Vibecode Mealime Pro
track this build5 steps, step by step0%A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Mealime Pro, plan meals from user-entered recipes and create a combined shopping list. The hard boundary is licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization, plus sync, integrations, and household adoption.
You are building a lean indie version of Mealime Pro. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Mealime Pro indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Mealime Pro workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization - frictionless family sync - retailer and smart-home integrations - large recipe or product database - mobile polish If those capabilities are essential, use Mealie instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Mealime Pro in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and a local-first PWA; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create household members, shared lists, calendar items, recipes or inventory records, and assignments. Provide fast mobile-first capture with large controls, offline queueing, and conflict-safe sync to one server. Support recurring chores or events, reminders, completion history, and printable views. Add CSV or JSON import and export plus photo attachments with clear size limits. Allow private and shared items and make every change attributable and undoable. Add backups, household export, member removal, and a simple invite code. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out retailer ordering and proprietary product catalogs. Deliberately leave out broad smart-home integrations. Deliberately leave out large public recipe libraries and polished native mobile clients. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - modern browser - local or self-hosted storage - optional email notifications ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of Mealime Pro. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Mealime Pro indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Mealime Pro workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization - frictionless family sync - retailer and smart-home integrations - large recipe or product database - mobile polish If those capabilities are essential, use Mealie instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Mealime Pro in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and a local-first PWA; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create household members, shared lists, calendar items, recipes or inventory records, and assignments. Provide fast mobile-first capture with large controls, offline queueing, and conflict-safe sync to one server. Support recurring chores or events, reminders, completion history, and printable views. Add CSV or JSON import and export plus photo attachments with clear size limits. Allow private and shared items and make every change attributable and undoable. Add backups, household export, member removal, and a simple invite code. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out retailer ordering and proprietary product catalogs. Deliberately leave out broad smart-home integrations. Deliberately leave out large public recipe libraries and polished native mobile clients. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - modern browser - local or self-hosted storage - optional email notifications ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of Mealime Pro. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # Mealime Pro product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Mealime Pro, plan meals from user-entered recipes and create a combined shopping list. The hard boundary is licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization, plus sync, integrations, and household adoption. ## Product outcome Plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - modern browser - local or self-hosted storage - optional email notifications ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization - frictionless family sync - retailer and smart-home integrations - large recipe or product database - mobile polish ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Mealime Pro in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and a local-first PWA; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create household members, shared lists, calendar items, recipes or inventory records, and assignments. Provide fast mobile-first capture with large controls, offline queueing, and conflict-safe sync to one server. Support recurring chores or events, reminders, completion history, and printable views. Add CSV or JSON import and export plus photo attachments with clear size limits. Allow private and shared items and make every change attributable and undoable. Add backups, household export, member removal, and a simple invite code. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out retailer ordering and proprietary product catalogs. Deliberately leave out broad smart-home integrations. Deliberately leave out large public recipe libraries and polished native mobile clients. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Mealime Pro capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
# Mealime Pro indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Mealime Pro workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope Plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization - frictionless family sync - retailer and smart-home integrations - large recipe or product database - mobile polish If those capabilities are essential, use Mealie instead of pretending the gap is solved.
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Mealime Pro in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and a local-first PWA; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create household members, shared lists, calendar items, recipes or inventory records, and assignments. Provide fast mobile-first capture with large controls, offline queueing, and conflict-safe sync to one server. Support recurring chores or events, reminders, completion history, and printable views. Add CSV or JSON import and export plus photo attachments with clear size limits. Allow private and shared items and make every change attributable and undoable. Add backups, household export, member removal, and a simple invite code. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out retailer ordering and proprietary product catalogs. Deliberately leave out broad smart-home integrations. Deliberately leave out large public recipe libraries and polished native mobile clients. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Required capabilities - modern browser - local or self-hosted storage - optional email notifications ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
# Mealime Pro product brief ## Problem A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Mealime Pro, plan meals from user-entered recipes and create a combined shopping list. The hard boundary is licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization, plus sync, integrations, and household adoption. ## Product outcome Plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - modern browser - local or self-hosted storage - optional email notifications ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization - frictionless family sync - retailer and smart-home integrations - large recipe or product database - mobile polish ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build a closest honest personal substitute for Mealime Pro in an empty repository. Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and a local-first PWA; do not offer alternative stacks. The core loop is: plan meals from user-entered recipes, create a combined shopping list, share or print a simple plan, and keep household data portable and owner-controlled. Make the first run work locally with one documented command. Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward. Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials. Create household members, shared lists, calendar items, recipes or inventory records, and assignments. Provide fast mobile-first capture with large controls, offline queueing, and conflict-safe sync to one server. Support recurring chores or events, reminders, completion history, and printable views. Add CSV or JSON import and export plus photo attachments with clear size limits. Allow private and shared items and make every change attributable and undoable. Add backups, household export, member removal, and a simple invite code. Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states. Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs. Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path. Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps. Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane. Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure. Deliberately leave out retailer ordering and proprietary product catalogs. Deliberately leave out broad smart-home integrations. Deliberately leave out large public recipe libraries and polished native mobile clients. Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Mealime Pro capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
People still pay for Mealime Pro because household apps survive when every family member actually uses them and the data stays current across devices. The recurring cost buys multi-user conflicts, reminders, notifications, imports, barcode data, smart-home APIs, backups, and long-term maintenance, not just the visible interface.
xlicensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization
xfrictionless family sync
xretailer and smart-home integrations
xlarge recipe or product database
xmobile polish
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
all 5 free alternatives to Mealime Pro →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Mealime Pro pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| mealime free | $0 | $0 | Free download/use; meal planning, grocery lists and free recipe access; no numeric recipe cap disclosed. |
| mealime pro | $2.99 | — | All Mealime recipes, comprehensive nutrition, calorie filters, recipe notes, two most recent meal plans, email support. |
free tier$0; free to download and use; no numeric recipe/meal-plan cap disclosed.
billingmonthly only verified; auto-renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before period end
hidden costsPro purchased through app stores; refunds not provided for unused portion of term; no cancellation during active subscription period according to App Store terms.
verified 2026-08-10 · source ↗
Vibecode Mealime Pro
Not really. Mealime Pro's value is not the code: Recheck price before merge. See the honest breakdown above.
How much does Mealime Pro cost?
Mealime Pro costs about $2.99/month (Pro, checked 2026-07-31), which is $35.88 per year.
What do I lose by replacing Mealime Pro?
Honestly: licensed recipe catalog, nutrition data, retailer links, mobile apps, and personalization; frictionless family sync; retailer and smart-home integrations; large recipe or product database; mobile polish. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Mealime Pro?
Yes: Mealie (A household recipe server with meal plans and grocery lists; you supply the server and patience.) Grocy (Meal plans and groceries run through a tiny home ERP, because apparently the fridge needed one.) RecipeSage (Plan from your own recipes and combine ingredients into shopping lists; nutrition coaching is not the point.) All 5 curated free alternatives are at vibecodeit.com/mealime-pro/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.