No email, no registration
The free version has no sign-up flow and no login screen. Your identity is simply not part of writing a shopping list.
No Account Needed
The Grocery List App Without an Account
Install Pauly, open it, write your list. No email, no sign-up, no registration — the free version stores everything locally on your device.
Free to start
Works offline
No account needed
Install, open, write — that's the whole onboarding
Most grocery list apps greet you with a registration form before you're allowed to add a single carton of milk. Pauly doesn't. On the free version there is no login screen at all — you can't sign in even if you wanted to. You open the app, accept the GDPR consent dialog, and start typing.
That's a deliberate design choice, not a missing feature. A shopping list is not the kind of data that needs to live on someone else's server. Pauly keeps your list in local storage on your phone — which is why it works in the supermarket basement with zero bars, and why there's no cloud copy for anyone to read.
Two honest caveats up front: the free version is ad-supported and gives you exactly one list. If you ever want cloud sync across devices or more lists, an optional Pro account exists — optional being the key word. Until then, Pauly is as close to an anonymous grocery list app as it gets.
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Turn your next shopping trip into a one-sentence task.
What "no account" looks like in practice
Stored locally, works offline
Your list lives in local storage on your phone and is fully usable without a connection — in the store, on the subway, anywhere.
Ready in under a minute
Install, open, accept the consent dialog, add your first items. No verification email, no password to invent and forget.
Data deletion built in
You can delete your data directly in the app. And since the free version keeps no server copy, deleting the app deletes the list too.
On-device dictation on iPhone
If you dictate your list on an iPhone, speech recognition runs on the device itself — your voice doesn't have to leave your phone.
Account optional, never required
Pauly Pro adds sign-in and cloud sync for people who want them. If you never tap that button, no account ever exists.
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Free to start, works offline, no account needed.
Your first list in under a minute
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1
Install and open
Get Pauly from the App Store (iOS 15+) or Play Store (Android 7.0+). Open it, accept the GDPR consent dialog, and you're looking at your list — no form between you and it.
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2
Add your groceries
Type items or dictate the whole list in one sentence. Pauly recognizes quantities like "ten eggs" and sorts everything into supermarket categories automatically.
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3
Go shopping
Check items off with a tap as you walk the aisles. No connection needed — the list is on your phone, so dead spots in the store don't matter.
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Get Pauly on iPhone and Android — it's free.
Why most list apps want your email — and why Pauly doesn't
There's a reason so many apps put a registration wall in front of something as simple as a shopping list: an account ties your usage to a profile, locks you into an ecosystem, and gives the company a marketing channel. None of that helps you buy groceries.
Pauly's free version is built the other way around: local-first. Your list is data on your phone, not a row in somebody's database. There is nothing to register, no password to reset, and no "we've updated our terms" email — because the app doesn't know your email.
To be transparent about the trade: the free version shows ads and includes one list. That's how a no-account app by a small German developer stays free. What it doesn't do is make your identity the price of admission.
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Turn your next shopping trip into a one-sentence task.
Where your data actually lives
"Privacy-friendly" is an easy claim to make, so here is the concrete version for anyone comparing private grocery list apps.
What stays on your device
Your list — every item, quantity, and checked-off box — is stored locally on your phone. The catalog of 518 built-in products with around 4,700 names and synonyms ships inside the app, so item recognition and category sorting don't need a server either. On iPhone, dictation runs on-device, meaning even voice input is processed locally.
What leaves your device
On the free version, two things involve a connection: the ads that keep it free, covered by the GDPR consent dialog on first start, and — on Android only — voice input, which uses the system's online speech recognizer. Your list itself never needs to go anywhere, and with no account there's no profile of you to sync, sell, or leak.
Deleting your data
Pauly includes data deletion directly in the app — no support ticket, no "email us to request erasure." Pro users can delete their account and its data the same way. And because free-tier data exists only on your phone, uninstalling the app removes it completely.
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Free to start, works offline, no account needed.
