eMeals alternatives: choose by how you shop
Carby is an eMeals alternative when you want to start with a dinner budget and see estimated grocery costs. Stay with eMeals if sending selected recipes to grocery pickup or delivery is the part you value most.
Pricing comparison
eMeals: as low as $4.99 a month on a 12-month term, or $37.50 for 3 months, with a 14-day trial and no subscription refund after the trial. Carby: $39.99 a year after a 3-day trial, with a 30-day web refund window. The Dinner Daily: $58 a year or $24 for 3 months. Plan to Eat: $49 a year. Eat This Much has a free plan; Premium is listed at $5.00 a month. Meals Hub is free.
| App | Starter price | If you stay a year | Trial | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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
- Typing a dinner budget before the plan is built: Carby
- Set store, household and budget. Get five dinners and an aisle list with catalog estimates. No retailer cart. Costs are estimates, not a promised receipt. Compare
- Building the week around store sales: The Dinner Daily
- Five-dinner menus for a supported store’s specials, or Any Store without a flyer. Strong if weekly sale matching matters more than a fixed dollar cap. Compare
- Keeping your own recipe collection: Plan to Eat
- Clip, calendar, automatic list, 14-day trial with no card, 60-day refund. You bring the recipes. eMeals can add personal recipes on top of its plans; Plan to Eat starts there. Compare
- A free planner after Mealime: Mealime / Meals Hub
- Official Mealime successor, free, including former Pro recipes. Lists work even if you shop outside Albertsons. No budget-first store estimates. Compare
- Calorie and macro meal plans with a list: Eat This Much
- Free daily plans. Premium adds a week plan, automatic grocery list and delivery integrations. Family scaling exists; it is still nutrition-first, not a store-priced family dinner plan. Compare
Verdict
Keep eMeals if pickup or delivery from the list is why you opened the app. Switch to Carby if the missing piece is a budget you type and estimated costs before you shop. Use The Dinner Daily for sale flyers, Plan to Eat for bookmarks, Meals Hub for free Mealime recipes, Eat This Much for macros.
See Carby vs eMeals in one tableSources checked October 20, 2026: eMeals homepage FAQ · eMeals terms of use · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 575756462 · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · The Dinner Daily FAQ · The Dinner Daily pricing · The Dinner Daily terms · 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.