# Meal Planner vs Pantry Inventory Tracker

Meal Planner and Pantry Inventory Tracker both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Meal Planner's written reviews are positive against 67% of Pantry Inventory Tracker's. Meal Planner also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks). Pantry Inventory Tracker's advantage is ratings volume (176 vs 16). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Meal Planner sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Pantry Inventory Tracker sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 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 — 4.6 for Meal Planner against 4.5 for Pantry Inventory Tracker. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pantry Inventory Tracker has 176 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Meal Planner's written reviews are positive against 67% of Pantry Inventory Tracker's.

Meal Planner ships an update every 5 days, Pantry Inventory Tracker every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Meal Planner | Pantry Inventory Tracker |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/meal-planner-weekly-planning/id6448211124/reviews)** | [4.5 (176 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pantry-inventory-tracker/id6670480023/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 16 | **176** |
| Positive reviews | **100.0% of reviews** | 66.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 4 weeks |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 19 MB | 34 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.2** | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [David Manso](https://appshunter.io/developer/1645844109) | [JOJO APPS](https://appshunter.io/developer/1619509622) |

## What reviewers say

### Meal Planner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/meal-planner-weekly-planning/id6448211124)

Effortlessly plan your weekly meals, save favorite recipes, and automatically generate organized shopping lists. This app makes healthy eating and culinary organization simple and enjoyable.

**Highlights:** Streamlined weekly meal planning, Personalized recipe keeper, Intelligent grocery list generator, Customizable meal plan visuals, iCloud sync across devices

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PRO (1 Month) | $2.99 | per month |
| PRO (1 Year) | $9.99 | per year |
| PRO (Lifetime) | $14.99 | one-time |


### Pantry Inventory Tracker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pantry-inventory-tracker/id6670480023)

Manage your kitchen inventory and reduce food waste. Easily track pantry items, quantities, and units to avoid overbuying and running out of ingredients. Ideal for home cooks and meal preppers seeking better organization.

**Highlights:** Smart pantry tracking, Search and filter items, Quantity tracking, Swipe-to-delete functionality, Edit item details, Support for US and European units, Organized list interface

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| Premium Yearly | $12.99 | per year |
| Premium Lifetime | $17.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Clean interface
- 👍 Good for household purposes
- 👍 Allows decimal points for quantity
- 👍 Large product library

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Doesn't scan items well
- 🐛 Sync issues between devices
- 🐛 Needs more visual elements for categories
- 🐛 No instructions provided
- 🐛 Copy of original app, but worse

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes when adding items
- Sync issues between devices
- Deleting items deletes the line below
- Incorrect item recognition (e.g., water bottle as mayonnaise)
- Item addition is sluggish

**Requested features**

- Show total items per category
- More visual category decorations
- Essentials tab for shopping list
- Presets for reminder days before expiry
- Find images of foods online from barcode scanning


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Meal Planner free?

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

### Is Pantry Inventory Tracker free?

Pantry Inventory Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Meal Planner or Pantry Inventory Tracker?

Meal Planner is rated higher. Meal Planner averages 4.6 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while Pantry Inventory Tracker averages 4.5 from 176 ratings.

### Do Meal Planner or Pantry Inventory Tracker have ads?

Neither Meal Planner nor Pantry Inventory Tracker shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Meal Planner or Pantry Inventory Tracker?

Meal Planner ships an update every 5 days, and Pantry Inventory Tracker every 4 weeks. Most recently, Meal Planner was updated on October 24, 2026 and Pantry Inventory Tracker on October 25, 2026.

---

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