first tracker for iPhone, Out of Milk is a free pantry list beside your shopping list, and Grocy is the free, self-hosted choice for tinkerers.
- 1. Hedgehog Chef: best for a pantry that plans meals and trims the list
- 2. KitchenPal: best for the most complete standalone pantry app
- 3. NoWaste: best for a cheap, shared, ad-free inventory
- 4. Pantry Check: best for fast barcode tracking on iPhone
- 5. Out of Milk: best for a free pantry list next to the shopping list
- 6. Grocy: best for a free, self-hosted inventory for tinkerers
At a glance
| App | Best for | Price | Without paying |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hedgehog Chef | Best for: a pantry that plans meals and trims the list | Price: Hedgehog Chef Plus ($5.99/month or $49.99/year, on sale soon), for the whole household | Without paying: A 14-day free trial with everything, no card needed; no free plan after it |
| 2. KitchenPal | Best for: the most complete standalone pantry app | Price: Premium: $3.99/month, $14.99/year or $29.99 lifetime ($39.99 for the family) | Without paying: 50 kitchen items and 7–10 days of meal planning |
| 3. NoWaste | Best for: a cheap, shared, ad-free inventory | Price: Pro: $6.99/year or $29.99 once, shareable with the household | Without paying: One location's inventory, barcode scanning, lists and an expiry calendar, no ads |
| 4. Pantry Check | Best for: fast barcode tracking on iPhone | Price: Storage plans for more items, which don't auto-renew | Without paying: 200 items, with every feature |
| 5. Out of Milk | Best for: a free pantry list next to the shopping list | Price: Free; the App Store also sells a Premium whose contents aren't described | Without paying: Shopping, pantry and to-do lists with sharing, with ads |
| 6. Grocy | Best for: a free, self-hosted inventory for tinkerers | Price: Free and open source | Without paying: Everything; you run it on your own server |
How we chose
We make Hedgehog Chef, so it's first on this list: that's our bias, stated up front, and its cons are as honest as everyone else's. The other apps are in the order we'd suggest them for this job. Everything we say about them comes from their own websites, help pages and app-store listings, checked on October 13, 2026 and linked at the end, and each entry says who should pick it instead of ours. We left out store ratings, which change daily.
What we looked at:
- How fast items get in: barcode scanning, receipts, or from the shopping list
- Expiry dates and reminders before food goes off
- Whether the whole household shares one inventory
- What it does with the inventory: recipes, a meal plan, a smarter list
- Free limits and price
The apps
Our app
1. Hedgehog Chef
Best for a pantry that plans meals and trims the list
Hedgehog Chef's pantry is deliberately light: fridge, freezer, pantry and spices, with expiry dates, barcode scanning and a restock point that marks staples as running low. Its value is what it connects to. "What can I make?" ranks your recipes by what you already have, the shopping list skips pantry items, reminders nudge you to use food up, and the AI planner can plan the week around what's about to expire.
Everyone at home shares the same pantry, each with their own login. Hedgehog Chef has no free plan: every kitchen starts with a 14-day free trial with everything included and no card, then Hedgehog Chef Plus ($5.99/month or $49.99/year, on sale soon) covers the whole household.
Pros
- A pantry with fridge, freezer and cupboard, expiry dates, barcode scanning and “What can I make?”
- The shopping list skips what's already in the pantry
- Reminders to thaw the night before, start cooking, go shopping and use food up
- An AI planner: ask for “a week of high-protein dinners under $150” and it proposes a plan and a list from your recipes, for you to approve
- Up to 8 people, each with their own login, on one subscription
Cons
- A light pantry: no receipt or fridge-photo scanning, and one kitchen rather than several homes
- No free plan: after the 14-day free trial it's Hedgehog Chef Plus ($5.99/month or $49.99/year, on sale soon)
- No App Store or Google Play app yet: it installs from the browser instead
- New: launched in 2026, so it doesn't have years of track record yet
- Platforms
- Any web browser, installable as an app on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Chromebook
- Price
- Hedgehog Chef Plus ($5.99/month or $49.99/year, on sale soon), for the whole household
- Without paying
- A 14-day free trial with everything, no card needed; no free plan after it
2. KitchenPal
Best for the most complete standalone pantry app
KitchenPal closes the loop inside one app: barcode scanning across 5M+ products (Bluetooth scanners too), expiry alerts, recipe suggestions from what you have, a meal planner, and a shared shopping list that suggests what you're running low on. "Share Kitchen" puts the family on the same shelves, and a one-time Family Lifetime upgrade covers everyone.
The free tier is tight: 50 items and 7–10 days of meal planning.
Pros
- Inventory, recipes, meal plan and list in one loop
- Real family sharing with a family lifetime option
- Imports from Paprika and Recipe Keeper
- Bluetooth barcode scanner support
Cons
- Only 50 items free
- Your own recipes and diet filters need Premium
- Beware the unrelated look-alike at kitchenpal.ai
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Android and the web
- Price
- Premium: $3.99/month, $14.99/year or $29.99 lifetime ($39.99 for the family)
- Without paying
- 50 kitchen items and 7–10 days of meal planning
3. NoWaste
Best for a cheap, shared, ad-free inventory
NoWaste tracks the pantry, fridge and freezer with barcode scanning and an expiry calendar, with no ads, and members of a household see the same inventory, lists, recipes and meal plans. Pro is $6.99 a year or $29.99 once, shared with the household, and adds up to 20 locations, a bigger product database and expiry reminders. It can also suggest recipes from what you have.
