Verdict
This is a subscription recipe app, not a free one, and reviewers who pay say the recipes and search/save design are worth it. Some older-device users report the app locking them out of content they're paying for, which is a real friction point.
Best for
Someone who already cooks from NYT recipes regularly and wants a well-organized, searchable place to save and follow them, and is fine paying an ongoing subscription for it.
Dealbreaker
It runs on a subscription, and a handful of paying users report being unable to access recipes on older iPads, plus general frustration with subscription mechanics.
The facts.
Pulled from the App Store, not written by hand. unverified
Price
Free
In-app purchases
Unknown
Ads
Unknown
Platforms
iPhone, iPad
Rating
4.9★ (545,637)
Version
4.169.0
Last updated
Sep 9, 2026
Released
Sep 17, 2014
Attributes
Native app
Category
Food & Drink, Reference
What reviews consistently say.
Themes grouped from 200 App Store reviews. Source feed ›
Praised for
Subscription pricing and paywalls12 reviews
Ease of use and design11 reviews
Value for money4 reviews
Import and export2 reviews
Complained about
Subscription pricing and paywalls4 reviews
Where this comes from
12 of 200 recent reviews raised: Subscription pricing and paywallsApp Store reviews ›
11 of 200 recent reviews raised: Ease of use and designApp Store reviews ›
4 of 200 recent reviews raised: Value for moneyApp Store reviews ›
Listed at Free on the App StoreApp Store listing ›
Where we recommend it
The best recipe apps ›Recipe and meal-planning apps that are well rated and still maintained, each with its catch.
Alternatives with the same rule.
Every app here is rated 4.2 or better, has been updated in the last eighteen months, and has no significant number of reviewers reporting it broken. Price is not the rule on this list — some are free, some are not. Also with a catch.
Free · 4.8★ (291,299) · Updated Sep 10, 2026
Verdict. ReciMe is easy to use and popular for organizing recipes, but the subscription paywall shows up early and aggressively, and the recipe-import feature (a core selling point) breaks or misbehaves for a meaningful chunk of users.
Best for. Someone who wants a polished recipe organizer and is fine paying for it, and who mainly types or copies recipes in rather than relying on photo or video import.
Dealbreaker. You're pushed into a free trial that auto-renews before you can properly test the app, and the recipe-import-by-photo/video feature freezes or fails for a notable number of reviewers.
Free · 4.7★ (219,400) · Updated Sep 8, 2026
Verdict. HelloFresh is a meal-kit subscription app, not a general recipe app — its core function is managing weekly deliveries and menu selection, and reviewers describe real friction with the app itself: unusable menus, crashes, and customer service that's hard to reach when something goes wrong.
Best for. Someone who already wants a weekly meal-kit delivery service and is willing to manage a subscription through an app that sometimes needs a support call to fix delivery or billing problems.
Dealbreaker. Multiple reviewers describe the app menu becoming unusable and customer service being unreachable (hold, hangups, frozen chat) exactly when a delivery or order goes wrong.
Free · 4.9★ (80,369) · Updated Sep 11, 2026
Verdict. AnyList focuses on turning recipes into shopping lists and syncing them across a household, rather than being a recipe discovery app. It clearly works well for that narrow job, but core features like Apple Watch sync sit behind a subscription.
Best for. Someone who already has recipes from around the web and wants them turned into a shared, synced grocery list with a partner or family.
Dealbreaker. Several reviewers note that syncing to Apple Watch and other paid-tier features require an ongoing subscription, and some explicitly say they dislike that model even while paying for it.