Recipe Keeper App Free: What the Free Version Gives You

If you want a recipe keeper app free to use, RecipeSage costs nothing, Copy Me That is free up to 40 recipes, and Recipe Keeper is free to download but, by user reports, stops at 20 recipes until you buy Pro. Well Stockd keeps your own recipes unlimited and free.

The longer version matters because "free" means different things in each app. One caps how many recipes you can save, one caps how many you can import each week, and one is a paid app with only a trial. This page ranks them by what the free version lets you do, so you can pick a first home for your recipes and move later if you outgrow it.

It covers one question: which free recipe keeper should you start with? If you want the cost and cancelling side of the same apps, ReciMe alternatives and Paprika app alternative go deeper. If you want a map of every kind of recipe app, start with recipe app: pick one for saving, finding or cooking.

How did we compare free recipe keeper apps?

I read each app's own pages and store listings in October 2026 and asked five questions a recipe keeper has to answer.

• How many recipes can you save before you hit a wall or a payment screen?
• How do recipes get in: typing, a web link, a photo, a file from another app?
• Which devices does it run on, and does it sync between them?
• Does it work offline, in a kitchen with bad signal?
• Can you get your recipes back out if you leave?

Prices change, so I quote a price only when the vendor prints it, and I say "as of October 2026" each time. Where the vendor does not state a limit and I am relying on reviews or a rival's page, I say so.

Which recipe keeper app free tier gives you the most?

Sources for every cell are in the sections below and linked at the end of each.

Recipe Keeper: is the free app enough?

Recipe Keeper is the app the search is named for, and it is a solid recipe organizer. Its own site lists iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac. You can type recipes, import them from web pages, or scan a cookbook page, a handwritten card or a PDF with your phone camera, and the app turns the image into text. It scales servings, builds a shopping list grouped by aisle, has a weekly and monthly meal planner, and lets you make printable cookbooks. The vendor says it works online or offline and has an Alexa skill for hands-free cooking. (Recipe Keeper)

The free part is where it gets tricky. Both the App Store and Google Play listings show the app as free with a "Pro Upgrade" purchase inside it, and both say a separate purchase is required for other platforms. The vendor pages I could read do not state how many recipes the free version holds. App Store reviewers and RecipeSage's comparison page both report a cap of 20 recipes. Treat 20 as reported, not official, and check the app before you load a big collection. (App Store listing, RecipeSage comparison)

Recipe Keeper suits you if you have a modest collection, you want one purchase instead of a subscription, and you like scanning paper recipes. It suits you less if you cook for a household on different Apple IDs, because reviewers report each Apple ID needs its own upgrade.

RecipeSage: is it really free?

RecipeSage is a free, open source recipe keeper, meal planner and shopping list. It runs in a browser, as a web app you can install to your home screen, on iOS and Android, and as desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux. It imports from a web link, a photo, a PDF or a document, bulk imports from apps like Paprika, and keeps your collection searchable offline. It also has a cook mode, recipe scaling and nutrition tracking. (RecipeSage)

The maker says plainly that he built it for his own family, works on it in his free time, and never wants to show ads or charge. The tradeoff is that it is a one-person hobby project, so support runs through Discord and GitHub rather than a help desk. (About RecipeSage)

If the only question is "what is the most free recipe keeper app", this is the answer. It asks for a little tolerance of a plain look and a single developer.

Copy Me That: what do you get for free?

Copy Me That is a recipe clipper and manager. Its site says every feature is free up to 40 recipes, then a paid plan gives unlimited recipes at $1.00 a month, with yearly and lifetime options, and one membership covers all your devices. The App Store listing shows $0.99 a month, $12.00 a year and $65.00 lifetime as of October 2026. (Copy Me That, App Store)

It clips from any website with a button in your browser or from the app, keeps a link back to the original page, lets you edit your own tweaks, and ties the recipe box to a shopping list and a meal planner. The drawback for a kitchen is that the site says an internet connection is required.

Forty recipes is double Recipe Keeper's reported cap and enough to test a real habit. After that, the paid plan is the cheapest ongoing price on this page.

ReciMe: is the free version a recipe keeper?

