What are the best recipe manager apps for iOS?

Question

LifestyleProductivityFoodApps

What are the best recipe manager apps for iOS?

22

Options
Considered

830

User
Recs.

Jan 28, 2024

Last
Updated

16 Options Considered

Best recipe manager apps for iOS	Price	Platforms	Publisher
68 Basil	-	-	-
57 Paprika	$4.99	-	-
50 Copy Me That	-	-	-
-- Pepperplate	-	-	-
-- Allrecipes' Dinner Spinner	-	-	-

See Full List

Built By the Slant team

Find the best product instantly.

4.7 star rating

Try it now - it's free

score 56 · Answer 1

Basil

Top Con

No longer maintained

No bug fixed, waste of time See More

Top Pro

Manual recipe clipping doesn't require typing

Basil uses a highlighting system that allows selecting each element of the recipe instead of having to type it in. See More

KnowledgeableAcmon's Experience

Expensive. New releases require you to buy the app all over again!! See More

Top Con

iPad only

There's no iPhone version. See More

Top Pro

Good web clipper

Recipes found on the web can be added to Basil by simply navigating to the recipe using the built-in web browser and clicking the plus icon. It will automatically import recipes from a variety of sources including epicurious.com, seriouseats.com and chow.com. See More

Top Con

No meal planner

There are no tools for planning out meals in advance. See More

Top Pro

Flexible organizational methods

Recipes added to Basil get automatically tagged. Tags include ingredients as well as meal and cuisine types. It allows quickly finding what recipes can be made from available ingredients. See More

Top Con

Web clipper requires using the built-in browser

To import a recipe, Basil's built-in browser has to be used to navigate to the recipe. There's no way to "share" to Basil. See More

Top Pro

Tools that help prepare meals

The app includes timers that can be activated from the directions section. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use grocery list creator

Grocery list creator is easy to use and it does small helpful things such as combine all quantities of ingredients and offers substitution suggestions. See More

Top Pro

Simple interface

The interface is very clean, clear, easy to understand and pleasant to use. See More

See All

score 151 · Answer 2

Paprika

Top Con

Update for Paprika 3 requires payment

The update to Paprika 3 requires a $5 payment even when you've bought the app a long time ago. See More

Top Pro

Can import recipes from a wide variety of online sources

Covers most of the major websites, including Food & Wine, Food Network and The Girl Who Ate Everything and even a good amount of "unsupported" websites will work. See More

SmartAgrius's Experience

Paid for it and used the app for 5 years. Beautiful! And then... the latest update costs $5..!!! I already paid $6 for the app 3 years ago. Bye! See More

Top Con

No OCR support

No way to scan in or take a photo of a written or printed recipe. See More

Top Pro

Simple, clean interface

A lot of time has been spent on making the interface feel as intuitive as possible. Navigation is easy, it's possible to highlight items with taps to track what steps have been taken or tap to cross-out ingredients that have been added as well as adjust the recipe easily without overwriting the original and make notes of changes and preferences. See More

DevotedTisiphone's Experience

Paprika has been a great addition to planning meals and shopping for the week or month! See More

Top Con

No way to create a shared collection of recipes

There's no way for you to collaborate on family recipes with your wife, parents, or sisters. Right now it seems only Umami supports this functionality. See More

Top Pro

Syncs across devices

Paprika can be used across any of the supported devices - iOS, Android, OSX, web. If a recipe is imported in one device it will show up on all other devices as well. See More

IntelligentMyesyats's Experience

I love this app. It is fun to use and so useful. My favorite platform is on my iPad Pro (12.9"). Hoping they update the windows version soon. See More

Top Con

Has to be bought separately for each device

Each device requires a separate purchase of the app. (IOS is now a universal app, Windows is a separate purchase) See More

Top Pro

Can generate a grocery list

Depending on meal plans, Paprika can create a grocery list with all required ingredients. In the grocery list it's possible to view ingredients grouped based on recipes or all together. It can even keep a list of items already available and skip those when creating a grocery list. See More

TrustworthyIphimedeia's Experience

now charging $44.98 for paprika 3 on app store See More

Top Con

Doesn't allow adding pictures for each cooking steps

Only a title picture is allowed. See More

Top Pro

Manually importing recipes doesn't require typing

To manually transfer a recipe from a website, highlight a part of the recipe and then click the appropriate button - name, ingredient, direction, etc. See More

