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Chefra vs CookBook

Written by the team that makes Chefra.

By Chefra · Published October 9, 2026 · Last updated October 9, 2026

Works in any browser, installs to your home screen, and is on the App Store and Google Play.

01At a glance

CookBook by CookBook Co. and Chefra, side by side. Every fact about CookBook on this page comes from its maker's own website, help pages or app store listings, checked on October 9, 2026; the sources are listed at the end.

Choose CookBook if you want:

To scan photos of handwritten recipe cards, cookbook pages, screenshots and clippings into recipes you can edit.¹
An AI cooking companion, Ask CookBook (CookBook Pro), for dinner ideas, ingredient swaps and cooking questions.^1,2
A cooking mode with larger text, timers, and the steps read aloud.³
To connect your shopping list to Instacart for grocery ordering, in the US and Canada where supported.⁴

Choose Chefra if you want to:

Follow other cooks and scroll a live feed — like, comment, repost, save and share posts, and choose whether each post is public, followers-only or private.
Inside a Kitchen or Circle, post photos and recipes, comment, like, @mention members and search past posts.
Message people one-to-one or in group chats — send photos and recipes, send a recipe to several people at once, and pin, mute, archive or mark chats unread.
Share any recipe as a web link anyone can open without an account — with a rich preview in iMessage and WhatsApp — or send it to your feed, a Kitchen, email, text or your phone's share sheet.Only recipes set to Public or Unlisted can be shared by link; private recipes can't.

02Side by side

Feature by feature

Chefra and CookBook, feature by feature
Feature	Chefra	CookBook
Totals on the grocery list	Chefra Chefra totals your grocery list automatically. Items that can't be added together show as one line marked 'Listed separately', and 'to taste' items stay their own row. For everyday foods Chefra estimates across different measures (cups and grams, pieces and cups) using USDA FoodData Central weights, marked with '~'.	CookBook Merges similar items on the list; its own example is two recipes needing 200 g and 300 g of carrots, 500 g in total. You can check, edit and split a combined entry.⁴
How the list is organized	Chefra Grocery items sort themselves into food groups (Premium), and each item can carry its own store and a note.	CookBook Sorts groceries by aisle. You can keep several shopping lists, and a reusable Regular Items list for the things you buy often.^1,3
From meal plan to grocery list	Chefra Send the ingredients from today's, this week's or this month's meal plan to your grocery list, skipping what's already on it.	CookBook Choose the dates you're buying for in the meal planner (CookBook Pro), review the recipes' ingredients and servings, then add them to your shopping list.^2,5
Getting recipes in	Chefra Import a recipe from a link, a photo or screenshot, or pasted text — or share it into Chefra straight from another app.Sharing straight into Chefra from another app works in the Android app and in the web app installed on an Android phone; it is not available in the iPhone or iPad app yet.	CookBook Saves recipes from websites by sharing the page, pasting its link or using its Chrome extension; scans the recipe text in a photo, screenshot or PDF page; and imports recipe text pasted from emails, messages and notes.⁶
Social media	Chefra Import a recipe by pasting a link from a recipe website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook or X.Works when the post or page has readable text, captions or speech; some posts can't be read (login walls, no text at all).	CookBook Imports recipes from Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, among others. A post with missing quantities, or a caption that points somewhere else, may need the creator's full recipe before you can finish the import.^1,6
Many recipes at once	Chefra Import a big batch of recipes at once from a list of links or a spreadsheet, straight into a cookbook — it runs in the background and keeps a history (Premium).	CookBook Imports up to 250 recipes per file yourself, from its CSV template or a ZIP of CookBook recipe files. For exports from other apps, such as Paprika, MasterCook and Recipe Keeper, or larger files, its team does the import for you (CookBook Pro).^3,7
Meal planner	Chefra Plan meals on a day, week or month calendar — saved recipes or quick free-text meals, with your own meal times — then adjust servings, undo changes, clear a stretch, or copy a day's plan to other dates.	CookBook Plans meals (CookBook Pro) by day, week or month from your saved recipes, in breakfast, lunch, dinner or your own meal slots, with servings set for each meal; copy or move meals across a date range.^2,5
Nutrition	Chefra See estimated calories and nutrition per serving for any recipe.Limited per day on the free plan.	CookBook Calculates an estimate of a recipe's nutrition and shows daily totals next to your own calorie and macro targets (CookBook Pro).^2,5
Cooking with other people	Chefra Follow other cooks and scroll a live feed — like, comment, repost, save and share posts, and choose whether each post is public, followers-only or private. Inside a Kitchen or Circle, post photos and recipes, comment, like, @mention members and search past posts.	CookBook CookBook's help centre says it doesn't offer account-linking or family profiles yet: people either share one login or keep separate accounts and swap recipes one at a time.^5,8
Sharing a recipe	Chefra Share any recipe as a web link anyone can open without an account — with a rich preview in iMessage and WhatsApp — or send it to your feed, a Kitchen, email, text or your phone's share sheet.Only recipes set to Public or Unlisted can be shared by link; private recipes can't.	CookBook Shares a recipe with another CookBook user as a QR code, a file or a link, or as a PDF, an email or plain text.⁹
Where it runs	Chefra Works in any browser, installs to your home screen, and is on the App Store and Google Play.	CookBook Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, and a web app, all on one plan, with your recipes synced across them.^2,3
Getting your data out	Chefra Download all your data — a full account archive, plus your recipes as a CSV file.	CookBook Exports all your recipes in CookBook, Text or PDF format, on the free plan too.²
Price	Chefra Free plan and Premium — see Pricing	CookBook Free plan: 20 saved recipes, 20 smart imports and 2 shopping lists.² CookBook Pro: US$6.99 a month, or US$39.99 a year with a 14-day free trial.^1,2

