Is HEY or Mealime better?

Neither clearly leads. HEY starts at $99/year and Mealime at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, HEY or Mealime?

Mealime has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/year for HEY and Free for Mealime.

Does HEY or Mealime run on more platforms?

HEY runs on Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Mealime runs on iOS, Android, Web.

Can I use Mealime for free?

Yes. Mealime has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. HEY starts at $99/year.

What is HEY best used for?

HEY is most often used for someone who wants to replace gmail or icloud mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inbox, a user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversation, a family that wants shared but individually addressed email under one annual plan, a small company wanting hey for work on its own domain with the screener model for the whole team. Of those, someone who wants to replace gmail or icloud mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inbox and a user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversation are not what Mealime is typically brought in for.

What can HEY do that Mealime cannot?

HEY covers The Screener, Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail, Reply Later stack, Focus and Reply mode. Mealime covers Personalised weekly meal plans, Consolidated grocery list, Simple recipe library, Recipe swapping.

Productivity · head to head

HEY vs Mealime

HEY

Productivity

Flat annual subscription email service from 37signals, with its own hey.com domain and a distinctive Screener

From: $99/year
Rated: -

Full review Website

Mealime

Productivity

Freemium meal planning app that suggests simple recipes and builds a grocery list, subscription for full customisation

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Mealime has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: HEY there is no free tier and no monthly billing option, so trying it beyond the trial means committing to a full year upfront.; Mealime its recipe library is its own and deliberately simple, so it does not accommodate importing or organising an existing personal recipe collection the way Paprika does.
They diverge on capability: HEY covers The Screener, Mealime covers Personalised weekly meal plans.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HEY and Mealime actually diverge.

Attributes where HEY and Mealime differ
Attribute	HEY	Mealime
Starting price	$99/year	Free
Pricing model	Per user per month	Freemium subscription
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, Android	iOS, Android, Web

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in HEY

The Screener
Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail
Reply Later stack
Focus and Reply mode
Screen sharing style clips
No tracking pixels

Only in Mealime

Personalised weekly meal plans
Consolidated grocery list
Simple recipe library
Recipe swapping
Dietary filters
Grocery delivery integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

HEY

Someone who wants to replace Gmail or iCloud Mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inboxnot Mealime
A user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversationnot Mealime
A family that wants shared but individually addressed email under one annual plannot Mealime
A small company wanting HEY for Work on its own domain with the Screener model for the whole teamnot Mealime

Mealime

Someone who finds deciding what to cook each week more tiring than the cooking itselfnot HEY
A household with specific dietary restrictions wanting meal suggestions pre-filtered to fit themnot HEY
A beginner cook who wants simple, short-ingredient recipes rather than an open-ended personal collectionnot HEY
Someone who wants a grocery list generated automatically from a week of planned meals without manual entrynot HEY

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

HEY

There is no free tier and no monthly billing option, so trying it beyond the trial means committing to a full year upfront.
Adopting HEY means changing your actual email address, not just installing a new client, which is a bigger migration than switching apps on an existing address.
The Screener and categorisation model is a real departure from a standard inbox, and some users take time to adjust or find it gets in the way for high volume mail.
Short vanity addresses carry steep additional annual fees, up to 999 US dollars a year for a two character address.
It does not connect to or manage existing Gmail, Outlook or iCloud accounts, so it cannot be used as a general client the way Mimestream or Apple Mail can.

Mealime

Its recipe library is its own and deliberately simple, so it does not accommodate importing or organising an existing personal recipe collection the way Paprika does.
The free tier limits customisation and recipe swaps, pushing habitual users toward the paid Pro subscription for a fuller experience.
Recipes lean toward quick, mainstream weeknight cooking, so someone wanting more ambitious or cuisine-specific recipes will find the library thin.
Grocery delivery integration is only available in supported markets, so users outside those regions get the grocery list without the delivery convenience.
Because meal suggestions come from the Mealime catalogue rather than the wider web, variety is narrower than a service like Paprika that can import from anywhere.

Pricing, plan by plan

HEY

$99/year

HEY for You$99/year
- One hey.com email address
- Screener, Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail
- Billed annually only, no monthly option
HEY for Families$179/year
- Covers up to five family members
- Same features as HEY for You per member
HEY for Work$12/month
- Per user, for organisations on a company domain
- Admin controls for a team

Mealime

Free

MealimeFree
- Basic weekly meal plan generation
- Consolidated grocery list
Mealime Pro$5.99/month
- More recipe swaps and customisation
- Nutrition tracking
- Larger recipe library access

Which should you pick?

Choose HEY if

You need the screener.
You work on Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
You also want imbox, feed and paper trail.

HEY review

Choose Mealime if

You need personalised weekly meal plans.
You want to start without paying.
You work on iOS, Android, Web.
You also want consolidated grocery list.

Mealime review

Questions people ask

Is HEY or Mealime better?: Neither clearly leads. HEY starts at $99/year and Mealime at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HEY or Mealime?: Mealime has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/year for HEY and Free for Mealime.
Does HEY or Mealime run on more platforms?: HEY runs on Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Mealime runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Mealime for free?: Yes. Mealime has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. HEY starts at $99/year.
What is HEY best used for?: HEY is most often used for someone who wants to replace gmail or icloud mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inbox, a user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversation, a family that wants shared but individually addressed email under one annual plan, a small company wanting hey for work on its own domain with the screener model for the whole team. Of those, someone who wants to replace gmail or icloud mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inbox and a user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversation are not what Mealime is typically brought in for.
What can HEY do that Mealime cannot?: HEY covers The Screener, Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail, Reply Later stack, Focus and Reply mode. Mealime covers Personalised weekly meal plans, Consolidated grocery list, Simple recipe library, Recipe swapping.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HEY: Can I use HEY with my existing Gmail address?

No. HEY provides its own hey.com email address; it is not a client layered over an existing Gmail or other account.

Mealime: Is Mealime free?

There is a free tier with basic weekly plans; a paid Pro subscription unlocks more customisation and nutrition tracking.

HEY: Is there a free plan?

No. HEY offers a trial but bills annually only, with no free tier and no month to month option for individuals.

Mealime: Can I add my own recipes to Mealime?

No, it works from its own recipe library rather than importing external recipes, unlike Paprika.

HEY: What is the Screener?

A feature that holds mail from any new sender until the user explicitly approves them, before it appears in the inbox at all.

Mealime: Does it integrate with grocery delivery?

Yes, in supported markets, generated grocery lists can be sent to a delivery or pickup service such as Instacart.

HEY vs Mealime

HEY

Mealime

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in HEY

Only in Mealime

What people use each for

HEY

Mealime

Where each one falls short

HEY

Mealime

Pricing, plan by plan

HEY

Mealime

Which should you pick?

Choose HEY if

Choose Mealime if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on HEY

More on Mealime

Keep looking

Other head to heads