Compare · ReciMe alternative
Hedgehog Chef vs. ReciMe: an honest comparison.
ReciMe is built for saving recipes from social media: share an Instagram reel, a TikTok or a YouTube video to it and the ingredients and steps come out in an easy-to-read format, with a weekly meal plan and an aisle-sorted grocery list on its free plan. If you've run into the five free imports a week, want to plan and shop from a computer too, or want a login for each person at home, here's how the two compare — including where ReciMe is the better choice, starting with videos.
Compared using ReciMe's own help center, website, and App Store and Google Play listings. What each app can read from a video or post is the part people ask about most, so both sides of those rows say exactly what does and doesn't come through. Last checked November 2, 2026.
Hedgehog Chef is the better fit if you want…
- The whole app on a computer: the planner, the list and the pantry run in any browser, where ReciMe's web app is a beta without its meal plan or grocery list.
- On Family, a login each for two people, instead of sharing one.
- A cook mode with timers you set with a tap, read-aloud, and voice commands in Chrome, Edge and Safari, and nutrition from the ingredients, on every plan.
- A pantry with expiry dates and “What can I make?”, so the list skips what you already have.
- An AI planner that turns a request into a week of meals and a shopping list from your own recipes.
- Your whole collection exported in one go, any time, even after a trial or subscription ends.
ReciMe is the better fit if…
- The recipe is often only said out loud in the video: when the caption has no recipe, ReciMe tries the video's audio. Hedgehog Chef never listens to a video, so a spoken recipe has to be typed or pasted in.
- You save from Facebook: ReciMe imports Facebook reels and posts in public groups and pages, which Hedgehog Chef doesn't read.
- You save a lot from YouTube: ReciMe reads a video's description itself, where a YouTube link in Hedgehog Chef brings only the title for now and you paste the description.
- You want a free plan: ReciMe's meal plan, grocery lists, cookbooks and grocery checkout are free, with five imports a week. Hedgehog Chef has a 14-day free trial, then a subscription.
- You want to pay less: ReciMe Plus, with unlimited imports, is $39.99 a year in the US.
- You want an app from the App Store or Google Play today: Hedgehog Chef's phone apps aren't out yet, so it installs from the browser.
- You'd like the app in Spanish, French, German or Portuguese: ReciMe is available in all four as well as English.
Why ReciMe users switch
What Hedgehog Chef does better than ReciMe
Plan and shop on any screen
ReciMe's help center says its meal plan is mobile-only for now, and its desktop web app, still in beta, can import, show and edit recipes but not the plan or the grocery list. Hedgehog Chef runs in any browser and installs on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Chromebook, so you can plan the week on a laptop and shop from your phone, with the same list on both.
Two people, two logins
ReciMe's help center says the easiest way to share is to log into the same account on every device, and recipe collaboration (shared cookbooks) works on iOS only for now. On Hedgehog Chef's Family plan, two people each sign in as themselves in one shared kitchen, and an item checked off on one phone is checked on the other at once.
Help at the stove, and the numbers
ReciMe keeps your screen on while you cook; its step-by-step Cooking Mode, nutrition calculator and measurement converter are part of ReciMe Plus. In Hedgehog Chef, cook mode shows one step at a time with that step's ingredients, sets a timer when you tap a time in the step, and reads steps aloud, and nutrition is calculated from the ingredients with USDA data, with day totals on the plan.
A week planned from what you've saved
Saved recipes are only useful once they're on the plan. In Hedgehog Chef, ask the AI planner for “five quick dinners from what I saved this month” and it proposes a week from your own recipes and pantry, with a shopping list sorted by aisle and what it costs, and nothing changes until you approve it.
Side by side
Hedgehog Chef vs. ReciMe, feature by feature
Every ReciMe cell comes from ReciMe's own website, help pages or app-store listing, checked on November 2, 2026.
