Anova Culinary vs Joule
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Largest sous vide recipe collection
- Remote cooker control
- Guided cooking instructions
- Recipe creation and sharing
- Time and temperature guides
- Personalized cooking profiles
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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/
Joule
This app provides access to sous vide recipes and allows remote control of a sous vide device. It guides users through the cooking process with features like Visual Doneness and precise temperature management, ensuring perfectly cooked food.
- Exclusive sous vide cooking guides
- Visual Doneness selection
- Step-by-step cooking instructions
- Remote Bluetooth/Wifi control
- Precise temperature control
- Cooking notifications
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Get access to the best sous vide recipes and control Joule, the world’s smallest, most powerful sous vide tool, with the Joule App. From raw to ready, the app coaches you through the whole process, so cooking sous vide is simple. Just pick what you want to cook, and we’ll walk you through the rest. The Joule App includes groundbreaking features like Visual Doneness, precise temperature control from anywhere, and a robust collection of recipes and cooking guides created by the ChefSteps team. Joule and its app were built and designed from scratch to work together, and we’re just as dedicated to the quality of our products as we are to the food we make with them. You can read more about Joule and the Joule App in publications like CNET, Wired, Lifehacker, Food & Wine, and Network World. HOW DOES THE JOULE APP WORK? You tell us what you’re cooking, we tell you when it’s ready. Making a two-inch steak? Great. Just tap the Start button, and Joule will set a timer for perfect doneness. Get notified when your steak is ready—and we’ll also tell you how much longer it can stay in the water without overcooking. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THE JOULE APP? • Exclusive access to our cooking guides: The app comes with step-by-step guides for everything from perfect fried chicken, to succulent salmon, to the best steak you’ve ever had in your life, helping you unlock the power of sous vide. What’s even better? We’ll keep adding new guides (and updating old ones) all the time. • Visual Doneness: Choose exactly how you want your food to look when it’s done, then press go, and Joule does the rest. No more filtering through online forums to get the information you need. Visual Doneness takes the guesswork out of sous vide. • Step-by-step instructions, so you can learn as you go: Every cooking guide comes loaded with quick videos that’ll teach you new techniques and help you get the best results. • Notifications that let you know when your water is hot and your food is done, no matter where you are. Not ready to eat? We’ll tell you how much longer your food can stay in without overcooking. • Bluetooth and Wifi control, so you can cook from anywhere. WHAT IS SOUS VIDE COOKING AND HOW DOES IT WORK? Chefs have been cooking sous vide for decades to get perfect proteins and amazing new textures. But, it’s not fancy or complicated—Joule heats water to a very specific temperature, so you can cook food gently, with super-human precision. The water never gets hotter than you want the food to be, so it won’t overcook. HOW DO I GET JOULE? Visit chefsteps.com/joule to learn more. CAN I STILL USE THE JOULE APP IF I HAVE ANOTHER SOUS VIDE TOOL, LIKE NOMIKU, SANSAIRE, OR ANOVA? Absolutely! You can still use our sous vide guides and Visual Doneness in the Joule App to figure out your favorite times and temperatures, then manually set your other tool and make amazing meals at home. LEGALESE: Terms of Use and Sale - https://www.chefsteps.com/terms Limited Warranty - https://www.chefsteps.com/joule/warranty EULA - https://www.chefsteps.com/eula Privacy Policy - https://www.chefsteps.com/privacy By downloading, installing or using the Joule app, you agree to the End User License Agreement. Currently, this app is only available in English.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Anova Culinary at 4.4 against Joule's 2.6. Anova Culinary also leads on ratings volume (26K vs 732) and review sentiment (32% vs 19%). Joule's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.1). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Anova Culinary sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Joule asks for nothing beyond the download.
Anova Culinary holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Anova Culinary has 26K ratings behind it against 732, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of Anova Culinary's written reviews are positive against 19% of Joule's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Anova Culinary | Joule |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (26K ratings) — better | 2.6 (732 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.6% of reviews — better | 19.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 26K — better | 732 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #35 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Anova Culinary | ChefSteps Inc. |
Customer experience
Anova Culinary
Joule
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
Joule
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Anova Culinary
- Monthly Subscription14 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Sous Vide Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$9.991 Year
Joule
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Anova Culinary free?
Is Joule free?
Which has better reviews, Anova Culinary or Joule?
Do Anova Culinary or Joule have ads?
Which is updated more often, Anova Culinary or Joule?
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