Comparison

Anova Culinary vs Masterbuilt

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

Head to head
About

Anova Culinary

Discover and create sous vide recipes with a vast collection from professional chefs and home cooks. Control your precision cooker remotely, monitor cooking progress, and share your culinary creations. Offers guided cooking, time and temperature guides, and personal recipe saving.

Highlights
  • Largest sous vide recipe collection
  • Remote cooker control
  • Guided cooking instructions
  • Recipe creation and sharing
  • Time and temperature guides
  • Personalized cooking profiles
Features
Read full description

The Anova family of precision cookers allows everyone to cook like a pro! Paired with the Anova Culinary app, now perfectly cooked restaurant quality meals are as easy as the touch of a button. Browse the largest collection of sous vide recipes by Michelin star chefs and home cooks just like you. Then simply connect your cooker to the app and start, stop, and monitor your cook right from your mobile phone. Feeling inspired? Create and share your own recipes and go viral on the ‘gram. Whatever your pleasure, the Anova Culinary app is the place for everything sous vide. FEATURES ======== • LARGEST COLLECTION OF SOUS VIDE RECIPES: Access sous vide recipes created by Michelin star chefs and home cooks just like you. • COOK FROM AFAR: Start, stop, change the temperature, set the timer, and monitor your cooking status from just about anywhere, as long as your device is within Wi-Fi range. • RECIPE DISCOVERY: Cook recipes by James Beard Award-winning chefs, food editors, celebrity chefs, and more. • GUIDED COOKING: Follow the step-by-step instructions and click start to start cooking. • COOK NOTIFICATIONS: Stay up-to-date on your cooking status without getting tied to the kitchen. • RECIPE SHARING: Share your recipe with friends directly through the app. • TIME AND TEMP GUIDES: Learn the basics with our simple sous vide guides. • MANUAL CONTROL: Customize your cook settings with manual time and temperature control. • RECIPE COLLECTIONS: A series of new and appetizing recipe collections that are sure to keep you cooking. • RECIPE CREATION: Easily create and save your own personal sous vide recipe. • FAVORITES: Have a recipe or two that you love? Mark it as a favorite for quick and easy access. • PERSONAL PROFILE: Create your personal profile and see a history of all the meals you’ve cooked. Try all the features free for 14 days. Options in-app for monthly or yearly subscription terms. Payment will be charged to the iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period, and the renewal cost will be identified. Subscriptions may be managed by the user, and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Masterbuilt

Control your smart grill or smoker remotely. Adjust temperature, monitor cooking progress with real-time graphs, and receive alerts. Explore a vast recipe library to elevate your outdoor cooking experience.

Highlights
  • Remote grill and smoker control
  • Set and adjust temperature and time
  • Monitor meat probes and view graphs
  • Receive cooking notifications and alerts
  • Access a recipe library
  • View cooking history
Features
Read full description

Control your Masterbuilt Gravity Series®, AutoIgnite™ Series, and WiFi Smokers with our improved mobile app for a seamless grilling experience. Made for the modern grill master, you easily control your cooks with the power in the palm of your hand. Set and adjust temperature and time, monitor meat probes, view cooking history, discover hundreds of recipes, and take outdoor grilling to the next level. Features: Control Multiple Devices – Sync multiple Masterbuilt grills or smokers to the app for a digitally-driven outdoor cooking experience. Set Time and Temperature – Easily set your product’s desired cooking time and temperature. Notifications and Alerts—Receive alerts and notifications to help power on/off the grill, notify you when your meat probe has reached the desired temperature, and more. Interactive Cooking Graphs – Scroll through temperature graphs as you cook to stay on top of your game. Cooking History – Easily compare and interact with your past cooking adventures with a new session history feature. Recipe Library – Discover hundreds of new recipes and filter by food type, cooking style, or cook time. Product Compatibility – The Masterbuilt App is compatible with all Gravity Series Grills & Smokers, the AutoIgnite Series 545 Digital Charcoal Grill, and the 710 WiFi Digital Electric Smoker. Compatible products: Gravity Series 560 Grill & Smoker (MB20040220) Gravity Series 600 Grill & Smoker (MB20041023) Gravity Series 800 Grill & Smoker (MB20040221) Gravity Series 900 Grill & Smoker (MB20040122) Gravity Series 1050 Grill & Smoker (MB20041220) Gravity Series 1150 Grill & Smoker ( MB20041525) Gravity Series XT Grill & Smoker (MB20041223) 40” Digital Charcoal Smoker (MB20060321) AutoIgnite Series 545 Digital Charcoal Grill & Smoker (MB20041124) 710 WiFi Digital Electric Smoker (MB20070924) 710 WiFi Digital Electric Smoker EU (MB20072024, MB20072124, MB20072224)

