Cooking Journal vs Forkboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cooking Journal
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Your Personal Cooking Journal! Struggled to reproduce a successful dish or troubleshoot what went wrong? Cooking Journal App helps you capture and track every step of your cooking process so you can revisit and analyze them later. Never lose your recipes again! Assemble all your recipes from cooking sites or notes into one place. With cloud sync, your recipes are always available on any device. TRACK YOUR COOKING SESSIONS • Capture notes, photos, and voice recordings during cooking • Voice recordings automatically transcribed to text for easy review • Rate your sessions, add photos and notes to remember how it went • Organize sessions into collections or link them to recipes • Browse past sessions in Timeline and Calendar views CREATE YOUR RECIPE BOOK • Build and organize your personal recipe collection • Specify ingredients, cooking steps, ratings, photos, nutrition info, time, servings, and complexity • Import recipes from cooking websites or text notes with Assistant • Generate new recipes based on your requests with Assistant • Assistant can try estimating nutrition per serving • Organize recipes into collections or link to cooking sessions COOKING MODE • Follow recipes while keeping cooking notes simultaneously • Automatically adjust ingredient amounts for different serving amount • AI Assistant updates cooking instructions for custom serving amount CLOUD SYNC & OFFLINE SUPPORT • Automatic cloud sync when logged in • Access your data from any device after signing in • Use the app without creating an account • Works fully offline - no internet required ASSISTANT FEATURES • Import and generate recipes • Suggest ingredients creating recipes • Estimate nutrition information • Transcribe voice recordings to text • Assistant is backed by Google's Gemini AI • Requires internet and authentication • Free daily usage limits • PRO subscription increases limits up to 100x CUSTOMIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE • Multiple color themes with light and dark modes • Collections to organize recipes and cooking sessions • Choose imperial or metric units for your preference PRIVACY & DATA • No ads or tracking • Your recipes belong to you • Use anonymously or sync with cloud • All core features free forever Whether you're perfecting sourdough, experimenting with new cuisines, or building your family recipe collection, Cooking Journal gives you the tools to become a better cook through detailed tracking and AI-powered recipe management.
Forkboard
This app helps you plan your entire week's dinners on a single board, adapting to your tastes, schedule, and existing ingredients. It learns your preferences, suggests meals based on what you have, and generates a smart grocery list.
- Weekly dinner planning board
- Personalized meal suggestions
- Ingredient-based meal creation
- Leftover meal integration
- Household taste blending
- Automated grocery list generation
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Decide dinner once. Enjoy your week together. Plan a week around your household’s tastes, the time you have, and ingredients already in your kitchen. Forkboard turns your dinners into recipes and one organized grocery list. ONE TABLE, EVERYONE'S TASTES Family brings up to six taste profiles into one household board. Add profiles for children and partners, including people without their own account. Set dietary preferences, dislikes, and allergens for your table. Always check recipe ingredients and product labels for your needs. A WEEK THAT FITS YOUR LIFE Plan seven dinners around your tastes, dietary preferences, available time, and ingredients. Choose quick nights or leave room for a longer cook. Swap a dinner, hold the ones you want to keep, or choose from saved recipes. FROM BOARD TO TABLE Open a dinner for ingredients, quantities, and step-by-step instructions. Save recipes to return to, mark a dinner cooked, and rate the wins and misses to help shape future suggestions. Nutrition figures are estimates. YOUR GROCERY LIST, ALREADY STARTED Get a list grouped by aisle, with quantities combined and pantry ingredients accounted for. Check off items as you shop or share the list from the app. START WITH WHAT YOU HAVE Track pantry ingredients and use-soon dates. Take a kitchen photo, choose one from your library, or scan a grocery barcode. Review the suggested ingredients before adding them. Photo scans have plan-based limits. A LITTLE PREP, A LIGHTER WEEK Plan breakfasts and lunches ahead with a guided meal-prep session. Choose your meals, work through shopping and cooking, then portion and pack for the days ahead. IN SYNC, ON EVERY SCREEN Plan on iPhone, open your board on iPad, or continue on the web with the same account. FREE TO START Free includes four plans per month, one account, and recipes for one serving. Solo includes 30 plans per month for one account, with recipes for up to two servings. Family includes 60 plans per month shared across up to six profiles, with recipes for up to six servings. Full-week generations and single-dinner swaps count toward the same monthly plan allowance. New accounts receive a 7-day trial with one account, recipes for up to six servings, up to 15 plans and 10 photo scans. Multiple taste profiles and household taste blending require Family. No card is required. The trial does not become a paid subscription; when it ends, your account returns to Free and your boards stay available. Monthly and yearly memberships are available. Prices for your region are shown in the app before purchase. Paid memberships renew automatically unless canceled. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Manage or cancel your membership in your Apple Account subscription settings. Privacy Policy: https://forkboard.app/privacy Terms of Service: https://forkboard.app/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
Cooking Journal and Forkboard are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. Cooking Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Forkboard sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Cooking Journal | Forkboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 64 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Aydar Gilmullin | Forkboard LLC |
In-app purchases
Cooking Journal
- Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
- Premium Yearly (Best Value)$19.991 Year
Forkboard
- Solo Monthly$8.991 Month
- Family Monthly$12.991 Month
- Solo Yearly$59.991 Year
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- Family Yearly$99.991 Year









