Yummly Alternatives: Recipe Apps That Actually Let You Own Your Collection

Yummly is a recipe search and collection app—but if you're searching for an alternative, it's likely because you want better meal planning, faster imports, the ability to export your recipes, or a simpler interface. The good news is there are several solid recipe apps now, each with a different approach to saving recipes, planning dinners, and avoiding the locked-in feeling Yummly can give.

This guide covers the real strengths and limits of Yummly's main competitors and explains how to move your collection if you're switching.

Why People Switch Away from Yummly

Yummly works fine for basic recipe search and saving. But users typically leave for one of three reasons:

No built-in meal planner. Yummly lets you save recipes, but it doesn't plan your week or automatically generate a grocery list. You have to build that step outside the app.

No export. Your recipes are locked inside Yummly. If you want to switch apps or back them up to your own files, you can't.

Limiting search or interface frustration. Some home cooks find Yummly's recipe discovery limited compared to Google Search or Pinterest, or the UI feels cluttered for their workflow.

If any of those match your reason, here's what to consider instead.

The Best Yummly Alternatives

Paprika — Best if you want professional features

Paprika is the closest competitor to Yummly in terms of feature set, but it's more powerful and gives you your data back. You can save recipes by URL (it'll grab the photo and ingredients automatically), add your own, import from websites, and tag them by course, cuisine, or season. Paprika's biggest advantage is a built-in meal planner and grocery list generator. Plan your week, add recipes to each day, and Paprika creates a sorted shopping list (grouped by aisle, with checkboxes).

Price is about £32 for a one-time purchase on iOS and Mac; Android is similar. No subscription required. Critical difference from Yummly: you can export your entire collection as a backup file, so you're never locked in. Paprika also works offline once recipes are saved.

Mealfolder — Best if you're leaving Mealime or want simplicity

If you've been using Mealime (which closes 21 October 2026 with no export option), Mealfolder is built to rescue your collection. Paste your favourite Mealime recipe names, and Mealfolder automatically finds and saves the full recipes—including photos—from Mealime's archive of over 3,291 public recipes. You can also save recipes by sharing from any website on Android, photographing a cookbook page, or pasting text. Like Paprika, Mealfolder has a weekly meal planner and grocery list sorted by aisle. Free plan includes 10 recipes and the current week; Plus is £9.99/year (or ~$12.99/year in the US) for unlimited recipes. You can export your collection at any time. Available on Android via Google Play and online at mealfolder.com.

Plan to Eat — Best if you want community features

Plan to Eat combines recipe saving, meal planning, and a grocery list in one tool. It's well-established and has a community of users sharing recipes. It works in the browser and on mobile. Pricing is around £4/month or £38/year; free tier is limited. Like Paprika, you can export your data. The interface is clean, and it's especially good if you cook collaboratively (multiple household members planning together).

AnyList — Best if you want offline and cross-platform

AnyList is a grocery list app first, recipe organizer second. You can save recipes and link them to shopping lists, which is powerful if your primary workflow is shopping. It syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web, and works offline. Pricing starts with a free tier (limited to 10 lists); premium is around £3.99/month. Export is limited, so if portability is your main concern, Paprika or Mealfolder might fit better.

Copy Me That — Best if you forward recipes by email

Copy Me That is designed around a simple idea: forward recipes to a special email address (copymethis@copymethat.com), and they're saved and cleaned up in the app. No ads, no tracking, straightforward. It has basic meal planning and a grocery list. Free tier includes basic features; premium (~£2.99/month) adds meal planning and custom categories. You can export to PDF or print shopping lists. Good for people who already email themselves recipes or use email as their workflow hub.

Samsung Food (formerly Whisk) — Best if you want AI-powered discovery

Samsung Food is free and available on Android and iOS. It uses AI to find and organize recipes from across the web and has a strong recommendation engine. You can save recipes, plan meals, and generate shopping lists. There's no export function, which is a limitation if you're moving between apps. It's well-designed and ad-free, but you're still locked into their platform.

BigOven — Best if you want a large community and cloud backup

BigOven has been around since the early 2000s and has a large community of home cooks uploading recipes. You can save recipes from the web or the community, create meal plans, and get grocery lists. Free and premium tiers; premium (~£5/month) adds offline access and ad-free browsing. You can export recipes, though it's not quite as seamless as Paprika. Good if community inspiration matters to you.

