1. SuperCook
Finding something to cook tonight, free, with nothing to set up.
You tick off what you have and it searches a large index of existing recipes for matches. It is a search box over other people’s recipes, which is why it is fast and why it forgets you between visits.
- Free
- Yes
- Paid
- Not verified. Their site blocks automated fetches, so we will not quote a figure we could not read.
- Pantry and expiry
- You re-enter your ingredients each time rather than keeping an inventory.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- A far larger index of established recipes to search through.
- No account at all. Open it and start ticking.
- Nothing to maintain, which matters if keeping an inventory sounds like work.
The default answer in this category, and the one most often recommended when somebody asks. Try it first.
Checked 2026-07-27. Source: supercook.com · Riff.kitchen vs SuperCook
2. Paprika 3
Owning a recipe collection you built yourself, offline, on real apps.
A recipe manager you fill. It clips recipes from any website through its own browser, sorts a grocery list by aisle, and keeps a pantry that records purchase and expiration dates.
- Free
- Android only, up to 50 recipes, no sync
- Paid
- $4.99 on iOS, $29.99 on Mac, bought separately per platform
- Pantry and expiry
- Yes, with purchase date, expiration date and in or out of stock, sortable by expiry.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- Imports recipes from anywhere on the web. We cannot import a collection at all.
- Expiry tracking is not ours alone. Paprika has had it for years.
- Bought once per platform instead of a subscription, and it works offline.
Checked 2026-09-15. Source: apps.apple.com · Riff.kitchen vs Paprika 3
3. DishGen
Generating a brand new recipe from an idea or a list of ingredients.
You enter ingredients, dietary needs or a recipe idea and it generates an all-new recipe or a meal plan. Closest in kind to what we do, without the kitchen inventory behind it.
- Free
- Yes, a Basic account with 15 usage credits a week
- Paid
- Premium at $6 a month billed annually, Pro at $13.25 a month billed annually, both with a 7 day trial
- Pantry and expiry
- Its site does not mention a pantry, inventory or expiry dates.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- A more generous free allowance than most, at 15 generations a week with no card.
- Two paid tiers, so you can pay for heavy use rather than being capped.
Checked 2026-09-22. Source: dishgen.com
4. Riff.kitchen
OursCooking what is already in your kitchen, and throwing less of it away.
You tell it what you have, by typing or by photographing a shelf, and it writes a recipe around it. The pantry persists with expiry dates, the planner starts with whatever goes off first, and the shopping list contains only what you are missing rather than the whole ingredient list.
- Free
- Yes, no card. Recipe generation, the pantry, the planner and the shopping list are all on the free tier.
- Paid
- Chef’s Pass at $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year, for voice cooking, the advanced planner and AI images
- Pantry and expiry
- Yes, persistent, with expiry dates that drive the meal plan.
We make this one. Every other entry on this page names something it does better than we do, because a list written by one of the entrants is worth nothing otherwise.
Checked 2026-09-22. Source: riff.kitchen
5. AnyList
A shopping list and recipe box shared across a household.
Lists, recipes and a meal plan, all shared with your family, on real apps with widgets, Siri and Alexa. The grocery list is the centre of it rather than the recipe.
- Free
- Yes, but only 5 recipes imported from the web
- Paid
- $9.99 a year, or $14.99 a year for a household
- Pantry and expiry
- Not a listed feature.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- Sharing with a household, which we do not have at all.
- Price, and it is not close: $9.99 a year against $6.99 a month.
- Native apps, a watch app, widgets and location reminders.
Checked 2026-09-22. Source: anylist.com · Riff.kitchen vs AnyList
6. Plan to Eat
Planning a week in advance from recipes you already chose.
You save recipes from anywhere, drag them onto a calendar, and it writes the grocery list from the plan. It runs forwards from a menu, where we run backwards from a fridge.
- Free
- No. 14 day trial, no card required
- Paid
- $5.95 a month or $49 a year
- Pantry and expiry
- Not described.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- A proper planning calendar, which is the whole product rather than a feature.
- Saves recipes from any website. We cannot import one.
- Nutrition and macro tracking inside the planner.
Checked 2026-09-22. Source: plantoeat.com · Riff.kitchen vs Plan to Eat
7. ChatGPT and other chat assistants
A one-off answer when you can describe what you have in a sentence.
You type your ingredients into a chat and it writes a recipe. It is genuinely good at the writing. What it cannot do is remember your kitchen between conversations, so every session starts from nothing.
- Free
- Yes, with limits that change often
- Paid
- Varies by provider and changes often, so check the source rather than trusting a figure here
- Pantry and expiry
- No. Nothing persists between chats unless you paste it again.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- It will answer literally any cooking question, not just what to cook.
- No new account if you already use one.
Checked 2026-07-27. Source: openai.com · Riff.kitchen vs ChatGPT
8. Mealime
Nothing, from October 21, 2026. It is closing.
A well liked meal planner that generated a plan and a grocery list. It shuts down on October 21, 2026 and deletes account data when it does, and the announcement mentions no export tool.
- Free
- Was yes
- Paid
- Mealime Pro, now being wound down
- Pantry and expiry
- No.
Better than Riff.kitchen at
- It was the cleanest meal planner in this list, which is why people are unhappy about the closure.
Listed because people are still searching for it. If you use it, save your recipes before the date.
Checked 2026-09-22. Source: riff.kitchen · Riff.kitchen vs Mealime