The Dinner Daily alternatives: sales flyers or a spending cap
The Dinner Daily builds five dinners around a supported store’s weekly specials. Carby is an alternative when you want to type the dollar amount first. eMeals, Plan to Eat, Meals Hub and Eat This Much cover pickup, saved recipes, a free catalog and macros.
Pricing comparison
The Dinner Daily: $24 for three months or $58 a year, 14-day trial that requires a card, no refund after day 14. Carby: $39.99 a year after a 3-day trial, 30-day web refund. eMeals from $4.99 a month on a 12-month term. Plan to Eat $49 a year with a 60-day refund. Eat This Much free or Premium. Meals Hub free.
| App | Starter price | If you stay a year | Trial | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dinner Daily | $24 for three months or $58 for a year | $58 on the annual plan. Repeating the $24 three-month plan four times is $96. Grocery is extra. | 14-day trial. FAQ: a credit card is required; no charge until day 15; cancel during the trial and you are not charged. | Terms (updated 1-1-2020): no charge if you cancel in the first 14 days. After that, no refund; access continues until the end of the paid term. Subscriptions auto-renew unless you cancel in Account Settings. |
| Carby | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | 3-day trial on the web yearly offer visitors actually see. Monthly ($9.99) and weekly ($4.99) plans also exist. Read the checkout. | Web Stripe charges: email within 30 days of the charge for a refund. App Store charges go through Apple. Cancel during the trial and you are not charged. |
| eMeals | As low as $4.99 a month on a 12-month term, or $37.50 for 3 months | $59.88 if you stay 12 months at the advertised $4.99/month 12-month rate. Repeating the $37.50 3-month plan four times is $150. Grocery is extra. | 14-day free trial. Terms say the card is collected at signup and charged when the trial ends unless you cancel. | Cancel during the trial: no payment. Cancel after the trial: eMeals says you do not get a refund of subscription payments. Cancel at least 48 hours before renewal. App Store purchases follow Apple's terms. |
| Plan to Eat | $5.95/month or $49/year after a 14-day trial with no card | $49 if you pick yearly. $71.40 if you stay on monthly at $5.95 for 12 months. | 14 days, no credit card. Their pricing page says there is nothing to cancel if you stop. | 60-day money-back guarantee, no-questions-asked, on plantoeat.com purchases. Yearly does not auto-renew unless you turn auto-renew on. |
| Mealime / Meals Hub | Free in Meals Hub, including recipes that used to need Mealime Pro | $0 for Meals Hub. Mealime Pro subscribers are not charged further fees before the October 21, 2026 shutdown. | Meals Hub is free. No Carby-style trial. | Not applicable to a free successor. Mealime paid billing is winding down per the closing notice. |
| Eat This Much | Free forever plan at $0.00/month. Premium listed at $5.00/month on the pricing page. | Help center (updated May 5, 2026) lists Premium at $59.99/year or $14.99 month-to-month. The pricing page shows $5.00/month. Read the checkout you see. | Free forever plan needs no trial. Help center says Premium includes a 14-day free trial. | Help center: no-questions-asked 30-day refund if you email support. Cancel during the Premium trial to avoid the first charge. Website, iOS and Google Play each have their own cancel path. |
Grocery purchases are extra on every row. Read the checkout you actually see.
What each tool is best for
- A fixed dinner budget with estimated costs: Carby
- Carby does not ingest a store sales flyer. It uses catalog estimates for the store you pick and keeps the plan under the budget you typed. Estimates are not live sale prices. Compare
- Pickup or delivery from the list: eMeals
- eMeals does not claim to rebuild the week from your store’s circular. It does send ingredients to Walmart, Kroger, Amazon or Instacart. Compare
- Planning around deals you spotted yourself: Plan to Eat
- Plan to Eat’s own story includes planning on the fly when you see a bargain. You clip and schedule. The app does not publish 16,000 store flyers. Compare
- Free planning, including a Meals with Deals theme: Mealime / Meals Hub
- Mealime’s closing page lists a Meals with Deals theme in Meals Hub. That is Albertsons-family shopping, not a Dinner Daily-style flyer for every US banner. Compare
- A budget field on a macro generator: Eat This Much
- Eat This Much’s homepage includes a budget control on a nutrition-first generator. It is not a store-sales dinner service. Compare
Verdict
Keep The Dinner Daily if the weekly ad is how you shop. Choose Carby if you set the dollar cap yourself and want estimated costs on the plan. Choose eMeals for a retailer cart. Choose Plan to Eat for your recipes. Choose Meals Hub to pay $0. Choose Eat This Much for macros.
See Carby vs The Dinner Daily side by sideSources checked October 20, 2026: The Dinner Daily FAQ · The Dinner Daily pricing · The Dinner Daily terms · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · eMeals homepage FAQ · eMeals terms of use · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 575756462 · Plan to Eat homepage · Plan to Eat pricing · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1215348056 · Mealime closing notice · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1079999103 · Eat This Much pricing · Eat This Much homepage · Eat This Much help: what you get · Eat This Much help: cancel any time · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 981637806. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.