Guides

Budget meal planner apps in 2026: which ones plan to a budget

By Robin Lange, maker of Subtotal · 7 October 2026 · updated 8 October 2026

Of the eleven planners in the table below, four plan your week to a budget you set: TapCook (US), Feedi (New Zealand), Subtotal (iPhone) and Eat This Much, which plans to calorie and macro targets as well. AnyList and MealBoard add up prices you type in, and Plan to Eat, Paprika, Samsung Food and eMeals organise recipes and lists without pricing them. Mealime shuts down on 21 October 2026, and Yummly and PlateJoy have already closed. Everything below is as of October 2026, taken from each app’s own website or App Store listing, and for the closed apps from their notices and web archives.

What “budget” means in a meal planner

Most of the planners below write one shopping list for the week from your meals. Fewer put a price on it. They sort into three kinds:

1. Plans to a budget. You give it a number and it builds a week that fits, using real or estimated prices.
2. Totals your list. It adds up prices you enter, so you can see the running cost, but it doesn’t choose meals to fit.
3. Organises, no prices. Recipes, a meal calendar and a shopping list. The budget is up to you.

Comparison table

Apps that plan to a budget

TapCook (US)

You enter your ZIP code, pick the store you shop at, and say how many people you’re feeding, which nights you cook and what you want to spend. TapCook builds a week of dinners and one grocery list, totalled at that store and kept under your budget. Ticking off staples you already have takes them off the bill. Its prices are estimates built from a national reference price, adjusted for your chain and region, and it says your checkout total will differ. It covers US stores only, and building plans needs a subscription: US$9.99 a month, or US$29.99 a year with a 7-day free trial.

Feedi (New Zealand)

Feedi plans a whole week of meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks) for whoever is eating each meal, and prices the same week at the New World, Pak’nSave and Woolworths stores near you so you can see where it’s cheapest. You set a weekly spend and it builds a week that comes in under it. The list is grouped by aisle with a running total as you tick items into the trolley. It’s on iPhone now, with Android coming, and it’s free to download and plan your first week. Feedi hasn’t published what it costs after that.

Subtotal (iPhone)

Subtotal takes a weekly budget and plans the meals to fit it, then writes the list: how much of each thing to buy, and which days it’s for. Until you’ve scanned anything it plans with the app’s price estimates, so your first checkout total will differ. In the store you scan shelf tickets with the camera and it keeps a running total against your budget, and those scanned prices are what it plans with next week. Plans, lists and prices stay on the phone, with no account to make. Planning is a one-time purchase of US$4.99; the scanner and running total are free for your first three shopping trips.

It plans the meals itself rather than importing recipes, and it launches on iPhone (iOS 17 or later) in October 2026.

Eat This Much

Eat This Much generates meal plans from the foods you like, your schedule and your budget, and also plans to a calorie target and macro targets you choose. The free account plans one day at a time; Premium plans a whole week with an automatic grocery list and costs US$5 a month on an annual subscription. It suits people who plan around those targets as well as a budget.

Apps that total your list

AnyList

AnyList is a shared shopping list with a recipe box. AnyList Complete adds a meal planning calendar, prices on items with a running total as you shop, and AnyList on a Mac, PC or Apple Watch. AnyList is free to download; Complete is US$9.99 a year for one person or US$14.99 a year for a household.

MealBoard

MealBoard organises recipes, builds grocery lists from your meal plan, manages a pantry and can suggest meal plans. Its list can track prices and estimate the total cost. It runs on iPhone and iPad; the free version holds 30 recipes, and a US$12.99 one-time purchase unlocks unlimited recipes and cloud sync.

Planners that organise without prices

Plan to Eat keeps all your recipes in one place, imported from the web or typed in, and turns your meal plan into an organised shopping list that syncs with your household. After a 14-day free trial it’s US$5.95 a month or US$49 a year on the website (US$54.99 a year in the iPhone app).

Paprika is a recipe manager with a meal planner, pantry and grocery lists that combine ingredients and sort by aisle. Your data is stored on the device, with optional cloud sync between devices. Each platform is a separate one-time purchase; the iPhone and iPad version is US$4.99.

Samsung Food has a public recipe library, saves recipes from any website, plans your week and builds shared shopping lists, with grocery delivery from integrated retailers. It’s free, with an optional Samsung Food+ subscription (US$6.99 a month or US$59.99 a year) for personalised plans and pantry features.

eMeals sends seven new recipes a week from one of 15 meal plan styles, including a Budget Friendly plan, and connects your list to US grocery partners like Walmart, Instacart and Kroger. Bought in the iPhone app, dinner plans are US$29.99 for three months or US$59.99 a year.

Planners that are closing or have closed

• Mealime closes on 21 October 2026. Its recipes move to Meals Hub inside the Albertsons Companies grocery apps, such as Safeway, Albertsons and ACME Markets. Those three apps are on the US and Canadian App Stores but not the New Zealand, Australian or UK ones. Mealime says all personal data will be deleted when the app shuts down, some preferences will need setting up again in Meals Hub, and Pro subscribers won’t be charged again. The Mealime guide covers saving recipes before the 21st.
• Yummly went offline in December 2024. Since 21 December 2024, yummly.com has forwarded to KitchenAid’s recipe pages.
• PlateJoy ended on 1 July 2025, according to the notice on its support site.

How to choose

• You want the app to choose meals that fit a number: TapCook in the US, Feedi in New Zealand, or Subtotal on iPhone. Eat This Much if you also plan around calorie targets.
• You already have recipes you love: Plan to Eat, Paprika or AnyList keep them in one place; AnyList and MealBoard can total the list as you go.
• You’d rather pay once: Paprika and MealBoard are one-time purchases, and Subtotal is US$4.99 once.
• You’d like your data kept on your phone: Paprika stores your data locally (cloud sync is optional), and Subtotal keeps plans, lists and prices on the phone, with no account.

Sources

All checked on 7 October 2026.

• Mealime, Mealime is moving to Meals Hub, and the Mealime App Store listing release notes.
• Apple App Store availability of Safeway, Albertsons and ACME Markets by country, via the iTunes lookup API: US, Canada, NZ, Australia, UK.
• Subtotal, getsubtotal.app and its privacy policy.
• PlateJoy, support site notice.
• Internet Archive, yummly.com capture history, showing the redirect from 21 December 2024; live redirect to kitchenaid.com/recipes.
• TapCook, tapcook.co and App Store listing.
• Feedi, feedi.co.nz and App Store listing.
• Eat This Much, pricing and App Store listing.
• AnyList, AnyList Complete and App Store listing.
• MealBoard, App Store listing, including its in-app purchase list.
• Plan to Eat, plantoeat.com, App Store listing and Google Play listing.
• Paprika, paprikaapp.com and App Store listing.
• Samsung Food, app.samsungfood.com (Android, iOS and web) and App Store listing.
• eMeals, emeals.com and App Store listing, in-app purchase list.