Best shopping list apps in 2026 comparison: BuyBye!, AnyList, Bring!, OurGroceries and Google Keep

Published May 6, 2026 · 9 min read

If you've tried more than one shopping list app, you've probably noticed they all do roughly the same thing: a checklist, sorted by category, synced between phones. The honest test isn't the feature list — it's whether your partner, parent or housemate actually uses the one you picked. That comes down to the entry barrier: how many taps between "I got the link" and "I added milk."

Below: the four apps people most often ask about, and where BuyBye! sits next to them. All prices below were checked in May 2026 from the apps' own pages and store listings.

The quick price snapshot

AnyList the most feature-rich, paid for the extras

Pricing: free with most features, $9.99/yr individual or $14.99/yr household for AnyList Complete.

What you get free: shared lists, real-time sync across iPhone, Android, Mac, web and Apple Watch, recipe import (limited to 5), meal planning, voice commands, autocomplete, item photos, item prices, basic themes, widgets, folders, store filters.

What's locked behind paid: unlimited recipe imports, premium and custom themes, location-based store reminders, passcode protection, advanced badge count control.

Best for: a power user who actually uses the meal planner and imports recipes regularly. The free tier is generous enough that most casual users never need to pay.

The catch: requires sign-up before you can do anything, and the second person you invite also needs an AnyList account.

Bring! visual, icon-led interface with store deals built in

Pricing: free with ads. Bring! Premium is $1.99/month or $8.99/year (App Store listing).

What you get free: shared lists, real-time sync across iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS and Alexa, voice input, recipe collections, in-app store deals, barcode scanning, item icons, location reminders.

What Premium adds: primarily ad removal plus a few cosmetic and convenience extras. The bulk of the app is on the free tier.

Best for: shoppers who want a more visual, icon-led interface and integrated store deals. Each category has its own icon, which makes the list easier to scan at a glance. Bring!'s deal and recipe partnerships are deepest in central Europe (Germany, Switzerland), but the core list works anywhere.

The catch: in-app deals/offers can feel intrusive on the free tier, and outside the Bring! partner regions the deals layer has fewer integrations — though the core list features still work normally.

OurGroceries the cheapest paid option

Pricing: free with ads. Ad removal is roughly $1/month, $6/year, or $20 lifetime.

What you get free: multiple lists, list sharing with the household, cloud sync across iPhone, Android, Apple Watch, Wear OS, Alexa and the web, item categorization, barcode scanning. Functionally it's complete on the free tier — the paid upgrade is essentially "stop showing me ads."

What's locked behind paid: ad removal (which extends to anyone you share lists with) and item photos.

Best for: users who want a no-frills shared list at the lowest possible cost, including a one-time $20 lifetime option.

The catch: the design has aged. It works, but the visual language feels like an app that hasn't been substantially redesigned in years.

Google Keep free forever, if everyone has a Google account

Pricing: 100% free. There is no paid tier — Keep is part of your Google account storage.

What you get: checklists with sub-items, sharing by Google email, real-time sync, voice notes, autocomplete suggestions, reminders, sync across iPhone, Android, web and Wear OS.

Best for: households already living in Google (Gmail, Drive, Photos) who don't need supermarket-specific features.

The catch: not built for groceries. There's no auto-categorization, no sort-by-aisle, no price tracking. The list is just a checklist — fine for short shops, awkward for the full weekly. Also: every collaborator needs a Google account, which is a real friction point if any household member uses Hotmail, iCloud or a non-Google email.

BuyBye! open from a link, no install needed

Pricing: free. Optional subscription is $0.99/month or $3.99/year and removes the ad shown to signed-in users.

What you get free: auto-categorization in 7 languages, real-time shared lists, barcode scanning, voice input, offline-first behaviour (the list still works in the supermarket basement), recipe import, meal plan, custom categories, list chat. Available on iPhone, Android and the web — opens straight from a link, no App Store trip required.

Best for: households where one of you doesn't want to install yet another app. BuyBye! opens from a link like a website but works like a native app afterwards (it's a PWA — you can add it to your home screen if you want). The person you share with doesn't need an account to start adding items.

The catch: BuyBye! is newer and smaller than the four above — fewer reviews, less third-party coverage. Some features that are on the roadmap (per-item prices, multi-list view) aren't shipped yet.

Feature-by-feature comparison

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Which one to pick

• Pick BuyBye! if you want to send a link and have someone start using it without signing up first — the lowest friction for the second person joining the list.
• Pick AnyList if you cook from imported recipes regularly and want meal planning + the most polished feature set. Pay if you import more than 5 recipes.
• Pick Bring! if you want a visual, icon-led interface with store deals built in. The free tier covers most needs; deal coverage is deepest in central Europe.
• Pick OurGroceries if you want the cheapest paid path to ad-free lists, especially the $20 lifetime option.
• Pick Google Keep if everyone in your household already has a Google account and your shopping needs are basic.

Frequently asked questions

Sources (May 2026): anylist.com/features, getbring.com, App Store: Bring!, ourgroceries.com/faq, keep.google.com. Prices and feature splits change — verify on the apps' own pages before deciding.