Getting it and paying for it
| Feature | Hedgehog Chef | ReciMe |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Hedgehog ChefIn any modern browser, installable on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Chromebook as an app | ReciMeiPhone, iPad and Android apps, a Chrome extension, and a desktop web app in beta (recipes only: no meal plan or grocery list yet) |
| Price | Hedgehog ChefAfter a 14-day free trial (no card): $5.99/month or $49.99/year for one person (Individual), or $9.99/month or $83.99/year for two people (Family), on every device | ReciMeFree, with 5 imports a week; ReciMe Plus is $39.99/year in the US (prices vary by country), after a 7-day trial that takes payment details up front |
| What's free | Hedgehog ChefA 14-day free trial with everything and no card; no free plan after it | ReciMeYes: Meal plans, grocery lists, cookbooks and grocery checkout, with 5 imports a week |
| Works with no internet connection | Hedgehog ChefPartly: Your shopping list, this week's plan and saved recipes open offline, and checked-off items sync when you're back; the rest needs a connection | ReciMeNot mentioned in ReciMe's help center or store listings |
| Ads and tracking | Hedgehog ChefYes: No ads and no trackers | ReciMeIts App Store privacy label lists usage data that may be used to track you |
| Track record | Hedgehog ChefNew: launched in 2026 | ReciMeIn the App Store since 2021, with a new version as recently as October 2026 |
Getting recipes in
| Feature | Hedgehog Chef | ReciMe |
|---|---|---|
| From videos and social posts | Hedgehog ChefYes: TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest links (the recipe in the caption, or the page it links to); YouTube: the recipe in the video's description, pasted in when only the title can be read | ReciMeYes: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube: the written caption or description, then the video's audio and the original recipe website; Pinterest: the website the pin links to |
| A recipe that's only spoken in the video | Hedgehog ChefNo: It never listens to a video, reads text off the screen or downloads captions; when there's no written recipe, it says so | ReciMeYes: It tries the video's audio when the caption has no recipe |
| Facebook reels and posts | Hedgehog ChefNo: Not among the links it reads; paste the post's text on the Text tab | ReciMeYes: Reels, and posts in public groups and pages |
| From recipe websites | Hedgehog ChefYes: Paste a link, or use the bookmarklet, Android share sheet or iOS Shortcut; AI reads pages without recipe markup | ReciMeYes: Share or paste a link, or use its Chrome extension |
| From a photo or screenshot | Hedgehog ChefYes: Yes: a photo of a cookbook page or a handwritten card | ReciMeYes: Screenshots and photos, handwritten recipes included; on the free plan they count toward the 5 weekly imports |
| From pasted text | Hedgehog ChefYes: Yes: paste any recipe text | ReciMeYes: Paste text; on the free plan it counts toward the 5 weekly imports |
| From other recipe apps | Hedgehog ChefYes: Paprika (photos included), Mela, Crouton, Recipe Keeper, MasterCook, Plan to Eat, Copy Me That and more | ReciMeYes: Uploads from Paprika, Notes, Google Docs, Notion and Evernote |
| How many imports | Hedgehog ChefYes: No weekly limit: up to 200 AI imports a day (100 during the trial), and recipe pages with recipe data don't use them | ReciMePartly: 5 a week on the free plan (social, website, photo and text imports you save all count); unlimited with ReciMe Plus |
Planning with AI
| Feature | Hedgehog Chef | ReciMe |
|---|---|---|
| Plan meals from a request | Hedgehog ChefYes: Ask for “a week of high-protein dinners under $150”; the planner proposes a plan and a list from your recipes for you to approve | ReciMeIts App Store listing promotes a “Magic Meal Plan” of personalized recipes each week; its help pages don't describe it |
| Other AI help | Hedgehog ChefYes: Recipes read from photos, loose captions and messy pages, AI recipe photos, and new recipes from the planner | ReciMeYes: “Ask ReciMe”, an AI assistant for questions about a recipe as you cook (Plus) |
| Grocery prices | Hedgehog ChefYes: Prices on your list and plan: live prices at Kroger-family stores, community prices from Open Prices, labeled estimates otherwise | ReciMeNot mentioned in ReciMe's help center or store listings |
| Works with Claude | Hedgehog ChefYes: A Claude connector: save, search, plan and shop by talking to Claude | ReciMeNot mentioned in ReciMe's help center or store listings |
