Comparison

delicious. vs CookShelf

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

delicious.

Access premium food and lifestyle content, including recipes from top chefs, travel guides, and trend insights. Discover inspiration for creating meals at home and staying updated on global culinary trends.

Highlights
  • Recipes from top Australian food talent
  • Latest food trends and global insights
  • Must-do travel destinations
  • Entertaining and style advice
  • Monthly food and lifestyle content
Features
Read full description

* Enjoy the first 30 Days FREE with your one-year subscription * 30 Day FREE TRIAL - to activate your free trial click on 'subscribe for one year' and follow the prompts - your free trial will commence immediately and your paid subscription will commence at the end of the trial period. As Australia’s number one premium food and lifestyle brand, delicious. is at the intersection of cooking, eating out, travel, entertaining and style, design and global trends – giving you everything you need to create incredible meals at home. Working with some of the top food talent in the country, including Matt Moran, Shannon Bennett, Colin Fassnidge and Silvia Colloca, you'll find impressive yet effortless recipes for every occasion. You'll also discover the latest food trends, must-do travel destinations and musings from contributors such as Matt Preston, plus news, reviews and plenty more every month. _____________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTIONS INFO Payment will be charged to iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and cost of renewal is set at prices above. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Our privacy policy can be found at: https://preferences.news.com.au/privacy Terms of service: https://magsonline.com.au/info/TermsConditions#Q3 The current version of the delicious Magazine app is not compatible with iOS VoiceOver software. Note about Family Sharing: Family Sharing is available for the Free App only. Unfortunately you cannot share any purchases you have made within the App in Family Sharing (in-app purchases include single issue sales and subscriptions).

About

CookShelf

Discover recipes within your physical cookbook collection. Search by ingredient, dish, or craving to find exactly what you need and where to find it. Track your cooking progress, set goals, and reduce food waste by using ingredients you already have.

Highlights
  • Search across personal cookbooks
  • Find recipes by ingredient
  • Track cooking progress
  • Set cooking goals
  • Bookmark favorite recipes
  • Add photos and notes to recipes
  • Reduce food waste
Read full description

Do you love cookbooks? Us, too. That's why we created CookShelf, the app that helps you make the most of your cookbook collection, and cook from the books you already own. Got too much zucchini in the summer, and an excess of cabbage in winter? Or are you just trying to find that one Bolognese recipe you love and make every year, but can *never* remember which book it’s in? Quickly find recipes across your cookbooks that use what you already have—no more forgotten vegetables wilting in your crisper drawer. Simply search by ingredient, dish type, or whatever you're craving, and CookShelf shows exactly which cookbook has what you need and what page it's on. CookShelf is built for home cooks who love real cookbooks and real creators. Set a goal for how many cookbook recipes you'll cook this year, track your progress, and look back at everything you've made. Plus, get inspired by what our community is cooking from the books you own. We bridge the gap between physical cookbooks and digital convenience—because the best recipes are already on your shelf. ◆ Instantly search across your cookbooks and thousands of online recipes ◆ Find recipes based on what's in your fridge ◆ See ingredients lists before opening your books ◆ See what people are cooking: browse real cooks from the books already on your shelf—what people made, the notes they left, the little tweaks that made it better ◆ Follow your friends: find the people whose cooking you trust and follow along ◆ Track your cooking: bookmark recipes, mark what you've cooked, add photos and notes, and look back at your cooks timeline ◆ Set a cooking goal and watch your progress grow throughout the year ◆ Reduce food waste: use up CSA box ingredients before they spoil ◆ Finally cook from those cookbooks you love but rarely open ◆ 16,000+ cookbooks indexed Join thousands of home cooks who are rediscovering the treasures in their cookbook collections every day. HOW DOES IT WORK? CookShelf includes both a free version and a Premium (paid) subscription. The free version lets you add up to 5 cookbooks and use all of CookShelf's features for those books—search, bookmarking, cooking goals, and tracking. Premium unlocks your full collection: ◆ Add unlimited cookbooks ◆ Search across your entire library and over 15,000 indexed titles You can start a free trial to access Premium. Unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends, you'll be automatically charged the price shown on the payment screen for your chosen plan. Your CookShelf Premium subscription renews automatically each month or year until you cancel. Canceling disables the automatic renewal, but you'll keep full access through the end of your current period. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.cookshelf.app/terms Privacy: https://www.cookshelf.app/privacy

Screenshots

delicious.4 screens
CookShelf4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: CookShelf at freemium against delicious.'s subscription. CookShelf also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 9 months) and review sentiment (57% vs 31%). delicious.'s advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. delicious. sells 26 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and CookShelf sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

delicious. holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CookShelf has 678 ratings behind it against 49, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 31% of delicious.'s written reviews are positive against 57% of CookShelf's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

delicious. ships an update every 9 months, CookShelf every 5 days. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
delicious. versus CookShelf: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterdelicious.CookShelf
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (49 ratings) — better4.6 (678 ratings)
Positive reviews31.1% of reviews56.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings49678 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
Best chart rank#187#21 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size40 MB86 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperNews Life Media Pty LtdCookShelf Inc

Customer experience

delicious.

All ratings49 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive31.1%
Neutral6.6%
Negative62.3%

CookShelf

All ratings678 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral4.1%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews178 reviews
Positive56.7%
Neutral15.2%
Negative28.1%

User reviews

delicious.

