# America's Test Kitchen vs Punchfork

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Punchfork at none against America's Test Kitchen's 6. Punchfork also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (86% vs 64%). America's Test Kitchen's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (18K vs 320). On price, rating, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. America's Test Kitchen sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Punchfork asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for America's Test Kitchen against 4.8 for Punchfork. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: America's Test Kitchen has 18K ratings behind it against 320, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 64% of America's Test Kitchen's written reviews are positive against 86% of Punchfork's.

America's Test Kitchen ships an update every 2 weeks, Punchfork every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | America's Test Kitchen | Punchfork |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (18K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/americas-test-kitchen/id1365223384/reviews)** | [4.8 (320 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/punchfork/id1535328405/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **18K** | 320 |
| Positive reviews | 64.4% of reviews | **85.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#11** | — |
| Size | 128 MB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 16.4 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [America's Test Kitchen LP](https://appshunter.io/developer/385122166) | [Punchfork LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1535328407) |

## What reviewers say

### America's Test Kitchen

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/americas-test-kitchen/id1365223384)

**Currently charting:** #11 Top Grossing · Food & Drink (US App Store)

Access thousands of rigorously tested recipes, cooking videos, and expert product reviews. Enhance your culinary skills with on-demand classes taught by test kitchen professionals. Save favorites, create shopping lists, and discover new dishes for any occasion.

**Highlights:** 14,000+ tested recipes, Expert-led cooking classes, App-exclusive content, Product reviews and ratings, Save favorite recipes, Create shopping lists, Ad-free cooking episodes

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ATK Essential - Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Classes Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Essential + Classes - Monthly | $19.99 | per month |
| Classes Annual | $39.99 | per year |
| ATK Essential - Annual | $49.99 | per year |
| Essential + Classes - Annual | $89.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to navigate app
- 👍 Excellent recipes and cooking tips
- 👍 Helpful product reviews and recommendations
- 👍 Valuable subscription worth the cost

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent login issues and app crashes
- 🐛 Unreliable server connectivity
- 🐛 Inconsistent app performance and bugs
- 🔍 Limited search and organization features

**Reported bugs**

- Recipes and content not loading properly
- Inability to access account after updates
- Syncing issues between app and website
- Frequent log-outs and need to re-login

**Requested features**

- Add ability to categorize and organize saved recipes
- Improve search functionality and filtering options
- Implement sharing capabilities to easily share recipes
- Add support for metric measurements alongside imperial


### Punchfork

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/punchfork/id1535328405)

Discover new, high-quality recipes from top food sites updated 24/7. Easily search over 300,000 recipes using natural language or ingredients, and filter by dietary needs like vegan or gluten-free. Save your favorites to personalized collections.

**Highlights:** Continuous recipe updates, Save and organize favorite recipes, Search 300k+ recipes with natural language, Filter by dietary needs (vegan, gluten-free, etc.), Recipe popularity scoring

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use and navigate
- 👍 Great for finding new recipes
- 👍 Conveniently aggregates food blogs
- 👍 Intuitive search feature
- 👍 Good for meal inspiration

**What reviewers complain about**

- 👎 Limited recipe saving (historically)
- 👎 Paywalled features (recent concern)
- 👎 Cluttered shopping list
- 👎 No dark mode option

**Reported bugs**

- No functionality for logging in (historically)
- Shopping list difficult to navigate

**Requested features**

- Dark mode
- Meal planner or queue
- Apple ID sign in
- Ability to suggest blogs
- Improved shopping list sorting and removal


## Frequently asked questions

### Is America's Test Kitchen free?

America's Test Kitchen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Punchfork free?

Punchfork is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, America's Test Kitchen or Punchfork?

America's Test Kitchen is rated higher. America's Test Kitchen averages 4.9 out of 5 from 18K ratings, while Punchfork averages 4.8 from 320 ratings.

### Do America's Test Kitchen or Punchfork have ads?

America's Test Kitchen shows ads; Punchfork does not.

### Which is updated more often, America's Test Kitchen or Punchfork?

America's Test Kitchen ships an update every 2 weeks, and Punchfork every 3 months. Most recently, America's Test Kitchen was updated on October 2, 2026 and Punchfork on October 1, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*