How can we help?

1. Sign up at app.alera.family
2. Complete your family profile (takes 2 minutes):
   • How many adults and kids
   • Dietary restrictions
   • Cuisine preferences
   • Available equipment
   • Pantry staples
3. Go to the Meal Planner page
4. Click "Generate Menu with Alera"
5. Optionally add custom instructions ("use more chicken," "try Japanese food")
6. Click Generate—Alera creates your week in 15-20 seconds

You have two options:

• Regenerate individual recipes: Click the "Replace" button on any recipe to get a different option for that day
• Manually add your own: Add custom recipes from your library or create new ones

Alera learns from your feedback. If you rate a recipe poorly, it won't suggest similar dishes in the future.

Yes! Alera is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that works on any device:

• iPhone/iPad: Visit app.alera.family in Safari, tap Share → Add to Home Screen
• Android: Visit app.alera.family in Chrome, tap the install prompt (or download from Google Play Store)
• Desktop: Works in any modern browser

Once installed, Alera works offline. View recipes without internet.

During family setup, you specify spice tolerance for each household member (none, mild, medium, hot, very hot).

Alera then generates recipes with built-in adaptation points:

1. You cook a mild base version
2. At the marked step (e.g., "Step 3.2.3"), remove portions for mild-tolerance members
3. Add heat (gochugaru, cayenne, fresh chilies) to the remaining portion
4. Serve both versions over rice or with sides

Example: Japanese curry—everyone gets vegetables and chicken in a savory curry sauce. At Step 5, remove toddler portion. Add 2 tbsp hot curry powder to adult portion. Same meal, two heat levels.

After generating your weekly menu, click "Generate Shopping List."

Alera automatically:

• Extracts all ingredients from the week's recipes
• Consolidates quantities (if Monday and Thursday both use chicken, it combines them)
• Cross-references your pantry items and removes what you already have
• Organizes by category (Produce, Proteins, Dairy, Pantry)
• Notes which recipes use each ingredient

While shopping, mark items as purchased. The list updates in real-time.

Yes! Invite family members via email:

1. Go to Family Settings
2. Click "Invite Member"
3. Enter their email and choose a role:
   • Creator: Full control—generate menus, edit, delete
   • Approver: Can edit and generate, but not delete family
   • Viewer: Read-only access, can mark shopping items purchased
4. They'll receive an email invitation with a link to join

Both of you will see the same meal plan on your phones. Perfect for coordinating who cooks which night.

This shouldn't happen, but if it does:

1. Check your profile's "Available Equipment" setting—make sure it's accurate
2. If a recipe requires equipment you don't have, click "Replace" to get a different option
3. Report the issue by rating the recipe 1 star and noting "Requires equipment I don't have"

Alera has hard guardrails to only use equipment you specify. If it suggests something unavailable, that's a bug we want to fix.

This is a serious issue. Here's what to do:

1. Check your profile's "Dietary Restrictions" setting
2. Make sure the restriction is listed (e.g., "No Pork," "No Dairy," "Gluten-Free")
3. If the restriction IS listed but the recipe violates it, please report this immediately:
   • Rate the recipe 1 star
   • In notes, write "Violates dietary restriction: [specific restriction]"
   • Replace the recipe with a safe alternative

Dietary restrictions are absolute. Alera should never violate them. If it does, that's a critical bug.

Typical generation time is 15-25 seconds. If it's taking longer:

• Check your internet connection
• Try reducing the number of meals requested (if you asked for 14 instead of 7)
• Simplify custom instructions (very complex requests take longer)

If generation fails completely, try again with simpler instructions or fewer meals. If it repeatedly fails, that's a bug—please report it.

Yes, completely free. No trial period, no credit card, no surprise charges.

Alera was built by a frustrated parent who wanted to help other families. It's not a venture-backed startup trying to monetize users.

There may be optional paid features in the future (like premium recipe collections or advanced scheduling), but core meal planning will always be free.

Alera collects only what's needed to plan meals:

• Your email (for account access)
• Family profile info (dietary restrictions, equipment, preferences)
• Recipes you've generated and rated
• Meal plans you've created

What Alera does NOT collect:

• No browsing tracking
• No analytics or usage monitoring
• No selling your data to third parties
• No ads

See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Go to Profile Settings → Account → Delete Account.

This permanently deletes:

• Your profile and family settings
• All recipes you've created or generated
• All meal plans and shopping lists
• Family memberships (if you're the creator)

This action is immediate and cannot be undone.