ReelsMeals vs Mela
Mela if you cook from blogs on Apple devices. ReelsMeals if your recipes live in saved reels.
Mela is a clean recipe app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that syncs through iCloud and you buy once. ReelsMeals reads cooking videos and imports a saved Instagram folder from Instagram’s own export. Prices checked on 7 June 2026.
Mela is a blog recipe box.
It imports recipes from websites, follows your favourite food sites through RSS feeds, reads printed recipes with text recognition, and has a cook mode. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac and syncs through iCloud.
ReelsMeals moves your saves.
It writes a recipe down from a reel’s caption, on-screen text and voiceover. It imports your Instagram saved folder from Instagram’s data export, or TikTok and YouTube links 50 at a time, credits every creator, and runs in the browser on any device.
Mela can’t open these.
Lasagna soup
McKenna Barry · Instagram reel
Paratha smash burger buns
khudi.nyc · TikTok
Cajun chicken and andouille gumbo
Rachel · Instagram reel
Spicy peanut noodles
vitacoco · Instagram reel
Each is a real recipe on ReelsMeals, and each lived only in a video: there was no recipe page for a web importer to read. ReelsMeals wrote them down from the reel itself.
Feature by feature.
From each app’s own site and store listings, checked 7 June 2026. Where Mela does something ReelsMeals doesn’t, the table says so.
| Feature | ReelsMeals | Mela |
|---|---|---|
| Recipes from websites | ReelsMeals: YesPaste a link | Mela: Yes |
| Instagram Reels | ReelsMeals: YesCaption, on-screen text and voiceover | Mela: No |
| TikTok and YouTube videos | ReelsMeals: Yes | Mela: No |
| Move a whole saved folder | ReelsMeals: YesInstagram’s data export, or links 50 a batch | Mela: NoOne recipe at a time |
| Photos of paper recipes | ReelsMeals: YesScan a card | Mela: YesText recognition |
| New recipes from sites you follow | ReelsMeals: No | Mela: YesRSS feeds |
| Shopping list | ReelsMeals: YesBuilt from the plan; send to Apple Reminders on iOS | Mela: YesThrough Apple Reminders |
| Where it runs | ReelsMeals: Any browserPhone, tablet, laptop | Mela: Apple devices onlyiPhone, iPad and Mac, synced through iCloud |
| Share a recipe | ReelsMeals: YesPublic recipes get a page you can send as a link | Mela: YesThrough iCloud sharing |
| Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants | ReelsMeals: YesOver MCP, revoke any time | Mela: Not listed |
| Free to start | ReelsMeals: YesSave public recipes; 3 imports of links or scans | Mela: YesA limited free version |
When Mela wins.
You cook from food blogs.
Mela imports recipe web pages cleanly, and its RSS feeds bring in new recipes from the sites you follow.
You’d rather pay once.
Mela is a one-time purchase of $4.99 to $9.99. ReelsMeals is a subscription with 7 free days to start.
Everything you use is Apple.
Mela is a native app on iPhone, iPad and Mac and syncs through iCloud. ReelsMeals runs in the browser instead.
Moving from Mela.
First, keep Mela.
Nothing in it changes. Move a few recipes, cook from them for a week, then decide.
Then copy the source links.
Recipes Mela saved from a website usually keep a link to that site. Copy the links of the ones you still cook.
Paste them, 50 at a time.
ReelsMeals reads each page again and writes the recipe down, credited and linked. A free account includes 3 imports of links or scans, which you can spend on a small batch; a plan imports the rest. Keep the tab open until every batch is sent; queued imports carry on on the server.
Bring the reels Mela never had.
Request your saved posts from Instagram’s Download your information page and drop the file in. Paste TikTok and YouTube links in the same box.
Recipes you typed into Mela by hand have no link to follow: copy the recipe text into manual entry, or scan a printout. ReelsMeals can’t read Mela’s own export file yet.
Questions.
Which is better, Mela or ReelsMeals?
If you cook from food blogs, use only Apple devices and want a clean app you buy once, with a cook mode and RSS feeds from your favorite sites, Mela is the better choice. If your recipes come from Instagram Reels, TikTok or YouTube, ReelsMeals is the better choice. Mela can't import from video. ReelsMeals reads the caption, the voiceover and the text on screen, and saves the recipe to a cookbook you can open on any device.
Can Mela import recipes from Instagram or TikTok?
No. Mela imports recipe web pages. A reel has no recipe page: the recipe is in the caption, the text on screen or the voiceover, which Mela doesn’t read. ReelsMeals reads all three.
Does Mela work on Android or Windows?
No. Mela runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac and syncs through iCloud. ReelsMeals runs in any browser, so a household on mixed devices can share one cookbook.
Can I use both?
Yes. Keep Mela for the blogs you follow and use ReelsMeals for the reels. ReelsMeals also reads recipe-site links if you would rather have everything in one book.
Bring the reels Mela can’t.
Paste one saved reel and get the recipe back, credited to its creator. You can usually try one without an account, and a free account adds 3 imports.
Comparing other apps? Paprika, Pestle, Samsung Food, Copy Me That, ReciMe, AnyList, Crouton and Recipe Keeper. Or see all comparisons.