Mealie vs RecipeSage
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted recipe managers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Mealie
Self-hosted recipe manager and meal planner
VS
RecipeSage
Recipe keeper, meal planner, and shopping list
| Feature | Mealie | RecipeSage |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Recipe Managers | Recipe Managers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,302 | ★ 965 |
| First released | 2020 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Paprika, Plan to Eat | Paprika, Pepperplate |
What are Mealie and RecipeSage?
Mealie
Mealie is a self-hosted recipe manager, meal planner, and shopping list application. It can import recipes from URLs, organize them with tags and categories, and generate grocery lists.
- Import recipes from URLs
- Meal planning calendar
- Shopping list generation
- REST API and integrations
RecipeSage
RecipeSage is a self-hostable recipe management, meal planning, and shopping list application. It supports recipe clipping from any website and collaborative recipe sharing.
- Clip recipes from any site
- Meal planning calendar
- Shopping list generation
- Recipe sharing and collaboration
Mealie vs RecipeSage: key differences
Mealie is written in Python, while RecipeSage is built with TypeScript. RecipeSage is the more established project (first released 2018), while Mealie arrived in 2020. Mealie has the considerably larger community, at 13,302 GitHub stars versus 965.
Why pick each one
Choose Mealie if…
- Polished modern UI
- Strong import and API support
Watch out for
- Import accuracy varies by site
- Heavier than minimal apps
Choose RecipeSage if…
- Strong web clipper
- Cross-device sync
Watch out for
- Heavier deployment
- Modest community
Frequently asked questions
Is Mealie or RecipeSage better?
Mealie is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider RecipeSage if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Mealie and RecipeSage free and open-source?
Yes. Mealie is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and RecipeSage under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mealie and RecipeSage with Docker?
Mealie: yes. RecipeSage: yes.