Comparison

MasterCook vs Recipes

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

Head to head
About

MasterCook

Organize your recipes and create shopping lists with this app. It allows you to import recipes online, scale ingredients automatically, and search your collection. Collaborate with others by creating private group cookbooks.

Highlights
  • Import recipes online with one click
  • Organize recipes into custom cookbooks
  • Automatically scale recipe ingredients
  • Add recipes to shopping lists
  • Search recipes by cookbook, category, and title
  • Create private group cookbooks for collaboration
Features
Read full description

Chefs, culinary schools, restaurants, home cooks, and foodservice companies have trusted the MasterCook products for over 27 years. Let MasterCook organize your recipes and shopping lists in your private online account. A FREE 30-day trial allows you to store up to 25 recipes in your online account with full functionality of features. A paid subscription allows you to store up to 100,000 recipes in your online account until your subscription expires. Here’s what you can do with the MasterCook App: • Download recipes online with just 1 click! View a recipe in a web browser and use the Share button to send it to your MasterCook app. • Organize recipes into custom cookbooks. • Scale a recipe to change its servings, and MasterCook will adjust the ingredient amounts automatically. • Add a recipe to a shopping list. • Search your recipes based on cookbook, category, and recipe title. • Create private group cookbooks to collaborate with friends and family. Use the MasterCook mobile app on its own or use it in conjunction with the MasterCook Windows product to access even more tools like adding recipes to menus and meal plans and performing nutritional and cost analysis of your recipes and menus and meal plans. Learn more at https://www.mastercook.com/learn-more If you have any questions, contact MasterCook Support and receive a timely reply.

About

Recipes

Consolidate your favorite recipes and grocery lists into a single, organized digital cookbook. Easily import recipes from the web and create smart shopping lists categorized by aisle for faster, stress-free meal planning and preparation.

Highlights
  • Save and organize recipes
  • Import recipes from the web
  • Create smart grocery lists
  • Sync across devices with iCloud
  • Light & Dark Mode support
  • Customizable recipe folders
Features
Read full description

Save recipes from websites, social posts, cookbooks, and cooking videos in one personal cookbook. Organize your favorites, follow each cooking step, and turn ingredients into a grocery list—all on iPhone and iPad. SAVE THE RECIPES YOU WANT TO COOK • Import recipes from websites and supported public links, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest • Save recipes from screenshots, photos, and saved cooking videos • Scan printed recipes, recipe cards, and cookbook pages—even across multiple pages • Share content directly to Recipes from other apps, or paste copied recipe text • Review and edit imported recipes before saving MAKE YOUR COOKBOOK YOUR OWN • Create recipes with photos, ingredients, directions, cooking times, servings, and notes • Organize your collection into folders with custom colors and icons • Find recipes by title, author, ingredient, or words in the directions • Keep your cookbook synced between iPhone and iPad with iCloud COOK WITH LESS BACK-AND-FORTH • Adjust servings and scale ingredient quantities • Check off ingredients and directions as you cook • Tap ingredient names in directions to see their amounts • Tap cooking times to start timers, with support for multiple timers • Follow timers from the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Keep your screen awake while viewing a recipe FROM RECIPE TO GROCERY LIST • Add selected ingredients, including scaled quantities, directly to your list • Find groceries automatically grouped into familiar categories • See which recipe each item belongs to • Add your own items, check them off while shopping, and share your list READY WHEN YOU NEED IT Find recipes with Spotlight, open them with Siri, and use Shortcuts to add groceries or begin an import. Share or print complete recipes, and cook comfortably in Light or Dark Mode. Bring your saved recipes together—and make your next meal easier to plan, shop for, and cook. Terms of Service: https://sites.google.com/view/therecipesapp/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/therecipesapp/privacy-policy

Screenshots

MasterCook4 screens
Recipes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Recipes at 100% against MasterCook's 32%. MasterCook's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. MasterCook sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Recipes sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MasterCook ships an update every 5 weeks, Recipes every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 3, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
MasterCook versus Recipes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMasterCookRecipes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (47 ratings) — better
Positive reviews31.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings47 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size265 MB17 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperValusoft Finance, LLCEthan Hannah

Customer experience

MasterCook

All ratings41 ratings
Positive46.3%
Neutral7.3%
Negative46.3%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive31.8%
Neutral12.1%
Negative56.1%

Recipes

All ratings47 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral2.1%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

MasterCook

Reported bugs

21 issues
  • App crashes when opening
  • Cannot register/login
  • Text invisible or unreadable
  • Editing fails with error message
  • Recipes not saving
Show 16 more
  • App closes randomly
  • Recipes not importing correctly
  • Syncing issues
  • Cannot export app recipes to PC
  • Search function not working
  • App crashes on search for non-existent item
  • System error on login
  • Cannot delete app
  • Display issues after upgrade
  • Cannot see cookbook names
  • Ingredients not recognized for nutritional info
  • Cannot move between recipe edit screens
  • Keyboard covers input field
  • App not opening after upgrade
  • App not recognizing online status
  • Login credentials shown for another user

Requested features

11 requests
  • Search by ingredient
  • Print recipes and shopping lists
  • Copy/paste functionality
  • Improve UI/reduce whitespace
  • Direct web import on tablet
Show 6 more
  • Meal planning feature
  • Search function for recipes
  • Sort by category
  • Pantry functionality
  • Landscape mode for iPad
  • Ascending sort for downloaded recipes

Recipes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

MasterCook

One-time1
  • MasterCook One Year Subscription$99.99
2 purchases

Recipes

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Yearly$9.991 Year

Questions

Is MasterCook free?
MasterCook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Recipes free?
Recipes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MasterCook or Recipes have ads?
Neither MasterCook nor Recipes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MasterCook or Recipes?
MasterCook ships an update every 5 weeks, and Recipes every 2 months. Most recently, MasterCook was updated on September 3, 2026 and Recipes on September 21, 2026.

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