When comparing BigOven vs Paprika, the Slant community recommends Paprika for most people. In the question“What are the best recipe manager apps for iOS?” Paprika is ranked 2nd while BigOven is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Paprika is:
Covers [most of the major websites](http://www.paprikaapp.com/sites), including Food & Wine, Food Network and The Girl Who Ate Everything and even a good amount of "unsupported" websites will work.
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Pros
Pro Household grocery list and menu planning sharing
Use a single grocery list and menu plan with multiple accounts.
Pro Can scan in handwritten and printed recipes
Can convert images to text.
Pro Allows ad-free use
With optional membership, lets you get rid of all ads and add unlimited recipes; great free trial model.
Pro Breaks down ingredients into nutritional info
Users can see the nutritional information of any meal based on the contents of the ingredients.
Pro Good grocery list creator
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.
Pro Can upload your own photos of your typed-in recipes
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.
Pro Everything syncs with web and other devices
Pro Offers a free trial
Pro Good menu planner
Pro Reasonable site-clipping
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pro Notes section allows you to add your own personal comments
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.
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.
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!
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.
Cons
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.
Con You can't do very much with the FREE option - you pretty much have to pay the $20/year
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.
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.
Con No OCR support
No way to scan in or take a photo of a written or printed recipe.
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.
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)
Con Doesn't allow adding pictures for each cooking steps
Only a title picture is allowed.
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.
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.