The subscription fee for newly launched Paprika 4 is well worth the price. And the free version is better, too.
The subscription fee for newly launched Paprika 4 is well worth the price. And the free version is better, too.
Nearly 10 years after the launch of Paprika 3, the recipe-managing, pantry-organizing, grocery list-making app has gotten a big upgrade that adds more functionality to nearly every corner of the experience. I tested Paprika 4 for several weeks while it was in open beta, and the update recently launched across Android (the version I’ve been using), iOS, Windows, and macOS.
Where Paprika 3 was a one-time purchase per platform, accessing most of the new features in Paprika 4 requires an annual subscription fee of $14.99 (it can also be gifted). With the subscription, you can access the app on any supported platform. New users, as well as those who bought Paprika 3 (or previous versions) but don’t want to pay for the subscription, will be moved to a free version of Paprika 4, which comes with a smaller selection of features that were available to test in beta, plus the ability to save up to 50 recipes.
Together, the new features locked behind the paywall make it possible to import recipes from social media and from physical cookbooks, scan product barcodes to organize your pantry or shopping list, and connect with other cooks via the app to share notes and recipes. They’re good, for the most part, and makes the subscription feel worth it. But the free version is upgraded in ways that make it worth trying if you’re hearing about Paprika for the first time.
My favorite of the new subscription-exclusive features solves a conundrum I often find myself in: My wife sends me a lot of recipe videos on Instagram. I often take screenshots of the text to piece the recipe together. Paprika 4 can pull the pertinent info from those screenshots and build a recipe — that is, if there’s a complete enough recipe in the text to autofill in Paprika’s recipe fields.
As an alternative to feeding the app a screenshot, you can send a social media post from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook to Paprika 4 straight from the share sheet, and it’ll scrape the caption and convert it in a few seconds. It won’t pull info from a video (which would be convenient — and controversial), and it’ll only work if there’s caption text in the photo or video post available to scrape. It sounds limited, but it’s a nice improvement, and it keeps the link to the social media post in the recipe so I can easily go back and view it as needed.
A lot of social media accounts hide their recipes from people scrolling by, requiring an extra step like “comment with TASTYYUMYUM to get my free recipe.” I respect the hustle, even if I hate seeing this as I’m searching for recipes. Paprika unsurprisingly stumbles when recipe posts are too thin on parseable info. But for ones that have enough, it’s really easy to get them into the app.
Paprika 4 also lets you import recipes with your phone camera. I’ve used it to take pictures from cookbooks that we own, and the app converts them accurately. On the free version, you’re limited to copy-pasting website URLs into the app’s browser and having it convert them into recipes that way. It works really well, but feels rudimentary by comparison.
The updated app is stuffed with other new features, several of which are a tad superfluous (and less useful to me) but still seem good to offer when you’re hoping to attract subscribers. For instance, you can compile your recipes into your own digital cookbook to share with other users (this feature is in the free version, too) and set up family sharing — even DMing links within the app to other Paprika users. Family sub-accounts can be added to your account for no extra cost beyond the subscription, so long as they haven’t made a Paprika account with the same email address.
Paprika 4 can guess the nutrition facts of your recipes, which is nice if you have fitness goals or just generally like to know what kind of heat your food is packing, so to speak. I wouldn’t take the results to be totally accurate, but it seems capable enough. This feature is locked behind the subscription paywall.
Another feature I could see myself using more of is the expanded pantry tool. Paprika 3 had a single “pantry,” but the paid and free versions of Paprika 4 let you specify where items are stored, such as in a cupboard, fridge, freezer, and anywhere else. I was also excited about the new barcode scanning feature, a premium feature that can quickly and easily add items to your pantry. While it didn’t work for me in beta, the scanning function works well in the current version. It recognized items that I frequently purchase at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and a bodega. It adds what they are in simple terms (i.e., olive oil spray instead of “Trader Joe’s Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Spray”).
The Cook Mode is neat, and is available on both the free and paid versions of Paprika 4. When activated through a drop-down menu, the app reads the first step of the recipe out loud, waiting for you to chime in before continuing. You can ask it to repeat a step, go to the next one, double or halve the recipe, set timers, and strike steps or ingredients as you complete them, among other preset commands and questions. In this mode, the mic stays on by default, though the app won’t respond to unrelated chatter. If asking a prompt doesn’t get it to do anything, you can use the wake word “paprika” to reengage it. This feature has obvious accessibility benefits.
There’s extensive Alexa integration, too, if you pay the subscription fee. It gives Alexa access to your recipes, grocery list, pantry, and meal plan. You can manage grocery lists and pantries by voice with Echo speakers, and screen-equipped Echo devices like the Echo Show can display recipes and support hands-free cooking. The iOS version of Paprika 4 also adds widgets and an array of shortcuts for iOS and macOS, like adding items to a grocery list or pantry, showing scheduled meals in your meal plan, and more. These don’t require a subscription.
For people who are serious about staying organized in the kitchen — both in terms of their pantries and catalog of recipes — these paywalled features will likely get enough use each week to be worth paying for. Though, if you haven’t used Paprika before, the free version is a great place to start.
Even as someone who was content with the features in Paprika 3, I can see the value in paying for the subscription-exclusive features. During the beta, I landed on $2 being a figure I’d be comfortable paying each month for them, and Hindsight Labs settled on just $1.25 per month. It’s going to be getting a lot more money per user than it ever has, but like most Paprika users, I would have purchased the app multiple times over due to how useful it is for me. I guess I get to do that now.