Mealie vs Tamari
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
Tamari
Fully-featured self-hosted recipe manager
| Feature | Mealie | Tamari |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 73 · Good |
| Category | Recipe Managers | Recipe Managers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,302 | ★ 139 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Paprika, Plan to Eat | Paprika, Mealie |
What are Mealie and Tamari?
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
Tamari
Tamari is a fully-featured recipe manager web application built with Python and Flask. It stores recipes with ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and photos, and includes meal planning, shopping lists, and an API.
- Detailed recipe records with photos
- Search-as-you-type
- Meal plans and shopping lists
- REST API
Mealie vs Tamari: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Mealie versus MIT for Tamari. Tamari is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Mealie. Mealie has the considerably larger community, at 13,302 GitHub stars versus 139.
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 Tamari if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Mealie or Tamari better?
Neither is universally better. Mealie has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Mealie and Tamari free and open-source?
Yes. Mealie is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tamari under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mealie and Tamari with Docker?
Mealie: yes. Tamari: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Mealie or Tamari?
Tamari has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Mealie. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.