# Cafe Buddy vs Mealyn

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Cafe Buddy at 5 against Mealyn's 1. Cafe Buddy also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Cafe Buddy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Mealyn sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cafe Buddy against 5.0 for Mealyn. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cafe Buddy has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

Cafe Buddy ships an update monthly, Mealyn every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Cafe Buddy | Mealyn |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cafe-buddy/id1590050263/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mealyn/id6763710778/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **5** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 74 MB | 38 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Julian Coronado](https://appshunter.io/developer/1590050265) | [GUOHUA DING](https://appshunter.io/developer/1883553550) |

## What reviewers say

### Cafe Buddy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cafe-buddy/id1590050263)

Document your favorite food and drink orders with detailed entries, including photos, dates, locations, and star ratings. Organize your culinary experiences with favorites, labels, and sorting options. Share your discoveries by exporting entries as images.

**Highlights:** Create detailed food/drink order entries, Add photos from library or camera, Rate entries with a 5-star system, Mark and access favorite orders, Categorize entries with custom labels, Search entries by keywords, Export entries as shareable images

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cafe Buddy Remove Ads | $3.99 | one-time |


### Mealyn

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mealyn/id6763710778)

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mealyn Plus Monthly | $5.99 | per month |
| Mealyn Plus Annual | $49.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Cafe Buddy free?

Cafe Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Mealyn free?

Mealyn is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Cafe Buddy or Mealyn?

Cafe Buddy and Mealyn are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do Cafe Buddy or Mealyn have ads?

Neither Cafe Buddy nor Mealyn shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Cafe Buddy or Mealyn?

Cafe Buddy ships an update monthly, and Mealyn every 2 weeks. Most recently, Cafe Buddy was updated on October 7, 2026 and Mealyn on October 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*