If you mostly want to tick off milk and eggs with your partner at the supermarket, AnyList is one of the fastest list apps around.
The trouble is the recipes. Saving them from the web, the Mac and web apps, and scaling all need the yearly AnyList Complete subscription. And your recipes live in your AnyList account, with no way to export them all. Gratin puts recipes first, and it’s free.
Gratin vs AnyList at a glance
Figures come from each app’s public pricing and help pages. Trademarks belong to their owners. AnyList website ↗
The yearly prices are close ($9.99–$14.99/year for AnyList Complete, $12/year or $39 once for Gratin Hosted sync), but you’re paying for different things. AnyList charges for web recipe saving, desktop access and scaling. In Gratin those are free, and you only pay for sync.
See Gratin’s pricing and the 5-year Pay-once guarantee →What AnyList does well, and what gets in the way
What AnyList does well
- Fast shared grocery lists for the household on iPhone and Android
- Quickly adds a recipe’s ingredients to your shopping list
- A modest yearly price, with good recipe import and meal planning
What gets in the way
- Saving recipes from the web, the Mac and web apps, and meal planning need the yearly Complete plan
- You need a cloud account from the start, and your data is kept on their servers
- It’s a grocery list first and a recipe book second
Why people switch from AnyList to Gratin
Saving from the web, scaling and desktop apps are free
In Gratin, saving from the web, scaling, the meal planner and the Mac and Windows apps are all free.
Easy to read while you cook
Gratin shows ingredient amounts inside each step and keeps your screen on while you cook. Tap a time in the text to start a timer.
Grocery aisles you can arrange
Send a recipe’s ingredients to your grocery list. Duplicates across recipes are merged, and you can order the aisles to match your supermarket.
Take your recipes with you
Gratin exports your whole library, with photos, in a standard recipe format or as Cooklang files.
Bottom line
AnyList is a grocery list first and a recipe box second. Gratin is the other way round, and none of it needs a subscription.
Questions about AnyList and Gratin
Does Gratin have grocery lists and household sharing?
Yes. Add ingredients from any recipe or meal plan to your grocery list, sorted by aisle. With Hosted sync you can share recipe books with your household.
What happens if I stop paying, in Gratin and in AnyList?
If AnyList Complete lapses, you lose web recipe saving, desktop access and scaling. In Gratin, stopping Hosted sync only stops syncing. Your recipes and every feature stay.
Can I use Gratin without creating an account?
Yes. There’s no sign-up when you install it.