# Punchfork vs Cook Book

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Punchfork at 321 against Cook Book's 21. On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Punchfork against 4.9 for Cook Book. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Punchfork has 321 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of Punchfork's written reviews are positive against 80% of Cook Book's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Punchfork | Cook Book |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (321 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/punchfork/id1535328405/reviews) | **[4.9 (21 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cook-book-meal-plans/id1663182132/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **321** | 21 |
| Positive reviews | **85.7% of reviews** | 80.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 3 MB | 33 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Punchfork LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1535328407) | [Gofodi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1645296871) |

## What reviewers say

### 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


### Cook Book

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cook-book-meal-plans/id1663182132)

Discover new recipes, organize your favorite dishes, and plan meals effortlessly. This app helps you find delicious and nutritious recipes tailored to your taste and dietary needs, creating shopping lists and weekly meal plans.

**Highlights:** Recipe discovery, Favorite dish organization, Meal planning, Shopping list generation, Search by ingredients, cuisine, dietary restrictions

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Punchfork free?

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

### Is Cook Book free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Punchfork or Cook Book?

Cook Book is rated higher. Punchfork averages 4.8 out of 5 from 321 ratings, while Cook Book averages 4.9 from 21 ratings.

### Do Punchfork or Cook Book have ads?

Neither Punchfork nor Cook Book shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Punchfork or Cook Book?

Punchfork ships an update every 3 months, and Cook Book every 3 months. Most recently, Punchfork was updated on October 24, 2026 and Cook Book on October 19, 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.*