Comparison

Tastemade Cooking vs PlateBuilder

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

Head to head
About

Tastemade Cooking

This app creates personalized weekly meal plans and generates smart grocery lists based on your taste preferences. It offers a vast recipe library, step-by-step cooking guidance, and organization tools to simplify your cooking routine.

Highlights
  • Personalized weekly meal plans
  • Smart grocery list generation
  • Taste profile customization
  • Thousands of reliable recipes
  • Step-by-step cooking mode
  • Recipe saving and organization
Features
Read full description

Meal planning, done for you. Personalized weekly plans and smart grocery lists—tailored to your taste. Let us build you a personalized weekly meal plan, or build a plan from recipes you love – plus a smart grocery list that comes together automatically. Set your taste preferences once so every recommendation fits how you actually cook. No more guessing what to make or what to buy. SMART PERSONALIZATION Set up your Taste Profile to tell us what you love, what you avoid, and how you like to cook. Whether you build your own plan or let us build one for you, every recommendation feels relevant and doable. MEAL PLANNING, YOUR WAY Plan your week in seconds. Use the Personalized Meal Planner to build a plan for any days and meals you want, or build your own from recipes you love. Choose to minimize groceries or prioritize ingredient variety with a single tap. ONE SMART GROCERY LIST Your entire week, organized in one place. Ingredients automatically combine across recipes and group by aisle for easier shopping. Check items off as you go, move completed items to the bottom of your list, or order everything at once with Instacart. THOUSANDS OF RELIABLE RECIPES Explore a large library of tried-and-true recipes from Tastemade’s chefs and creators. Whether you’re cooking something quick or trying something new, every recipe works seamlessly with your meal plan and grocery list. COOK WITH CONFIDENCE Follow step-by-step cooking mode, view detailed nutrition info, scale serving sizes, and switch instantly between metric and imperial measurements—all designed to make cooking feel simpler and more approachable. SAVE & STAY ORGANIZED Save favorite recipes, build collections, and organize everything in your personal Recipe Box—so your go-to meals are always easy to find. ACCESS & PRICING Tastemade Cooking is free to download. Start with a 1-week free trial, then choose a subscription plan to continue access. Subscription options: – Monthly: 1-week free trial, then $5.99/month – Annual: 1-week free trial, then $49.99/year (save 30%) Cancel anytime. This app does not include our full shows and documentaries, which can be found in the Tastemade: Stream Shows & Docs app.

About

PlateBuilder

Simplify meal preparation by transforming basic ingredients into family-approved dishes. This app assists with healthier eating, utilizing existing pantry items, and solving the daily "what's for dinner" dilemma.

Highlights
  • Ingredient-based meal planning
  • Family-friendly recipes
  • Pantry inventory management
  • Healthy eating guidance
  • Dinner solution finder
Features
Read full description

Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated. PlateBuilder helps you turn simple ingredients into real meals your family will actually eat. Whether you’re trying to eat better, use what you already have, or just figure out what’s for dinner… PlateBuilder makes it easy.

Screenshots

Tastemade Cooking4 screens
PlateBuilder4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PlateBuilder at 100% against Tastemade Cooking's 38%. PlateBuilder also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Tastemade Cooking's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 7) and chart position (#54 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Tastemade Cooking sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and PlateBuilder sells 2 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

PlateBuilder holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tastemade Cooking has 1.2K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Tastemade Cooking's written reviews are positive against 100% of PlateBuilder's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tastemade Cooking ships an update fortnightly, PlateBuilder every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Tastemade Cooking versus PlateBuilder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTastemade CookingPlateBuilder
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.2K ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K — better7
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#54 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size100 MB54 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperTastemade, Inc.PlateBuilder LLC

Customer experience

Tastemade Cooking

All ratings1,208 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative57.5%

PlateBuilder

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Tastemade Cooking

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Subscription not properly cancelled, continued billing
  • Recipes not loading or unavailable

Requested features

3 requests
  • More free recipe access without subscription
  • Improved recipe search and filtering
  • Clearer cancellation and refund policies

PlateBuilder

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Tastemade Cooking

Subscriptions2
  • Tastemade Cooking Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Tastemade Cooking Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
2 purchases

PlateBuilder

Subscriptions2
  • PlateBuilder Plus7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • PlateBuilder Plus7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Tastemade Cooking free?
Tastemade Cooking is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PlateBuilder free?
PlateBuilder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tastemade Cooking or PlateBuilder?
PlateBuilder is rated higher. Tastemade Cooking averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while PlateBuilder averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Tastemade Cooking or PlateBuilder have ads?
Tastemade Cooking shows ads; PlateBuilder does not.
Which is updated more often, Tastemade Cooking or PlateBuilder?
Tastemade Cooking ships an update fortnightly, and PlateBuilder every 2 weeks. Most recently, Tastemade Cooking was updated on October 2, 2026 and PlateBuilder on September 18, 2026.

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