Bar Assistant vs Mealie

Two self-hosted Recipe Management apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.

Side by side

Bar AssistantMealie
DescriptionManage your home bar while adding your ingredients, searching for cocktails and creating custom cocktail recipes.Material design inspired recipe manager with category and tag management, shopping-lists, meal-planner, and site customizations. Mealie is focused on simple user interactions to keep the whole family using the app.
GitHub stars1,11513,814
Forks––
Open issues––
Commits (12 months)2811.5k
Last activity2026-11-042026-11-05
Latest releasev6.10.1 (2026-10-29)v3.30.0 (2026-10-31)
Maintenance healthActiveActive
LicenseMITMIT
Language / platformPHP, DockerPython
Docker Hub image––
Docker pulls––
Est. server size~1 GB, 1 vCPU~1 GB, 1 vCPU
Est. hosting from$5/mo$5/mo
CategoriesRecipe ManagementRecipe Management
LinksWebsite · SourceWebsite · Source

What the numbers say

Summary: Mealie leads on GitHub popularity and commit activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.

This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bar Assistant or Mealie more popular?

Mealie has more GitHub stars (13,814 vs 1,115 for Bar Assistant, as of 2026-11-05). Stars measure interest, not quality.

Which is more actively maintained, Bar Assistant or Mealie?

Mealie had more commits over the last 12 months (1,535 vs 281). The last recorded activity was 2026-11-04 for Bar Assistant and 2026-11-05 for Mealie. Our health labels: Bar Assistant is “Active”, Mealie is “Active”.

What licenses do Bar Assistant and Mealie use?

Both use MIT.

Can I run Bar Assistant and Mealie with Docker?

We did not detect a Docker Hub image for either app. The upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option for Bar Assistant. Check each project's documentation for install options.

Read more

Bar Assistant

Manage your home bar while adding your ingredients, searching for cocktails and creating custom cocktail recipes.

Active ★ 1.1k MIT 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Mealie

Material design inspired recipe manager with category and tag management, shopping-lists, meal-planner, and site customizations. Mealie is focused on simple user interactions to keep the whole family using the app.

Active ★ 13.8k MIT ~$5/mo

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