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Head-to-head · Recipe Apps

NYT Cooking vs Food.com

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 6 checks side by side
Higher score NYT Cooking #1 in Recipe Apps 9.2/10 Paid ✓ 3 of 4 features Visit NYT Cooking
Food.com #3 in Recipe Apps 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Food.com

NYT Cooking leads on 3 checks, Food.com on 2, and 1 is even. Who comes out ahead on the 6 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreNYT Cooking · 9.2/10
  • Free planonly Food.com
  • Most featuresNYT Cooking · 3 of 4

NYT Cooking scores higher on our rubric for recipe apps: 9.2 against 8.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #3.

Food.com offers free plan; NYT Cooking doesn't. NYT Cooking offers meal planning; Food.com doesn't publish it. NYT Cooking offers guided cooking; Food.com doesn't publish it. Food.com leads on recipe library size: 500000 recipes versus 20000 recipes. NYT Cooking offers grocery lists; Food.com doesn't publish it.

NYT Cooking is the better fit for NYT recipes and polished guided cooking. Food.com is the better fit for free browsing of a large recipe catalog.

  • NYT Cooking fits best

    NYT recipes and polished guided cooking

  • Food.com fits best

    Free browsing of a large recipe catalog

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature NYT Cooking 9.2/10 Visit ↗ Food.com 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.2 8.8
Ranking #1 in Recipe Apps #3 in Recipe Apps
Best for NYT recipes and polished guided cooking Free browsing of a large recipe catalog
Pricing model Paid Free
Starting price Not published Not published
Free plan — ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Mobile Cloud, Mobile
Platforms Web, iOS, Android Web, iOS, Android
Support Email Email, Docs
Built for Solo, Small business Solo
Features NYT Cooking 3/4 · Food.com 0/4
Recipe import — Not published
Meal planning ✓ (best) Not published
Guided cooking ✓ (best) Not published
Grocery lists ✓ (best) Not published
Specs
Recipe library size 20000 recipes 500000 recipes (best)
Platforms web, iOS, Android web, iOS, Android
Our review
Pros
  • Search more than 20,000 recipes by diet, cuisine and meal type
  • Cook Mode and step-by-step videos guide recipe preparation
  • Build grocery lists from recipe ingredients and share them
  • Browse 500,000 recipes by cuisine, diet, meal, and cooking method
  • Save favorites and organize them into collections or boards
  • Read nutrition information and community reviews, tweaks, and photos
Cons
  • Recipe Box features are limited without a Cooking or All Access subscription
  • Grocery Lists are subscriber-only
  • Recipe importing is not supported
  • Does not include recipe planning tools
  • Does not include recipe importing
  • Does not include grocery-list tools
Our verdict

NYT Cooking is a recipe service for home cooks who want to find, save and follow recipes from The New York Times. Its searchable collection contains more than 20,000 recipes, with filters for diet, cuisine and meal type. People can save…

Read the review →

Food.com is a free recipe site for home cooks who want to explore a broad catalog without paying for access. Its collection contains more than 500,000 user-created dishes, with browsing by category, cuisine, diet, meal, and cooking method,…

Read the review →
  1. NYT CookingRecipe Apps 9.2Paid
  2. Food.comRecipe Apps 8.8Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • NYT Cooking — where it wins

    • Search more than 20,000 recipes by diet, cuisine and meal type
    • Cook Mode and step-by-step videos guide recipe preparation
    • Build grocery lists from recipe ingredients and share them

    Where it doesn't

    • Recipe Box features are limited without a Cooking or All Access subscription
    • Grocery Lists are subscriber-only
    • Recipe importing is not supported

  • Food.com — where it wins

    • Browse 500,000 recipes by cuisine, diet, meal, and cooking method
    • Save favorites and organize them into collections or boards
    • Read nutrition information and community reviews, tweaks, and photos

    Where it doesn't

    • Does not include recipe planning tools
    • Does not include recipe importing
    • Does not include grocery-list tools

More comparisons

All recipe apps comparisons → · Full ranking →

Guides on recipe apps

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update