Help Center
How can we help?
Find answers to common questions about saving recipes, planning, cooking, households, and billing. Still stuck? We're one message away.
Saving recipes
Import from links, videos, and photos, or add your own by hand.
Planning & shopping
Build your week and let a pantry-aware shopping list fill itself.
Cook Mode
Hands-free, step-by-step cooking with timers and step-videos.
Households
Share a pantry, plan, and list. Invite helpers and set roles.
AI features
What-to-cook, fridge scan, healthier variants, and translation.
Plans & billing
Free, Pro, and Family — limits, upgrades, and cancellations.
Frequently asked questions
What can I save a recipe from?
Paste a link to almost any recipe site or blog, a YouTube cooking video, or upload a photo of a recipe card or cookbook page. You can also add recipes by hand. AI extracts the ingredients, steps, servings, time, cuisine, a hero image, and estimated nutrition.
Is CookBuddy free?
Yes — the Free plan lets you save recipes, plan meals, track your pantry, build shopping lists, use Cook Mode, and share with your household, with no card required. AI features (imports, what-to-cook, fridge scan, healthier variants, translation) are available on the Pro and Family plans, each with a transparent monthly limit.
Do I need to install an app?
No app store required. CookBuddy is an installable web app (PWA) — open it in your browser and add it to your home screen for a full-screen, app-like experience on phone, tablet, or desktop.
How does Cook Mode work?
Cook Mode shows one step at a time in large type, with a prep checklist, timers that chime, and step-videos that jump straight to the relevant moment. Your screen stays awake the whole time, so your hands stay free and your phone stays untouched.
Can my family share recipes and plans?
Yes. Create a household and everyone shares one pantry, meal plan, and shopping list. Invite helpers by link, set per-member roles and permissions, and draw from a shared AI quota pool. You can belong to more than one household and switch between them.
What are the AI usage limits?
Every AI feature shows a live usage meter so you always know where you stand. Pro includes monthly allowances such as 50 web imports, 20 video imports, 50 what-to-cook suggestions, 20 healthier variants, 50 translations, and 30 fridge scans. Family raises these limits and shares them across the household. See the Pricing page for the current numbers.
Where does my recipe data come from, and who owns it?
Saved recipes keep attribution and a link back to the original source — we don't claim ownership of source content. If you're a rights holder and want something removed, you can file a takedown request and we'll review it promptly.
How do I cancel or change my plan?
Manage your subscription any time from your Account settings, which opens the secure billing portal. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel — changes take effect at the end of your current billing period.
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