Mealime was the planner a lot of people settled on because it did not ask for much. You picked a few dinners, it handed you a grocery list, and the instructions were easy to follow at the stove. On October 21, 2026, it goes away. This post is the short version of what Mealime has said, the handful of things worth doing before the date, and a plain answer to the question we have been getting, which is whether Prepwell is a sensible place to land.
What Mealime's notice says
The details below come from the closing notice on mealime.com, not from secondhand summaries. Mealime will be discontinued as of October 21, 2026. Pro subscribers are no longer being charged, and every Pro recipe and feature is free for all users until the shutdown. Users are being pointed to Meals Hub, the recipe and meal-planning feature inside Albertsons Companies grocery apps. Albertsons has owned Mealime since 2021, and the notice describes Meals Hub as its main recipe platform going forward.
The line that matters most is near the bottom: all personal data will be deleted when the application is shut down. Saved recipes, preferences and plan history go with it. The notice does not describe any export, and we are not aware of one in the app.
Three things to do before October 21
- Save the recipes you actually cook. Open each one and copy the ingredients and steps into Notes, or take screenshots. Ten minutes now covers the dozen meals your family asks for by name, which is most of what you will miss.
- Check your subscription page anyway. Mealime says charges have stopped. Confirm it where the billing lives. On iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On Android, open the Play Store, tap your profile, then Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions. If Mealime still shows as active, cancel it there.
- Write down what you liked. From what Mealime users have told us, the same four things come up: dinners that were quick, variety without effort, one grocery list, and instructions written for someone cooking after work. Keep that list in front of you while you look at replacements, because every app will claim all four.
The catch with Meals Hub
Meals Hub lives inside the Albertsons Companies store apps, the group that includes Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco, so in practice you use it through one of those stores' apps. If that is where you shop, the move may be fine; Mealime is pointing its users there.
If your store is Kroger, Harris Teeter, Publix, H-E-B or anywhere else outside that family, the migration gives you a recipe library attached to a store you do not use. The planning is still there, but the part that made Mealime useful, a list you could actually shop from, now points at the wrong aisle. That is the group this post is really for.
If you are reading this after October 21
Per the notice, the app and your data are gone and there is nothing left to export. Skip the saving step, check your phone's subscriptions screen once so nothing is still listed as active, and rebuild your short list of regulars from memory. Most people can name the ten dinners that mattered, and that list is enough to start the next planner with.
What to look for in a replacement
Judge any planner on a Tuesday night, not in the demo. The questions that separate them: Can you build a week in a couple of minutes without filling in a profile the size of a tax form? Does the grocery list combine the week into one trip and know roughly what it will cost? Does it get the groceries to you, or at least into a cart at your store, rather than leaving you to retype the list? Can you bring your own recipes in, including the ones you save from Instagram? Can you scale a dinner to the number of people at your table?
A planner that answers yes to those will replace the habit. One that is mainly a recipe box with pretty photos will not, however good the photos are.
Where Prepwell fits, and where it does not
Here is the part where we say plainly what Prepwell is, so you can decide in a minute instead of a week.
Where it fits. Prepwell builds the week for your household in a few taps and turns it into one aisle-sorted grocery list with an estimated total. On the free plan the list goes to Instacart, which reaches many US grocery stores for pickup or delivery. On Premium it also orders directly from Kroger and Harris Teeter at loyalty prices, using your own store account, which is something a feature built into Albertsons' own apps is not there to do. Premium also lets you pull recipes in from Instagram, TikTok, recipe sites or a photo, and fits the week to a weekly budget you set. On any plan you can scale dinners to the number of people at your table, and there are over 500 curated recipes to start from, plus search across a much larger library.
Where it does not. Prepwell was built for people eating toward a goal, so every recipe carries calories and macros and the planner portions meals to add up. If you want a planner with no nutrition anywhere in it, you will see numbers you did not ask for. The casual mode, which you pick at the goal step during setup, skips the macro setup. Calories and macros still show on each recipe, but nothing asks you to hit a target, and that is the mode we would point a Mealime user to. The recipe collection is also different from Mealime's; the dinners you knew by name are not here, though on Premium you can import the ones you saved.
Prepwell is on iPhone and Android in the United States, for ages 17 and up. Macros, calories and prices in the app are estimates.
How to try it without committing
The free plan gives you two meal plans and three swaps a week, with unlimited Instacart ordering, and it stays free. New accounts also get a 7-day Premium trial with no card required, which is enough to run one full week through a Kroger or Harris Teeter cart and decide. If it is not for you, there is nothing to cancel on the free plan, and the trial ends on its own. Pricing is on the pricing page.
If you do switch, the advice is the same as for any planner: pick your first week on a weekend, let it build the list, and see whether Tuesday is easier. That is the only test that counts.
Frequently asked questions
When does Mealime shut down?
Mealime's closing notice says the app will be discontinued as of October 21, 2026. Pro subscribers are no longer being charged, and all Pro recipes are free until then. After the shutdown the notice says all personal data will be deleted.
Can I export my Mealime recipes or meal plans?
The closing notice does not describe an export, and we are not aware of one in the app. Before October 21, copy or screenshot the recipes you cook most. Mealime is pointing users to Meals Hub inside Albertsons' store apps, but the notice does not say your saved recipes or plans will move with you.
What is Meals Hub and do I have to use it?
Meals Hub is the recipe and meal-planning feature inside Albertsons Companies grocery apps, the group that includes Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco. Albertsons has owned Mealime since 2021 and is pointing Mealime users there. You do not have to use it, and it is not much use if your store is not in that family.
Is Prepwell a good replacement for Mealime?
For some people. Prepwell plans the week around your household and goals, builds one grocery list with an estimated total, and orders through Instacart on the free plan or directly from Kroger and Harris Teeter on Premium. It is built around portions and targets, so if you want a planner with no nutrition in it at all, it will feel like more than you need. Casual mode skips the macro setup, though recipes still show calories and macros.