RecipeSage. It's free and open source. It's great. https://recipesage.com/
this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2026
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I personally prefer to just copy recipes into markdown files. They stay local on my device so I don't have to worry about an internet connection, I can sync them to whatever device I want with Syncthing, and they can be opened on any markdown editor (Obsidian, LogSeq, Helix Notes, etc.).
So then I don't have to worry about any particular service going down, enshittifying, or selling my data.
If you're okay with self-hosting I've been using Mealie and have liked it so far.
Big fan of mealie. Feels really good having control over your recipes.
Mealie is interesting. Self hosted is probably the way to go long term if I want to avoid situations like this in the future. I’m checking it out now. Thanks!
I can second using mealie; you do have to setup and host a docker container to do so.
+1 for mealie.
Good lookin' out. I don't think Paprika or Paprika3 have had updates in years on android.
Mela!!! Super simple, can import from web pages, scanning, or PDF. Can export in lots of ways too. Can also add people, my family all share the recipies and can add. No ads or tracking. He also has an rss app that's great too!
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/mela-recipe-manager/id1548466041
Edit- it has a bunch if other features like calendar for meal planning and other stuff, but I don’t use them so can’t say much about them.
Thanks! I’ll check out Mela, although I’m leaning towards not depending on the App Store after this experience. I do appreciate the suggestion.
I am also a happy Mela user, and I second this recommendation
And it doesn’t collect data on you. Nice. Not OP, but thanks!
I upgraded on my iPhone and I haven't been nagged, but I don't use it much.
Curious about the replies as well.
I was able to just click 'Restore Purchase' and it seems like the same paprika I've used for years is back without needing the subscription.
But even the premium at $10/year seems like a fine compromise to support the dev of one of the best cooking apps available.
It’s not about the money. I WANT to pay for what I use. I have several subscriptions to software.
It’s the change to the software that opens the door to ads and manipulation without any recourse. It’s changing the terms. I no longer trust the developer. Also, the realization that Paprika’s export options are kind of a joke is something I should have noticed sooner.
Any app that contains data that could be held hostage is a potential problem. That this kind of thing has become normalized is depressing.
The conversation about what data needs to be hosted where is interesting. So much of that data probably doesn’t need to be anywhere but local. iTunes used to sync locally. Now I pay Apple $25 a year just so I can access music I’ve already paid for. I should do something about that.
Thanks all.
Okay, so again... Host it yourself.
To export your existing library, just export to html then convert to markdown (or even directly into mealie), it's incredibly easy.
All of your iTunes music should have been immediately downloaded to open tunes and then saved elsewhere. That $25/year is not paying for your music, it's paying for the convenience of cloud access because 99% percent of people would rather do that than self-host.
Both of these things only require a small amount of work. The fact that you haven't done it for iTunes over all these years, but are now complaining about paprika tells me that you are fine with supporting Apple but hate it when it goes to support small independent devs.
The fact that you haven’t done it for iTunes over all these years, but are now complaining about paprika tells me that you are fine with supporting Apple but hate it when it goes to support small independent devs.
Oh man, what a take. Go be angry at someone else please.
Hey buddy, I'm not the complaining that an app checks notes: "exists" because they charge money to provide a service that costs the devs money.
No. We need to stop it with this $x/year BS. Either let me pay once or I’m finding something else.
Then you have to self host.
Mealie is basically the same thing as Paprika, so once you've dropped money and time into your home lab it isn't an issue. Except for maintenance and electricity.
Expecting a company to host your information indefinitely without ever seeing a dime after the initial $5 purchase is wildly entitled.
Expecting a company to host your information indefinitely without ever seeing a dime after the initial $5 purchase is wildly entitled.
If they deliberately design their thing to cloud host your data as a vendor lock-in strategy, they're the entitled ones!
Absolutely fuck them and everyone who makes excuses for them!
Well then, I guess you have to do the work yourself and build your own app.
Paprika is a great app, wanting to crush small developers by demanding their work be free forever is such a loser mindset. God forbid you pay 80 cents a month for an ad free app that you find useful.
You're probably the kind of person who orders from grubhub 4 times a month for the convenience, knowing full well that you could order directly from the business for a fraction of the cost.
First of all, IDGAF about Paprika. I've never used it and never will. I use a proper GPL recipe app (Broccoli).
Second, accusing me of using scammy shit like Grubhub is libelous fighting words and I demand a goddamn apology!
Expecting a company to host your information indefinitely without ever seeing a dime after the initial $5 purchase is wildly entitled.
Then price accordingly or don’t exist. I’m sick and tired of being bled dry every month by a thousand paper cuts of subscriptions.
Why would you expect or need Paprika to host anything?
I personally find ~$10/year a good compromise of supporting the dev and on-going development/maintenance, and my default objection to subscriptions. But make no mistake, the cost isn’t going to hosting infrastructure.
