Founding Family — questions we keep getting.
When do I actually get the app?
Plento Pasto's web app is live now for Founding Families — sign up with your paying email at app.plentopasto.com. The native iOS and Android apps land with our full public launch in July 2026, and Founding Families get first access to them in the order they joined. Want to look around before you pay? The web prototype is free to try — no email, no payment — via the Try the live prototype button at the top of this page or in the footer. Founding Family pricing closes at the July 2026 launch.
How is this different from HelloFresh or Blue Apron?
Different customer, different math. HelloFresh and Blue Apron sell premium meal kits to households who can absorb $80–$140 a week for four dinners. We don't. Plento Pasto plans the week around your kitchen and your budget — the average week comes in well under what a comparable meal-kit week would cost, and uses the food you already own instead of duplicating it. We're built for the everyday family the kits price out.
What does my Founding Family payment go toward?
Building the v1 native app and the generative recipe + AI Kitchen Scan + spend-cap pipeline that the prototype gestures at. We're a husband-and-wife founding team (one CPA, one designer); presale revenue covers contractor work and infrastructure between now and the July 2026 public launch. Audited financial summaries are available to Founding Families on request.
What if Plento Pasto doesn't ship?
Full refund, no questions, any time before the July 2026 public launch. We'd rather give the money back than keep it on a product we can't deliver. Refund requests are handled within five business days.
Why one price, no tiers?
We're an everyday-family brand. Sorting customers into a "premium superfan" tier and a "regular" tier on the way in cuts against that, so we don't. One price, same for everyone, while we build. The Founding Family price holds until v1 launch — at which point Plus moves to $5/month with the savings guarantee, and the presale closes.
Do you handle dietary restrictions and allergies?
Yes — first-class. Every generated recipe runs an allergen-safety validator before it lands on your plan. We also support cooking-skill matching and time-aware filtering so the plan respects what your week actually looks like, not the idealized version. If your family has specific needs (GLP-1 nutrition, gluten-free, halal, kosher, religious fasts, etc.), tell us in the welcome email and we'll prioritize.
How do I actually shop the list?
Every plan exports as a printable shopping list, organized by your store's aisle layout — take it to your usual grocery, pay sticker price, done. Plus members get the interactive in-app version — same aisle ordering, with items you tap to check off as you shop. Direct grocery-delivery handoff (Instacart and others) is on our roadmap and will light up when our partner platforms reopen to new app integrations.
How many recipes does Plento Pasto have?
15,000+ family-tested recipes — breakfast through dessert, across cuisines from American comfort food to Filipino adobo to Persian tahdig. The library covers weeknight dinners (the bulk), full holiday spreads (Thanksgiving / Christmas / Easter / Hanukkah / 4th of July), baking (sourdough through cinnamon rolls), real desserts (cookies, cakes, pies, custards), snacks, and drinks. Free recipe search is available to everyone — no signup required — at app.plentopasto.com/recipes.
How does Plento Pasto make money?
Plus subscriptions ($5/month, or $99 lifetime as a Founding Family). That's the whole model. No ads, no "sponsored recipes," no data sales, no affiliate kickbacks you didn't ask for. Plus pays for the free tier — families helping families. If that ever changes, we'd tell you directly and refund anyone who joined under the original promise.
Is there a subscription after I pay the presale?
No, not for Founding Families. The lifetime Plus tier is lifetime. The launch product will have a Plus subscription at $5/month — less than your morning latte — but presale buyers are exempt. The free tier of Plento Pasto is also free forever, for everyone, with no marketing-driven downgrade later.
What is the savings guarantee, exactly?
Plus members see a "Your Plento Pasto savings this month" surface in the app that compares your current grocery spend to a calibrated baseline (your pre-Plento spend, captured at onboarding). On average, Plus saves a household more than $40/month on groceries. If in any given month your Plus tier didn't save you more than $5, the next month is on us — automatically, no email request needed. If it stops being worth it, you stop paying. That's the deal.
Will you ever run ads in the app?
No. This is a commitment, not a marketing claim. Working families are already advertised at constantly by takeout services, fast food chains, BNPL companies, and predatory lenders. We don't think the meal-planning app for the everyday family should be one more place that happens. Plento Pasto will not be ad-supported, will not sell user data, and will not run "sponsored recipes" disguised as content. If we ever change this, we'd refund every Plus member who joined under this commitment.
What does "Plento Pasto" mean?
Plento evokes plentiful and abundant — the answer to "we can't afford that." Pasto is Italian for "a meal." Together: plentiful meal. Pronounced plen-toh PAH-stoh.
Where's the company based?
Illinois, US. We're Plento Pasto LLC — a husband-and-wife founding team. Your Founding Family receipt comes from the LLC entity, with payouts to our business bank account.