Overview:
When it comes to managing recipes and meal planning, the ReciMe app offers a streamlined, entry-level experience. While it provides a range of features, its functionality leaves room for improvement. Here’s my review of the app’s features, pricing, and some pros and cons.
Price:
ReciMe is available as a free app with limited functionality. The Premium plan is available for $39.99/year and Premium users get access to unlimited recipe importing and the ability to save unlimited private recipes to their collection. ReciMe does offer a 7-day free trial of the Premium plan with payment info required upfront.
Key Features:
ReciMe isn’t unique in the core features it offers. Like most other meal planning apps, you can add recipes and their importing works from social apps, websites, or even images. You can create weekly meal plans and generate a shopping list based on recipes.
What I Like:
- Help Articles: You can access their helpful guides directly within the app (on the cookbook page).
- Reliable Recipe Importing: The app’s recipe importing feature works smoothly and consistently. And the import tool allows you to clip recipes directly from social media apps while staying in the same app, so you can keep scrolling!
- Search Functionality: You can search recipes in your cookbooks by specific ingredients or total cooking time. Or reorder your recipes to put your favorites at the top.
What Could Be Better:
- I don’t like that the app requires users to answer questions about their age and where they heard about the app before getting started. It takes away from the beginning user experience of importing recipes.
- The free plan restricts you to eight “smart” imports before you need to pay which feels a little like a ‘bait and switch’ since the main premise of the app is recipe importing and storage.
- There are no customization options for shopping list categories and no way to update where an item is placed on your list.
- For example, sesame oil is grouped under “herbs and spices” instead of “oils and vinegars” and there’s no way to move it.
- The shopping list doesn’t merge duplicate items (not even from the same recipe planned twice in one week).
- Changes and updates to your meal plan don’t automatically update the items on the shopping list.
- If you add a new recipe or update serving sizes you have to manually update the shopping list. It feels like there’s a lot of room for error if you forget to add a newly planned recipe to your list.
- Meal plans can only be viewed one week at a time.
Who Is ReciMe For?
ReciMe is best suited for people who want a convenient way to save recipes rather than a comprehensive meal planning and grocery shopping tool. If saving recipes is your main priority and you don’t mind a few limitations, ReciMe can meet your needs.
How ReciMe Differs from Plan to Eat.
ReciMe is overall a less robust planning tool than Plan to Eat. Both apps offer excellent recipe importing capabilities from all over the web (including social media apps) with the option to store and categorize recipes. Plan to Eat offers more options for sorting and organizing recipes, but ReciMe isn’t too far behind. Where the big differences lie are in the meal planning and shopping list sections.
Meal Planner Connection:
- ReciMe’s meal planner doesn’t automatically connect to the shopping list, leaving users to manually add the meal plan or individual recipes to their list.
- The Plan to Eat planner and shopping list are connected by date range to streamline the list-making process – saving time and reducing shopping list errors.
Shopping List Customization:
- ReciMe’s shopping list is pretty basic. It categorizes items, but doesn’t merge similar items and doesn’t allow for renaming or reordering categories.
- The Plan to Eat shopping list is a powerhouse in comparison. With fully customizable stores and categories, plus the list will automatically merge similar items and allow you to edit items for better merging and list consolidation. The Plan to Eat app also has the option to print your shopping list or send it to a grocery delivery service automatically.
Overall Functionality:
- ReciMe feels like a beginner version of Plan to Eat, catering to those who just want to save recipes without creating regular meal plans. ReciMe’s shopping list definitely has room for improvement to make a grocery shopping experience more efficient and enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
ReciMe is a functional app for importing and storing recipes, but its limitations in meal planning and shopping list creation make it less appealing for those who want a seamless, all-in-one solution. If you’re just starting out or looking for a simple app to save recipes, ReciMe might work for you. However, if you’re looking for more than just recipe management, Plan to Eat offers a more robust and customizable experience, making it ideal for serious meal planners.
Learn more about ReciMe on their website.
If you’d like to try Plan to Eat, sign up for a free trial.
Read my other meal-planning app reviews here.