PositiveIxchel's Experience

Not updated for latest IOS - can’t open app See More

Top Con

Not worth what you pay for

Paprika is an extortionist recipe organizer that charges for apps separately, doesn't let you bookmark from your browser, and doesn't let you search by ingredient. See More

Top Pro

Has tools that help in the cooking process

Paprika includes timers, converters and a tool for scaling ingredients. It makes the process of cooking easier to manage. See More

SuccessfulHesperus's Experience

After the demise if Living cookbook I tried a few recipe management apps but ended up with Paprika as the next best alternative to LC. Very easy to use and I can envisage improvements. See More

Top Con

Lacks own recipe database

Paprika can only import recipes from third-party sources. There's no built-in recipe database to browse or search through. See More

Top Pro

Notes section allows you to add your own personal comments

CoolAchuhucanac's Experience

I use it for more than 5 years since it was its inception. Simple and streamlined. Perfect for keeping own or copying recipes from the web. See More

Top Pro

Can switch back and forth between recipes

Using the Pin tool allows you to quickly switch between recipes in progress without losing your place. Crossed-out ingredients stay crossed out, the step you're on remains highlighted. See More

EmpatheticAmaArhus's Experience

Terrible. It took forever to do anything, and in the end it wouldn't put my recipes in categories. I would try to add one to a folder, and the operation just simply didn't execute. Poorly designed program. See More

Top Pro

Customizable categories and sub-categories

It comes stocked with a handful of basic categories, but you can add your own, including sub-categories and order them any way you want. See More

SincereAbyzou's Experience

New user but I like these features: Can upload from any site, can add notes, it will scale recipe for you (down or up), can categorize recipes, create your own categories, can upload image of printed recipe (contrary to statement by other commenter), can share/post recipe. There are others but these come to mind. Cons are: Can’t share account between iPad/iPhone & Windows computer (figured out a workaround but a little clunky). Overall love the app! See More

Top Pro

Easy import from previous recipe manager

Paprika readily accepts importing from the older application and syncing from Mac to iPad is amazing. 200+ recipes in seconds! See More

Top Pro

Has tools for planning out meals weeks in advance

Paprika has a simple to use meal planner that allows adding recipes along with notes to a calendar. This information can later be used to automatically create a grocery list. Meal plans last forever. Want to know what you served for Christmas 3 years ago? It's there. See More

See All

score 53 · Answer 3

Copy Me That

Top Con

Clunky interface

Top Pro

Recipes can be organized via tags

Each recipe can be categorized by tags in order to find the appropriate meal. See More

Gayle Bell's Experience

We run a closed Facebook beginners pressure cooker cooking group of 400,000. We have almost 80% active members. Recipes are a huge part of it. Having a base with 1 million interactions a month, trying to search for recipes is almost impossible. We use CopyMeThat community feature as a Social Media Recipe Box Manager. We set up a family recipe box for the group . It is private to the other CopyMeThat communities, only accessible via the free CopyMeThat app, for our members only. Before we spent hours sharing tested recipes with beginners. There are so many bad recipes in pinterest and google, it is not a place for beginners. The Social Media Community Recipe Box feature has made our job so much easier. Instead of our handfuls of the admin team wearing themselves out trying to share recipes, we now have thousands of recipes in one Community Recipe Box. There are thousands of members that have access to search for themselves and share with others. We can use the rating feature to identify which one's have been made and shared successfully by one of the group. We make notes with what changes we made without changing the original recipe. The members can upload their pictures. Our admin team now has more time to develop and share recipes. We help members write their own recipes and share them in the Recipe Box. We have used it to create tutorials with multiple step pictures. There is no limit on the recipe box, members can search on ingredients and find recipes with those ingredients. Tags can be used to streamline the search as in chicken pasta soup. The meal planner has been so helpful when holiday planning. The ability to take 3 or 4 course meal plan and build a shopping list is amazing. If there are eggs in three recipes, it gives you the total, not 3 different items. If you change your mind it adjusts the list. There is a recipe scaler that automatically adjusts the recipe ingredients to reflect your adjustment. See More

