Grocery shopping can quickly add up, especially as food prices continue to rise. Luckily, there are a variety of grocery apps designed to help Canadians save money and shop smarter.
Whether you’re looking to create meal plans, find discounts, earn cashback, or even reduce food waste, these apps offer useful features to make your shopping experience more affordable and efficient.
Key Takeaways
- BigOven and Mealime are excellent grocery apps for meal planning.
- The Flipp app makes it very convenient to view various weekly flyers.
- Checkout51 offers cash back on gas and grocery purchases.
- The Flashfood app saves you money and saves food waste.
- Instacart and PC Express both offer valuable, convenient home delivery for your groceries.
1. BigOven
The BigOven app is best described as a grocery-shopping multitool, offering a place to save recipes (and look for new ones), create and share grocery lists, create meal plans, and more. It even has a "Use Up Leftovers" feature to help minimize food waste.
Best for: Meal planning
Why we like it: Having a digital cookbook for your favourite recipes is a convenient and space-saving alternative to a shelf full of books.
Cost:
- Basic: Free
- Pro Monthly: $2.99/month
- Pro Annual: $24.99/year
Features:
- Add your own online recipe and/or add hard copy recipes
- Follow friends and food bloggers for inspiration
- Meal Planner tool lets you add notes about specific recipes
- "Use Up Leftovers" feature suggests recipes to use up your leftover food
- Create and share grocery lists with other members
- Grocery lists are available offline, too
2. Mealime
While Mealime has tools and features for making grocery shopping lists and can even link to grocery-delivery services, its primary focus is on meal planning. Users create a profile so their food preferences are saved, and the app then uses this info to suggest recipes.
Best for: Meal planning
Why we like it: Mealime makes the potentially arduous task of meal planning much easier with its curated recipe suggestions. Plus, the interface is engaging and user-friendly.
Cost:
- Basic: Free
- Meal Planner Pro: $2.99/month USD
Features:
- Variety of diet-specific meal choices: Low carb, keto, flexitarian, paleo, vegan, and more
- Pro subscription option provides even more dietician-created recipes
- Add your own favourite online recipes
- Auto-generated shopping lists (based on your recipe choices)
- Filter meals by calorie count
- Connect to stores and/or delivery services to order online
3. Flipp app
Flipp lets you virtually browse through hundreds of flyers from your favourite stores, significantly lessening paper waste caused by physical flyers. It also lets users create shopping lists and sync with loyalty programs for added savings.
Best for: Flyers
Why we like it: This app makes it easy to select items from multiple flyers and add them to your shopping list. It's more than just grocery items – you can also add gardening items, pet supplies, tech gadgets, and whatever else your household needs.
Cost:
- Free
Features:
- Flyers for a wide variety of retailers: grocery, home and garden, pharmacy, sporting equipment, etc.
- Search feature for checking prices on individual items
- Syncs with various loyalty and rewards programs
- Watchlist feature to keep track of when desired items go on sale
- Grocery lists can be shared and combined with friends and family
4. Checkout51
Checkout51 was the first cash back app and is still one of the most popular choices. All you need to do is purchase your groceries, snap a photo of the receipt with your phone, and start collecting money in your account.
Best for: Cash back
Why we like it: Cash back sites are fantastic ways to earn extra money while shopping for items you were going to purchase anyway – and the Checkout51 app makes it easy to earn. We especially love that gas purchases are now eligible for cash back, too.
Cost:
- Free
Features:
- Cash back for gas, groceries, and various household items
- Applicable for in-store and online shopping
- Bonus offers available, such as extra cash back for purchasing a certain number of branded products
- Occasional contests and sweepstakes promotions
- New promotions released each week
- Cash out at just $20 via PayPal or cheque
5. Flashfood
Canadians who want to reduce food waste while saving money will love the Flashfood app. It lets you buy food items nearing their "best before" dates at discounted prices, offering great savings for your wallet.
Best for: Discounted food
Why we like it: Flipp saves money and helps the planet by cutting down on food waste.
Cost:
- Free
Features:
- Features quality produce and products near their expiration dates
- Pay up to 50% less than sticker price
- Identifies stores in your area that link with the app
- Stores feature a designated fridge to hold your items until pickup
- Significantly helps reduce food waste
- Saves your receipts in the app for easy referral
6. Instacart Canada
The best app for grocery delivery in Canada is Instacart Canada. The app is easy to use and links to thousands of stores across the country, and you can choose to have your order delivered within an hour or up to 14 days in advance.
Best for: Grocery delivery
Why we like it: It provides convenient grocery delivery from a wide selection of stores, often with the option to receive orders within an hour. It also partners with major retailers, allowing users to shop from multiple stores in one place, saving both time and effort.
Cost:
- $3.99 and up
Features:
- Partnerships with 2,400+ individual stores Canada-wide
- Order from Costco even without a membership
- Low $10 minimum order requirement
- Wide, flexible delivery windows
- Instacart+ premium membership offers cash back, unlimited free delivery, and more
- Link your store loyalty and rewards programs
$25 GeniusCash + Total of $60 off your first four orders + free delivery (Eligible for New Customers in ON and QC only)
7. PC Express
For busy people who prefer ordering groceries online, PC Express offers a convenient platform to order from Loblaws stores. With options for both curbside pickup and home delivery, the service offers competitive pricing.
Best for: Grocery delivery
Why we like it: Earning PC Optimum points provides excellent value on its own, and this app gives you extra opportunities to earn. Plus, the convenience of grocery delivery is undeniable.
Cost: Free
- $1 - $5 per pickup order
- $5.99 - $13.99 per delivery order
Features:
- Create shopping lists and request delivery/pickup
- Earn valuable PC Optimum points
- Weekly curated offers based on previous purchases
- View Loblaws store flyers, browse by category, or search for individual items
- View your commonly purchased items for easy re-ordering
- PC Express Pass available, offering more features and discounts
Rising grocery prices in Canada: 2025 update
Using the grocery apps mentioned above can be a wise choice to help you save some money as food costs rise in 2025. Because, unfortunately, experts predict that general food prices will go up in 2025, between 3% and 5%.
Meat prices are expected to rise by 4% to 6%. Luckily, prices for dairy products aren't expected to change much.
Factors like climate change, supply chain issues, and politics all play important roles in how grocery prices fluctuate in Canada.
FAQ
Can you tell me how to save money on groceries?
Using grocery apps is a particularly easy and often fun way to go about it. Some help with meal planning, some provide access to weekly flyers, some offer cash back, and some even offer home delivery.
What's the best grocery list app?
We think one of the best grocery list apps is Mealime. It offers a convenient method for making grocery lists and has several other helpful components, like a place to create a recipe library and a meal-planning feature.
Are there any grocery cash back apps in Canada?
Yes, there are a few grocery cash back apps, and our favourite is Checkout 51. You earn cash back simply by taking and uploading pics of your receipts when you buy featured products. You can even earn on gas purchases.
What is the best app to compare grocery prices in Canada?
Flyer apps are the best way to compare grocery prices, and we think the best and most convenient flyer app in Canada is Flipp. If you're a loyal Loblaws customer, though, PC Express is another valuable app to try.
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