Why would you expect or need Paprika to host anything?
Because that's what it does...
After you scrape the recipe, it's stored on your where you can edit it and save versions as you tweak the recipe. Same with adding your own recipes to it.
I know what it does; my wife and I use it often. I guess I don’t see why it defaults to or needs proprietary cloud storage. It’s a recipe app for gods sake.
How do you think the recipe goes from the device you use to the device your wife uses?
As we both use iOS devices, iCloud would’ve been the native solution and my assumption.
Paywalling most features on the assumption everyone will want or need cross-platform syncing is simply a revenue maximizing move, although like I said $10/year is reasonable. But coming full circle, my point that Paprika needs to host anything (except for cross platform syncing only) is my objection.
I understand the sentiment, but maintaining an app is an ongoing process that takes up the developer’s time. It makes sense to me that they should continue to be renumirated for keeping the app functioning. Subscriptions also insentivise development of mature software and can cover ongoing costs such as servers. When I like an app, I am happy to pay to support the developer. I would also comment that in this case, existing customers do not have to pay the subscription except to gain access to a small number of features. It seems like a fairly reasonable move to me.
I agree, subscriptions are becoming necessary to maintain an income to allow you to keep development going.
In days past, you used to buy an application that would be yours to use forever and sometimes with a year’s worth of updates included. Then the app developer would bring out a new version for you to buy if you liked the new features. This gave the developer an income as long as they were improving the product.
This model simply doesn’t work for mobile applications because apps get updated automatically when you release a new version.
The only way to prevent people from getting updates to your app is to release a new app but there are problems with that:
- you lose all of the user scores and reputation that you built up with the previous version. This makes it much harder to get new users.
- some people would be really unlucky and buy the app just before a new version is released and not get any further updates where others would get a full year.
- old unsupported apps get hidden and then removed from the app stores so people who bought it would lose access when they get a new phone.
It’s annoying and I’m also very reluctant to sign up for a subscription to an app that doesn’t have a cloud service element but it’s just replacing an income stream that they lost with the mobile device application model.
If you previously purchased Paprika 3 on any platform, you will continue to get all the previous features for free, only new users will have limits imposed (only 50 recipes before needing to subscribe). In addition, you will get the same features on all platforms.
Previously, I had bought the iOS version as it was just a few dollars, but had not bought the Mac version as it was like ＄40! But now, I have the Mac version for free with version 4. This is awesome and more than reasonable.
The information is very clear on their Support page
You sound like an ad. That's eerily similar to the response I got from the developer. It does not address my question. But good for you, I guess. You appear to get something for free. What could possibly go wrong.
I'd prefer my software not change willie nillie without warning. At a bare minnimum I would expect a warning that things are going to change when updating. I should of had the option to decide what gets installed and what the trade offs are.
This is no different than Hue changing their terms of service on everyone without notice. It fundamentally changes the relationship with the developer, and not for the better.
"The information is very clear on their Support page" Yes, It NOW has information that could of been helpful to know before it updated. Your point?
Sorry you think that I sound like an ad. I’m genuinely happy with the update. Other apps I’ve previously bought simply released a new version and completely dropped all support for the old one. If I wanted the same features with the updated app it’d be a ＄20 per year affair. So I was very impressed with how this developer handled the situation.
You didn’t have to upgrade. The AppStore allows you to turn off automatic updates, which is something I do. I chose to upgrade after reading the update information; It was a conscious decision.
I can empathise that you essentially feel betrayed by the developer, and that feeling sucks. We have all been there.
I hope you find a better way to manage your recipes.
I switched from Paprika a year or so ago just because I wanted to be able to add recipes from my desktop and couldn't be assed to pay the $30 for a desktop client when I'd already bought it for mobile devices. I found Umami and haven't looked back. I don't recall what the lifetime subscription costs, but I've been able to share it with family members who were also getting frustrated with Paprika.
Thanks nick. Umami looks interesting. It is another App Store distributed app, which is not great, but it does have proper exporting tools which is a plus.
It actually also has a web interface, though I'm not sure if it allows you to purchase a subscription from the site directly! Once you're logged in, https://www.umami.recipes/home should just display all your recipes.
I paid for Recipe Keeper years ago when it was apparently $6 per platform (so $6 on iOS / iPadOS and another $6 on macOS). At the time it was great and is still perfectly cromulent, but it looks like it's now $20 which feels a little steep for what it is. Now that I'm more comfortable with self-hosting, this Mealie thing people are talking about seems like it's worth a look.
Editing to add, it looks like you can import from a whole host of different platforms and formats, including Paprika. The only export option is a "Recipe Keeper .zip file," but I'm not sure how portable that is.
That's quite a list of import options. I'll check it out.
Mealie does look appealing.
My self hosting list keeps getting bigger.