Top Con

iPad Interface unbecoming to some users

Top Pro

Great web clipper

Copy Me That is a Great app for grabbing recipes from the web. After they are downloaded, they are automatically formatted for simplicity. See More

NeighborlyMacCecht's Experience

The iphone app has been deleted from the App Store. See More

Top Con

Recipe detection limited to english

This app automatically reformats recipes for easy reading based on the contents of the text. If the text isn't in English, Copy Me That won't detect the recipe. See More

Top Pro

Active community

Copy Me That has a community built around food. The community is for sharing and receiving recipes, and even providing feedback. See More

AdventurousYonggungChasa's Experience

Can no longer share recipes via SMS. i can share via Snapchat and Instagram, but not SMS. Weird. See More

Top Pro

Easy shopping list generator

This app will dissect the ingredients required and break them down into an organized shopping list. See More

Top Pro

Excellent browser algorithm

The excellent browser algorithm can grab recipes from even the worst ad-garbled web pages, with no errors. See More

Top Pro

Allows adjustments and notes

Any attribute of a recipe can be changed, and notes can be added as reminder for the future. See More

Top Pro

Cookbook creator and Direct publish feature

You can design, create, and even publish and order your own cookbook from within the app. See More

Top Pro

Functions as an add-on

The Copy Me That add-on can grab recipes from a browser and sync them with the iOS app. See More

Top Pro

Drag and drop meal planner

Users can drag and drop meals from one day to another day using this app's built in calendar. See More

Top Pro

Supports multiple users on different devices

A meal can be added by one user, and then the recipe can be viewed by another. This way, coordinating meals between multiple people can be very simple - especially for shopping purposes. See More

Top Pro

Community ratings for recipes

The community rates shared recipes on a scale of 1-5. See More

Top Pro

Intelligent item system

Intelligent item system allows you to edit items on your shopping list, combines items from multiple recipes, and organizes items by store location. Forget an item? Hit the “Add Item” button, type in oranges, item is immediately added to your list under the “Produce” section. See More

Top Pro

Multiple platforms

IOS (iPhone & iPad), Android, and browser support. See More

See All

score 27 · Answer 4

Pepperplate

Top Con

Not supported

No support or bug fixes. See More

Top Pro

Can be used to create a shopping list

Recipes and menus can quickly be added to the grocery list from their appropriate views. Items in the grocery list can be sorted by aisle or recipe. See More

StudiousMalingee's Experience

I've used Pepperplate for years. It has (and has for a long time) some major issues and it works differently on each Apple product I use it on. Pepperplate has now decided, without fixing any of the bugs, to charge a monthly/yearly fee that is beyond realistic. I wouldn't pay that much for an app unless it was also going to cook the food for me. See More

Top Con

Went from FREE t a monthly fee

Sneaky way to make it fee-based - open the previously free app and you’re now signed up for a free trial that you need to cancel before you get charged. Surprise! See More

Top Pro

Supports custom recipes

Pepperplate lets users add old family recipes and then lets the recipe be shared with others. See More

MemorableSkeiron's Experience

WAS a great app and experience, but after years of no updates or communication, they announced they will be charging a $3.99 monthly fee. See More

Top Con

Not updated in 3 years

Has not been updated in 3 years, this app should have been removed from the app store a long time ago. See More

Top Pro

Grocery list

Recipes and menus can quickly be added to the grocery list from their appropriate views. Items in the grocery list can be sorted by aisle or recipe. See More

NeighborlyMacCecht's Experience

Pepperplate now charges $3 per month for their program. I'd be ok with a one time fee, but not paying for a recipe app forever. See More

Top Con

Changing to a paid service model

As of the new year (2020), Pepperplate will change to a "paid service model". The "subscription" is now $2.99/month or $32.99/year. See More

Top Pro

Can be used for meal planning

Recipes and menus can quickly be added to the planner from their appropriate views. Unfortunately, there's no way to add them from the planner itself. See More

Jaxy Cook's Experience

Has not been updated in 3 years, this app should have been removed from the app store a long time ago See More

