Mai Pantry — Frequently Asked Questions
Mai Pantry helps you spend less on groceries: it prices your shopping list, plans meals into a priced list and works out the cheapest way to shop. Here are the questions we're asked most. Can't find yours? Email hello@maipantry.com.au.
New to Mai Pantry? See How to save with Mai Pantry.
The basics
What is Mai Pantry?
Mai Pantry helps you save on your weekly shop. It shows this week's prices and specials at the supermarkets near you, tells you which specials are a real saving, and works out the cheapest way to buy your shopping list — with meal plans and price tracking too, Australia-wide.
Which stores does it cover?
Mai Pantry covers Coles, Woolworths, ALDI and IGA, plus Spudshed in Western Australia. Coles, Woolworths and ALDI prices are shown for your region, based on the home location you set in Settings — WA prices are shown separately from the rest of Australia. IGA shops set their own prices, so Mai Pantry shows one IGA's prices for your region — East Perth IGA in WA and Ashcroft's IGA Erskine Park (NSW) for the rest of Australia — unless you choose your own IGA under Settings → My IGA store. Then you see that store's prices (Settings shows when they were last updated); anything it doesn't list shows the regional IGA's price. The product page names the store each IGA price comes from. Versions of the app before 1.1.6 show WA prices everywhere, so if you live outside WA, update to the latest version. We are independent and not affiliated with any retailer.
Is it only for one state?
No — you can use Mai Pantry anywhere in Australia. Set your home location in Settings so the app shows the prices and branches near you, and change it whenever you're shopping somewhere else.
How much does it cost?
Mai Pantry is free to download and the core of the app is free. There's an optional subscription, Mai Pantry Pro, that removes the limits on the deeper tools — see the next section.
Free vs Pro
What's free?
The core of Mai Pantry is free: seeing prices at every supported supermarket, unlimited shopping lists, browsing the full catalogue, searching products, seeing the current deals, the trip planner's single-store and nearby-stores plans, and recording your purchase history. You also get a taste of the Pro tools: the last 30 days of price history, price-drop tracking for up to 3 products, and each month one meal plan, one Cheapest Overall trip, one recipe import from the web, one 24-hour Pantry Chef unlock and one shared list.
What do I get with Pro?
Mai Pantry Pro removes those limits: unlimited meal plans, Cheapest Overall trips, recipe imports and Pantry Chef; price tracking for as many products as you like, with up to 12 months of price history; the Per-each sort, which ranks multi-packs by the price of each item; spending insights; and shared lists with no monthly limit that don't expire while they're in use. Pro is available monthly or yearly, renews automatically, and is billed through the App Store. You can cancel any time in the iOS Settings app (tap your name → Subscriptions); you keep Pro until the end of the period you've paid for.
Prices, specials and matching
How does price matching work?
Mai Pantry links each product to the same item at other supermarkets by brand, size and product type, so you see every store's current price for exactly the same thing.
What are "similar products"?
On each product page, Similar products lists other brands and sizes of the same kind of item with their best price. Open a product from your list and you can swap the item for one of them.
How are specials and multi-buys handled?
Current specials are reflected in the price you see. For multi-buy offers (for example "2 for $5"), the price shown is the single-item price and the offer is listed with the deal. When you add a multi-buy deal to your list from Deals, Mai Pantry sets the quantity and prices each item at the multi-buy rate whenever that works out cheaper.
How can I tell if a discount is actually a good deal?
Look at the unit price (dollars per 100g or per litre) rather than the shelf price, so you're comparing like-for-like. When a product is on special, its product page checks the special against the prices Mai Pantry has seen and tells you whether it's a real saving or around its usual price.
How fresh are the prices?
Prices are updated every week, not live, and the app downloads updates in the background. To get the latest straight away, go to Settings → Data → Resync catalogue. If the network is unavailable, your last downloaded catalogue is kept so the app still works offline.
Why might a price look out of date or wrong?
Retailers change prices throughout the week and prices can vary by region or store. Tap Resync to refresh, and if something still looks wrong you can tap Report a problem on the product page or send us feedback. Always confirm the price in-store or on the retailer's own website before you rely on it.
Meal planning and trips
What is a trip?
A trip takes your shopping list and works out the cheapest way to buy everything — either all at one store or split across a few nearby stores — so you can see the total before you leave home. The single-store and nearby-stores plans are free. The Cheapest Overall plan, which splits your list across stores for the lowest total, is a Pro feature, and free users can use it once a month.
How does meal planning work?
Tell the meal planner how many days and which meals to cover (and a budget, if you like) and it builds a plan, then turns it into one combined shopping list, priced across your local supermarkets, with what's already in your pantry taken off. Free users get one meal plan a month; with Pro it's unlimited.
Lists and sharing
How do shared lists work?
Share a list with family or housemates using its invite code. Everyone on the list sees the same items and can tick things off as they shop, and changes sync within seconds. Each shared list can have up to 5 people. On the free plan you get one shared list a month — counting lists you create or join — and it lasts 7 days before turning back into a normal list for everyone on it. With Pro there's no monthly limit and your shared lists don't expire while they're in use (you can own up to 5 at a time); one that nobody has changed for a year turns back into a normal list. Joining a list shared by a Pro member is free and doesn't use your monthly shared list.
Is Mai Pantry on Android?
Not yet publicly. It's in testing on Google Play — email hello@maipantry.com.au if you'd like to join the test.
Data, images and independence
Where does your price data come from?
Prices, specials and product details come from publicly available information and are updated every week. They can vary by location, state or individual store and may not reflect what's on the shelf right now, so treat them as a guide and confirm in-store or on the retailer's website.
Where do the product images come from?
Product photos come from the retailer's own product listing where one is available, or from open sources such as Open Food Facts and Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons licensed). They're shown only to help you identify the product. Where we don't have a suitable image, the app shows a simple category tile instead.
Are you affiliated with Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, IGA or Spudshed?
No. Mai Pantry is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Woolworths Group Limited, Coles Group Limited, ALDI Stores, Metcash/IGA, Spudshed or any other retailer. All retailer names, logos and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used only to identify where a price applies.
What about my privacy?
Mai Pantry doesn't require an account. Your lists (other than shared lists), pantry, purchase history and settings live on your device. A random device ID links the reports, feedback and star ratings you send us (stored only as a one-way hash), and you can delete them with Settings → Privacy → Delete my data. Shared lists use the ID itself, so the list recognises your device. The ID isn't tied to your name or email. See our Privacy Policy for the full detail.
Still need help?
Email hello@maipantry.com.au and we'll get back to you. You can also send feedback or flag a wrong price directly from the app.