OurGroceries

What OurGroceries does

OurGroceries is a privately held, family-owned mobile consumer software company founded in 2009 by Dan and Lawrence. The company's flagship product is a cross-platform grocery list application that enables multiple members of a household or shared living arrangement to coordinate shopping in real time. The app maintains shared lists that synchronize instantly across all devices on a single account, supports voice input via Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant, and includes barcode scanning backed by a proprietary database of 17 million product UPC codes, automatic aisle-based categorization, photo attachments, recipe management with one-tap ingredient addition, and widgets on both iOS and Android.

The technology stack consists of native or first-party apps on iOS (iOS 16+), Android (Android 6+), Apple Watch (watchOS 6+), Wear OS, a web client, and an Amazon Alexa skill, all unified by a server-based sync architecture hosted on US servers. An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, launched in 2023, exposes shopping lists and recipes to external AI agents including Claude and ChatGPT via OAuth authentication. The company is incorporated as OurGroceries, Inc. in the United States, has no disclosed external funding or institutional investors, and is operated by its two co-creators as a small family business.

The business model is freemium and consumer-direct. The app is free to download and use with unobtrusive in-app advertising; users can upgrade to remove ads for approximately US$1/month, US$6/year, or a US$20 one-time lifetime fee, with the upgrade applying to all devices and household members sharing the same account. Distribution is self-serve and product-led through the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, the company website, and the Amazon Alexa Skills Store, supplemented by organic word-of-mouth, app store optimization, and earned media such as a 2026 NerdWallet best-for-roommates designation. Customer segments are horizontal and consumer-oriented: households and families, roommates, and individual consumers seeking organized, multi-device list management. The product database for barcode scanning is acknowledged to be US-centric, and the company is self-attested compliant with GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, and PDPA privacy regimes.

Name

OurGroceries

Legal name

OurGroceries, Inc.

Website

https://ourgroceries.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

OurGroceries is a privately held, family-owned consumer software company that provides a cross-platform grocery list app enabling households and roommates to coordinate shopping in real time across iOS, Android, smartwatches, web, and Alexa via a freemium ad-supported model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Freemium with Ad-supported Free Tier: The core OurGroceries app is free with unobtrusive ads displayed at the top of certain screens. This drives broad user acquisition across households.
2. Ad Removal Upgrade (Subscription): Users can upgrade to remove ads. Pricing is approximately US$1/month for monthly subscription, US$6/year for annual subscription, or US$20 one-time lifetime upgrade. Subscriptions include a 7-day free trial. The upgrade applies to all devices sharing the same account.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OurGroceries develops and operates a cross-platform grocery list mobile application that synchronizes shared shopping lists in real time across every device in a household, including iOS, Android, web, Apple Watch, Wear OS, and Amazon Alexa. The app supports barcode scanning against a 17-million-product database, automatic aisle-based categorization, recipe management, photo attachments, and voice commands, with an optional paid upgrade to remove advertisements.

Product overview

OurGroceries is a family-owned grocery list management app with a core mobile application available on iOS and Android, supplemented by an Apple Watch app, a Wear OS watch app, a Mac (Apple Silicon) app, an Amazon Alexa skill, and a web interface. The product ecosystem centers on shared household grocery lists with real-time synchronization. An optional paid upgrade removes ads across all platforms for all household members. An experimental MCP (Model Context Protocol) server enables AI agent integration with Claude and ChatGPT. The app is free to use with ads, with upgrade pricing at ~US$1/month, ~US$6/year, or ~US$20 lifetime.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OurGroceries Mobile App (iOS and Android) Cross-platform grocery list mobile application available on iOS (iOS 16+ for iPhone and iPad) and Android (Android 6+), offering real-time household list sharing via a unified account, voice input through Alexa/Siri/Google Assistant, barcode and photo item entry, automatic aisle-based categorization, recipes, and home-screen widgets.
• OurGroceries Web App Browser-based version of OurGroceries accessible at ourgroceries.com/your-lists, allowing users to view and edit shopping lists and recipes, manage accounts, export data, and share list links. The web experience is ad-free when any mobile app on the same account is upgraded.
• OurGroceries Apple Watch App Native watchOS app for Apple Watch (watchOS 6+) that displays shopping lists, allows crossing items off, supports voice input via dictation, and provides complications and Smart Stack widgets for quick list access.
• OurGroceries Wear OS App Native app for Wear OS smartwatches that displays shopping lists, allows users to cross items off, and supports voice input for adding items via the paired Android phone.
• OurGroceries Alexa Skill Amazon Alexa skill enabling voice commands on Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices to add, remove, list, and check items on shopping lists, set default lists, and add multiple items at once. Requires linking to an OurGroceries account.
• OurGroceries Mac App iPad app compatible with Mac computers running Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) with macOS 12 or later, distributed via the Apple App Store.
• OurGroceries MCP Server Model Context Protocol (MCP) server endpoint at ourgroceries.com/mcp that lets AI agents such as Claude and ChatGPT query lists, add and move items, manage recipes, categorize items, and add photos via OAuth authentication. Documented as highly experimental.

