# Plan to Eat vs Grocy (2026): Free Alternative to Plan to Eat

Canonical: https://caniforkit.com/vs/plan-to-eat-vs-grocy
Last updated: 2026-08-10

Compare Plan to Eat ($5.95/mo) vs Grocy ($0/mo open source MIT alternative to Plan to Eat). Side-by-side breakdown of pricing, self-hosting setup, data storage, and practical trade-offs.

## Side-by-Side Comparison Matrix

| Feature / Metric | Plan to Eat | Grocy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription | $5.95/mo | $0.00 / month |
| 1-Seat Annual Cost | $71/yr | $0.00 / year |
| 5-Person Team Annual Cost | $357/yr | $0.00 / year |
| 10-Person Team Annual Cost | $714/yr | $0.00 / year |
| License Model | Proprietary Commercial SaaS | MIT |
| Hosting / Runtime | Vendor Cloud | Self-host |
| Data Ownership | Stored on vendor servers | Products, stock, chores, recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, and history live in Grocy's SQLite database inside its data directory; configuration, uploaded pictures, and generated files are stored alongside it on the host volume. |
| GitHub Stars | Closed Source | ★ 9.4k |
| Code Repository | None | https://github.com/grocy/grocy |
| The Catch / Trade-off | Recurring subscription cost | Grocy can calendar meals and generate groceries, but its inventory-first ERP interface makes the simple drag-recipe-to-calendar loop much slower and more complicated than Plan to Eat. |

## About Grocy
Meal plans and groceries run through a tiny home ERP, because apparently the fridge needed one.

- **Installation**: Docker container/Compose, or install the PHP application on a web server
- **Setup Notes**: The first obstacle is deploying and exposing a PHP/Docker web app; the larger practical hurdle is configuring locations, units, products, barcodes, and household routines before its ERP-like screens become useful.
- **Data Storage**: Products, stock, chores, recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, and history live in Grocy's SQLite database inside its data directory; configuration, uploaded pictures, and generated files are stored alongside it on the host volume.
- **Supported Platforms**: desktop, web, self-hosted, docker to self-host
- **The Catch vs Plan to Eat**: Grocy can calendar meals and generate groceries, but its inventory-first ERP interface makes the simple drag-recipe-to-calendar loop much slower and more complicated than Plan to Eat.

## Cost Savings Breakdown
Switching from Plan to Eat to Grocy eliminates ongoing per-seat subscriptions:
- **Solo / 1-seat**: Save **$71/year**
- **5-person team**: Save **$357/year**
- **10-person team**: Save **$714/year**

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is Grocy a good free alternative to Plan to Eat?
Yes. Grocy is a verified open source (MIT) replacement for Plan to Eat. Meal plans and groceries run through a tiny home ERP, because apparently the fridge needed one.

### What is the catch when switching from Plan to Eat to Grocy?
Grocy can calendar meals and generate groceries, but its inventory-first ERP interface makes the simple drag-recipe-to-calendar loop much slower and more complicated than Plan to Eat.

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