Best apps · Meal planning
The 6 best Plan to Eat alternatives in 2026.
Plan to Eat is a thoughtful, ad-free planner for your own recipes, and it has been for eighteen years. People look around when they want the planner to do more of the planning, a login for each person at home, a pantry, or a free option. Here are six alternatives and who each one suits.
By Hedgehog Chef · · 4-minute read
The short answer
Hedgehog Chef is our pick if you like Plan to Eat's approach but want an AI planner, a pantry and a login for everyone at home, at about the same price. Paprika is the best one-time purchase, AnyList the cheapest household plan, Samsung Food the best free planner with a big catalog, Copy Me That the cheapest web recipe box, and ReciMe the best at social imports.
- 1. Hedgehog Chef: best for Plan to Eat's approach with AI planning, a pantry and a login each
- 2. Paprika: best for owning your recipe app outright
- 3. AnyList: best for the cheapest household plan
- 4. Samsung Food: best for a free planner with a big catalog
- 5. Copy Me That: best for the cheapest web recipe box with a planner
- 6. ReciMe: best for saving recipes from social posts
At a glance
| App | Best for | Price | Without paying |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Hedgehog Chef | Best for: Plan to Eat's approach with AI planning, a pantry and a login each | 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. Paprika | Best for: owning your recipe app outright | Price: Paprika 3 is bought once per platform: $4.99 iPhone/iPad, $4.99 Android unlock, $29.99 Mac, $29.99 Windows | Without paying: On Android, up to 50 recipes without sync; the other versions are paid up front |
| 3. AnyList | Best for: the cheapest household plan | Price: AnyList Complete: $9.99/year for one person or $14.99/year for a household | Without paying: Shared lists and recipes, with 5 web recipe imports; meal planning needs Complete |
| 4. Samsung Food | Best for: a free planner with a big catalog | Price: Samsung Food+: $6.99/month or $59.99/year | Without paying: Free with ads: recipes, a meal planner (3 saved plans) and a shopping list |
| 5. Copy Me That | Best for: the cheapest web recipe box with a planner | Price: About $1/month, or a yearly or lifetime membership; one membership covers every device | Without paying: Every feature, up to 40 recipes |
| 6. ReciMe | Best for: saving recipes from social posts | Price: ReciMe Plus: $39.99/year in the US | Without paying: 5 imports a week, with meal plans and a grocery list |
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:
- Planning from your own recipes, as Plan to Eat does
- Importing your Plan to Eat library
- Separate logins for the household
- A pantry, which Plan to Eat chose not to build
- Price: Plan to Eat is $5.95 a month or $49 a year, with no free plan
The apps
Our app
1. Hedgehog Chef
Best for Plan to Eat's approach with AI planning, a pantry and a login each
Hedgehog Chef works the way Plan to Eat users like: your own recipes, a drag-and-drop week, and one shopping list. On top, the AI planner drafts the week for you to approve, the pantry tracks expiry dates and trims the list, and each person at home signs in as themselves. It imports Plan to Eat's export directly.
The price is close: 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. Plan to Eat's phone app is better offline.
Pros
- Imports whole libraries from Paprika (photos included), Mela, Crouton, Recipe Keeper, MasterCook, Plan to Eat, Copy Me That and more
- 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
- A pantry with fridge, freezer and cupboard, expiry dates, barcode scanning and “What can I make?”
- Full-screen cook mode with that step's ingredients, tap-to-start timers, voice commands and read-aloud
- A week board with drag and drop, a month view, reusable menus, leftovers and a calendar feed
Cons
- Only partly offline: the shopping list, this week's plan and saved recipes open without a connection, the rest needs one
- No free plan: after the 14-day free trial it's Hedgehog Chef Plus ($5.99/month or $49.99/year, on sale soon)
- New: launched in 2026, so it doesn't have years of track record yet
- No App Store or Google Play app yet: it installs from the browser instead
- 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. Paprika
Best for owning your recipe app outright
Paprika covers recipes, a meal planner, a grocery list and a pantry in native apps that work fully offline, and Paprika 3 is bought once per platform rather than every year. There's no web app, and the household shares one login, as in Plan to Eat.
Pros
- One-time purchase (Paprika 3)
- Fully offline
- Has a pantry
Cons
- No web app
- Bought per platform
- One shared login
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows apps; no web app
- Price
- Paprika 3 is bought once per platform: $4.99 iPhone/iPad, $4.99 Android unlock, $29.99 Mac, $29.99 Windows
- Without paying
- On Android, up to 50 recipes without sync; the other versions are paid up front
3. AnyList
Best for the cheapest household plan
AnyList Complete is $14.99 a year for a household, a third of Plan to Eat's price, with a recipe box, a meal-plan calendar, household accounts and one of the best shared lists. Its recipe tools are lighter, and the planner is a calendar you fill in.
