Recipe apps for iPhone and MacHead to head
Paprika vs Mela
Paprika ranks #1 and Mela ranks #3 in our guide to the best recipe apps for iPhone and Mac. Paprika is our pick for most people.
PaprikaPick Paprika if you plan meals for the week and want the grocery list built for you.$4.99 once#3 in the guide
MelaPick Mela if you mainly save recipes from blogs and want a clean iCloud cookbook, with Mela+ at $6.99 once.Free to startWhat decides it
- On price: Paprika is $4.99 once on iPhone and iPad, $29.99 once on the Mac. Mela is free to download. Mela+ is $6.99 once on iPhone and iPad, $14.99 once on Mac.
- Both run on Mac, iPhone and iPad. Only Paprika runs on Apple Watch.
- Paprika has the higher App Store rating: 4.9 from 54K ratings, against 4.6 for Mela.
Side by side
Prices are checked every day.
| At a glance | Paprika | Mela |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 once on iPhone and iPad, $29.99 once on the Mac | Free to download. Mela+ is $6.99 once on iPhone and iPad, $14.99 once on Mac |
| How you pay | Pay once | Free, with paid upgrades |
| 3 years of use | $4.99 | Depends on the plan |
| Free trial | None listed | Free to start |
| Runs on | Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | Mac, iPhone, iPad |
| Where to buy | App Store | App Store |
| Rating | 4.9 54K ratings Higher | 4.6 884 ratings |
| Features | Family Sharing | iCloud sync, Privacy, Family Sharing, Widgets |
| Made by | Hindsight Labs LLC | Silvio Rizzi |
| Last updated | 16 Jul 2026 | 8 Jun 2025 |
Who should get which
Get Paprika if
You cook from online recipes most weeks and want them, plus the shopping list, in 1 place.
Get Mela if
You cook from recipe blogs and are tired of scrolling past ads to reach the ingredients.
Skip Paprika if
You rotate the same handful of dinners, and a note in Apple Notes holds those for free.
Skip Mela if
You cook the same 10 dishes from memory and keep the rest in a note in Apple Notes.
Our verdicts
Paprika
If you cook from food blogs a few times a week, Paprika pulls each recipe off the page into your own searchable cookbook and builds a grocery list that combines ingredients and sorts them by aisle. It scales servings, converts units and starts timers from the cook times in the directions. Each platform is a separate purchase, so iPhone plus Mac comes to $34.98, and Mela's free download is a cheaper place to start.
Mela
Recipe blogs bury the ingredient list under ads and a long life story, and Mela pulls out just the recipe onto a clean card you can cook from in large text. It also scans printed cookbooks with your camera and sends groceries to Reminders, where your family can see the list. The full feature set takes Mela+ at $6.99, and the Mac copy is a separate $14.99, still well under Paprika's $29.99 Mac app.
What each one helps you do
Paprika
- Save any website recipe in 1 tap
- Build a grocery list sorted by aisle
- Scale a recipe for more people
- Plan a week of meals on a calendar
Mela
- Save a blog recipe without the ads
- Scan a recipe from a printed cookbook
- Follow each step in large text while cooking
- Send ingredients straight to your grocery list
Where to get them
Paprika
$4.99 once on iPhone and iPad, $29.99 once on the Mac
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App Store, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch$4.99App Store
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Mac App Store$29.99Mac App Store
Mela
Free to download. Mela+ is $6.99 once on iPhone and iPad, $14.99 once on Mac
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App Store, iPhone and iPadWith in-app purchasesFree downloadApp Store
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Mac App StoreWith in-app purchasesFree downloadMac App Store
Neither one quite right?
The other picks in our guide to the best recipe apps for iPhone and Mac.
Read the full guideAll Paprika alternativesAll Mela alternatives