Quantifiable outcome

• Real-time sync: changes are visible within seconds across all household devices
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

AI capability10 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Amazon AlexacoreTechnology or IntegrationOurGroceries integrates with Amazon Alexa-enabled devices including Amazon Echo. Users can ask Alexa to add, remove, or check items on their shopping lists using voice commands. The Alexa skill requires linking the user's OurGroceries account.
• Google AssistantcoreTechnology or IntegrationOurGroceries supports voice commands on Android phones and Wear OS watches via Google Assistant. Users can say 'Hey Google, ask OurGroceries to add milk.' Note: Google Home and Nest devices lost third-party voice app support on June 13, 2023.
• Apple SiricoreTechnology or IntegrationOurGroceries integrates with Apple Siri on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and HomePod. Users can add items via Siri voice commands. The app supports iOS Shortcuts for custom voice commands to specific lists.
• Apple WatchcoreTechnology or IntegrationOurGroceries offers a native watchOS app for Apple Watch (requires watchOS 6 or newer). Users can view lists, cross items off, add items via voice or typing, and add OurGroceries complications to watch faces.
• Wear OScoreTechnology or IntegrationOurGroceries offers a Wear OS app for Android smartwatches. Users can view lists, cross items off, and add items by voice through their paired Android phone.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Paprika Recipe Manager: Paprika is a recipe and meal planning app with shopping list features and cross-device sync. It competes for the household kitchen management use case, with deeper recipe management and lighter list collaboration than OurGroceries.
• Mealime: Mealime is a meal planning app that generates shopping lists from selected recipes. It overlaps with OurGroceries' recipe-to-list functionality but is more focused on meal planning, whereas OurGroceries is a dedicated list management app with recipes as a feature.

Others

• Todoist: Todoist is a general-purpose task and list management app used by some households for grocery lists. It is not grocery-specialized but competes for the same household list-management workflow with broader task functionality.

Broad incumbents

• Apple Reminders: Apple Reminders is a built-in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS app with shared list functionality via iCloud. It is a free, default-installed competitor to OurGroceries on Apple devices, with the advantage of zero switching cost for basic list users.
• Whisk (Samsung Food): Whisk, now Samsung Food, is a meal planning and recipe platform owned by Samsung. It includes shopping list functionality and is a broader incumbent in the smart-kitchen ecosystem, comparable to OurGroceries in list/recipe overlap but with significantly more resources.
• Yummly: Yummly is a recipe discovery and meal planning platform with smart shopping list features. As a Whirlpool-owned incumbent, it overlaps with OurGroceries' recipe and shopping list use case but operates at a much larger scale with a different business model.
• Google Keep: Google Keep is a free, default-installed notes and lists app with sharing capabilities. It competes with OurGroceries at the margin for basic grocery list use, benefiting from zero friction installation on Android devices.

Direct peers

• Bring! Shopping List: Bring! is a shopping list app with real-time household sharing, recipe-to-list functionality, and cross-platform support. It is a direct competitor in the grocery list category with strong presence in European markets, whereas OurGroceries is US-centric.
• Cozi Family Organizer: Cozi is a family organizer app with shared grocery lists, calendars, and to-dos targeted at households. It overlaps directly with OurGroceries' core household-coordination value proposition, though Cozi extends into broader family management.
• AnyList: AnyList is a direct competitor to OurGroceries, offering shared grocery and shopping lists with real-time household sync, recipe management, and meal planning. Both target households and families seeking collaborative list management across iOS, Android, and web.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/headcode

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OurGroceries