Frequently Asked Questions

What is DinnerPlan?

DinnerPlan is a weekly dinner planner for families. Tell us about your household — dietary needs, busy nights, favourite cuisines — and we’ll generate a personalised 7-day meal plan with recipes and a smart shopping list.

How do I sign in?

Enter your email on the sign-in screen and we’ll email you a sign-in link and a 6-digit code. Open the link, or type the code into the app — no password required. If you use DinnerPlan from your iPhone home screen, use the code: the link opens in Safari rather than the home-screen app. If you don’t have an account yet, requesting a magic link creates one.

How does the free trial work?

New accounts get 14 days of full access to all features, no credit card required. After the trial, you’ll need a subscription to continue generating meal plans. Promo codes (when offered) can extend free access for a set period.

How much does DinnerPlan cost?

DinnerPlan is available from $9.99 AUD/month or $79.99 AUD/year (also available in USD). One subscription covers your entire household. You can cancel at any time. You’ll need a verified email address before starting a paid subscription checkout.

Can my partner use DinnerPlan too?

Yes. With a subscription, go to Kitchen → Plan together and invite them by email. They sign in with their own email and see the same week, shopping list and settings — either of you can plan, swap or tick things off. One subscription covers up to four people in a household.

How are meal plans generated?

DinnerPlan’s AI (Claude, from Anthropic) writes your week from your family profile: who’s eating and the kids’ ages, allergies and food rules, busy nights, the cuisines you like and anything to leave out, plus your pantry, your recipes and how you’ve rated past dinners. It plans the week as a whole, not seven separate dinners: quick meals on busy nights, fresh ingredients shared across nights so less goes to waste, a cook-once night that feeds a second, and a fun Friday. It takes about a minute.

Can DinnerPlan plan around allergies?

Yes. Choose them in Kitchen → Food rules: peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, gluten, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, sesame, soy and lupin, or type in any other allergy. We check every recipe against your allergies and redo any that slip through. Packaged foods that often hide an allergen, like stock or curry paste, get a “Check label” note in the recipe and on the shopping list. For an allergy you type in, we look for that word, not for the things it can hide in.

Dinners are written by AI and can contain mistakes, so always check ingredients and labels yourself.

What about vegetarians, vegans and other food rules?

Tell DinnerPlan what each person eats: everything, pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan. A mixed household gets one dinner that works for everyone, often a vegetarian base with an optional meat add-on for the meat eaters. You can also choose halal, kosher, no pork, no beef, keto or low carb, and list anything to leave out, like mushrooms or olives. Change any of it in Kitchen, under Household and Food rules.

Can I swap meals I don’t like?

Yes. On the Week tab, tap More on any night and choose Swap (or tap Swap tonight on the Tonight tab) — in a new plan or in this week’s locked-in one — and say what would work better: quicker, cheaper, healthier, more kid-friendly, use what you have, or surprise me. You’ll get three alternatives to choose from, and any of your saved recipes that fit that night.

Already know what you want? Tap “I have something in mind…” and describe it. Or swap it with another night of the week — that one’s instant.

Does DinnerPlan learn what we like?

Yes. After dinner, rate it on the Tonight tab (or from that night’s More menu on the Week tab): tap “Have again”, “It was okay” or “Never again” — and optionally why (kids loved it, too much effort, too expensive and so on). “Have again” saves the meal to My recipes, “Never again” means it won’t be suggested again, and reasons that keep coming up shape your next plans. You can undo a “Never again” in Kitchen, under My recipes & past weeks.

Will DinnerPlan email me?

Apart from sign-in links and account notices, just one optional reminder: the day before your week starts, if you’ve planned with DinnerPlan before and next week isn’t planned yet, we send a short “Ready to plan next week’s dinners?” email (and a notification, if you use the iPhone app and allow them) with a button straight into the planner. Turn it off in Kitchen, under Reminders & calendar, or with the link at the bottom of the email.

Can I see our dinners in my calendar?

