There are dozens of recipe apps, and most people pick one almost at random — then live with its limits for years. The right choice depends on one thing: how you actually get recipes. If you mostly cook from a single app's catalogue, you want a discovery app. If your recipes come from blogs, screenshots, and YouTube videos, you want an app that captures from anywhere. Here's an honest field guide.
What to look for in a recipe app
- Import: can it save recipes from any website — and from cooking videos — without retyping?
- Structure: does it give you a clean ingredient list and numbered steps, or just a saved web page?
- Cooking: is there a hands-free, big-text cook mode with timers?
- Planning: meal planner and a shopping list that knows what you already have?
- Sharing: can a partner or household see the same recipes and lists?
- Platform & price: does it run on your devices, and is it free or a subscription?
The main recipe apps, at a glance
Each link below goes to a fuller side-by-side comparison so you can see the details.
- CookBuddy — free to start, runs in any browser, and uses AI to turn a link or a YouTube cooking video into a structured recipe; adds a hands-free Cook Mode, pantry-aware suggestions, and a shared household.
- Paprika — a long-established, paid recipe manager that's strong at web clipping and organizing.
- AnyList — excellent shared grocery lists and meal planning, with web recipe import.
- Samsung Food (Whisk) — a free, community-driven saver and planner with web import.
- Mealime — curated meal plans from its own recipe library with auto grocery lists.
- BigOven — a large community recipe database with a 'use up leftovers' search.
- Plan to Eat — a subscription meal planner with a web clipper and drag-and-drop calendar.
- Yummly — recipe discovery and personalized recommendations from its catalogue.
- Crouton — a beautifully designed cooking app for Apple devices.
- Pestle — a polished Apple recipe app that imports from links and some social posts.
Which recipe app is right for you?
- You save recipes from YouTube and food blogs → pick an AI-import app like CookBuddy. See apps that turn videos into recipes.
- You mainly want a shared shopping list → AnyList is purpose-built for that.
- You want curated 'what's for dinner' plans → Mealime or Yummly.
- You're all-in on Apple and want a gorgeous native app → Crouton or Pestle.
- You want one free app that does most of it → start with CookBuddy and add a paid plan only if you hit the AI limits.
Whatever you choose, test it with your three messiest recipes — the screenshot, the long blog post, and the YouTube video. The app that handles those without friction is the one you'll actually keep using.
The fastest way to try
CookBuddy turns any recipe link or YouTube cooking video into a clean, cookable recipe — then helps you plan, shop, and cook hands-free. It's free to start.
App features and pricing change often, and we keep our comparisons broad and fair rather than quoting exact prices. Check each app's official site for the latest before you decide.