Quick Comparison Table

How to Move Your Recipes to a New App

If you've been using Yummly and want to switch, here's how to bring your collection with you (without copying recipes one by one).

Step 1: Export from Yummly. Unfortunately, Yummly doesn't offer a built-in export. Your best bet is to take screenshots or use a browser extension to grab recipe URLs as you go. If you have a large collection, this is tedious, which is why many people choose to leave Yummly—it locks you in.

Step 2: Choose your import method in your new app. Most alternatives accept:

• Recipe URLs or links: Share the original recipe link, and the app will auto-fetch the photo, ingredients, and instructions. This works for almost every app and is the fastest way to move one recipe at a time.
• Paste or plain text: Copy the ingredients and instructions as text, paste into the new app, and it will parse them.
• Photo import: Take a photo of a cookbook page or your handwritten recipe, and the app extracts the text.
• Specialized imports: If you're switching from Paprika, you can export Paprika's backup file (.paprikarecipes) and import it directly into another app. If you were using Mealime before it closes on 21 October 2026, Mealfolder's Mealime rescue lets you paste your favourite recipe names and recover the full recipes automatically.

Pro tip: If you have 50+ recipes, start by importing the ones you actually cook most. You don't need to move your entire collection—prioritize your favorites and fill in the rest later (or never).

Special Case: If You're Leaving Mealime

Mealime closes 21 October 2026, and there is no official export. Accounts and data are deleted. If you've used Mealime, here's how to rescue your recipes:

1. Open your Mealime app and note the recipes you want to keep (or take screenshots of your Favourites or Meal Plan).
2. Use Mealfolder's Mealime rescue tool: paste your favorite recipe names, one per line.
3. Mealfolder will automatically find and save each recipe from Mealime's archive—including photos, ingredients, and instructions—into your new collection.
4. From there, you can plan meals, generate shopping lists, or export your collection for backup.

This only works if you remember your recipe names or have screenshots. If you have Mealime open now, make a list of your top 20–30 recipes before 21 October.

What to Prioritize When Choosing

Ask yourself these three questions:

Do you want to own your data? If yes, pick an app with export (Paprika, Mealfolder, Plan to Eat, Copy Me That, BigOven). Avoid Samsung Food and Yummly.

Is meal planning essential? If you want to plan your week and automatically generate a sorted grocery list, Paprika, Mealfolder, Plan to Eat, AnyList, Copy Me That, and BigOven all do this. Yummly does not.

How many recipes do you have? If it's under 50, importing by URL or link is fast. Over 100, look for an app that accepts bulk imports or file uploads (Paprika and Mealfolder both support these).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import my Paprika recipes into another app?

Yes. Paprika lets you export your full collection as a .paprikarecipes file. Some apps (like Mealfolder) accept Paprika imports directly. If yours doesn't, you can export as JSON or as individual URLs and import them one by one into your new app. Paprika's portability is one of its best features.

Is there a completely free recipe app that lets me export?

Copy Me That and BigOven both have free tiers with export options (though premium features may be limited). Samsung Food is free with no export. If you need a free option with full meal planning and grocery lists, Mealfolder's free tier includes 10 recipes and the current week—not unlimited, but no ads and no paywall for basic use.

Can I use Yummly and another app at the same time?

Yes. There's no reason to abandon Yummly immediately; you can run it alongside another app. Start saving new recipes to your chosen alternative, plan your meals there, and keep Yummly around for discovery or reference. Over time, your new app will become your primary tool.

Do any of these apps work offline?

Paprika works fully offline once recipes are saved. AnyList (premium) works offline on mobile. BigOven (premium) has offline access. Mealfolder works online; offline access is not currently built in. Yummly requires an internet connection for most features. If offline cooking is critical (e.g., in a kitchen with no Wi-Fi), Paprika is the strongest choice.

What if I don't have time to move all my recipes right now?

Start with your favorites (top 20–30 recipes you actually cook). Once you're comfortable in your new app, you can add more later—or decide you don't need them. Most cooks find that 80% of their cooking comes from 20% of their recipes anyway.