Yes. On the Week tab, tap “Add to calendar”. “Keep my calendar updated” subscribes Apple Calendar (iPhone, iPad, Mac), Google Calendar or Outlook to a private link, so swaps, skipped nights and each new week you lock in show up by themselves (calendar apps check for changes every few hours). Or tap “Just download this week” for a one-off copy. Each dinner shows as its cooking time, ending at your dinner time — change that in the same place or in Kitchen, under Reminders & calendar. The link is private, but anyone who has it can see your dinner list: if you share it by mistake, reset it there (the old link stops working straight away) or turn it off. If your subscription ends, your calendar keeps your dinners for two more weeks, then empties; subscribe again and they come back on the same link.

How do I send feedback or report a problem?

In the app, open Kitchen and tap “Send feedback” (it’s in Help too) to send us an idea, a problem or any other feedback. It goes straight to the people who build DinnerPlan.

How does the shopping list work?

Once you lock in a week, the Shop tab has one list for all of it, sorted by aisle, with amounts added up across the recipes. Items in your pantry are left off, and you can tap “Have it” on anything else you already have at home. Tick things off as you shop, copy the list, or send it to Apple Reminders via Shortcuts. Everyone in your household sees the same list and the same ticks, so you can split the shop. Lost signal in the supermarket? Keep ticking: your ticks are saved on your phone and catch up when you’re back online.

What is the pantry feature?

The pantry (in Kitchen) lets you track staple ingredients you always have on hand (e.g., olive oil, salt, rice). These items are automatically excluded from your shopping lists so you only buy what you need. Marked something “Have it” on the Shop tab? Tap “Add to pantry” and it stays off future lists too.

Can I add my own recipes?

Yes. In Kitchen, open My recipes and tap Add a recipe: paste a link, paste or type the recipe in, or add a photo of a cookbook page or recipe card. Check it over, then save it. You can also tap the heart on any dinner, use Save in a night’s More menu on the Week tab, or rate it “Have again”. Your recipes can come back one night a week in a new plan, and you can put one on any night from the swap sheet.

Does DinnerPlan work offline?

Partly. DinnerPlan needs a connection to open your week and to plan or swap dinners. Once it’s open, the shopping list keeps working if you lose signal: your ticks are saved on your phone and catch up when you’re back online.

Is there an iPhone app? Coming soon

Yes, and it’s nearly here. It’s the same DinnerPlan — sign in with the same email and your household, plans, recipes and shopping list are all there.

It will add the things only an iPhone can do: a Tonight widget for your Home Screen and Lock Screen, a nudge when it’s time to start cooking, your shopping list straight into Apple Reminders, and recipes shared to DinnerPlan from Safari or Photos. Until then, add DinnerPlan to your Home Screen from Safari (see below) and it works like an app.

Will DinnerPlan work on Apple HomeView? Coming soon

That’s the plan. HomeView can show widgets from your iPhone, so once the DinnerPlan iPhone app is out, tonight’s dinner and when to start cooking can sit right there on the kitchen bench, where you’ll actually see it at 5pm. We’ll try it on HomeView as soon as we can and put the steps here.

Can I install DinnerPlan on my phone?

Yes! On iOS, open DinnerPlan in Safari and tap Share → Add to Home Screen. On Android, tap the install prompt or use your browser’s menu. DinnerPlan works like a native app once installed.

How do I delete my account?

In the app, open Kitchen and tap “Delete account” at the bottom. Type DELETE to confirm. This permanently removes all your data — plans, preferences, saved recipes, and pantry items, apart from the few records our Privacy Policy (section 5) explains we keep, such as the App Store purchase record. This cannot be undone.

I can’t sign in. What should I do?

Check your spam or junk folder, or ask for a new link from the sign-in screen and use the newest email. If you use DinnerPlan from your iPhone home screen, type the 6-digit code from that email into the app — the link opens in Safari, not the home-screen app.

Why do I need to verify my email?

Signing in with a magic link verifies your email automatically. If you signed up another way, you may see a verification banner — use “Resend verification email” in the app. A verified email is required before starting Stripe checkout for a paid subscription.

Is my data safe?

Yes. Sign-in links and codes are short-lived and single-use. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit. We don’t sell your data. We use Google Analytics to understand how DinnerPlan is used, and Meta’s tools to measure our Facebook and Instagram ads — neither ever sees your household profile, allergies or meal plans. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

How do I contact support?

Use the contact form or email us at support@3211labs.com. We’re a small team and aim to respond within 24 hours.