KitchenOwl vs List Buddy
KitchenOwl
kitchenowl.orgList Buddy
list-buddy.comSide by side
| Figure | KitchenOwl | List Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $2.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Shopping List Apps | 8.0 (#12) | 7.9 (#14) |
| Meal planning | Meal plans can use suggestions based on preferences and pantry inventory and sync with shopping lists. | The meal planner lays out meals for the week and can extract recipe ingredients from a URL to add to a shopping list. |
| Offline use | The apps provide partial offline support for keeping track of grocery lists without an internet connection. | Lists work offline, with changes saved locally and synced when the device is back online. |
| Purpose | KitchenOwl is a grocery list and recipe manager that also supports meal planning and household expense tracking. | List Buddy combines shared shopping lists, meal planning, and event planning in one app. |
| Shopping lists | Shopping lists support item descriptions, categories, store-based sorting, sharing, and real-time syncing across users and devices. | Users can add list items by typing, voice, pasting, or AI, and share lists with real-time syncing. |
| Support | The documentation directs users to GitHub issues for bug reports and feature requests and lists [email protected] for privacy questions. | The contact form says the team will respond within 24 hours. |
Plans
In their own words
KitchenOwl
KitchenOwl is a free grocery list and recipe manager for households, with meal planning and expense tracking. Household members can collaborate on recipes, shopping lists, plans, and expenses. Lists support descriptions and categories, can be sorted by store, and sync in real time across users and devices. Users can create recipes or import them from popular websites, then add ingredients to shopping lists. Meal plans can use preferences and pantry inventory to generate suggestions and connect with shopping lists. Members can split bills and review monthly expense reports and charts. The apps provide partial offline support for keeping track of grocery lists. KitchenOwl also lists Home Assistant integration for automations and smart home connectivity. It is available on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, and the web, with self-hosting supported. The official server installation uses Docker or Docker Compose, and the documentation recommends HTTPS behind a reverse proxy. KitchenOwl is Free Software under the AGPL-3.0 license.
List Buddy
List Buddy combines shared shopping lists, meal planning and event planning in an app for Android, iOS and web. Users can add list items by typing, voice, pasting or AI Smart Add, then share lists with real-time syncing. AI Smart Add can turn a description, such as preparing tacos for six, into a shopping list. The meal planner lays out the week's meals and can extract ingredients from a recipe URL into a list. Event tools include RSVP tracking, to-do checklists and themed shopping lists. Lists work offline: changes are stored locally and sync when the device reconnects. The free plan includes unlimited lists, up to two people per list, seven meals and five events per month, 15 AI Smart Adds and five photo uploads monthly. Premium adds unlimited meals, events, AI Smart Adds, photos and videos, plus Alexa and Siri hands-free control and web access. Premium Monthly costs $3.99 a month; Premium Annual costs $29.99 a year. The maker lists English, Spanish, French and Arabic and says personal information is encrypted, shared data is limited to invited people, and data is never sold.