# Chef vs Cooking Smarter

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cooking Smarter at none against Chef's 1. Cooking Smarter also leads on update cadence (every 7 months vs every 21 months). Chef's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13 vs 15.1). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Chef sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per month. Cooking Smarter asks for nothing beyond the download.

Chef ships an update every 21 months, Cooking Smarter every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Chef | Cooking Smarter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (21 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chef/id1417344314/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **21** | — |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 21 months | **Every 7 months** |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 109 MB | 118 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13** | 15.1 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Guillaume Cendre](https://appshunter.io/developer/1287563086) | [Gregory Schaad-Jackson](https://appshunter.io/developer/1642718570) |

## What reviewers say

### Chef

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chef/id1417344314)

Discover and cook thousands of recipes with a modern interface. Create your own recipes, generate shopping lists, and analyze nutritional values. Offers premium features for unlimited recipe creation and private recipes.

**Highlights:** Recipe discovery, Custom recipe creation, Automated shopping lists, Nutritional value analysis, Recipe scheduling, Modern design

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Chef Premium - One Month | $1.99 | per month |


### Cooking Smarter

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cooking-smarter/id1642718568)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Chef free?

Chef is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Cooking Smarter free?

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

### Do Chef or Cooking Smarter have ads?

Cooking Smarter shows ads; Chef does not.

### Which is updated more often, Chef or Cooking Smarter?

Chef ships an update every 21 months, and Cooking Smarter every 7 months. Most recently, Chef was updated on October 24, 2026 and Cooking Smarter on October 11, 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.*