SideСhef vs CookTable
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SideСhef
Discover and cook delicious meals with step-by-step instructions, personalized recommendations, and integrated grocery shopping. This app simplifies meal planning and helps you explore new cuisines, even if you're a beginner cook.
- Step-by-step recipe guidance
- Personalized recipe recommendations
- Integrated grocery list creation
- One-click online grocery shopping
- Meal planning tools
- Smart appliance control
- Beginner-friendly cooking tutorials
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SideChef’s 18,000 step-by-step recipes help you get from “what’s for dinner?” to cooking your next meal in just minutes. Filter by diet and preferences, search by ingredients, create a grocery list, and instantly shop ingredients from your favorite grocer. Called “best app” by USA Today and the New York Times’s “favorite cooking app,” SideChef empowers you to eat healthier, save money, and live your most delicious life. PERSONALIZED RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS Quickly find recipe inspiration tailored to your preferences. Filter by dietary requirements, allergies, food preferences, and ingredients you already have at home to find a recipe you like in less than one minute. ONE-CLICK GROCERY SHOPPING Easily create a grocery list, and shop ingredients directly from Instacart, Walmart, Amazon Fresh, Target, and more online grocers. Ingredients are intelligently matched to in-store products, and updated with real-time prices and availability. Make smarter decisions by seeing the percentage of each ingredient used in a recipe – an easy way to plan for leftovers and minimize food waste, while also saving money. GREAT FOR BEGINNERS New to cooking? Our step-by-step recipes include an image or video at every cooking step so you know exactly what to do. Built-in timers ensure you never overcook anything again, while how-to videos teach you valuable culinary skills – from how to properly dice an onion, to how to press tofu. Rate recipes, upload photos, exchange tips, and share cooking fails and successes with the SideChef home cooking community. EASY MEAL PLANNING Use our meal planning tool to select recipes for the week, or save appealing recipes to your cookbook. Browse thousands of curated recipe collections and meal plans for more inspiration and ideas on what you’ll cook next. RECIPES FOR EVERYONE Personalized recipe recommendations for these diets and allergens: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Low-Carb, Paleo, Keto, Gluten, Egg, Dairy, Soy, Peanut, Tree Nuts, Fish, Shellfish Recipes cover a variety of cuisines: American, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, French, and more! Browse recipes from your favorite culinary influencers – top food bloggers, writers, and renowned chefs. PRAISE FROM MEDIA “If you’re always scorching the stew and you just can’t seem to achieve perfectly puffed chocolate chip cookies, let this free app serve as your new cooking companion.” — Real Simple “If you’ve ever ruined an entire meal because of a seemingly tiny mistake in timing or ingredient proportioning, then we have an app for you.” — Business Insider _________________ By downloading and using this app or purchasing a SideChef Premium subscription, you are agreeing to the SideChef terms of use and service: https://www.sidechef.com/terms For more information about how we use your personal data, please see our Privacy Policy: https://www.sidechef.com/privacy-policy. By downloading this app, you acknowledge the terms of our Privacy Policy. SIDECHEF PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION PRICING & TERMS SideChef is free to download and use. Should you choose to upgrade to SideChef Premium, we offer two auto-renewing subscription options: * Monthly SideChef Premium subscription: $4.99 USD. Cancel anytime. * Annual SideChef Premium subscription: $49.99 USD. Cancel anytime. These auto-renewing subscription plans renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the subscription period. Your payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription will automatically renew each month or year 24-hours before the end of the current period. You can turn off auto-renew at any time from your iTunes account settings.
CookTable
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Two dishes, one finish time. Choose two recipes, review each task's time and equipment, and CookTable builds a cooking plan with a start time and an estimated finish. Spend less time rereading recipes and more time cooking. CookTable connects ingredients and instructions in a visual table, so you can see what each step needs. Keep ingredients in view as you move through the recipe—or switch to a focused, step-by-step cooking view. SEE WHAT GOES WHERE Ingredients run down the side, steps run across. Scroll through longer recipes without losing sight of your ingredients, and mark steps complete as you cook. FOCUS ON THE NEXT STEP Follow one instruction at a time, track your progress, and use cooking timers to keep track of the wait. BRING YOUR FAVORITES Import from supported recipe websites or paste recipe text. Review the result before saving. When a recipe cannot reliably become a table, follow its instructions in step format instead. PLAN DINNER, THEN SHOP Add recipes to your weekly meal plan and build a shopping list from your selections. Add extra items and check things off as you shop. COORDINATE TWO RECIPES Choose two dishes and review their timing to plan how to cook them together. YOUR COLLECTION, ON YOUR DEVICE No account required. Your recipes stay on your device. CookTable uses anonymous usage analytics, described in our privacy policy. FREE TO START New users receive five welcome imports, with two additional imports available each calendar month starting the following month. Try one coordinated meal. CookTable Pro unlocks unlimited imports and additional coordinated cooking. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Prices and any eligible trial are shown before purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://volat1.github.io/cooktable-site/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: CookTable at every 3 weeks against SideСhef's every 2 months. SideСhef's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). 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
Both are free to download. SideСhef sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and CookTable sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SideСhef ships an update every 2 months, CookTable every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SideСhef | CookTable |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.7K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SideChef Group Limited | New Life Fed HR Solutions LLC |
In-app purchases
SideСhef
- SideChef Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- SideChef Premium - Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
CookTable
- CookTable Monthly$1.991 Month
- CookTable Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- CookTable Lifetime$39.99
Questions
Is SideСhef free?
Is CookTable free?
Do SideСhef or CookTable have ads?
Which is updated more often, SideСhef or CookTable?
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