Pros
- $14.99 a year for a household
- Household accounts
- Sends lists to US grocery services
Cons
- Lighter recipe tools
- No pantry or nutrition found
- No bulk recipe export found
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Android and Mac apps; the web app needs Complete
- Price
- AnyList Complete: $9.99/year for one person or $14.99/year for a household
- Without paying
- Shared lists and recipes, with 5 web recipe imports; meal planning needs Complete
4. Samsung Food
Best for a free planner with a big catalog
Samsung Food's free tier has a weekly planner, a shopping list and a 240,000-recipe catalog, and you can save your own recipes too. Food+ adds tailored AI plans. It's free with ads.
Pros
- Free planner and list
- Huge catalog
- AI plans with Food+
Cons
- Ads on the free tier
- 3 saved meal plans free
- Many recipes open on the creator's site
- Platforms
- iPhone and Android apps, the web, and Samsung Family Hub fridges
- Price
- Samsung Food+: $6.99/month or $59.99/year
- Without paying
- Free with ads: recipes, a meal planner (3 saved plans) and a shopping list
5. Copy Me That
Best for the cheapest web recipe box with a planner
Copy Me That has a web app, a meal planner, an aisle-sorted shopping list and a pantry list for about $1 a month on every device. It's simpler than Plan to Eat, with no nutrition or cook mode.
Pros
- About $1 a month
- Web app and Chrome clipper
- Free up to 40 recipes
Cons
- No nutrition or cook mode found
- One shared login
- Platforms
- iPhone, Android, any web browser and a Chrome extension
- Price
- About $1/month, or a yearly or lifetime membership; one membership covers every device
- Without paying
- Every feature, up to 40 recipes
6. ReciMe
Best for saving recipes from social posts
ReciMe imports from five social networks plus screenshots and handwritten cards, with a weekly plan and an aisle-sorted list on its free tier, on iPhone and Android. Free accounts get five imports a week; Plus is $39.99 a year.
Pros
- The widest social import
- Free plan and grocery list
- iPhone and Android
Cons
- 5 imports a week free
- The web app is a beta without the planner
- One shared login
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad and Android apps, and a desktop web beta
- Price
- ReciMe Plus: $39.99/year in the US
- Without paying
- 5 imports a week, with meal plans and a grocery list
How to choose
If you're happy with how Plan to Eat plans and only want more help, Hedgehog Chef is the closest fit with an AI planner and a pantry. If the subscription is the problem, Paprika (pay once) or AnyList ($14.99 a year) cost less over time. If you want free, Samsung Food.
Plan to Eat lets you export your recipes as CSV or text, even after a subscription ends, so you can try alternatives without losing anything.
Questions
Is Plan to Eat free?
No. It has a 14-day trial without a card, then costs $5.95 a month or $49 a year on its website ($54.99 a year in the App Store).
Does Plan to Eat have a pantry?
No: Plan to Eat decided against a pantry and explains why in its help center. Hedgehog Chef and Paprika both have one.
Can I import my Plan to Eat recipes into another app?
Yes. Export from Plan to Eat's website (CSV or text) and import into Hedgehog Chef, which reads Plan to Eat's export directly.
Which Plan to Eat alternative lets each family member log in?
Hedgehog Chef (up to 8 people) and AnyList have separate logins. Plan to Eat, Paprika 3, Copy Me That and ReciMe share one login.
Sources, checked on October 13, 2026:
- Paprika
- Paprika news (Paprika 4 beta)
- Paprika 3 on the App Store
- Paprika 3 on Google Play
- AnyList Complete
- AnyList on the web
- AnyList online shopping (help)
- AnyList on the App Store
- What's in Samsung Food+
- Samsung Food meal planner (help)
- Samsung Food Food List (help)
- Samsung Food on the App Store
- Copy Me That
- Copy Me That on the App Store
- Copy Me That on Google Play
- ReciMe
- Is ReciMe free? (help)
- ReciMe's 5 free weekly imports (help)
- Sharing a ReciMe account (help)
- ReciMe on a computer (help)
Paprika, AnyList, Samsung Food, Copy Me That, ReciMe are trademarks of their owners (Paprika: Hindsight Labs LLC; AnyList: Purple Cover, Inc.; Samsung Food: Samsung Electronics; Copy Me That: Copy Me That IVS; ReciMe: ReciMe Pty Ltd). 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.