How To Develop A Cooking, Food Recipe Mobile App: Cost & Features

Last Updated on June 20, 2022

Cooking is a passionate job that allows people to turn an ordinary meal into a tempting and mesmerizing one and there are a number of people who take up this art as a hobby or make it their profession. Especially during the initial Covid19 phase when the entire world was locked up in their homes, the one thing they genuinely bonded over was cooking and this is why for the first two months there were a plethora was food pictures being shared by people who loved to spend the lockdown exploring their culinary skills.

It was especially during these times when people explored so many food recipe mobile apps and understood their utility. Even today people love turning to these apps, especially foodies, to search for a wide range of food recipes. There is so much frenzy about food recipe mobile app that the people in the food profession or with a huge interest in this field, are considering launching their food recipe apps.

And in this article, we will be sharing a lot of market insights and the entire process of creating a recipe mobile app, so let’s begin.

Plenty of Recipe Mobile apps being launched in the market at the moment

So, the space of mobile apps is constantly evolving and this is why there are constant queries over the cost of making an app. After all, today people are using apps for almost everything, be it communication, lifestyle, shopping, food, sports, business, games, and a lot more, and when people couldn’t really step out of their homes, they were still relieved that they could access a lot of knowledge through these apps and that things were being delivered at the steps of their home.

And today more and more people are turning towards these apps to search for the food recipes, as the times for cookbooks are long now and today everything has been digitalised and here people like the idea that they can get all kind of cuisines and varieties under just one platform. In fact, there are more than 23 million people all across the USA, Canada, India, and Australia, that have searched for food recipe & cooking apps.

In case you are someone looking to build your own empire by creating a recipe mobile app then you are on the right platform. Also, here the best thing is that the entire process of creating these apps is not as difficult as many might think, as all that is needed is getting in touch with a good mobile app development company who understands your needs with the app and come up with an app that meets all your requirements.

Why Invest In Developing A Food Recipe Mobile App?

A survey states that there were around 400 crore people locked in the home during the Covid-19 pandemic and out of this 130 crores people were in India. So, as the outside activities came to an end, these huge number of people found solace in activities like Cooking, Health, games, and Health, and these basically were the most leisure-related topics during the peak of lockdown.

59% of 25- to 34-year-olds head to the kitchen with either their smartphones or tablets. ThinkWithGoogle

One survey even discovered that these food recipe apps enjoy a market size of 22,755,800 potential users from the countries of Canada, the USA, India, Australia, Philippines, and Pakistan, who have searched through Facebook and showed interest in cooking. Hence, it is clear that there is no stopping in this industry. In 2019, the total app revenue from these apps was $461.7 billion all across the world and it was estimated to generate $935.2 billion in the year 2023. And one out of each four is an iPhone or iPad user of the age 18 and older, who searched for food recipes.

What Is The Need Of Recipe Apps In The Times Of Food Delivery Apps?

Well, it is all about the passion for cooking that most people have and then when we cook something delectable to our taste palette, the satisfaction is much greater.

There are a number of traditional cookbooks available that help in finding a recipe or execute research online, and all of these recipes are easily accessible on Facebook, YouTube, Google, and more. So, today practically anyone can become an expert cook by accessing these platforms and people are absolutely loving this idea.

However, a way better idea would be to simply install an app and start looking for recipes to cook for various occasions. Instead, each time a person won’t have to go online looking for recipes, as an app can answer all their queries in a matter of seconds with more accurate results. These Recipe apps cover everything from what should I cook to How should I cook, offering solutions just right away. So, food recipe apps are also a good business model instead of food delivery apps.

What Kind Of Food Recipe App You Can Consider Developing?

There are a number of food recipe apps available out there in the market, so how can you make your app idea stand out among this crowd of apps. So, the idea that can really help is surprising your users with something exclusive instead of developing an app that simply comes with standard features. After all, there is nothing unique about the standard apps, as there are already so many available in the market, so why would people download yet another app if it is offering just the same results as other apps. Hence, choose a unique type of app that you can create to serve your audience.

Also, no matter what app idea you are choosing for customization, ensure that you have an app home screen encouraging the users to get engaged with the app for a long amount of time. Like, throw in the search bars on the homepage attracting users to search for a broad recipe choice, mark their favorites, and really engage with the app. If the content available on your app fails to satisfy the users or keep them engaged, then ultimately they will get bored and leave the platform as they could not connect with the app.