Cooking
| Feature | Hedgehog Chef | ReciMe |
|---|---|---|
| Step-by-step cooking | Hedgehog ChefYes: Full screen, one step at a time, with that step's ingredients and big type | ReciMePartly: Cooking Mode, step by step, with ReciMe Plus; the screen stays on while a recipe is open |
| Timers | Hedgehog ChefYes: Tap a time in a step to set a timer; several at once | ReciMeNot mentioned in ReciMe's help center or store listings |
| Hands-free | Hedgehog ChefYes: Read-aloud in cook mode, and voice commands (“next”, “start timer”) in Chrome, Edge and Safari | ReciMeIts Plus page describes Cooking Mode as hands-free, step-by-step guidance (Plus) |
| Scaling | Hedgehog ChefYes: Scale by servings with real fractions; US ↔ metric | ReciMeYes: Scale servings; metric ↔ imperial with the Measurement Converter (Plus); temperatures in the steps converted |
| Nutrition | Hedgehog ChefYes: Calculated from the ingredients with USDA data, with daily goals and day totals on the plan | ReciMePartly: Calories, protein, carbs and fats with the Nutrition Calculator (Plus) |
Planning, shopping and pantry
| Feature | Hedgehog Chef | ReciMe |
|---|---|---|
| Meal planner | Hedgehog ChefYes: Week board with drag and drop, month view, reusable menus, leftovers, a calendar feed and a kitchen display | ReciMeYes: A weekly plan with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack slots, in the phone apps; meals move within a week but not between weeks yet |
| Grocery list by aisle | Hedgehog ChefYes: Sorted by aisle, amounts merged, pantry items skipped; your aisle corrections are remembered | ReciMeYes: Built from the plan, sorted by supermarket aisle or by recipe; untick what you already have |
| Online grocery orders | Hedgehog ChefPartly: Send the list to your own Kroger cart for pickup or delivery | ReciMeYes: Grocery Checkout sends the list to a grocery partner's site or app to finish the order |
| Pantry | Hedgehog ChefYes: Fridge, freezer, pantry and spices; expiry dates; “What can I make?” ranked by what you have | ReciMeNot mentioned in ReciMe's help center or store listings |
| Reminders | Hedgehog ChefYes: Thaw the night before, start cooking, shopping day, use it up | ReciMeNot mentioned in ReciMe's help center or store listings |
| Export everything | Hedgehog ChefYes: Paprika's own format, web pages, Markdown or JSON, with photos — always, even after a trial or subscription ends, plus weekly backups | ReciMePartly: One recipe at a time: a share link, or a PDF or print with ReciMe Plus; no way to export the whole collection found |
Your household and sharing
| Feature | Hedgehog Chef | ReciMe |
|---|---|---|
| Each person with their own login | Hedgehog ChefYes: Yes, on Family: 2 people, each with their own login | ReciMePartly: Its help center suggests logging into the same account on every device |
| Changes show up for everyone | Hedgehog ChefYes: Instantly: check off milk and it's checked on every phone | ReciMeYes: Recipes, meal plans and grocery lists sync on every device signed in to the account |
| Shared cookbooks | Hedgehog ChefYes: Every binder is shared with everyone in your kitchen | ReciMePartly: Recipe collaboration works on iOS only for now |
Sources, checked on November 2, 2026:
- ReciMe
- Is there a free version? (help)
- What's in ReciMe Plus (help)
- ReciMe Plus price (help)
- The 5 free weekly imports (help)
- Import from TikTok (help)
- Import from YouTube (help)
- Import from Facebook (help)
- Import from Pinterest (help)
- What is ReciMe? (help)
- Using the meal plan (help)
- ReciMe on a computer (help)
- Sharing an account (help)
- Shared cookbooks (help)
- Printing and exporting (help)
- Cancelling (help)
- Grocery Checkout (help)
- ReciMe on the App Store
- ReciMe on Google Play
ReciMe is a trademark of ReciMe Pty Ltd. Hedgehog Chef isn't affiliated with or endorsed by ReciMe Pty Ltd. Spotted something out of date or wrong? Tell us at hello@hedgehogchef.com and we'll fix it.
Questions
ReciMe vs. Hedgehog Chef: common questions
Is ReciMe free?
Yes, with limits. ReciMe's free plan includes meal plans, smart grocery lists, cookbooks and grocery checkout, with up to 5 recipe imports a week: social, website, photo and pasted-text imports all count once you save them, and the count resets every 7 days from the day you signed up. ReciMe Plus, $39.99 a year in the US, adds unlimited imports, the nutrition calculator, the measurement converter, export and print, and step-by-step Cooking Mode.
Can Hedgehog Chef save recipes from TikTok and Instagram videos?
