Not Phở vs What’s Cooking?
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Not Phở
Explore the rich diversity of Vietnamese cuisine beyond the popular noodle soup. This digital cookbook features over 50 authentic recipes with beautiful illustrations and interactive animations. Discover new flavors and expand your culinary horizons with this engaging guide.
- 50+ Vietnamese recipes
- Interactive animations
- Beautiful illustrations
- VoiceOver support
- English and Vietnamese localization
- Adjustable text size
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What is Not Phở and why the name Not Phở? To be clear, there is nothing wrong with Phở and as a matter of fact it is one of my favorite noodle soups. However, there is more to Vietnamese cuisine than just Phở, and many people I know are not even aware that these other delicious dishes even exist! That’s where Not Phở comes in — it’s a digital cookbook exploring Vietnamese cuisine, accompanied by beautiful illustrations and interactive animations to make the experience memorable. Try your hand at new flavors, with 50+ recipes that include: • Banh Mi Sandwich • Vietnamese Crêpes • Vermicelli Noodles • Egg Rolls • Broken Rice • and more! These are recipes that I grew up with, and collected and modified over the years, to showcase what Vietnamese cuisine is all about. That said, the dishes and recipes presented are just a small sample of Vietnamese culture, and there is still more to be explored! The name Not Phở was chosen not to deter people, but contrarily it is meant to encourage you to explore Vietnamese cuisine to its fullest, broadening your horizons much farther than just Phở! Not Phở fully supports VoiceOver, several Accessibility features, and is localized in English and Vietnamese. When an external keyboard is connected, you can even grow or shrink the text size when you need it most using the ⌘+ and ⌘– commands. Not Phở is available in both auto-renewing subscription and a one-time purchase. The auto-renewing subscription is offered at $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year, and the one-time purchase is offered at $49.99 for up to three years of updates. • If you choose to participate in a subscription plan, payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. • The subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. • You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your account settings on the App Store after purchase. • All purchases are final. We cannot issue refunds for purchases charged to your Apple ID. Please see our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for more information regarding auto-renewing subscriptions: https://notpho.app/termsofservice
What’s Cooking?
Discover new recipes from top creators for any meal or craving. Save your favorites and follow easy-to-understand steps with simple videos to start cooking. Personalize your experience with handpicked dishes and collections.
- Recipe discovery by meal, mood, diet, or occasion
- Save favorite recipes and creators
- Step-by-step cooking videos
- Personalized recipe recommendations
- Build custom recipe collections
- Search by trending recipes
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What’s Cooking brings you recipes from top creators for every meal, mood, and craving, even tonight’s dinner. Discover new dishes, save your favorites, and start cooking with easy-to-follow steps and simple videos. Find What You’re Craving Search by meal, mood, diet, or occasion. Quickly pull up your saved dishes, cooking history, favorite creators, and more. Cooking Made Personal Get recipes handpicked for your tastes. Find the creators you love and dishes you’ll want to cook again and again. Scroll, Save, Cook Endless food inspiration with no distractions. Sort by trending, save your faves, and build collections that match your cravings. Real Recipes, Real Cooks Follow step-by-step videos from real creators in real kitchens. Make their dishes your own—or create something totally new.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Not Phở at 4.9 against What’s Cooking?'s 4.0. Not Phở also leads on review sentiment (89% vs 59%) and device support (4 vs 1). What’s Cooking?'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Not Phở sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. What’s Cooking? asks for nothing beyond the download.
Not Phở holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 54 and 79 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Not Phở's written reviews are positive against 59% of What’s Cooking?'s.
Not Phở ships an update fortnightly, What’s Cooking? every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Not Phở | What’s Cooking? |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (54 ratings) — better | 4.0 (79 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better | 59.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 54 | 79 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.3 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 114 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Mochi Development, Inc. | Kraft New Services, Inc. |
Customer experience
Not Phở
What’s Cooking?
Bugs and requests
Not Phở
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
What’s Cooking?
Reported bugs
7 issues- App gets stuck on name/email subscription page
- Won't let user click continue after update
- Keeps reloading email subscription page
- Doesn't change page when 'next' is clicked
- App forces an update but no update available in App Store
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- App keeps loading
- App is asking to update but there is no update
Requested features
14 requests- Increase number of preferences per category
- More videos of different foods
- More creators
- Add new recipes more frequently
- Add a search bar
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Add comment sections
- Add ratings
- Add more allergy filters
- Add measurement conversion options
- Add more cultural foods (Arabic, Indian, Filipino)
- Add Halal dietary restrictions
- Add more diversity in recipes and cuisines
- Add miso ramen recipe
- Add specific diet preferences
In-app purchases
Not Phở
- Temp Chef Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Sous Chef Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
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- Executive Chef One Time$49.99
What’s Cooking?
No in-app purchases









