Mealime is closing. Here’s how to save your recipes (and where to go next)

If you open Mealime at the moment, you’ll see the news: Mealime is shutting down on 21 October 2026. As a farewell, Pro is free for everyone until then, and existing Pro subscriptions won’t renew. After the closing date, your account and personal data are deleted.

And the bit that stings: there’s no export button. No file of your recipes, no download of your meal plans, no list to take with you.

If Mealime has been doing the weeknight thinking in your house, that’s a genuine pain, and I’m sorry. I know how much a good routine is worth when the 5 pm question arrives. So here’s a calm, practical way to hang on to what you love, and some honest thoughts on where to go next.

First, save your favourites (before 21 October)

You’ve got a few weeks. Here’s the quickest way to make sure nothing important disappears:

1. Open your favourites and saved recipes. Go through them one by one.
2. Screenshot each recipe you’d genuinely cook again, including the ingredients and the method. (Be ruthless. If you haven’t cooked it in a year, you won’t miss it.) Mealime itself suggests keeping a personal record of your favourites.
3. Write down your household’s preferences: who doesn’t eat what, your usual serving sizes, and any dietary preferences you’d set up.
4. Note your weeknight regulars. The five or six meals you rotate are the ones worth rebuilding first.
5. Put the screenshots in one album on your phone, called something like “Mealime rescue”. Future you will be grateful.

That’s it. Half an hour on a Sunday arvo, and your best recipes are safe from the shutdown.

What to look for in a replacement

Mealime was loved for being simple: pick your meals, get a tidy shopping list. When you look for something new, ask:

• Does it plan for you, or just store recipes? Some apps are recipe boxes you plan yourself. Others suggest the week for you.
• Can you bring your own recipes? Mealime never allowed imports, which is exactly why there’s no way out now. Pick something that lets you add recipes by link, by photo or by hand.
• Does it work for everyone at your table? Different eaters, different rules.
• Is it priced in Australian dollars, and does it think in Australian meals? Morning tea is a real meal. Fight me.

Where My Tomte fits

I’ll be upfront: I make My Tomte, so I’m biased. But here’s honestly what it does and doesn’t do.

My Tomte plans a whole week (or two) of meals in one tap, for everyone in the household, from breakfast through morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and dessert. It follows the dietary rules you set for each person, leaves out anything that isn’t marked to suit them, and tells you why if a slot is empty. The shopping list comes straight from the plan, minus what’s already in your fridge, freezer and pantry, rounded up to real pack sizes.

Bringing your Mealime favourites across: snap one of your screenshots and My Tomte turns it into a recipe (it’s one of our Smart Actions, which every plan includes). Or add them by hand, or by link if the recipe lives somewhere online.

What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t compare supermarket prices, and it isn’t free forever. It’s $19.99 a year for a family of up to six, with a 30-day free trial.

Whatever you choose, choose before the 21st

The worst outcome here isn’t picking the “wrong” app. It’s losing the recipes that took years to find. Save them first, then decide at your leisure.

And if you do give My Tomte a go, tell me what you miss about Mealime. I read every message (well, Rowena reads some of them, and she’s much stricter).

Quick answers

Sources: Mealime’s App Store and Google Play listings; Plan to Eat, “Mealime is moving” (September 2026). [verify each fact on the day of publishing]