From 49 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great magazine content
  • 📸 Amazing photos
  • 💖 Love the recipes
  • ✨ Aesthetically appealing publication
  • 👍 Reliable emag delivery

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 App won't open or load
  • 🐛 Disappearing purchases/past editions
  • 🐛 Subscription access issues
  • 🐛 Difficult navigation

CookShelf

From 678 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Instant gratification
  • 👍 Fav kitchen companion
  • 👍 Game changer
  • 👍 Worth the wait!
  • 👍 Amazing!

Bugs and requests

delicious.

Reported bugs

62 issues
  • App crashes and freezes
  • App won't open or load
  • Disappearing purchases/past editions
  • Subscription access issues
  • Bookmarks don't load
Show 57 more
  • Shows previous downloads but won't open them
  • App takes several restarts to load
  • Cannot access subscription
  • App is useless
  • App is a joke
  • App won't open for months
  • Frustrating navigation
  • Cannot access anything after purchasing subscription
  • App keeps buffering saying optimizing content
  • Read permission has expired
  • Asked to buy latest issue
  • Automated response from support
  • App doesn't work
  • Not really family sharing
  • Problem with credentials
  • Forgot password gets no result
  • Emails to help desk are not answered
  • Cannot access new issues
  • App shuts down every time it's opened
  • Crappy downloading issues
  • No feedback from support
  • iPad issues are not worth it
  • Unable to use mags online code
  • Cannot update to the new version
  • App will not update
  • Latest update under cooked
  • New layout is just a scan of the magazine
  • Have to repeatedly download magazines
  • Empty oval where download button should be
  • App is broken
  • Cannot access subscription
  • Lost library of magazines
  • App support takes to subscription pages
  • App has stopped working properly
  • Cannot access library
  • New magazine doesn't appear
  • Lost all past subscriptions
  • App has stopped working
  • Won't let me download last edition
  • Download button is blank
  • Current issue isn't downloading
  • Losing earlier issues
  • Cannot get latest magazine to download
  • Store won't load
  • App needs to be updated
  • Telling me I am not connected to the internet
  • App just has the dots (like it is loading)
  • New update won't let you log in from an iPad Pro
  • Cannot save recipes as favorites
  • Compatibility issues with iPad Pro
  • App freezes on occasion
  • Not available for download at the same time as hard copy
  • Not working with IOS upgrade
  • Does not work at all
  • Will not work
  • Cannot get it to download
  • Message says to close & re-open app

Requested features

18 requests
  • Improve app reliability and fix bugs
  • Allow access to past editions after app closure
  • Fix subscription access issues
  • Make app more user-friendly
  • Improve navigation from index to recipes
Show 13 more
  • Allow renaming of saved bookmarks
  • Add interactive index with links to recipes
  • Fix buffering issues
  • Fix permission expired issues
  • Provide iPad friendly landscape version
  • Restore interactive features
  • Improve search functionality for recipes
  • Allow saving individual recipes
  • Add yearly index
  • Make app more intuitive
  • Fix app compatibility issues with iPad Pro
  • Allow saving recipes as favorites
  • Add more straightforward simplistic design

CookShelf

Requested features

1 request
  • Eliminate multiple entries of the same book in the database

In-app purchases

26 purchases

delicious.

Subscriptions3
  • delicious. magazine$2.991 Month
  • delicious. magazine$15.996 Months
  • delicious. magazine1 Month trial$18.991 Year
One-time23
  • delicious. Feb 2013$2.99
  • delicious. May 2014$2.99
  • delicious. March 2016$2.99
Show 20 more
  • delicious. May 2016$2.99
  • delicious. November 2016$2.99
  • delicious. December/January 2017$2.99
  • delicious. November 2015$2.99
  • delicious. June 2018$2.99
  • delicious. Oct 2013$2.99
  • delicious. Mar 2013$2.99
  • delicious. April 2025$2.99
  • delicious. December/January 2016$2.99
  • delicious. November 2024$2.99
  • delicious. July 2023$2.99
  • delicious. April 2024$2.99
  • delicious. March 2024$2.99
  • delicious. September 2023$2.99
  • delicious. September 2018$2.99
  • delicious. October 2020$2.99
  • delicious. Dec/Jan 2022$2.99
  • delicious. Dec/Jan 2023$2.99
  • delicious. March 2023$2.99
  • delicious. April 2013$3.99
3 purchases

CookShelf

Subscriptions3
  • CookShelf Premium - Monthly2 variants$4.991 Month
  • CookShelf Premium - Monthly7 Days trial2 variants$4.991 Month
  • CookShelf Premium - Annual14 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year

Questions

Is delicious. free?
delicious. is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CookShelf free?
CookShelf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, delicious. or CookShelf?
delicious. is rated higher. delicious. averages 4.8 out of 5 from 49 ratings, while CookShelf averages 4.6 from 678 ratings.
Do delicious. or CookShelf have ads?
Neither delicious. nor CookShelf shows ads.
Which is updated more often, delicious. or CookShelf?
delicious. ships an update every 9 months, and CookShelf every 5 days. Most recently, delicious. was updated on September 23, 2026 and CookShelf on September 23, 2026.
Which is more popular, delicious. or CookShelf?
delicious. currently peaks at #187 in the App Store charts, and CookShelf at #21. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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