Top Con

The import feature does not work as intended

Top Pro

Syncs across all devices

It's on my iPad air, iPhone SE, and my Windows PC, no charge. See More

KnowledgeableAcmon's Experience

No longer maintained, do not trust!! See More

Top Con

Poor mobile web clipping experience

To save a recipe from the web into Pepperplate requires copying the URL, navigating to Pepperplate.com (that has no mobile version), either logging in or clicking view recipes, then navigating to import recipes and pasting the URL in the form field. There's no way to "share" a URL to Pepperplate. See More

Top Pro

Reasonable organizactional methods

Recipes can be organized into menus and categories. Menus allow grouping recipes and operating with them together. For example, a whole menu can be added to a shopping list or added to the planner without having to add each recipe separately. Categories are essentially tags. They can be added to recipes and used to search through them in recipe list. See More

IntelligentBenthesikyme's Experience

$33/yr subscription....don't think so. See More

Top Con

There has been no response from the support team for several months

Can no longer access the 'help' section. It seems that the developers are no longer supporting this app. Hasn't been updated since 2015, and no new support for websites once the site is updated or changed. See More

Top Pro

You can create custom tags and filters.

Top Con

Doesn't de-duplicate recipes

You can add the same recipe multiple times from the same url but the site won't merge them automatically. See More

Top Pro

You can create custom tags and filters.

Top Con

No method for backing up your recipe collection

While storing recipes here, you'll need a way to safely export and backup your collection. Pepperplate says they are "working" on this function for a future update, but they have been saying this for a few years now without implementing any updates. You may want to consider moving over to Paprika instead. See More

Top Pro

Has an online interface

Allows sharing recipes with others through a link on the website. See More

Top Pro

You can create custom tags and filters.

Top Pro

Good web clipper

While the experience using the clipper on a mobile device might need some work, the clipper itself is reasonably advanced. It directly supports over 30 recipe sites. It imports images, prep time, ingredients and instructions from those sites. See More

See All

score 6 · Answer 5

Allrecipes' Dinner Spinner

Top Con

Only access to allrecipes database

Top Pro

Some recipes have video instructions

A few recipes have an accompanying video that explains how to prepare and cook the meal. Tapping on directions below the video skips it to the part that explains the step. See More

KnowledgeableAcmon's Experience

Lots of other peoples recipes, not a private recipe manager!! See More

Top Con

Recipes load slowly

Because each recipe contains so much information, it takes about 5 seconds for each one to load. In the meantime, an ad is displayed. See More

Top Pro

Nutritional information for each recipe is available

The app can display how many calories each serving has what percentage of daily recommended intake each nutrient has. See More

Top Con

Recipes can't be imported from other sites

There is no webclipper or import functionality so it's impossible to save recipes from anywhere else but AllRecipes. See More

Top Pro

Advanced recipe search

The recipe database search allows specifying if certain ingredients should be present or not, if there are any dietary needs and how long should cooking the meal take. See More

Top Pro

Access to huge recipe database

With Allrecipes Pro, users can access all 44,000 recipes in the database. Without paying for the pro version, users are only allowed to access a few thousand. See More

Top Pro

Helpful information and tools for cooking

Each recipe has prep and cook time listed, so it's possible to take into account how long the process will take. All ingredients can be divided into required servings. See More

Top Pro

Simple shopping list

Items to the shopping list can be added from the recipe view by clicking on the ingredients or manually from the shopping list itself. Items are organized in categories such as produce or beverages and there's a reminder at the bottom for what meals are the ingredients for. Bought items can be ticked off by tapping on them or deleted from the list with a long-tap. See More

Top Pro

Users can review recipes

It's possible to rate and review recipes. See More

See All

score 23 · Answer 6

BigOven

Top Pro

Household grocery list and menu planning sharing

Use a single grocery list and menu plan with multiple accounts. See More

Top Con

Charges for image scanning

BigOven lets users take pictures of handwritten or typed recipes and have them transcribed. The first 3 are free, and then it costs $20.00 per year for up to 25 additional scans. See More

HilariousMegaera's Experience

I mostly wanted an app for typing in old family recipes to save and this app makes it easy to do that. See More

Top Pro

Can scan in handwritten and printed recipes

Can convert images to text. See More

Top Con

You can't do very much with the FREE option - you pretty much have to pay the $20/year

