# Menu Buddy vs TableLore | Culinary Companion

The clearest difference is update cadence: TableLore | Culinary Companion at every 9 days against Menu Buddy's every 6 months. Menu Buddy's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.0.0 vs 16.6). On price, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Menu Buddy sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days and TableLore | Culinary Companion sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Menu Buddy ships an update every 6 months, TableLore | Culinary Companion every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Menu Buddy | TableLore | Culinary Companion |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | **[4.3 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tablelore-culinary-companion/id6771182485/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | — | **4** |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 50 MB | 112 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0.0** | 16.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [JERZY FRYMARK](https://appshunter.io/developer/1756750144) | [Nammaker](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896773749) |

## What reviewers say

### Menu Buddy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/menu-buddy/id6744620289)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly | $1.99 | per 7 days |
| Monthly | $4.99 | per month |


### TableLore | Culinary Companion

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tablelore-culinary-companion/id6771182485)

This AI-powered culinary companion decodes menus, translates foreign dishes, and suggests wine pairings. It can also reverse-engineer restaurant recipes for you to recreate at home, and even suggest meals based on ingredients you already have.

**Highlights:** AI menu digitization and translation, Personalized culinary profiles, Dish recommendations based on taste, AI sommelier for wine pairings, Restaurant dish to home recipe conversion, Dietary preference flagging, Dining journal for saving meals

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

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Casual Diner Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Epicurean Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Casual Diner Annual | $24.99 | per year |
| Epicurean Annual | $49.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Menu Buddy free?

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

### Is TableLore | Culinary Companion free?

TableLore | Culinary Companion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Menu Buddy or TableLore | Culinary Companion have ads?

Neither Menu Buddy nor TableLore | Culinary Companion shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Menu Buddy or TableLore | Culinary Companion?

Menu Buddy ships an update every 6 months, and TableLore | Culinary Companion every 9 days. Most recently, Menu Buddy was updated on October 14, 2026 and TableLore | Culinary Companion on October 24, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*