When an optional account is actually useful
Honesty cuts both ways: sometimes a server genuinely helps. If you want your list on both your phone and your partner's, or you switch between two devices, local storage alone can't do that. That's what Pauly Pro is for — it adds sign-in and cloud sync, unlimited lists, hosting of shared lists, and it removes the ads.
Pro costs €0.99 a month, €7.99 a year, or €12.99 once for lifetime access. Joining a shared list that someone else hosts is free — you just open their invite code or link. So in a household, one person can go Pro and everyone else pays nothing.
The point isn't that accounts are bad. It's that an account should be a choice you make for a concrete benefit like sync — not a toll booth at the front door. With Pauly, no sign-up is the default.
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Get Pauly on iPhone and Android — it's free.
No registration doesn't mean stripped down
Skipping the account doesn't put you on a lesser version of the app. The free tier includes the full product catalog, 19 supermarket categories, and four sort modes — category, A–Z, Z–A, and a store route matching your supermarket's layout. Voice input, duplicate detection, and quantity parsing all work without signing in.
The only real limits on the free tier are the single list and the ads — your privacy is never the thing you trade away.
- 518 built-in products, ~4,700 recognized names and synonyms
- Automatic sorting into 19 supermarket categories
- Dictate a whole list in one sentence, quantities understood
- Light and dark mode, search, haptic feedback
- Available in English and German, iOS 15+ and Android 7.0+
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Turn your next shopping trip into a one-sentence task.
Pauly without an account, at a glance
- No email, no sign-up, no registration — ever required
- Your list is stored locally on your phone
- Fully usable offline, even with zero reception in the store
- GDPR consent on first start, data deletion inside the app
- Dictation runs on-device on iPhone
- Optional Pro account only if you want cloud sync
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Free to start, works offline, no account needed.
Frequently asked questions
Is my data stored anywhere?
On the free version, your list is stored only in local storage on your own phone. There is no account and no cloud copy, so Pauly's servers never hold your list. Only if you choose the optional Pro subscription and sign in does your list sync to the cloud for use across devices.
What happens if I delete the app?
On the free version, deleting the app deletes your list with it, because the data exists only on your device — there is no server backup. Pro users with cloud sync keep their lists in their account and can restore them by signing in again.
Can I create an account if I want sync?
Yes. Pauly Pro adds sign-in with cloud sync across devices, unlimited lists, hosting of shared lists, and no ads. It costs €0.99 per month, €7.99 per year, or €12.99 once for lifetime access. The account is strictly optional — the free version works without one.
Does the list work offline?
Yes, completely. Your list is stored on the device, so reading, adding, and checking off items needs no connection at all. The one exception is voice input on Android, which uses the system's online speech recognizer — typing works offline everywhere.
Is Pauly GDPR compliant?
Pauly is built by a small German developer under GDPR (DSGVO) rules. You see a consent dialog on first start, no account is needed for local use, and you can delete your data — including a Pro account, if you created one — directly inside the app.
Do I need to give an email address to use Pauly?
No. The free version has no registration at all — no email, no phone number, no password. Your address only comes into play if you choose the optional Pro account for cloud sync.
Is the free version really free, and what's the catch?
It's free, and the catch is stated plainly: the free version shows ads and includes exactly one list. There is no trial that expires and no feature that suddenly demands registration.
How many lists do I get without an account?
One. The free version includes exactly one grocery list, which covers the classic weekly shop. Several lists — say groceries, drugstore, and a party list — are part of Pauly Pro, along with cloud sync and no ads.
Can I use a shared list without paying?
Yes. Joining a shared list that someone else hosts is free — you open their invite code or a link like app.getpauly.com/join/CODE. Only the person hosting the shared list needs Pauly Pro. Changes appear in real time, and you can see who added which item.
Which devices and languages does Pauly support?
Pauly runs on iPhone with iOS 15 or newer and on Android phones with Android 7.0 or newer. The app is available in English and German. There is no web app, so your list lives where it belongs — on your phone.
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Get Pauly on iPhone and Android — it's free.
Try the no-sign-up grocery list
Install Pauly, open it, and write your first list in under a minute — no email, no account, no registration. Free on iOS and Android.