Best free recipe apps
By the rule below, the best free recipe app is Samsung Food (16 of 16 points), if you want free meal planning with shared lists on Android and the web as well as iPhone. Next are Deglaze (16 of 16 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 (16 of 16 points), if you want a household that shares everything on iPhone and Android, and you will pay for Plus. 21 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
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.
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
Foodie
You want a new iPhone app that also shares a household list. It is young and has too few ratings on the App Store to show a score.
Short of full marks: Scan cookbook pages and cards (partly).
Price. Free: 3 AI imports and 5 chef messages every 7 days. Premium is $6.49 a month or $44.99 a year. foodie.chewable.fit
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: Shared with a household (partly), Timers (not found).
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
AnyList
The grocery list is what you really need, you share it with a partner, and recipes are a nice extra.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found), Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found).
Price. Free. AnyList Complete is $9.99 a year for one person or $14.99 a year for a household. App Store
Kitchen Stories
You want a large catalog of tested recipes with step-by-step photos and videos, on iPhone, Apple TV or Android.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (partly), Save from websites (partly), Scan cookbook pages and cards (partly), Meal plan (partly), Shared with a household (not found).
Price. Free for recipes, cookbooks and shopping lists. Kitchen Stories Plus adds recipe import and fridge-based suggestions; the App Store lists it at $6.99, $7.99 and $79.99, with a 7-day free trial. 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).
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
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: Shared with a household (not found), Cook mode (not found), Timers (not found).
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
SideChef
You want a big catalog of guided recipes with a photo or video at every step, and you order groceries from Walmart, Instacart or Amazon Fresh.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found), Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found), Shared with a household (no).
Price. Free to download and use. Recipes, meal plans and grocery ordering do not need a subscription. SideChef Premium adds 800+ cooking classes and premium recipes for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, after a 7-day free trial. sidechef.com
Copy Me That
You mostly clip recipes from websites, want the lowest price, and like to use a browser as much as the phone.
Short of full marks: Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found), Shared with a household (partly), Cook mode (partly), Timers (not found).
Price. Free up to 40 recipes. $0.99 a month for unlimited recipes, or $65 for lifetime. App Store
Eat This Much
You want a planner that picks your meals to hit exact calorie and macro targets, on iPhone, Android or the web.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found), Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found), Grocery list (partly), Timers (not found).
Price. Free for planning one day at a time. Premium is $59.99 a year ($5 a month) or $14.99 month to month, with a 14-day trial. help.eatthismuch.com
Cooklist
You shop at a US retailer it connects to and you want the pantry to fill from your loyalty account.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (partly), Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found), Cook mode (not found), Timers (not found).
Price. Free with ads. The App Store lists Pro at $7.99 a month and $49.99 a year. App Store
Tasty
You want a big library of Tasty's video recipes and you buy groceries from Walmart.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found), Save from websites (no), Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found), Meal plan (partly), Grocery list (partly), Shared with a household (not found), Timers (not found).
Price. Free, with ads. Tasty+ is $3.99 a month or $34.99 a year on the US App Store. App Store
SuperCook
You just want a free way to find recipes from what's in your fridge, on the web, Android or iPhone, and you're happy to cook from the original website.
Short of full marks: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (not found), Save from websites (no), Scan cookbook pages and cards (not found), Meal plan (not found), Grocery list (not found), Shared with a household (not found), Cook mode (not found), Timers (not found).
Price. Free. The App Store lists no in-app purchases. App Store
Partly qualify, so not ranked: Paprika (iOS is a $4.99 one-time purchase. The Android version is free, limited to 50 recipes and no sync); Pepperplate (Free download. Auto Renew Monthly Membership listed at $2.99. Free-tier limits not found); NYT Cooking (Free download with limited access: some editor-curated recipes and part of the Recipe Box. App Store IAP list: Cooking from $5.99 to $7.99 a month and $54.99 to $69.99 a year; All Access $29.99 a month).
Feature by feature
- Yes
- Partly
- No
- Not found
- Coming
| App | Social video | Websites | Scan | Meal plan | Grocery list | Household | Cook mode | Timers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Food | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deglaze | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Honeydew | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pestle | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Saucepan (ours) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Foodie | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Crouton | Not found | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CookNest | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found |
| ReciMe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes | Not found |
| Recipe Keeper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partly | Not found |
| AnyList | Not found | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kitchen Stories | Partly | Partly | Partly | Partly | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes |
| BigOven | Not found | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Not found |
| Cookpad | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Not found | Not found |
| SideChef | Not found | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Copy Me That | Yes | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes | Partly | Partly | Not found |
| Eat This Much | Not found | Yes | Not found | Yes | Partly | Yes | Yes | Not found |
| Cooklist | Partly | Yes | Not found | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not found | Not found |
| Tasty | Not found | No | Not found | Partly | Partly | Not found | Yes | Not found |
| Mela | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SuperCook | Not found | No | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
Tap a mark for the note and its source. Each app’s name opens a page with every row.
How we ranked
A free plan is required. The score counts what each app can do, not what its free plan includes, because the apps describe their limits in different ways. Read each free plan’s limit below before you choose.
- To qualify, an app must have “Free plan” (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 8 features: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Save from websites, Scan cookbook pages and cards, Meal plan, Grocery list, Shared with a household, Cook mode and Timers. Most is 16.
- 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 free recipe app?
By the rule below, the best free recipe app is Samsung Food (16 of 16 points), if you want free meal planning with shared lists on Android and the web as well as iPhone. Next are Deglaze (16 of 16 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 (16 of 16 points), if you want a household that shares everything on iPhone and Android, and you will pay for Plus. 21 apps qualify.
How did you rank these apps?
To qualify, an app must have “Free plan” (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 8 features: Save from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Save from websites, Scan cookbook pages and cards, Meal plan, Grocery list, Shared with a household, Cook mode and Timers. Most is 16. 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 work on Android?
Samsung Food, Deglaze, Honeydew, CookNest, ReciMe, Recipe Keeper, AnyList, Kitchen Stories, Cookpad, SideChef, Copy Me That, Eat This Much, Cooklist, Tasty and SuperCook, 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 21 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.