Best apps to scan cookbooks and recipe cards
By the rule below, the best app to scan cookbooks and recipe cards is Samsung Food (14 of 14 points), if you want free meal planning with shared lists on Android and the web as well as iPhone. Next are Deglaze (13 of 14 points), if you want free household sharing, a web app and Android, and a connector for ChatGPT and Claude with a paid plan; and Honeydew (13 of 14 points), if you want a household that shares everything on iPhone and Android, and you will pay for Plus. 14 apps qualify.
The ranking
Samsung Food
You want free meal planning with shared lists on Android and the web as well as iPhone.
Price. Free for saving recipes, planning and shared lists. Samsung Food+ is $6.99 a month or $59.99 a year, with a 7-day trial. App Store
Pestle
You want a design-led recipe manager with an Apple Watch app and a Chrome extension, and you are fine paying for Pro.
Short of full marks: Mac and iPad (partly).
Price. Free for 15 recipes. Pestle Pro is $24.99 a year, with a 14-day trial. The App Store also lists a monthly plan and lifetime purchases. App Store
Saucepan our app
You want to save from Instagram, TikTok and websites, fill a Pantry by scanning your receipt, and cook with timers that ring, on iPhone. It is new: it launches November 13, 2026.
Short of full marks: Mac and iPad (partly).
Price. Free to use, with no ads. Saucepan+ is $4.99 a month or $34.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. Saucepan
Crouton
You use a Mac or an Apple Watch in the kitchen, or you want SharePlay cooking, and you keep everything on iCloud.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found).
Price. Free with limits. The App Store lists Crouton Plus at $24.99 and Crouton Discover at $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year. App Store
CookNest
You want a free plan with sharing, Android and the web, or a printed cookbook of your recipes.
Short of full marks: Timers (not found).
Price. Free with 3 automatic imports a week and no card. The App Store lists PRO purchases from $3.99 to $29.99, with periods not shown. cooknest.app
ReciMe
You want the most widely used social-video saver, you are on Android too, and you do not need a pantry.
Short of full marks: Timers (not found), Mac and iPad (partly).
Price. Free with 5 imports a week. In the US the yearly plan is $39.99, with a 7-day trial. recime.app
Recipe Keeper
You want to pay once, you have family on Android or Windows, or you have a big backlog of paper recipes.
Short of full marks: Cook mode (partly), Timers (not found).
Price. Free download. Pro Upgrade is $19.99, once, on iPhone and iPad. The Mac version is $29.99. Each platform is a separate purchase. App Store
Plan to Eat
You plan the whole week on a calendar from your own recipe box, and you want the web and Android too. It has no free plan.
Short of full marks: Mac and iPad (partly), Free plan (no).
Price. No free plan. $5.95 a month or $49 a year, with a 14-day trial and no card. The App Store lists a one-year membership at $54.99. plantoeat.com
Cookpad
You want a large community of home-cook recipes with photos from people who cooked them, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Short of full marks: Cook mode (not found), Timers (not found), Mac and iPad (partly).
Price. Free, with no ads. The App Store lists Premium Service at $4.99 and $1.99. Premium puts the most popular recipes first in search, allows unlimited imports and adds advanced filters. App Store
Umami
You want a low-priced manager that works on iPhone, Android and the web, and gives your recipes back in open formats.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (partly), Timers (not found), Mac and iPad (partly), Free plan (no).
Price. 30-day trial, then a subscription or lifetime purchase to add recipes. You can still view and export. The App Store lists $0.99 or $3.99 a month, $9.99 or $19.99 a year, $19.99 or $59.99 lifetime. App Store
BigOven
You want a long-running recipe and meal planning app with an Apple Watch app and a shared grocery list.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found), Cook mode (not found), Timers (not found), Mac and iPad (partly).
Price. Free download. The App Store lists BigOven Pro at $2.99, $19.99 and $24.99, with periods not shown, and credit packs. App Store
Partly qualify, so not ranked: Paprika (Photo scanning of cookbook pages/recipe cards only in Paprika 4 open beta; not in Paprika 3 guide); Foodie (Photo of a cookbook page; handwritten cards not mentioned); Kitchen Stories (The importer reads screenshots and handwritten notes, with Kitchen Stories Plus only. Scanning cookbook pages is not mentioned).
Feature by feature
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not found
- Coming
| App | Scan | Websites | Social video | Cook mode | Timers | Mac and iPad | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Food | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deglaze | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes |
| Honeydew | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes |
| Pestle | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes |
| Saucepan (ours) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes |
| Crouton | Yes | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CookNest | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes |
| ReciMe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Partly | Yes |
| Recipe Keeper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Not found | Yes | Yes |
| Plan to Eat | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | No |
| Cookpad | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Not found | Partly | Yes |
| Umami | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes | Not found | Partly | No |
| BigOven | Yes | Yes | Not found | Not found | Not found | Partly | Yes |
| Mela | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Tap a mark for the note and its source. Each app’s name opens a page with every row.
How we ranked
Scanning a page or card is required. Then the other ways to bring recipes in, cooking from them, a bigger screen, and a free plan. The matrix says whether an app scans, not how well; we have not tested scan quality.
- To qualify, an app must have “Scan cookbook pages and cards” (Yes, not Partly). Closed apps and general tools like Apple Notes and Notion are left out.
- Score: 2 points for Yes, 1 for Partly, 0 for No, Not found or Coming, over 7 features: Scan cookbook pages and cards, Save from websites, Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Cook mode, Timers, Mac and iPad and Free plan. Most is 14.
- Apps with no App Store update since November 2025 go below the ones that are kept up.
- Ties go to the app with more US App Store ratings. Saucepan has none yet, so it goes below any app it ties with.
- “Not found” scores zero: we credit only what an app’s own pages show. That can undercount an app that does more than its pages say.
Saucepan is our app. It is scored from its own feature list by the same rule.
Questions
What is the best app to scan cookbooks and recipe cards?
By the rule below, the best app to scan cookbooks and recipe cards is Samsung Food (14 of 14 points), if you want free meal planning with shared lists on Android and the web as well as iPhone. Next are Deglaze (13 of 14 points), if you want free household sharing, a web app and Android, and a connector for ChatGPT and Claude with a paid plan; and Honeydew (13 of 14 points), if you want a household that shares everything on iPhone and Android, and you will pay for Plus. 14 apps qualify.
How did you rank these apps?
To qualify, an app must have “Scan cookbook pages and cards” (Yes, not Partly). Closed apps and general tools like Apple Notes and Notion are left out. Score: 2 points for Yes, 1 for Partly, 0 for No, Not found or Coming, over 7 features: Scan cookbook pages and cards, Save from websites, Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Cook mode, Timers, Mac and iPad and Free plan. Most is 14. Apps with no App Store update since November 2025 go below the ones that are kept up. Ties go to the app with more US App Store ratings. Saucepan has none yet, so it goes below any app it ties with. “Not found” scores zero: we credit only what an app’s own pages show. That can undercount an app that does more than its pages say.
Which of these have a free plan?
Samsung Food, Deglaze, Honeydew, Pestle, Saucepan, Crouton, CookNest, ReciMe, Recipe Keeper, Cookpad, BigOven and Mela. Free plans have limits; each app’s line above says what it is.
Which of these work on Android?
Samsung Food, Deglaze, Honeydew, CookNest, ReciMe, Recipe Keeper, Plan to Eat, Cookpad and Umami, as their own pages say.
Is Saucepan on this list because you make it?
Saucepan is our app, so we score it by the same rule from its own feature list, and say so on the list. It ranks #5 of 14 here. It launches on November 13, 2026 and has no ratings yet.
When was this checked?
Feature marks were read from each app’s App Store listing, website and help pages on November 1, 2026, and prices, platforms and update dates on November 4, 2026. Apps change often.