Top Pro

Allows ad-free use

With optional membership, lets you get rid of all ads and add unlimited recipes; great free trial model. See More

Top Con

Limited organizational options

Recipes can be saved to "Try", "Favorites" and "Folder" (creating folders requires a subscription). Additionally there are categories for recipes added and made. See More

Top Pro

Breaks down ingredients into nutritional info

Users can see the nutritional information of any meal based on the contents of the ingredients. See More

Top Pro

Good grocery list creator

Top Pro

Great organizational options

Great use of Folders -- can set them up for occasions, people you cook for, and more. Also the separate "Favorite" and "Try" list let you keep track of things that you'd like to try apart from those that are truly your favorite. See More

Top Pro

Can upload your own photos of your typed-in recipes

Top Pro

Offers a big list of recipes to search through and an advanced search

Has over 350.000 recipes to search through and an advanced search that allows setting dietary restrictions, ingredients to be added or excluded and what categories to search through. See More

Top Pro

Everything syncs with web and other devices

Top Pro

Offers a free trial

Top Pro

Good menu planner

Top Pro

Reasonable site-clipping

See All

score 3 · Answer 7

Recipelove

Top Pro

Beautiful

PerceptiveCabracan's Experience

By far the most elegant and beautiful recipe manager. It can be annoying to use some of the other recipe managers, but not this one. I love it. See More

Top Pro

Totally free

See All

score 10 · Answer 8

Recipe to Table

score 30 · Answer 9

Recipe Keeper

Top Con

Can export only to Recipe Keeper format

Alternatively, it's possible to print to PDF. See More

Top Pro

Various import options

Top Con

Limited to 20 recipes

The free version only allows you to save 20 recipes. See More

Top Pro

Resonable price

Top Pro

Broad platform support

Top Pro

Easy to import recipe on mobile

Top Pro

Bulk recipe editing

Top Pro

Frequent updates

Top Pro

Scan

Can scan a recipe See More

See All

score 8 · Answer 10

Simply Recipes

Top Con

Limited to 20 recipes

The free version only allows you to save 20 recipes. See More

score 3 · Answer 11

plan to eat

Top Pro

Easy to use

Covers everything you need. Meal planning for serious cooks. Goes on sale every November. See More

CromulentTethys's Experience

I’ve been using PlanToEat since 2017 and HIGHLY recommend it for easy saving of internet recipes, organizing recipes, adding your own, shopping list and excellent tech support. I am a foodie and cook nearly all our meals. See More

score 45 · Answer 12

The CookBook App

Top Con

Directions and ingredients are on separate screens - but you can pop out the ingredients screen when in the steps screen.

Directions and ingredients are on separate screens, makes it hard to cook when you need to flip back to the ingredients to see what the quantity is and then back to the instructions to see what to do with the ingredients. See More

Top Pro

Allows importing recipes

Cookbook can import recipes and has a long list of supported websites. See More

Jaxy Cook's Experience

CookBook is the only recipe manager with a free OCR tool and it works amazingly!! You have to do a tiny bit of editing afterwards but saves soo much time as you don't have to type in the entire recipe. It also has so many features like meal planning, shopping lists, cooking mode and searching with leftovers in your fridge. I have tried a lot of these apps and this one is by far at the top for me! See More

Specs

Platforms:Android, iOS, Web

Publisher:CookBook Ltd

Top Pro

Sleek and easy to use design

The user interface of the app is great and easy to use. See More

LoyalKumarbi's Experience

Love it. Easy to save recipes found on the web, copy from existing books. Scales ingredients for meal planner. Produces shopping list from meal planner. What else could you possibly need. See More

Top Pro

Automatic Measure Conversion

Convert ingredients from the original measure type to your preferred US, Imperial and Metric measures. See More

Top Pro

Syncs across devices

Syncs seamlessly between devices and platforms (iOS, Android and web!) See More

Top Pro

Generate a grocery list and meal plan

Create a meal plan, print the planner or generate an interactive shopping list for your recipes! See More

Top Pro

Upload and show images per step

They have made the app really personable by being able to add descriptions and upload an image to each step for your recipe. See More

Top Pro

Cooking Mode

Built in Cooking mode that reads your recipe to you while you cook! See More

Top Pro

OCR Support

Free built in OCR support to take images of paper recipes and turn them into digital recipes See More

