The question of whether is eatthismuch.com free is best answered by understanding its tiered system. The platform operates on a freemium model, offering a robust free service alongside a more comprehensive, paid premium version. This approach allows users to test the core functionality of the meal planner before committing to a paid subscription, which is a significant factor in its popularity.
The Free Forever Tier: Daily Planning and Tracking
The free version of Eat This Much is far from a basic, stripped-down offering; it provides substantial functionality for anyone looking to manage their diet on a day-to-day basis. Free users can generate and customize daily meal plans to meet specific dietary preferences and nutritional targets, such as setting daily calorie and macronutrient goals. The platform's AI generates a complete day of meals that the user can accept, or they can continually regenerate the day's meals with the click of a button until they find a plan they like.
Key features of the free plan include:
- Daily Meal Planning: Users can create and customize a single day's worth of meal plans to fit their specific needs.
- Custom Food and Recipes: The ability to add custom foods and personal recipes allows for highly personalized plans.
- Food Logging: A calendar feature lets users track what they have eaten to review their caloric and macronutrient intake.
- Barcode Scanner: A barcode scanner is available to easily add foods, making manual entry faster and more convenient.
- Recurring Foods: If you have meals you like to repeat, the free version supports scheduling recurring foods to make building habits easier.
The Premium Tier: Automated Weekly Planning and More
For those who want to automate their meal planning and get more long-term oversight, the premium subscription is the next step. The premium tier takes the daily planning of the free version and expands it to a weekly scope, introducing several features that streamline the entire meal prep and grocery shopping process. Premium pricing varies depending on whether you pay monthly or annually, with the annual plan offering a significant discount.
Notable Premium Features:
- Automatic Weekly Meal Planning: Subscribers receive automatic weekly meal plans emailed to them, complete with personalized recipes that match their nutritional goals and preferences.
- Automatic Grocery Lists: The app generates a shopping list based on the weekly meal plan, which can be integrated with grocery delivery services like Instacart and AmazonFresh.
- Leftover Planning: The system can automatically incorporate leftovers into future meals, which helps save time and reduce food waste.
- Customizable Week: Premium users can create a personalized meal plan template for each day of the week, allowing for flexibility in eating habits and workout schedules.
- Family Meal Planning: The app allows meals to be scaled for extra people, adjusting ingredient quantities on the grocery list accordingly.
Free vs. Premium: A Feature Comparison
| Feature | Free Tier | Premium Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Daily Meal Planning | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly Meal Planning | No | Yes |
| Custom Recipes | Yes | Yes |
| Food & Nutrition Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Barcode Scanner | Yes | Yes |
| Automatic Grocery List | No | Yes |
| Grocery Delivery Integration | No | Yes |
| Leftover Planning | No | Yes |
| Family Meal Planning | No | Yes |
| Customize Every Day | No | Yes |
How to Get Started with the Free Version
Using the free version of Eat This Much is a straightforward process. New users can visit the website or download the app and follow a few simple steps to begin creating their personalized daily meal plans. The platform asks for your dietary goals, food preferences, and schedule to generate the initial plan. Even without signing up for an account, visitors can try the demo on the website to see a sample of how the meal planning works. Once you've created a plan, you can customize it, swap meals you don't like, and use the included nutrition information to track your intake. This allows you to experience the core benefit of the service—automated, personalized meal planning—before deciding if the extra features of the premium version are worth the cost for you.
Conclusion: A Free Plan for Daily Needs, Premium for Automation
In short, is eatthismuch.com free? Yes, it is free, but with limitations. The platform provides a valuable, completely free service that focuses on daily meal planning and tracking, which is sufficient for many users. For those who require more advanced features, such as automatic weekly meal generation, grocery list automation, and family meal scaling, a premium subscription is available. Ultimately, your choice depends on your specific needs and how much you value the convenience and added functionality of the premium features. The best approach is to start with the free version to see if it meets your needs, and then upgrade if you find yourself wanting more automation and planning over a longer period.
