Comparison · Recipe and meal planning apps
Mealie vs My Royal Chef AI: which is better in 2026?
Mealie ranks higher in our list of recipe and meal planning apps (#3 against #4, score 89.0 against 84.5).
Choose Mealie if you want
Self-hosted recipes and meal plans.
Open-source, self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner under AGPL-3.0, with URL import and a calendar. It needs a server and self-hosting skills to run.
Choose My Royal Chef AI if you want
Cooking from the ingredients you already have.
Finds recipes from ingredients you type in, suggests swaps with ratios and scales portions, and every kitchen tool is free. Its site does not describe weekly planning, and the website and Android app share one account.
The main differences
- Only My Royal Chef AI runs on Android.
- Mealie is open source; My Royal Chef AI is not.
Side by side
 Mealie |  My Royal Chef AI* | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 89.0 | 84.5 |
| Rank in list | #3 of 7 | #4 of 7 |
| Price | Free and open sourceFree and open source; you provide the server | Free plan, paid upgradesFree tools and 15 chat messages a day; Premium is $12.99 a month |
| Free to use | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Self-hostedWebSelf-hosted, Web | WebAndroidWeb, Android |
| Made by | Not stated | Yunus Emre Vurgun |
| Recipe import | URL, pasted HTML or JSON | Pantry-based recipe search |
| Meal planning | Calendar with random pick | Not described on its site |
| Self-hosting | Yes | No |
| AI features | Not listed | AI chef chat |
| Best for | Self-hosted recipes and meal plans | Cooking from the ingredients you already have |
| Strengths |
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| Limits |
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| Links | Visit site | Visit site |
Questions about Mealie vs My Royal Chef AI
- Is Mealie better than My Royal Chef AI?
- Mealie ranks higher in our list of recipe and meal planning apps (#3 against #4, score 89.0 against 84.5). Mealie is best for: self-hosted recipes and meal plans. My Royal Chef AI is best for: cooking from the ingredients you already have.
- Which is cheaper, Mealie or My Royal Chef AI?
- Mealie: Free and open source; you provide the server. My Royal Chef AI: Free tools and 15 chat messages a day; Premium is $12.99 a month.
- Do Mealie and My Royal Chef AI run on the same platforms?
- Mealie supports Self-hosted, Web. My Royal Chef AI supports Web, Android.
Made by, or connected to, the publisher of this site or people the publisher works with. Listed on the same criteria as everything else, with the lift described in How we rank and Disclosure.