Best recipe keeper apps for iPhone (2026)
Every recipe app promises to end the screenshot chaos. They’re good at different things. Here are eight worth your time, what each is best for, and what it costs.
Updated October 18, 2026
Disclosure: we make Buttter, which is on this list. We’ve put it last and kept every entry to facts we could check on each app’s website or App Store listing on October 18, 2026. Prices are US App Store prices and change over time.
How we chose
A recipe keeper should make it easy to get recipes in, find them again, and cook from them. We looked at:
- Import sources: websites, and whether social posts and videos work, including ones with no written recipe.
- Platforms: iPhone first, plus whether your household’s other devices are covered.
- Pricing model: one-time purchase or subscription, and what the free tier allows.
- Cooking and shopping: scaling, cook mode, meal planning and getting ingredients onto a list.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Platforms | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paprika Recipe Manager 3 | People who want a one-time price, offline access and meal planning | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android | One-time per platform: $4.99 iOS, $29.99 Mac, $29.99 Windows (US) |
| Mela | Apple users who want a beautiful, private recipe box | iPhone, iPad, Mac | Free download; Mela+ one-time unlock, $6.99 iOS and $14.99 Mac (US) |
| ReciMe | Households that want meal planning across iPhone, Android and the web | iPhone, Android, web, Chrome extension | Free (5 imports/week); Premium subscription |
| Deglaze | Saving lots of silent or caption-less cooking videos | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro, Android | Free; Pro subscription |
| Pestle | Guided, hands-free cooking on Apple devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro | Free; Pro $2.99/month or $24.99/year (US) |
| Samsung Food (formerly Whisk) | Free meal planning and a big recipe catalog | iPhone, iPad, Mac (Apple silicon), web | Free; Food+ $6.99/month or $59.99/year (US) |
| Recipe Keeper | Keeping a big, long-lived collection across every platform | iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Mac | Free; Pro one-time $19.99 on iOS (US) |
| Buttter (our app) | Cooking from TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, and from what’s in your fridge | iPhone, iPad (iOS 18+) | Free; some AI features are an optional subscription |
The apps
1. Paprika Recipe Manager 3
Best for: People who want a one-time price, offline access and meal planning.
The long-standing favorite. Pay once, get free sync, a meal planner, an aisle-sorted grocery list and pantry tracking with expiration dates. Imports from older apps like MasterCook and MacGourmet. Its importer is built around websites rather than social video.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android
- Imports from: Websites (built-in browser, Safari extension)
- Price: One-time per platform: $4.99 iOS, $29.99 Mac, $29.99 Windows (US)
2. Mela
Best for: Apple users who want a beautiful, private recipe box.
A clean, Apple-only app with iCloud sync, an on-device importer, and scanning of printed cookbook pages. It can import from Paprika. Social posts are imported from their written description, so videos with no written recipe aren’t its strength.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac
- Imports from: Websites, YouTube/TikTok/Instagram descriptions, text recognition from cookbooks
- Price: Free download; Mela+ one-time unlock, $6.99 iOS and $14.99 Mac (US)
3. ReciMe
Best for: Households that want meal planning across iPhone, Android and the web.
Strong social importer that falls back to a video’s audio when there’s no caption. Weekly meal planner and grocery list with delivery ordering. Nutrition is a Premium feature.
- Platforms: iPhone, Android, web, Chrome extension
- Imports from: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, websites, screenshots, handwriting
- Price: Free (5 imports/week); Premium subscription
4. Deglaze
Best for: Saving lots of silent or caption-less cooking videos.
Transcribes audio, reads on-screen text and analyzes scenes, so silent videos work. Meal planning is part of Pro; the grocery list is free.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro, Android
- Imports from: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, websites, cookbook photos
- Price: Free; Pro subscription
5. Pestle
Best for: Guided, hands-free cooking on Apple devices.
Known for its guided cooking mode with multiple timers, SharePlay cooking with friends, households and a meal plan. Uses on-device Apple Intelligence for parsing.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro
- Imports from: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, websites, cookbook scans
- Price: Free; Pro $2.99/month or $24.99/year (US)
6. Samsung Food (formerly Whisk)
Best for: Free meal planning and a big recipe catalog.
A large free recipe catalog plus meal planning, shared shopping lists and nutrition. Food+ adds AI-personalized meal plans and pantry management. Social video import isn’t its focus.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac (Apple silicon), web
- Imports from: Websites, cookbook photos and handwriting
- Price: Free; Food+ $6.99/month or $59.99/year (US)
7. Recipe Keeper
Best for: Keeping a big, long-lived collection across every platform.
A veteran cross-platform recipe keeper with OCR scanning and imports from Paprika and MasterCook. Syncing to a computer is a separate purchase.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows, Mac
- Imports from: Websites, Instagram, TikTok, photos and PDFs (OCR), MasterCook, Paprika
- Price: Free; Pro one-time $19.99 on iOS (US)
8. Buttter (our app)
Best for: Cooking from TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, and from what’s in your fridge.
Reads the video itself, so caption-less TikToks and Reels still become recipes. Generates recipes from a fridge or pantry photo, shows nutrition on every recipe, and sends ingredients to Reminders, Things 3 or Todoist. No meal planner, no Android, and it needs a connection to save.
- Platforms: iPhone, iPad (iOS 18+)
- Imports from: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, any website, in-app web search
- Price: Free; some AI features are an optional subscription
Which one should you pick?
- Want to pay once? Paprika, Mela or Recipe Keeper.
- Need Android or Windows too? Paprika, ReciMe or Recipe Keeper.
- Plan meals every week? Paprika, ReciMe or Samsung Food.
- Most of your recipes come from TikTok and Instagram? ReciMe, Deglaze or Buttter. See how it works for TikTok and Instagram.
- Often staring into the fridge with no plan? Buttter’s fridge photo recipe generator.
Weighing two specific apps? Read Paprika vs Buttter or ReciMe vs Buttter.
Questions, answered
What is the best recipe keeper app for iPhone?
It depends on how you cook. Paprika is the best one-time-purchase option with meal planning, Mela is the most polished Apple-only app, and ReciMe, Deglaze and Buttter are strongest for saving recipes from TikTok and Instagram.
Which recipe apps are a one-time purchase?
Paprika (per platform), Mela (Mela+ unlock) and Recipe Keeper (Pro upgrade) are one-time purchases, as of October 2026.
Which recipe apps can save TikTok videos with no written recipe?
ReciMe and Deglaze use a video’s audio, and Deglaze also reads on-screen text. Buttter reads key frames of the video plus any caption text. Mela imports from the written description only.
Is there a free recipe keeper app?
Most apps here have a free tier: ReciMe, Deglaze, Pestle, Samsung Food, Recipe Keeper, Mela and Buttter are free to download, with limits or paid upgrades.
