Plum vs Mealime: which recipe app fits how you actually cook?
Short answer: These apps solve different problems. Mealime hands you a curated library of quick, healthy recipes and builds meal plans and grocery lists from its collection — great if you want decisions made for you. Plum is built to save your recipes from anywhere (TikTok, Instagram, blogs, cookbooks, family cards) and plan around them. If you collect recipes you love and want to keep and cook them, choose Plum. If you’d rather pick from a ready-made healthy library, Mealime is worth a look.
At a glance
| Plum | Mealime | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; one-time $9.99 upgrade | Free; Pro ~$5.99/mo or ~$49.99/yr |
| Subscription | None | For Pro features |
| Save your own recipes from the web/social/cookbooks | Yes — core feature | Limited (URL paste; hard to edit) |
| Import from TikTok / Instagram / YouTube video | Yes | No |
| Scan cookbooks & handwritten recipes | Yes | No |
| Curated recipe library | Search & suggestions | Yes — its main draw |
| AI assistant | Yes | No |
| Meal planning | Yes | Yes (very easy, diet-based) |
| Grocery lists | Yes, aisle-sorted, Reminders & Watch | Yes, aisle-sorted |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch | iOS, Android |
Prices vary by region and change over time — check current figures before relying on them.
Where Mealime wins
Mealime is frictionless for beginners: set your diet and allergies, and it generates a week of mostly-30-minute meals with an aisle-sorted grocery list, no recipe-hunting required. If you don’t want to source your own recipes and just want healthy decisions made for you, that’s a real strength.
Where Plum wins
Mealime is a closed, curated library — it’s not built to save the recipes you find elsewhere. Importing your own recipes is limited to pasting URLs, those recipes are hard to edit, and there’s no social-video import or cookbook scanning. Plum is the opposite: saving recipes from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, blogs, cookbooks, and handwritten cards is the whole point, plus an AI assistant, nutrition estimates, and Apple Watch grocery lists. And Plum’s full saving experience is free with a one-time upgrade, versus Mealime’s annual Pro subscription.
Which should you choose?
- Choose Mealime if you want a done-for-you healthy meal plan from a curated library and don’t need to keep your own recipes.
- Choose Plum if you collect recipes from social media, blogs, or cookbooks and want to organize, plan, and cook from your collection — without a subscription.
FAQ
Can Mealime save recipes I find on Instagram or TikTok? No. Mealime is a curated library with limited URL import; it doesn’t extract recipes from social video. Plum does.
Is Plum free like Mealime? Both have free tiers. Plum’s free tier includes unlimited recipe saving; Mealime gates much of its library and features behind Pro (~$49.99/yr). Plum’s upgrade is a one-time $9.99.
Which is better for meal planning? Mealime is excellent if you want plans built from its library. Plum plans around the recipes you save and suggests meals based on your library and mood.