Comparison

Frida vs Lightning Fast Meal Planner

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Frida

This app synchronizes the cooking of multiple dishes for any gathering, ensuring everything is ready at the same time. It provides a calm timeline for what to do next, allowing hosts to enjoy their guests instead of being stuck in the kitchen.

Highlights
  • Synchronized multi-dish meal planning
  • Works for any gathering type
  • Calm, step-by-step timeline
  • Cookbook-grade recipes
  • Private and on-device use
  • Sous-chef timing coordination
Features
Read full description

Frida. Host like a chef. You cook because you love feeding people. The full table, the coffee or the wine poured, everyone talking over each other. That's the whole point. The part you don't love: being stuck at the stove, juggling pans, while the eggs go cold and the roast runs late, and the morning or the evening happens without you. Frida runs the whole meal so you don't have to. Tell it your menu, whether it's a brunch spread, a holiday feast, or a weeknight dinner for friends, and it plans the timing across every dish, what to start and what can wait, so everything comes together and lands on the table together. Like a head chef calling the pass, for your kitchen. Cook like you've got a sous-chef, not a cookbook. Why hosts cook with Frida Plan a whole meal, not just a recipe: several dishes, paced to finish together. Works for any gathering: brunch, lunch, dinner, or the big holiday table. One calm timeline that tells you what to do now and what's next. Beautiful, cookbook-grade recipes you'll actually want to cook from. Private and on-device, so you can start cooking without an account. Frida is a sous-chef, not an oracle: it handles the timing and coordination so you can handle the warmth. Your next gathering, without the scramble. Host like a chef. Download Frida.

About

Lightning Fast Meal Planner

Effortlessly plan your weekly meals and generate consolidated grocery lists. This app scrapes recipes from the web, saves your favorites, and uses AI to create custom menus based on your dietary needs and pantry ingredients, eliminating food waste and mealtime stress.

Highlights
  • AI-powered weekly meal planning
  • Automated recipe scraping from web links
  • Consolidated and aisle-sorted grocery lists
  • Duplicate ingredient merging and quantity scaling
  • Customizable dietary goals and pantry ingredient input
  • Save and rate favorite meals with custom notes
Features
Read full description

Less time deciding what's for dinner. More time enjoying it. Lightning Meal Plans brings your recipes, weekly meal plan, grocery list, and cooking steps together. Save something delicious when you find it, plan meals around your life, and head into the kitchen knowing what to do next. PLAN YOUR WEEK IN SECONDS Take the daily "what's for dinner?" decision off your plate. Tell Lightning Meal Plans your dietary goals, allergies, preferences, ingredients you already have, or what you're craving. Get a personalized weekly meal plan in seconds you can adjust anytime. SAVE RECIPES WITHOUT THE BLOG CLUTTER Found a recipe you want to try? Share it directly to Lightning Meal Plans from your browser or another app, or paste the link in the app. Get the ingredients and instructions without scrolling through long stories and pop-up ads. Save it for later or add it straight to your meal plan. KEEP YOUR FAVORITES IN ONE PLACE Build a personal recipe collection, even for meals you haven't planned or cooked yet. Search your saved recipes, rate your favorites, and add notes like "use less salt next time." Find a dinner you loved and add it back to your plan whenever you want. TURN YOUR PLAN INTO ONE GROCERY LIST Skip copying ingredients from recipe to recipe. Ingredients from your planned meals are automatically combined, duplicate items are consolidated, and quantities scale to your preferred servings. Your list is organized by grocery aisle to make shopping easier. COOK WITHOUT LOSING YOUR PLACE Start cooking mode for clear, readable instructions you can follow step by step. See ingredient amounts as you go and open the full ingredient list whenever you need it. Your screen stays on while you cook, so you can stop waking up your phone with messy hands. When you're done, leave a rating or note for next time. NUTRITION AT A GLANCE See nutrition information per serving to help you choose meals that fit your goals. Whether you're feeding a busy family, working around dietary preferences, using up ingredients, or looking for dinner inspiration, Lightning Meal Plans helps you get from idea to table with less effort. Save the recipe. Plan your week. Get dinner handled — in a flash. Terms of Use: https://lightningmealplans.com/terms

Screenshots

Frida4 screens
Lightning Fast Meal Planner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Lightning Fast Meal Planner at 5.0 against Frida's 4.3. Lightning Fast Meal Planner also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and chart position (#186 vs unranked). Frida's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Frida sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Lightning Fast Meal Planner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lightning Fast Meal Planner holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 5 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Frida ships an update every 5 days, Lightning Fast Meal Planner fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Frida versus Lightning Fast Meal Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFridaLightning Fast Meal Planner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (4 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings45 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#186 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDor TalDaniel Kershner

Customer experience

Frida

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Lightning Fast Meal Planner

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Frida

Subscriptions2
  • Frida Pro - Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Frida Pro — Yearly7 Days trial$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Frida Pro - Lifetime$29.99
2 purchases

Lightning Fast Meal Planner

Subscriptions2
  • Lightning Meal Plans Pro$2.991 Month
  • Lightning Meal Plans Pro7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Frida free?
Frida is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lightning Fast Meal Planner free?
Lightning Fast Meal Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Frida or Lightning Fast Meal Planner?
Lightning Fast Meal Planner is rated higher. Frida averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Lightning Fast Meal Planner averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Frida or Lightning Fast Meal Planner have ads?
Neither Frida nor Lightning Fast Meal Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Frida or Lightning Fast Meal Planner?
Frida ships an update every 5 days, and Lightning Fast Meal Planner fortnightly. Most recently, Frida was updated on October 30, 2026 and Lightning Fast Meal Planner on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons