# 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.

https://getsaucepan.com/best/apps-to-scan-cookbooks-and-recipe-cards · checked November 4, 2026 · For people with cookbooks, printouts or a box of family recipe cards.

## Ranked

1. Samsung Food: 14 of 14. Pick it if 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/samsung-food-meal-planner/id1133637674)
2. Deglaze: 13 of 14. Pick it if you want free household sharing, a web app and Android, and a connector for ChatGPT and Claude with a paid plan. Short of full marks: Mac and iPad (partly). Price: Free: 20 imports, then 5 a week, with household sharing. Pro is $49.99 a year, with a 7-day trial. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/-/id6443578246)
3. Honeydew: 13 of 14. Pick it if you want a household that shares everything on iPhone and Android, and you will pay for Plus. Short of full marks: Mac and iPad (partly). Price: Free with a limited number of saves. Plus is $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/-/id6714449541)
4. Pestle: 13 of 14. Pick it if 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pestle-recipe-manager/id1574776971)
5. Saucepan (our app): 13 of 14. Pick it if 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. (/pricing)
6. Crouton: 12 of 14. Pick it if 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/crouton-recipe-manager/id1461650987)
7. CookNest: 12 of 14. Pick it if 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. (https://cooknest.app/)
8. ReciMe: 11 of 14. Pick it if 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) and 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. (https://recime.app/help/en/articles/11630592-wie-viel-kostet-das-recime-abo)
9. Recipe Keeper: 11 of 14. Pick it if 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) and 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/recipe-keeper/id974683711)
10. Plan to Eat: 11 of 14. Pick it if 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) and 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. (https://www.plantoeat.com/pricing)
11. Cookpad: 9 of 14. Pick it if 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) and 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cookpad-recipe-meal-planner/id585332633)
12. Umami: 8 of 14. Pick it if 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) and 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/umami-recipe-manager/id1597523594)
13. BigOven: 7 of 14. Pick it if 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) and 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. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bigoven-recipes-meal-planner/id294363034)
14. Mela: 14 of 14. Pick it if you want a quiet Apple-only library on iCloud with a one-time price and a Mac app. Its last App Store update was June 2025. Price: Free to download. Mela+ is a one-time unlock: $6.99 on iPhone and iPad, $14.99 on Mac, bought separately. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mela-recipe-manager/id1548466041) Not updated since June 2025.

Partly qualify, 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

- Samsung Food: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad yes; Free plan yes
- Deglaze: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Honeydew: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Pestle: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Saucepan: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Crouton: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube not found; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad yes; Free plan yes
- CookNest: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers not found; Mac and iPad yes; Free plan yes
- ReciMe: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers not found; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Recipe Keeper: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode partly; Timers not found; Mac and iPad yes; Free plan yes
- Plan to Eat: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan no
- Cookpad: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode not found; Timers not found; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Umami: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube partly; Cook mode yes; Timers not found; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan no
- BigOven: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube not found; Cook mode not found; Timers not found; Mac and iPad partly; Free plan yes
- Mela: Scan cookbook pages and cards yes; Save from websites yes; Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube yes; Cook mode yes; Timers yes; Mac and iPad yes; Free plan yes

## 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.

## 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.