Android

Top 10 Best Shopping List Apps For Android | 2024 Edition

We test: Google Keep, Out of Milk, AnyList, That Shopping List, Our Groceries, Listronic, Bring!, Yummly, Cozi Family Organizer, Meallime.

Published on

February 29, 2024

Xuyun Zeng

As I reviewed these 10 shopping list apps, I realized you’ll find two types of grocery list apps.

I’ll categorize them into “fancy” ones and “no-nonsense” ones.

No-Nonsense Shopping List Apps

Apps whose main focus is creating a shopping list. Might have features focused on the shopping experience like cost of item, quantity, photos, barcode scanner and collaboration tools.

Fancy Shopping List Apps

Apps which have a shopping list, but whose main focus might be elsewhere such as recipes, meal planning or other organization features

My favorite no-nonsense shopping list app is Google Keep, Listronic, That Shopping List or Out of Milk. They are frankly very similar to each other with the exception of Google Keep.

Google Keep is a one-size-fits-all list app, so you can do multiple things with it. The convenient part here is that you probably already have a Google account and therefore don’t need to sign up for one.

Listronic, That Shopping List and Out of Milk are close competitors and you’ll have to see which features you want. For example, Out of Milk has a barcode scanner while Listronic has a user interface that I like (because it looks like Duolingo). For people looking for an app that only features lists, these apps would be fantastic.

As for fancy shopping list apps, you’ll have to know what you want. If you want meal planning, you’ve got Meallime. If you want recipes that become shopping lists, you have Yummly and Bring!

If you want an all-in-one organizer for your family, which also happens to have a shopping list, you’ve got Cozi Family Organizer.

Google Keep

Account Needed? Yes, a Google account, which you probably already have.

If you love keeping things streamlined and minimal, then Google Keep is probably the best because you can use it cross-platform, free and you can use it using Google Assistant.

Google Keep wasn’t really meant to be a shopping list app, but it functions very much like a corkboard where you pin notes. By enabling the checkbox feature, you can use it as a shopping list.

Here are some advanced ways to use Google Keep as a shopping list:

Add collaborators via their Google account for shared uploading of things to buy
Set up separate lists for various needs and locations, and…
… enable location-based notifications to remind you to buy items when you arrive at the specific store
Verbally add items to shopping lists via Google Assistant for convenience. (say “add [something] to [title of your shopping list]

The downside of Google Keep is that the app wasn’t meant to be a shopping list, so it doesn’t have some features that more specialized apps have, so let’s explore some apps made specifically for shopping lists.

Read More: How To Use An Android Tablet

Out Of Milk

Account Needed? Optional

Out of Milk shines because it can create multiple lists, categorize items for efficient shopping, and remember past purchases.

Out of Milk elevates the experience by allowing you to group items into categories, making shopping more efficient. For example, when I put “bread” into my list, it automatically categorizes it into the “Bakery & Bread” section, helping me to navigate the sections of a grocery store.

You can also scan barcodes, or manually enter items into your lists, and there’s a handy history feature that remembers your items.

One of the app’s standout features is the ability to share lists via text or email, which is incredibly convenient for coordinating shopping with family or roommates.

Here are some other useful features:

Pantry list function helps track home inventory, preventing unnecessary purchases.
Displays costs on your shopping list for budgeting.
Access lists from anywhere through the Out of Milk website for convenience.
Integration with voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant

AnyList

Account Needed? Yes, sign up with email

You can upload lists to AnyList, whether you’re planning meals for the week, organizing a vacation packing list, or keeping track of home projects

But the real reason why you’d want AnyList comes down to how they intersect their recipe and budgetary features. You do have to upgrade to the full version at $9.99 per year for an individual and $14.99 for households, though. With this feature, you can track prices to help you stay on budget, combine ingredients from multiple recipes into a single item to shop for (so you don’t have multiple entries of “garlic”) and it allows for collaboration on lists.

The collaboration feature remains pretty unique because AnyList not only lets you share lists but also keeps track of your preferences and past choices, making suggestions based on your history.

Read More: How To Use Your Tablet as Phone

Bring!

Account Needed? Yes, sign up with email, Google or Facebook

Bring! helps you bring the (dinner) party more easily.

Bring! can be used as a shopping list. You can add individual ingredients to a list, but its main selling point involves recipes.

In the “Inspiration” tab, you can find a stream of recipes at your fingertips, helping you create your next meal idea. Once you see a recipe you like, you can adjust how many portions you want and then add the ingredients to your shopping list.

One big departure from other shopping lists is that Bring! actually shows icons for each ingredient. I am not sure what you’ll think, but I am accustomed to a shopping list showing the items I need line by line. If the icons help you, great. If not, then you might be better off with an old-school shopping list.

The app syncs across your smartphone, tablet, or web version, and you can also use it on Android Wear (now called Wear OS).

That Shopping List

Account Needed? No, use it straight after downloading

That Shopping List is aptly named because it’s really no-nonsense.

Literally, every shopping list item on That Shopping List has an icon, a description that you enter and then a checkbox.

