Mealie
Self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner
- #3 of 10 in best recipe and meal planning apps
- Free and open source
- Free to use
- Open source
- Self-hostedWeb
Ranked 3 of 10 in best recipe and meal planning apps
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.
Best for Self-hosted recipes and meal plans
About Mealie
Mealie stores recipes in a web app that the user hosts on a server or home network. Recipes can be imported from a URL or pasted as structured HTML or JSON, and the editor supports Markdown. Meal plans appear on a calendar with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack slots, and the app can pick a random recipe for the plan.
Mealie has user accounts, groups and households, so a family can share recipes while keeping meal plans and shopping lists separate. Scheduled webhooks can send meal plan data to other services. The project is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and setup requires a server, so it suits people comfortable with self-hosting.
Key features
- Self-hosted
- URL recipe import
- Calendar meal plans
- REST API
- Households and groups
Strengths
- Open source under AGPL-3.0
- Imports from URLs and other recipe apps
- Groups and households keep plans separate
Limits
- Needs a server and self-hosting setup
- Updates and backups are the user's job
Where Mealie ranks
How Mealie compares
| Product | Score | Price | Platforms | Recipe import | Meal planning | Self-hosting | AI features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1Paprika | 92.0 | Paid | macOSWindowsiOSAndroid | Web pages, built-in browser, bookmarklet | Weekly or monthly calendar | No | Not listed |
#2 Plan to Eat | 90.5 | Subscription | WebiOSAndroid | Recipes saved from the web | Calendar meal planner | No | Not listed |
| #3Mealie | 89.0 | Free and open source | Self-hostedWeb | URL, pasted HTML or JSON | Calendar with random pick | Yes | Not listed |
#4 My Royal Chef AI* | 84.5 | Free plan, paid upgrades | WebAndroid | Pantry-based recipe search | Not described on its site | No | AI chef chat |
#5 Copy Me That | 88.0 | Free plan, paid upgrades | WebiOSAndroid | Any website with a browser clipper | Meal planner tied to shopping list | No | Not listed |
The full comparison table for best recipe and meal planning apps has all 10 products.
Alternatives to Mealie
All 9 alternatives- PaprikaAlso runs on macOS, Windows, iOS.
- Plan to EatAlso runs on iOS, Android.
- My Royal Chef AI (made by the publisher of this site)Also runs on Android.
- Copy Me ThatAlso runs on iOS, Android.
Tandoor RecipesRecipe manager and meal planner for self-hosting or hosted use
KitchenOwlAlso runs on Android, iOS.
Questions about Mealie
- Is Mealie free?
- Mealie can be used without paying: Free and open source; you provide the server. Check the vendor’s pricing page for current limits.
- Is Mealie open source?
- Yes. Mealie publishes its source code under the AGPL-3.0 license.
- Which platforms does Mealie support?
- Mealie is available on: Self-hosted, Web.
- What is Mealie best for?
- Self-hosted recipes and meal plans. In our ranking of recipe and meal planning apps it is number 3 of 10 with a score of 89.0.
- What are the best alternatives to Mealie?
- The highest-ranked alternatives on listme.name are Paprika, Plan to Eat, My Royal Chef AI*, Copy Me That.
Show this ranking on your site
If you make or maintain Mealie, this badge links back to this page and shows its current rank. It updates when the ranking does.
<a href="https://listme.name/software/mealie"><img src="https://listme.name/badge/mealie.svg" height="28" alt="Ranked #3 of 10 recipe and meal planning apps on listme.name"></a>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.