ReciMe is built around importing, especially from social video. Its free plan allows 5 imports a week. Grocery lists, meal plans and cookbooks stay free. Unlimited imports, the nutrition calculator, the measurement converter, export and print, and step-by-step guided cooking are on the paid plan. In the United States the yearly plan is $39.99 as of October 2026, after a 7 day trial. (ReciMe free version, ReciMe cost, ReciMe export help)

The cap here is not on how many recipes you hold. It is on how fast you add them. That suits someone who saves a few recipes a week and not someone moving a 300 recipe collection in one weekend. Export is a paid feature, and the help page describes it from each recipe's Share menu with no bulk option, so read the details in ReciMe alternatives before you commit.

Paprika: the paid baseline

Paprika is not free, but it is what many people compare a free keeper to. The vendor sells each version separately, for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, and its cloud sync account is free. It has a built-in browser and a bookmarklet for saving recipes, a pantry, a meal planner, scaling, timers detected in your directions, and local storage so recipes open without internet. (Paprika)

The prices are one-time and differ by platform and by sale, so check your store. Paprika 4 entered beta in July 2026, and the vendor says its new features, including social media importing, will need a premium subscription after the beta. (Paprika 4 beta) If you are weighing it against a second copy on another device, Paprika app alternative and switching from Paprika cover the money side.

Well Stockd: where it wins and where it doesn't

Well Stockd is a kitchen app first and a recipe keeper second, so judge it on the keeper job alone. What it does for your own recipes is this.

You can add a recipe by typing it, by pasting a public recipe link, by pasting recipe or caption text, by uploading a Paprika or Recipe Keeper export file (up to 4 MB and 100 recipes), or by reading a photo of a recipe with AI. Nothing is saved until you review the draft and create the recipe. Unlimited recipes of your own are free, along with two custom recipe lists. You can scale servings, favorite recipes and share a recipe.

Where it wins: the recipes you save sit beside a catalog of about 3,950 recipes, mostly two-serving dinners, and every one says whether you can cook it with what is in your fridge right now. Your own recipes get that check too. Cook mode shows large type with timers and keeps the screen awake. If you also want a pantry and a shopping list that know what you own, that is the product's whole point. See what the app can do, the guide to cooking with what you have, and, if expiry dates matter to you, the best app to track food expiration dates.

Where it doesn't: it is a web app that installs to your home screen, not a store app. There is no bulk export of your recipes today, so if leaving later matters a lot, keep your originals. I do not claim offline use. The Paprika and Recipe Keeper file import only reads what those exports contain, and you review entries before saving. Photo import uses an AI allowance and can miss words.

Which free recipe keeper app should you start with?

Match your habit to the app.

If you are not sure, put your ten most used recipes into two apps and cook from each for a week. The one you open without thinking is the keeper.

How do you move recipes into Well Stockd from another keeper?

If you already use Paprika or Recipe Keeper, export from that app first and keep the file as a backup. In Well Stockd, open a new recipe, choose More ways to import, and upload the export. You get a list, open each recipe to review it, mark it reviewed, and save the batch. Recipes you keep in Copy Me That, ReciMe or RecipeSage go in through their web links or by pasting the text. For a method that works with any tool, see how to organize recipes.

Try it free: add three foods from your fridge and see what you can cook, then add one recipe of your own.

FAQ

Is there an app where you can record your own recipes?

Yes. Every app on this page lets you type in your own recipes. RecipeSage, Copy Me That, Recipe Keeper, Paprika and Well Stockd all do, and Well Stockd keeps unlimited recipes of your own on its free plan. Pick by how many recipes you have and which devices you use.

Is the Recipe Keeper app free?

It is free to download and use, with a Pro upgrade bought inside the app. The vendor's pages do not state the free recipe limit; App Store reviewers report 20. Pro is bought separately on each platform, according to the store listings.

What does a Recipe Keeper app review usually say?

The praise is for the scanning, the shopping list and the meal planner. The common complaints are the free recipe cap and that the upgrade is bought again on each platform and Apple ID. Read the current App Store and Google Play reviews yourself before you pay.

Which free recipe app has no recipe limit?

RecipeSage states no cap, no ads and no paywall. Well Stockd has no cap on recipes you add yourself. Copy Me That caps free use at 40 recipes and ReciMe caps imports at five a week.