01
Choose what to cook
Keep a useful set of dishes close at hand instead of starting from an empty decision every time dinner comes around.
Mealime alternative
Looking for a Mealime alternative?
Mealime says its app will be discontinued on October 21, 2026. Carte is a different kind of replacement: a menu-first meal planner for people who want to keep their own dishes available, choose portions, build one consolidated grocery list, and cook when real life allows.
Current shutdown status
Mealime's official closing notice currently lists October 21, 2026 as the discontinuation date.
Last verified October 15, 2026
Start with the jobs
What Mealime users actually need to replace
A useful replacement page should not pretend every product works the same way. The practical question is whether the next app can keep the parts of your routine that matter.
02
Turn meals into one list
Combine what several dishes need so shopping follows the food you actually intend to cook.
03
Keep portions attached to the plan
Select how many portions you intend to make before the shopping and cooking math is generated.
04
Cook when real life allows
A plan should still work when Tuesday changes, somebody eats out, or you simply want something else tonight.
Side by side
Carte vs. Mealime at a glance
This comparison deliberately includes Mealime strengths. Its current support documentation says it supports both week-ahead and just-in-time planning, web-recipe import, automatic grocery lists, cooking mode, and grocery-shopping integrations. The difference is the operating model, not a claim that Mealime lacked useful features.
| Job | Mealime | Carte |
|---|---|---|
| Planning model | Build a Meal Plan from selected recipes. Mealime's support docs say users can plan a whole week or use a just-in-time, day-by-day approach. | Keep a standing menu of dishes you already want to cook, add portions to an order, then shop and cook without assigning every dish to a specific day. |
| Recipe source | Strong in-house recipe library, personalization, favorites, and web-recipe import in the current app. | A personal cooking library built from your saved dishes plus supported manual, text, voice, and photo capture workflows. |
| Shopping | Automatically generates an organized grocery list from the current meal plan and supports grocery-shopping integrations. | Combines requirements across selected dishes and portions into one list, with configured staples and supported cooked components accounted for. |
| Cooking | Recipe views and a hands-free cooking mode guide users through the selected meal-plan recipes. | Stocked dishes move into a cooking flow with portion-aware quantities, recipe steps, and supported in-app timers. |
| Household workflow | Mealime documents account sharing across devices as a workaround for couples and families using the same plan and grocery state. | Shared Kitchen is designed around a household sharing the same menu and order state, rather than only passing around a standalone list. |
| After October 21, 2026 | Mealime says the app will be discontinued. Its own recipes continue in Meals Hub, while personal data in Mealime will be deleted at shutdown. | Carte is an independent alternative. No direct Mealime account or recipe migration is currently promised. |
Planning model
A meal plan versus a standing menu
Mealime calls the central object a Meal Plan. Its current getting-started guide says users can build a plan for the week or use the app just in time, so it would be inaccurate to describe Mealime as rigid or calendar-only.
Carte starts one level earlier: with a standing menu of dishes your kitchen has saved. You add the portions that sound good to an order, shop from their combined requirements, stock the kitchen, and cook those dishes in whatever sequence fits the week.
Before shutdown
What happens to Mealime data?
Mealime's official closing FAQ says all personal data in the Mealime application will be deleted when the app shuts down. Mealime also says its own recipes remain available through Meals Hub, while certain preferences and settings need to be established directly in Meals Hub.
Mealime recipes
Mealime says its recipe catalog continues through Meals Hub, along with additional recipes.
Mealime personal data
Mealime says personal data in the Mealime application will be deleted at shutdown.
Carte migration
Carte does not currently promise an automatic Mealime account, favorites, plan, or recipe transfer.
Fit
Who Carte is a better fit for
You want your own menu to be the center of the app
Carte is designed around dishes your kitchen keeps, not around repeatedly generating a fresh set of meals.
You batch-cook components and use them later
Supported cooked components can become inputs to future dishes, so shopping can account for food you already made instead of buying it again.
You share one kitchen with somebody else
Shared Kitchen is built around a common menu and order for a household or partner.
Direct answers
The questions people are asking now
What should I use instead of Mealime?
If you mainly want Mealime's own recipe catalog to continue, Mealime is directing users to Meals Hub. If you want an independent system centered on your own menu, consolidated shopping, portions, shared household planning, and flexible cooking, Carte is built around that workflow.
Can Carte replace Mealime?
Carte can replace many of the core jobs: deciding what to cook, turning several dishes into one shopping list, scaling by portions, and guiding the cooking flow. It is not a clone of Mealime, and it does not promise automatic transfer of your Mealime account or recipe data.
Can I move my Mealime recipes to Carte?
There is no promised automatic Mealime-to-Carte migration. Mealime's current support documentation includes web-recipe import, while Carte does not currently market direct recipe-URL import. Any future migration workflow should be verified before it is claimed here.
What is different about Carte?
Carte starts with a standing menu and an order rather than a disposable plan. You keep dishes available, choose portions when they sound good, shop from their combined requirements, stock the kitchen, cook at your own pace, and reuse supported cooked components in later dishes.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is Mealime shutting down?
Yes. Mealime's official closing notice says the Mealime app will be discontinued on October 21, 2026. Mealime says its recipes and meal-planning tools will continue through Meals Hub in Albertsons Companies store apps and websites.
What is a good alternative to Mealime?
The best replacement depends on the job you need to keep doing. Carte is a fit for people who want to keep their own menu of recipes, choose portions, create one consolidated grocery list, and cook on a flexible schedule rather than rebuilding a separate meal plan each time.
Can Carte use my own recipes?
Yes. Carte's current product specification supports manual recipe entry plus capture from spoken or pasted text and photos. Captured recipes are treated as drafts to review before saving.
Does Carte make one grocery list from several recipes?
Yes. Carte combines the raw ingredients required by the dishes and portions in your order into one shopping list, while omitting configured staples and accounting for supported cooked components already on hand.
Can two people use Carte together?
Carte supports a shared-kitchen workflow in which partners can work from the same menu and order. It should not be described as a multi-household or multi-kitchen account system.
Can I automatically transfer my Mealime recipes into Carte?
No automatic Mealime-to-Carte transfer is currently promised. Carte also does not currently market direct recipe import from external recipe URLs, so this comparison does not claim a one-click migration path.
How is Carte different from Mealime?
Mealime centers on building a meal plan from recipes and can support both week-ahead and just-in-time planning. Carte centers on a standing menu and an order: keep dishes available, choose what sounds good, select portions, shop from the combined requirements, then cook at your own pace.
Keep a menu. Shop once. Cook when you want.
Carte is ready when you want an independent Mealime alternative built around your own dishes.
Sources and freshness
Verified against Mealime's current material
Mealime details can change during the shutdown period. Last checked October 15, 2026 against Mealime’s official closing notice and support docs.