# kcal vs Mealie

> Two self-hosted [Recipe Management projects](https://selfhost.directory/recipe-management), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | kcal | Mealie |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 47/100 | 75/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #10 of 18 in Recipe Management | #1 of 18 in Recipe Management |
| GitHub stars | 355 | 13 714 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +412 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 23 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.9.0 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ | v3.29.0 · 17 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Mealie scores 75/100 against 47/100 for kcal, so it is the safer default.

Mealie ships more often: 23 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for kcal.

Mealie is growing faster right now (+412 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [kcal](https://selfhost.directory/project/kcal) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kcal.md)
- [Mealie](https://selfhost.directory/project/mealie) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mealie.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/kcal-vs-mealie