Understanding PrepSmart Pricing and Payment
Here's everything you need to know about what PrepSmart costs, what's free, and how payments work.
The model is simple: a free foundation plus two optional paid layers — PrepSmart+ and creator subscriptions — so you pay only for what you want, and none of what you don't. PrepSmart is 100% ad-free at every level.
The Free Foundation (Free Forever)
Most of PrepSmart is free, forever — no trial clock, no card required.
The free foundation includes:
- The full Plan → Shop → Cook loop: build your Weekly Plan, organize Meal Tiles (your own labeled workspaces like "Taco Tuesday"), generate your Smart Shopping List, and Cook through it
- Your Recipe Box (saved recipes) and sortable shopping lists
- Starter Recipes — a small, fixed set of recipes matched to your diet, included with every account
- Recipes from the brands, grocery stores, and appliance brands you follow — always fully free
- 3 free recipes from every creator you follow — yours to keep, forever
- Browse and explore across 25+ diet types and growing, all organized around your diet in your personalized Food World
Following a creator, brand, or store is always free. (Following is free; subscribing is the paid upgrade — see below.)
Who it's for: Everyone. You can plan, shop, and cook completely for free.
PrepSmart+
PrepSmart+ is the optional platform subscription that unlocks power features for serious planners and households.
Monthly: $4.99/month Yearly: $39.99/year — that's about 11¢ a day, and it saves about 33% versus paying monthly
Free trial: Every new PrepSmart+ subscription starts with a 7-day free trial. A card is required to start the trial (billed through your App Store / Google Play account), and you can cancel anytime before it ends.
The 4 PrepSmart+ features:
- Save & reload any week — keep and revisit as many Weekly Plans as you want
- Import any recipe — bring in recipes from a link, photo, or video with Smart Convert
- Shop smarter — your Smart Shopping List auto-aggregates from your Meal Tiles, organized by aisle and aware of the stores you shop
- One pass, many hands — Flex Steps let you divide cooking tasks across your household
PrepSmart+ also includes cloud sync across devices, household sharing for up to 5 people, and offline access — included capabilities that come with your subscription.
Who it's for: Households and regular meal preppers who want to save multiple plans, import any recipe, and split the work.
How the PrepSmart+ trial works
Here's exactly what happens, day by day:
- Today — your trial starts and you unlock everything in PrepSmart+. A card is on file, but you are not charged yet.
- Around Day 5 — you'll get a reminder that your trial is ending soon, so there are no surprises.
- Day 7 — your trial ends. If you haven't cancelled, your subscription begins and your card is billed ($4.99 for monthly, or $39.99 for yearly). If you cancel before Day 7, you are not charged.
You can cancel anytime during the trial and keep access through the end of the trial period.
Creator Subscriptions
Creator subscriptions are a completely separate upgrade from PrepSmart+ — you can add a creator subscription, PrepSmart+, both, or neither. You never need PrepSmart+ to subscribe to a creator.
What it unlocks: A creator subscription unlocks that creator's full recipe catalog — everything beyond the 3 free recipes you already get for following them.
Pricing: Each creator sets their own price. Most fall between $2.99 and $9.99/month. (For example, a creator might price their subscription around $6.99/month — this is just an illustration, not any creator's actual price or earnings.)
Decided in the app: You choose to subscribe to a creator from inside the app, whenever you want — not during onboarding.
Follow vs. Subscribe:
- Follow (free): Adds the creator to your Food World and gives you their 3 free recipes, kept forever.
- Subscribe (paid): Unlocks their full catalog at the price they set.
Billed separately: Each creator subscription is its own charge. If you subscribe to two creators, you'll see two separate charges.
What's NOT Included in Pricing
No hidden fees: PrepSmart never charges extra inside your plan — no fees for saving recipes, building your Weekly Plan, or using search and filters.
Grocery costs: You pay for groceries, not the app.
Shopping handoff: When the Instacart handoff is available, you'll be able to export or hand off your Smart Shopping List to shop. That feature is in development. Any delivery or service fees on the grocery side are charged by that provider, not by PrepSmart.
Payment Methods
PrepSmart+ and creator subscriptions are billed through your device's app store (the App Store on iPhone, Google Play on Android), so payment uses whatever method you have on file there — credit card, debit card, or digital wallet (Apple Pay, Google Pay), depending on your region.
Billing Cycles Explained
Monthly PrepSmart+:
- Charged on the same date each month after your trial ends
- Example: trial ends April 15, charged on the 15th each month after
Yearly PrepSmart+:
- Charged once per year on your renewal date
- Example: starts April 15, 2026, renews April 15, 2027
Creator subscriptions:
- Follow the same monthly cycle as your subscribe date
- Subscribe to a creator on the 5th, and you're charged on the 5th each month
Free Trial Refunds and Cancellation
Before the trial ends: Cancel any time during your 7-day PrepSmart+ trial and you won't be charged.
After billing starts: Refunds for app store purchases are handled by the App Store or Google Play under their refund policies. PrepSmart support can point you in the right direction.
Creator subscriptions: Reach out to PrepSmart support if you have a billing question about a creator subscription.
Region-Specific Pricing
Pricing may vary slightly by country or region:
- US pricing is shown above
- Prices appear in your local currency, set through your app store
- Tax may be added depending on your location
Viewing and Managing Your Charges
In PrepSmart: Go to Settings → Subscriptions to see PrepSmart+ and any creator subscriptions you have.
On your device: Because billing runs through your app store, you can also view and manage every subscription in your App Store or Google Play account settings, where receipts are stored.
Canceling Subscriptions
PrepSmart+: Open Settings → Subscriptions (or manage it directly in your app store account). Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period — you keep access until then.
Creator subscriptions: Go to Settings → Subscriptions, tap the creator, and cancel. You'll still have your 3 free recipes from that creator after canceling, since following stays free.
Managing Multiple Subscriptions
If you add PrepSmart+ plus a couple of creators, each is its own charge. For example:
- PrepSmart+: $4.99/month
- A creator subscription: about $6.99/month (illustrative)
- Another creator subscription: about $3.99/month (illustrative)
You'd see three separate charges, and you can cancel any one of them independently without affecting the others.
Questions?
See our subscription management guide, or contact support if you need help with pricing, the free trial, or billing.