SHSelfHostIndex

Cooklang Chef vs Mealie

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted recipe managers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
CO Cooklang Chef Plain-text recipe markup with a CLI and server VS ME Mealie Self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner
FeatureCooklang ChefMealie
CategoryRecipe ManagersRecipe Managers
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageRustPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 1,358★ 12,932
First released20212020
ReplacesPaprika, CroutonPaprika, Plan to Eat

Why pick each one

Choose Cooklang Chef if…

  • Version-controllable recipes
  • No database needed
Cooklang Chef details

Choose Mealie if…

  • Polished modern UI
  • Strong import and API support
Mealie details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cooklang Chef or Mealie better?

Mealie is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Cooklang Chef if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Cooklang Chef and Mealie free and open-source?

Yes. Cooklang Chef is licensed under MIT and Mealie under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Cooklang Chef and Mealie with Docker?

Cooklang Chef: check the project docs for container support. Mealie: yes.

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