Yes, when the recipe is written down. Share or paste a TikTok or Instagram link and Hedgehog Chef reads the caption, or follows it to the recipe page it links to; a Pinterest link brings the recipe page the pin points to; for a YouTube video, paste the description when only the title comes through. It never listens to the video, reads text off the screen or downloads its captions, so a recipe that's only spoken can't be imported: type it in or paste it. Facebook links aren't read either. ReciMe tries the video's audio when a caption has no recipe.
How do I move my recipes from ReciMe?
ReciMe exports one recipe at a time (a share link, or a PDF or print with ReciMe Plus), and we couldn't find a way to export the whole collection, so there's no file to import. Most ReciMe recipes started as a link: paste the original post or recipe page into Hedgehog Chef and it comes in again, crediting where it came from. For the rest, paste the recipe's text on the Text tab or import a screenshot. ReciMe keeps your recipes on its free plan, so you can move them over a few at a time.
How do I cancel ReciMe Plus or its free trial?
Where you subscribed. ReciMe's help center says App Store subscriptions are cancelled in your Apple account's Subscriptions settings, Google Play ones on Google Play's Subscriptions page, and subscriptions made through Stripe under Settings › My Subscription in the app or with a link in its help center. Cancel a trial at least 24 hours before it renews. Your account then goes back to the free version: your recipes stay, with the free plan's 5 imports a week.
Can each person in my family have their own ReciMe login?
ReciMe's help center says the easiest way to share is to log into the same account on every device, and recipe collaboration (shared cookbooks) works on iOS only for now. In Hedgehog Chef, everyone in the kitchen signs in as themselves; Family has room for 2 people.
Does ReciMe work on a computer?
Partly. ReciMe's web app at recime.app is in beta and works on desktops and laptops only: you can import, view and edit recipes, and its help center says meal plans and grocery lists are coming. Hedgehog Chef runs in any browser with the planner, the shopping list and the pantry, and installs like an app on a computer or a phone.
Is Hedgehog Chef free?
For 14 days. Every new kitchen gets a free trial with everything included and no card needed. After that, it's $5.99/month or $49.99/year for one person (Individual), or $9.99/month or $83.99/year for two people (Family), on every device: unlimited recipes, binders, meal plans, shopping lists and the pantry, the AI planner and grocery prices at your stores (live at Kroger-family stores), with no ads. Your recipes are always yours to export, even if you stop.
Try it with the posts you save most.
There's no ReciMe export file to bring along, so start with links: paste a few of the posts and recipe pages you saved in ReciMe into Hedgehog Chef, plan a week, and see how the list comes out. ReciMe isn't touched, and its free plan keeps your recipes while you decide.
Related guide: How to save recipes from Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
More comparisons
Weighing up other apps too?
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Paprika Paprika for fully offline native apps; Hedgehog Chef for AI planning, the web and cooking as a pair.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. AnyList AnyList for the cheapest shared list and store delivery; Hedgehog Chef for AI planning, a pantry and cook mode.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Plan to Eat Plan to Eat for offline phone use and bulk import; Hedgehog Chef for AI planning, a pantry and a login each.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Samsung Food Samsung Food for a big recipe catalog and Samsung appliances; Hedgehog Chef for your own recipes, no tracking and everything on both plans.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Mealime Meals Hub to keep Mealime's recipes; Hedgehog Chef to plan around your own recipes, with your household.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Mela Mela for a one-time price and Apple-only privacy; Hedgehog Chef for Android and the web, AI planning and a smarter list.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Copy Me That Copy Me That for the lowest price and a one-click clipper; Hedgehog Chef for cook mode, cookbook photos, nutrition and a login each.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Recipe Keeper Recipe Keeper to pay once and cook offline; Hedgehog Chef for the web, AI planning, a pantry and one price on every device.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Eat This Much Eat This Much for plans built to calorie and macro targets; Hedgehog Chef for planning your own recipes, alone or as a pair.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Crouton Crouton for an all-Apple home and hands-free cooking; Hedgehog Chef for Android and the web, AI planning, a pantry and nutrition.
- Hedgehog Chef vs. Ollie Ollie for dinners planned and groceries ordered by text; Hedgehog Chef for your own recipes, cook mode and a pantry.
- The 6 best ReciMe alternatives in 2026 Every ReciMe alternative we looked at, ranked, with who each one suits.
- All comparisons Every app we've compared, and who each one suits best.
Dinner, looked after.
Start with the recipes you already love: bring your favorite sites, your Paprika library and the person you cook with. 14 days free, no card needed.