Pros
- The cheapest paid tier here, shareable with the household
- No ads, even free
- Multiple locations (home, cabin, garage)
- iPhone, Android and the web
Cons
- Expiry reminders are Pro-only
- Free barcode database covers 14–15 countries
- Its own pages disagree on which tier includes photo and receipt scanning
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Android and the web
- Price
- Pro: $6.99/year or $29.99 once, shareable with the household
- Without paying
- One location's inventory, barcode scanning, lists and an expiry calendar, no ads
4. Pantry Check
Best for fast barcode tracking on iPhone
Pantry Check is barcode-first: scan items in, and it estimates best-by dates, lists what's expiring, and builds a shopping list with restock suggestions from your habits, estimated prices and a running total. There are no ads and no locked features; paid plans only add storage and never renew on their own.
Pros
- Fast barcode scanning with estimated best-by dates
- Restock suggestions and price totals
- No ads, no feature locks, no auto-renewal
Cons
- iPhone and iPad only for now
- No recipes or meal planning
- Sharing means one shared login
- Slow, irregular updates
- Platforms
- iPhone and iPad (Android in progress)
- Price
- Storage plans for more items, which don't auto-renew
- Without paying
- 200 items, with every feature
5. Out of Milk
Best for a free pantry list next to the shopping list
Out of Milk isn't an inventory tracker so much as a pantry list that sits beside your shopping list: move items between them, scan barcodes, and share both in real time for free. It has no expiry tracking or recipes.
Pros
- Free, with real-time sharing
- Move items between pantry and list
- Barcode scanning and price totals
Cons
- No expiry dates or reminders found
- Ads, with broad tracking on iOS
- No recipes
- Platforms
- iPhone, Android and the web
- Price
- Free; the App Store also sells a Premium whose contents aren't described
- Without paying
- Shopping, pantry and to-do lists with sharing, with ads
6. Grocy
Best for a free, self-hosted inventory for tinkerers
Grocy is free, open-source software you run on your own server or a Home Assistant box. It has the deepest inventory model here: minimum stock that adds items to the list, due-soon dates, a score that ranks recipes using what's due, and a meal plan that sends missing items to the list. It scans barcodes with a camera and looks products up in Open Food Facts.
Pros
- Free and private: your server, your data
- Minimum stock levels and due-soon recipe scoring
- A full REST API
Cons
- You have to host and maintain it
- Phone apps are community-made
- No expiry notifications found
- Platforms
- Self-hosted, in any browser; phone apps are community-made
- Price
- Free and open source
- Without paying
- Everything; you run it on your own server
How to choose
Be honest about upkeep. A pantry app only works if it's quick to update, so look for barcode scanning and, better, a link to the shopping list so bought items land in the pantry without retyping.
Then decide what the pantry is for. To waste less, expiry reminders matter most: Hedgehog Chef, KitchenPal and NoWaste Pro have them. To cook from what you have, you want recipes tied to the inventory: Hedgehog Chef, KitchenPal and Grocy. To shop smarter, the list should know the pantry: Hedgehog Chef, KitchenPal, Pantry Check and Grocy.
Questions
What is the best app to track food in my fridge and pantry?
For a household that also plans meals, Hedgehog Chef: expiry dates, reminders, "What can I make?" and a list that skips what you have. For a standalone inventory, KitchenPal or NoWaste.
Is there a free pantry inventory app?
Grocy is free and open source, but you host it yourself. NoWaste and Pantry Check have useful free tiers (Pantry Check holds 200 items), and Out of Milk's pantry list is free.
Which pantry app reminds you before food expires?
Hedgehog Chef, KitchenPal, Pantry Check and NoWaste (with Pro) send expiry reminders.
Can a pantry app suggest recipes from what I have?
Yes. Hedgehog Chef's "What can I make?" ranks your own recipes by what's in the pantry. KitchenPal and NoWaste suggest recipes from your inventory, and Grocy ranks recipes by what's due soon.
Sources, checked on October 13, 2026:
- KitchenPal
- KitchenPal settings FAQ
- KitchenPal kitchen FAQ
- NoWaste
- NoWaste on the App Store
- Pantry Check overview
- Pantry Check storage plans
- Pantry Check user guide
- Out of Milk features
- Out of Milk on Google Play
- Out of Milk on the App Store
- Grocy
- Grocy changelog
KitchenPal, NoWaste, Pantry Check, Out of Milk, Grocy are trademarks of their owners (KitchenPal: iCuisto Pte. Ltd.; NoWaste: KH Creations ApS; Pantry Check: Sunroom Labs, LLC; Out of Milk: InMarket Media, LLC). Hedgehog Chef isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Prices are in US dollars as listed on the day we checked, and change; app-store prices can differ from website prices.
Spotted something out of date or wrong? Tell us at hello@hedgehogchef.com and we'll fix it.