Its biggest competitor would be Google Keep because what I described above can be done by Google Keep.

However, what Google Keep cannot do is track quantity and item prices. Plus, Google Keep is a one-size-fits-all app, so if you use it often, you’ll have to dig through many notes just to find your grocery list.

That Shopping List can act as your single-purpose app for shopping only. So you can just open the app and get access to your shopping list. One downside, though, is that That Shopping List contains ads.

Our Groceries Shopping List

Account Needed? No, use it straight after downloading

On a scale of fancy to no-nonsense, Our Groceries Shopping List tends towards no-nonsense.

It’s a list. You add stuff to it. Once you’re done, you cross it off. by tapping on it.

You can also add quantities, photos, notes and categorize your items. By default, the app does not categorize items for you unless you enable the auto-categorization.

Solely as a grocery list, it’s quite similar to Out Of Milk. One major differentiation is that the ad for Out of Milk is at the bottom, while Our Groceries puts its ads on top, making it more visible. One other minor difference is that you can’t upload photos in Out of Milk, but you can in Our Groceries. You can’t add prices in Our Groceries, but you can in Out of Milk.

Some useful features in the Our Groceries Shopping List app are its integration into Alexa, it also has a barcode scanner and has a smartwatch app.

Our Groceries Shopping List has ads unless you pay for a $17.99 lifetime subscription, a $0.99 monthly or a $5.99 annual subscription.

Yummly

Account Needed? No, but without a free account, you can’t do some things

Here’s another recipe-first shopping list, similar to Bring!, but this goes a few steps further.

Yummly has a shopping list app but the core feature of the app lies in its ability to find you a lot of recipes, and then add those to a shopping list.

You can also use its calendar to plan and schedule meals — but you need to sign up.

Along with meal planning, creating a free account allows you to get personalized recipe recommendations, the ability to add your own recipes and allows you to watch exclusive videos.

yummly recipes shopping list app for android

Other features include the ability to order ingredients (if you live in the US) and also use the app to connect to the Yummly Smart Thermometer.

If you are looking for a simple app, then you’re better off with Out of Milk, AnyList, That Shopping List or anything more focused on just being a list. However, if you need inspiration, planning capabilities and a more recipe-focused experience, then Yummly is for you.

Cozi Family Organizer

Account Needed? Yes for sharing among family members

Cozi’s intended use is for families to keep track of their family’s schedules, lists and recipes. When you sign up with your email, it makes it obvious that you’re going to use a “shared password”.

Strictly as a grocery list, Cozi only provides a simple list with a checkbox and a field to enter the product that you need to shop for.

There’s no area to input quantity required, photo, barcode scanner or anything fancy. It’s just a list akin to Google Keep’s list.

However, where the app shines is if you want to use this as a one-stop area for organizing your family’s calendar, sharing lists and seeing recipes. Basically, you can do all of these with Google Keep, a cloud calendar and a recipe app, but you might want everything in one spot, and this is where Cozi shines.

If your kid needs a tablet, we’ve got a bunch that they will love.

But solely as a shopping list app… you have many more superior options listed on this page.

Meallime

Account Needed? Yes

If you need a shopping list that helps you meal prep, then put Meallime in the limelight. Meallime starts by asking you to choose the meals you want to eat for the week, then gives you a shopping list, then takes you to the cooking process.

Upon first use, you will be asked for your diet preferences and you can choose between “Classic” (i.e. you eat without any dietary restrictions), to low carb, keto, flexitarian, paleo, vegetarian, pescatarian and vegan.

Then, you put in your allergies, dislikes, and servings (minimum two servings, so solo people aren’t considered).

Used solely as a shopping list, it’s OK. Meallime is simple in that you can easily add things you need to buy, but you don’t get any of the features such as price input or a barcode scanner. You can see how much you need to buy and also shop online at various grocery stores like Aldi, Target, Amazon Fresh and Kroger’s chain of supermarkets, among many others.

Oh, I also noticed that I can’t use Meallime in portrait orientation. It will only be displayed in landscape on my XP Pen Magic Drawing Pad.

You can also upgrade to Meallime Pro for $2.99 per month for more recipes, nutritional info and some other features. I would say that half of the recipes in the meal prep section are not accessible to a free-tier user.

Finally, one feature that Meallime has is the “cooking” function which displays a recipe on your device. I’d recommend a larger tablet as I was able to get all the steps of a recipe on my 12″ screen and it was legible from afar.

If you are solely looking for a shopping list, you’re better off elsewhere because what Meallime offers prioritizes recipes and meal planning.

Listronic

Account Needed? No, and works really well without signing in

Listronic runs ads on the Google Play Store, so I thought they deserved a test since I saw it multiple times as I added the other shopping list apps.

Listronic is a simple grocery app and its UI looks the “friendliest”, reminding me of Duolingo.

Listronic comes in at a step above Google Keep because it has some shopping list features, such as uploading photos of your item, add its price, quantity needed and the name of your item. Listronic does not have a barcode scanner unlike some other shopping list apps.