Best meal planning apps for families (2026)
We make Fixins, so we’ve put it first. Every other app here is described as fairly as we can, from its own website or app store listing.
Updated
Families tend to need two pieces: everyone seeing the same plan and list, and less time deciding dinner. Fixins handles the deciding: your household shares one kitchen, and it shows creator recipes you can make tonight from what you have. For a weekly plan, Plan to Eat, Cozi, AnyList and Samsung Food share recipes, calendars and lists across the family, and eMeals sends you a ready-made menu each week.
See what your own kitchen can make.
On iPhone. Scan your kitchen, see what you can cook tonight.
First
The short version
What to look for
Check how the family shares: one account, invites, or a shared list that updates as someone shops. Then decide whether you want to plan from your own recipes, from a ready-made menu, or from what’s already in the kitchen.
The list
The apps, one by one
Fixins
Not a calendar planner: it decides tonight. Invite your household to share one pantry and one grocery list, scan your groceries, and see creator recipes you can make with what you have.
- Where it runs
- iPhone, iOS 26 or later (United States and Canada)source
- Price
- Subscriptionsource
- Scan your pantry with the camera
- Yes: point the camera at a grocery item or barcode and it goes into your pantry with an expiration estimate; Fixins sends expiration alertssource 1source 2
- Where recipes come from
- Recipes from creators, plus your own handwritten or cookbook recipessource 1source 2
- Missing ingredients
- A grocery list of what you're missing, grouped by aisle; one tap sends it to Instacart checkoutsource
Plan to Eat
Your own family recipes on a meal-planning calendar, with one shopping list, synced across every device in the family.
- Where it runs
- iPhone and iPad (iOS 15 or later), Android and the website plantoeat.comsource 1source 2
- Price
- 14-day free trial with no card needed, then $5.95 a month or $49 a yearsource
- Scan your pantry with the camera
- Not stated on its listingsource
- Where recipes come from
- Recipes you import from the web or enter yourselfsource
- Missing ingredients
- A shopping list built from your meal plan, organized by store and aislesource
Cozi
Meals on the same color-coded family calendar as school and practice, with a recipe box and a shopping list everyone sees in real time.
- Price
- Free, with an optional paid plan, Cozi Goldsource
- Scan your pantry with the camera
- Not stated on its listingsource
- Where recipes come from
- Your own recipes, kept in its recipe boxsource
- Missing ingredients
- A shared shopping list the whole family sees in real time; no ordering stated on its listingsource
AnyList
A grocery list the household shares in real time, with recipes and a meal-planning calendar in its household plan at $14.99 a year.
eMeals
7 new recipes a week from 15 meal plans, and a shopping list it can send to Instacart, Walmart, Kroger and other grocery services.
- Price
- 14-day free trial, then plans from $4.99 a month on a 12-month subscriptionsource
- Scan your pantry with the camera
- Not stated on its listingsource
- Where recipes come from
- 7 new recipes a week across 15 meal plans, from its food team and registered dietitianssource 1source 2
- Missing ingredients
- Sends the list to Albertsons, Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Kroger, Safeway or Walmart for pickup or deliverysource
Samsung Food
Free weekly planning with shared shopping lists, over 240,000 public recipes and delivery from partner retailers.
- Price
- Free, with an optional paid plan, Samsung Food+ ($6.99 a month or $59.99 a year on the App Store)source
- Scan your pantry with the camera
- Not stated on its listing. Its paid plan lists pantry managementsource
- Where recipes come from
- Over 240,000 public recipes, plus recipes you save from any websitesource
- Missing ingredients
- Shared shopping lists, with delivery from 23 integrated retailers in 4 regionssource
Trying Fixins
Getting started with Fixins
Get Fixins on your iPhone
Fixins needs iOS 26 or later and is available in the United States and Canada.
Scan your groceries
Point the camera at a grocery item or its barcode and it goes into your digital pantry.
Add your own recipes
The same scanner adds your own handwritten or cookbook recipes, like a family recipe card or a page from a cookbook you love.
Cook tonight
See the creator recipes you can make with what you already have. Anything missing goes on your grocery list, grouped by aisle, and one tap sends it to Instacart checkout.
Questions
Questions people ask
What’s a free meal planning app for families?
Cozi, AnyList and Samsung Food are free, each with an optional paid plan. Plan to Eat and eMeals start with a free trial. Fixins is a subscription.
Which family meal planners can order groceries?
eMeals sends the list to Albertsons, Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Kroger, Safeway or Walmart. Samsung Food offers delivery from partner retailers. Fixins sends what you’re missing to Instacart checkout.
Which ones work on Android and iPhone both?
Plan to Eat, Cozi, AnyList, eMeals and Samsung Food run on both. Fixins runs on iPhone with iOS 26 or later, in the United States and Canada.
Keep reading
Related guides
- Mealime alternatives (2026)Mealime closed on October 21, 2026. What to use now: Fixins, Meals Hub, Plan to Eat, Samsung Food, AnyList and Prepear, each described from its own page.
- Plan to Eat alternatives (2026)Plan to Eat alternatives, including free ones: Fixins, Paprika, AnyList, Samsung Food and Prepear, with prices and platforms from each app’s own page.
- Best recipe apps with a grocery list (2026)Recipe apps that build your grocery list: Fixins, AnyList, Paprika, ReciMe, Plan to Eat and NYT Cooking, compared on sorting, sharing and ordering.
Cook from what you have
Facts checked on October 21, 2026. Each fact links to the page it came from. “Not stated on its listing” means that page doesn’t say.
Cook a creator’s recipe tonight.
On iPhone. Scan your kitchen, see what you can cook tonight.