A quick heads-up is if you have novice poring as your pet, your recovery rate doubles. You can also multi client a priest, which is free.
My two cents on potion alternatives that I personally liked;
1-meat with hell poodle or spring rabbit carded accessories heal as much as orange pots;
+it's cheap to set up and readily available in almost every cities
=added statues ailment, don't count on it, though
-weight cost
2-Ice creams with snowier carded accessories heal as much as yellow pots;
-need to have access to Jawaii
+ice cream drop activates really well on the go from kills of every monsters at 40% rate on two accessories as opposed to getting drops from a specific race
+cheap cards
-not as weighty as meat but still weighty to carry
3-fish and sushi with sea otter carded accessories heal about as much as red pots;
+card comes from a weaker monster
+not that weighty
=drops proc seperately, meaning you have 12% proc on two accessories which is passable but they only come from killing fish race
-Have to go to amatsu to restock
4-sky deleter carded armor;
=great for low level mobbing, but not so great after 80s
+cheapest pot alternative under lvl 80
-takes armor slot which really is better used for resists, flee or hp max increase aide
+allows one to be overweight and continue hunting
-disables natural regen
5-witch's pumpkin hat gear combo, mainly with alarm mask;
-neither hats are that cheap for beginners
=no NPC to readily buy cookie from, but the drop rates are great anyway
+the loot pays for itself in about a month because cookie sells for good price
+the added defense against demon and undead really comes in handy
+no upgrade needed
6-rune headband;
+no upgrade needed
+good availability
-only a moderate rate of recovery tool for HP
7-rideword hat;
-have to upgrade to +9 for its true value, making it expensive
+well balanced HP and SP recovery makes it one of the most efficient tool
8-vanargand helm;
=doesn't require +9 upgrade for use, although that is what you probably want
-one of the more expensive hat of the game
+novices and super novices can wear one without link if you ever decide to make one
9-pirate's folly;
+cheap
-not as good as the other hats
10-turkey in your head;
+can use at endgame
-expensive
-have to upgrade for it to be useful
+pretty much permanent Increase Agi buff
-egg availability is terrible, and the hat doesn't produce it that well either
=really bad if using mainly for HP recovery, but it's actually a great hat otherwise
11-Horse king;
+it is a costume so the effects stacked with Rudolf when the effects were in
+The hat were free
-the effects are only seasonal
12-St. Patrick's Hat;
+produces green ale and drinks them too
-have to upgrade for its true value
-seasonal
13-Rudolf headband;
-seasonal
=hat can kinda go high in price depending on the market, not as bad as turkey/vanargand/rideword, though
+carrots are so cheap and light, they can be carried in the thousands
-14-Hunter Fly carded weapons;
+really good hp recovery
-each cards are expensive for newer players, and are heavily botted, so it is near impossible to be farmed manually
-goes to weapon slot which bogs down DPS
I've also heard good things about Easter Egg Shell, but I don't think that is really something OP is asking for.
Now, for the alternatives that were TOTAL WASTE of time and money in my opinion and why;
Umbala spirit-it's really expensive. So much to the point that it's better to just pot with whites.
Lunakaligo-used by pretty much battle priests only, and they usually can't carry that much aroud to begin with
shinobi and blazzer card-mainly just produces apples and potatoes, the good stuff don't drop often enough.
Any accessories card that produces lvl3 food; horrible production rate
Pizza Pie of Plenty-1% production rate and heals as much as a red pot. Total joke.