Top Pro

Free Cloud Storage

Automatically stores your recipe information within the cloud to enable access from the mobile applications and website See More

Top Pro

Timer detection

Create recipe timers automatically from detected instructions or enter a timer manually to alert you when you are needed in the kitchen See More

Top Pro

iPhone X Compatible

Top Pro

Active support team

Usually respond within a matter of a day and keen to fix bugs and improve the app See More

See All

score 7 · Answer 13

ClipDish

Top Pro

Easy to use

Joe Cotellese's Experience

I love to look for recipes on the internet but hate that the recipe writers have to write long posts just to be seen by Google. It's especially annoying when you're trying to read a recipe while cooking. ClipDish lets me quickly snip out just the recipe so that when I'm cooking all I see is the recipe ingredients and instructions. See More

Top Pro

Possible to organize recipes which makes meal planning easy

Top Pro

Saves recipes from all your favorite sites

See All

score 2 · Answer 14

cinc.kitchen

Top Pro

Fast

Top Con

No Nutrition Information

GenerousVacuna's Experience

Started using it recently. It's very fast and has a nice editor. It does a reasonable job of importing recipes from other sites. See More

See All

score 1 · Answer 15

littlecook

Top Pro

Curated recipes

Top Con

Relatively smaller selection of recipes

PleasantQuangeio's Experience

It's a free app that has helped me know what I can cook with what I have right now. It also keeps track of what I have around my kitchen so reduces food waste too! See More

Top Pro

No ads

Top Pro

Very clean UI and UX

Top Pro

Easy to use shopping list feature

It's very well integrated into the recipes and the app as a whole. See More

Top Pro

Intelligent recipe suggestion

Top Pro

Free

See All

score 1 · Answer 16

Kurkum

ChattyKisin's Experience

Simple, pretty and easy to use See More

score 8 · Answer 17

Paprika Recipe Manager

score 14 · Answer 18

16 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Basil

My Recommendation for Basil

No longer maintained

Manual recipe clipping doesn't require typing

iPad only

Good web clipper

No meal planner

Flexible organizational methods

Web clipper requires using the built-in browser

Tools that help prepare meals

Easy to use grocery list creator

Simple interface

My Recommendation for Paprika

My Recommendation for Paprika

Update for Paprika 3 requires payment

Can import recipes from a wide variety of online sources

No OCR support

Simple, clean interface

No way to create a shared collection of recipes

Syncs across devices

Has to be bought separately for each device

Can generate a grocery list

Doesn't allow adding pictures for each cooking steps

Manually importing recipes doesn't require typing

Not worth what you pay for

Has tools that help in the cooking process

Lacks own recipe database

Notes section allows you to add your own personal comments

Can switch back and forth between recipes

Customizable categories and sub-categories

Easy import from previous recipe manager

Has tools for planning out meals weeks in advance

My Recommendation for Copy Me That

My Recommendation for Copy Me That

Clunky interface

Recipes can be organized via tags

iPad Interface unbecoming to some users

Great web clipper

Recipe detection limited to english

Active community

Easy shopping list generator

Excellent browser algorithm

Allows adjustments and notes

Cookbook creator and Direct publish feature

Functions as an add-on

Drag and drop meal planner

Supports multiple users on different devices

Community ratings for recipes

Intelligent item system

Multiple platforms

My Recommendation for Pepperplate

My Recommendation for Pepperplate

Not supported

Can be used to create a shopping list

Went from FREE t a monthly fee

Supports custom recipes

Not updated in 3 years

Grocery list

Changing to a paid service model

Can be used for meal planning

The import feature does not work as intended

Syncs across all devices

Poor mobile web clipping experience

Reasonable organizactional methods

There has been no response from the support team for several months

You can create custom tags and filters.

Doesn't de-duplicate recipes

You can create custom tags and filters.

No method for backing up your recipe collection

Has an online interface

You can create custom tags and filters.

Good web clipper

My Recommendation for Allrecipes' Dinner Spinner

My Recommendation for Allrecipes' Dinner Spinner

Only access to allrecipes database

Some recipes have video instructions

Recipes load slowly

Nutritional information for each recipe is available

Recipes can't be imported from other sites