Comparison

CookWhat vs MacroGram

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

Head to head
About

CookWhat

Discover home-style Chinese dishes based on ingredients you already have. Snap a photo of your fridge or manually enter items to get recipe suggestions. Follow step-by-step instructions and customize for your taste preferences.

Highlights
  • Photo recognition of ingredients
  • Manual ingredient entry
  • AI-generated recipe suggestions
  • Step-by-step cooking instructions
  • Customizable taste preferences
  • Offline recipe library
  • Save favorite dishes
Features
Read full description

Not sure what to cook today? Snap a photo of your fridge or countertop, or simply type what you have, and get home-style Chinese dishes you can make right now. The app interface is currently in Simplified Chinese. COOK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE • Photo recognition: snap your fridge or cutting board, or pick a photo from your library • Manual entry: type several ingredients at once, or tap common ones to add them • Confirm before cooking: tap to rename, tap × to remove, and add anything that was missed • No ingredients recognized in a photo? Switch straight to typing instead of retaking it ONLY THE INGREDIENTS YOU HAVE • Dishes use only your list plus pantry basics such as salt, sugar, soy sauce, scallion, ginger and garlic, so there's no extra shopping trip • Each dish shows how many pans and steps it takes, and whether it's a one-pot meal • "Add one more": a tip for one extra ingredient that would take the dish up a level • Not in the mood? Get a fresh batch of ideas STEPS YOU CAN ACTUALLY FOLLOW • Step-by-step instructions with amounts (grams, spoons, pieces), heat and timing • Portions scaled to the number of people you're cooking for GETS TO KNOW YOUR TASTE • Set your spice level, dietary restrictions or allergies, and servings once • Restricted ingredients are checked twice, when dishes are created and again in the results, and you're warned before generating if your list contains one (please double-check ingredients if you have a severe allergy) • Rate a dish Tasty, OK or Flopped after cooking and suggestions drift toward your taste; this taste memory is saved on your phone and can be cleared anytime RECIPE LIBRARY & FAVORITES • Classic home-style recipes built in, browsable by category, even offline • Save the dishes you love and come back to them anytime FREE TRIAL & LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP • Free to download, with 3 free tries of AI dish suggestions; the recipe library and favorites are always free • A one-time Lifetime Membership purchase unlocks 30 AI dish suggestions per day • Lifetime Membership is a one-time purchase, not a subscription, and never renews; after reinstalling or switching phones, tap Restore Purchases in Settings Works on iPhone and iPad. No sign-up required. Photo recognition and AI dish suggestions need an internet connection.

About

MacroGram

Features
Read full description

MacroGram is a macros-first food diary and calorie tracker built for people who train. Log a meal in seconds and see carbs, protein, fat and calories against your own targets — so you always know what to eat next, not just how much you ate. Most calorie counters stop at one number. MacroGram splits every day into carbs, protein and fat, then gives you two sets of targets: one for training days, one for rest days. Your numbers change with the weekday automatically, so you never have to re-plan your week. WHY MACROGRAM • Fast food logging — search 300+ everyday foods or reuse a saved meal template • Training-day / rest-day targets, switched automatically by weekday • Protein goal calculated from lean body mass, not just body weight • Calendar heat map and history search — find any meal you've ever logged • Home screen widget that keeps today's protein and calories one glance away • Weekly and monthly review posters, ready to share • Body progress photos with before/after comparison posters • Reminder notifications at the times you choose • Full English and Chinese interface • CSV export for long-term tracking BUILT FOR YOUR DATA No account, no cloud sync, no ads. Your food log, weight history and progress photos stay on your device. MacroGram does not upload your entries. FREE AND PRO Core macro tracking is free, including up to 10 custom foods. MacroGram Pro unlocks unlimited custom foods, meal templates, weekly trend details, CSV export, lean-mass protein targets, watermark-free posters and body photo comparisons. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the app and on the App Store. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID settings. MacroGram is a tracking tool for your own planning. It does not provide medical advice or a diagnosis. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

CookWhat4 screens
MacroGram4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CookWhat at none against MacroGram's 1. MacroGram's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. MacroGram sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. CookWhat asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for CookWhat against 5.0 for MacroGram. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CookWhat ships an update every 2 months, MacroGram every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
CookWhat versus MacroGram: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCookWhatMacroGram
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer剑锋 易龙飞 庄

Customer experience

CookWhat

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

MacroGram

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

CookWhat

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

MacroGram

One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$12.99

Questions

Is CookWhat free?
CookWhat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MacroGram free?
MacroGram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, CookWhat or MacroGram?
CookWhat and MacroGram are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do CookWhat or MacroGram have ads?
Neither CookWhat nor MacroGram shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CookWhat or MacroGram?
CookWhat ships an update every 2 months, and MacroGram every 3 days. Most recently, CookWhat was updated on October 31, 2026 and MacroGram on November 10, 2026.

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