03Beyond the table

Where CookBook is strong

Scales servings, converts units, runs cooking timers and keeps your screen awake while you cook.¹
Finds recipes by name, ingredient, tag, source, cook time or nutrition.¹
Comes in 7 languages on the App Store.¹
Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 2.7K ratings on the App Store, and 4.8 from 2.22K reviews on Google Play, with 100K+ downloads there.^1,10

Also in Chefra

Chefra won't merge things that only look alike — dried and fresh oregano, ground and whole cumin, red and white onions, salted and unsalted butter, canned and fresh tomatoes all stay on separate lines, even when the difference is written in brackets. Prep words like chopped, diced or minced don't keep lines apart.
Snap a photo of a grocery list — handwritten or printed — and Chefra turns it into items on your list.
Deleted grocery items go to that list's trash and can be restored — an item deleted while ticked comes back ticked.
No ads, anywhere in Chefra.

04Switching

Switching from CookBook

Import a recipe from a link, a photo or screenshot, or pasted text — or share it into Chefra straight from another app.Sharing straight into Chefra from another app works in the Android app and in the web app installed on an Android phone; it is not available in the iPhone or iPad app yet.
Import a big batch of recipes at once from a list of links or a spreadsheet, straight into a cookbook — it runs in the background and keeps a history (Premium).

05About

About this comparison

This page is written by the team that makes Chefra, one of the two apps it compares.
Everything it says about CookBook comes from CookBook's own website, help pages or app store listings, each listed below with the day it was checked. Apps change, so check CookBook's own pages too before you decide.
Prices are US prices, as shown on the day they were checked.
Product names belong to their owners. Chefra isn't affiliated with CookBook's maker, who didn't review this page.
Spotted something wrong or out of date? Tell us through the Contact page.

Sources

Recipe Keeper: CookBook on the App Store (iPhone and iPad), checked October 9, 2026
CookBook Pricing: Free & Pro Recipe Plans, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook: The Recipe Manager & Planner App (cookbookmanager.com), checked October 9, 2026
CookBook: Recipe Shopping List App, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook: Meal Planner, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook: Add & Import Recipes, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook Help: How do I bulk import recipes into CookBook?, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook Help: How can I share my whole CookBook with my partner or family?, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook Help: How do I share recipes?, checked October 9, 2026
CookBook - Recipe Manager on Google Play, checked October 9, 2026

Questions

How do I get my recipes into Chefra?

Import a recipe from a link, a photo or screenshot, or pasted text — or share it into Chefra straight from another app. Sharing straight into Chefra from another app works in the Android app and in the web app installed on an Android phone; it is not available in the iPhone or iPad app yet.

Can Chefra import recipes from Instagram or TikTok?

Yes. Import a recipe by pasting a link from a recipe website, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook or X. Works when the post or page has readable text, captions or speech; some posts can't be read (login walls, no text at all).

Can I follow other cooks on Chefra?

Yes. Follow other cooks and scroll a live feed — like, comment, repost, save and share posts, and choose whether each post is public, followers-only or private.

Can I message other cooks in Chefra?

Yes. Message people one-to-one or in group chats — send photos and recipes, send a recipe to several people at once, and pin, mute, archive or mark chats unread.

Does Chefra have ads?

No ads, anywhere in Chefra.