Screenshots

Anova Culinary4 screens
Masterbuilt4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Masterbuilt at none against Anova Culinary's 2. Anova Culinary's advantage is review sentiment (32% vs 13%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Anova Culinary sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Masterbuilt asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Masterbuilt holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26K and 12K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 32% of Anova Culinary's written reviews are positive against 13% of Masterbuilt's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Anova Culinary ships an update monthly, Masterbuilt every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Anova Culinary versus Masterbuilt: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnova CulinaryMasterbuilt
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (26K ratings)4.6 (12K ratings) — better
Positive reviews31.6% of reviews — better13.0% of reviews
Number of ratings26K — better12K
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#32 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB48 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperAnova CulinaryPREMIER SPECIALTY BRANDS, LLC

Customer experience

Anova Culinary

All ratings25,585 ratings
Positive85.1%
Neutral3.2%
Negative11.7%
Written reviews1,217 reviews
Positive31.6%
Neutral9.4%
Negative59.0%

Masterbuilt

All ratings11,752 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews461 reviews
Positive13.0%
Neutral10.4%
Negative76.6%

User reviews

Anova Culinary

From 26K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Consistent cooking results
  • 🚀 Versatile for various foods
  • 🚀 Game-changing cooking method
  • 🚀 Convenient remote control

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues with app
  • 🐛 Unreliable timer functionality
  • 🐛 Glitchy app interface
  • 🐛 Difficult WiFi setup
  • 🐛 Lack of manual controls

Masterbuilt

From 12K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great smoker and grill
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🔥 Excellent flavor from charcoal and wood
  • 🍽️ Versatile (smoking, grilling, baking)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues with app
  • 🔌 App frequently disconnects from smoker
  • 🔍 App lacks important features (e.g. temperature history, notifications)
  • 🔢 Inconsistent temperature readings
  • 🤖 App is buggy and unreliable

Bugs and requests

Anova Culinary

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App unable to maintain connection to device
  • Timer resets unexpectedly during cooking
  • Recipes not saving properly in the app
  • Compatibility issues with certain WiFi networks
  • Notifications not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved recipe management
  • Better app integration with smart home devices
  • More customization options for cooking
  • Clearer instructions and troubleshooting guides
  • Ability to save personal recipes

Masterbuilt

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App frequently loses connection to smoker
  • Temperature settings not always reflected in smoker
  • Probe temperature selection options are limited
  • App crashes when trying to access certain features

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to set custom probe temperatures
  • Improve app connectivity and reliability
  • Add more detailed cooking data and history
  • Provide better notifications and alerts

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Anova Culinary

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Sous Vide Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$9.991 Year
None

Masterbuilt

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Anova Culinary free?
Anova Culinary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Masterbuilt free?
Masterbuilt is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Anova Culinary or Masterbuilt?
Masterbuilt is rated higher. Anova Culinary averages 4.4 out of 5 from 26K ratings, while Masterbuilt averages 4.6 from 12K ratings.
Do Anova Culinary or Masterbuilt have ads?
Neither Anova Culinary nor Masterbuilt shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Anova Culinary or Masterbuilt?
Anova Culinary ships an update monthly, and Masterbuilt every 3 months. Most recently, Anova Culinary was updated on September 26, 2026 and Masterbuilt on September 25, 2026.

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