The cheapest meal planner app in 2026: every price compared
We compared the real 2026 prices of Cestio, Potto, Mealime, Eat This Much, Samsung Food, Yazio, Fitia, MyFitnessPal and PlateJoy. Cestio is free to download and the cheapest AI meal planner at $39.99 a year.
The short version
- Cestio is free to download and the cheapest AI meal planner in 2026: every feature is free for 3 days, then $4.99/week or $39.99/year in the US (about $3.33 a month), and €2.99/week or €19.99/year in Europe.
- Potto costs $9.99 a week, Eat This Much $59 a year, Samsung Food+ $59.99 a year, Yazio PRO $47.90 a year, PlateJoy $99 a year and MyFitnessPal Premium+ $99.99 a year.
- Mealime was free but shuts down on 21 October 2026.
- Cestio's price includes everything: weekly AI plans, an aisle-sorted shopping list shared with your household, Fridge Chef, Calorie Snap and 7 languages. No ads.
Meal planner apps have quietly become expensive. Some charge by the week, some hide weekly plans behind a premium tier, and several “free” apps only give you a single day or a recipe box. Here is what each one actually costs in September 2026.
Price comparison: meal planner apps in 2026
| App | Plans the week for you | Download / trial | One year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cestio | Yes — AI, 21 meals + grocery list | Free download, all features free for 3 days, then $4.99/wk | $39.99 (€19.99 in Europe) |
| Yazio PRO | Meal plans inside a calorie tracker | Limited free version | $47.90 |
| Eat This Much | Yes, by calories and macros | Free version plans 1 day, no list · $14.99/mo | $59 |
| Samsung Food+ | Partly | Free version with ads | $59.99 |
| Fitia Premium | Yes, diet-focused | $19.99/mo | $59.99 |
| PlateJoy | Yes | $12.99/mo | $99 |
| MyFitnessPal Premium+ | Yes (meal planner only in Premium+) | $24.99/mo | $99.99 |
| Potto | Yes, AI | $9.99/wk | Over $500 |
| Mealime | Yes | Free until shutdown | Closes 21 October 2026 |
Why Cestio is the cheapest real option
Potto costs $9.99 a week — more than $500 a year. Eat This Much's free version plans one day at a time with no shopping list. Yazio is a calorie tracker with recipes locked in PRO.
Among apps that actually build a full week and write the shopping list, Cestio is the cheapest by a wide margin — $39.99 for a year, less than a single month of Potto at its reported weekly price. In the euro zone it is €19.99 a year, under €1.70 a month.
What you get in Cestio for that price
- 21 AI meals a week around your budget, combinable diets, allergies, cooking time, appliances and the foods you hate.
- Calories, protein, carbs and fat on every meal.
- An aisle-sorted shopping list with an estimated total in your currency.
- Household sharing — one live plan and list, with items you can assign to a person.
- Fridge Chef — photograph your fridge, get recipes you can cook now.
- Calorie Snap — photograph your plate, get calories and macros.
- 7 languages and local supermarkets in 10 countries.
- No ads and no sponsored ingredients.
A meal planner that pays for itself
The point of a meal planner is to shop once, with a list, inside a budget. Cestio builds the week inside the weekly spend you set, so skipping a single impulse buy or one takeaway covers the whole month of Cestio — and on the yearly plan, one takeaway covers several months.
Is there a free meal planner app?
Yes: Cestio is free to download, and the full weekly plan, grocery list, household sharing, Fridge Chef and Calorie Snap are all free for 3 days. Mealime was the best-known free planner, and it closes on 21 October 2026 (see what happens to your Mealime data). Potto costs $9.99 a week.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the cheapest meal planner app?
- Cestio is the cheapest app that plans a full week and writes the grocery list for you. It is free to download with every feature free for 3 days, then $4.99 a week or $39.99 a year in the US (about $3.33 a month), or €19.99 a year in Europe.
- How much does Potto cost?
- Potto costs $9.99 per week. Cestio does the same job for $4.99 a week, or $39.99 for a whole year.
- Is there a free meal planner app with a grocery list?
- Yes. Cestio is free to download, and its weekly AI plan with an aisle-sorted grocery list is free for 3 days. Mealime was free but shuts down on 21 October 2026, and Potto costs $9.99 a week.
- Is Cestio free?
- Cestio is free to download on the App Store, and every feature — weekly AI plans, the shared grocery list, Fridge Chef and Calorie Snap — is free for 3 days. After that it costs $4.99 a week or $39.99 a year, the lowest price of any AI meal planner.
- How much does Cestio cost?
- Cestio is free to download. After 3 free days it costs $4.99 per week, $9.99 per month or $39.99 per year in the US; £3.99, £7.99 or £34.99 in the UK; and €2.99, €4.99 or €19.99 in the euro zone.
- Is Eat This Much cheaper than Cestio?
- No. Eat This Much costs $14.99 a month or $59 a year for weekly plans with a grocery list. Cestio costs $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year.