Here, we mention the types of Recipe Apps that you can consider developing:

What All People Can Benefit & Invest In A Recipe Mobile App?

Well, there are a number of people that can invest in a recipe mobile app, and these could be:

• Chefs
• Nutritionists
• Health Coaches
• Foodies
• Startups

How To Monetize A Recipe Mobile App?

Now comes one of the most crucial aspects of creating an app, which is how to monetize it. After all, the idea behind any app is to make money through it, right? Hence, it is vital to well understand the monetization strategies that work for the Recipe mobile apps. Here we present some idea to monetize your recipe app:

Subscription

This is one strategy that works for a number of apps available in the app stores. The subscription model allows the users to use the app for a specific period of time, and once the subscription period expires, the users can again subscribe if they liked the app.

In-app Advertisements

Everyone knows the importance of advertising for a business, and today more than any other ads, digital ads are reining in the global market. And why not? After all, they are ubiquitous and are there on mobile apps as well. By using the in-app ads in the recipe mobile app, as an app owner, you will be able to advertise your affiliate’s product or service. So, as the users click on the advertisements or interact with the advertisements, you will get the money.

Freemium

To benefit from this particular revenue mode, you are required to have a second, premium version of the app. Like, if the users have installed a free version of your app, they are more likely to be downloading the paid app version with extra features. Here, the ad-blocking feature that helps the app owners to make more money.

Sponsorship

So, imagine your recipe app become a big hit in the market, then you can consider approaching a sponsor, offering them to design your app to match the sponsor’s brand. This way you have the monthly sponsorship fee or maybe you can choose to split the revenue with your sponsor.

Top Recipe Mobile Apps Across The World

BigOven, Paprika, Food Network Kitchen, Cookpad, Yummly, AllRecipes, ChefTap, Forks Plant bases Recipes, SideChef, BBC Good Food,  Tasty, OhSheGlows, Epicurious, are some of the popular food recipe apps on Google Play Store & Apple Store.

What Are The General Features Required In A Recipe Mobile App?

User Panel Features in Food Recipe App

• User registration & profile management
• Advanced search for recipes
• Personalized recipes
• Manage subscription
• View recipe lists
• Check nutrition facts
• View video tutorials for recipes
• View photo gallery
• Save & print food recipes
• Calculator to find accurate ingredient quantity
• Make personal notes to food recipes
• Social sharing of food recipes
• Give Rating & Review
• Upload pictures & videos
• Community for sharing
• Plan meals and create diet charts
• Read content related to cooking recipes
• Push alerts & notifications

Admin Panel Features in Recipe App

• Secure Login
• Manage Users/Chef/Cooking Experts
• Manage Cuisines/Recipe Categories
• Manage special consideration
• Manage subscription packages
• Add new recipes & video tutorials
• Manage Reviews & Ratings
• Manage Community
• Manage Payments
• Upload eMagazines for recipes
• View earnings & reports
• Content Management
• Push Notifications

Advance Features To Consider Integrating Into A Recipe Mobile app

1. Social Login/Signup

This feature allows the app users to easily signup into the app using their social networking accounts, either Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

2. Auto-Lock Screen

This is a crucial feature for this kind of app, as it allows the users to cook without any kind of distraction as often the users require to constantly wake up their phone screens as they cooking using step-by-step cooking tutorials while cooking.

3. Cooking Video

This functionality allows the users to easily view the step-by-step cooking tutorial videos with clear and simple cooking descriptions.

4. Voice Assistance

This feature can be integrated into the recipe app so while cooking, the users can directly get their queries answered through voice assistance, without having to use their hands.

5. Efficient Backend CMS

This is one feature that is constantly required to keep the app content updated and reviewed. It allows the app owners to manage updates to keep people engaged with the app.

6. Smart Search & Filters

In this feature, the user has to simply search by entering in the name of a dish or an ingredient. In the case of ingredients, the app presents the list of dishes where this mentioned ingredient is among the main ingredient. The Smart Search feature also shows autosuggestion and is able to search recipes by characteristics (such as low-carb, sweet, gluten-free, etc.)

7. Sharing

This feature allows the users to share their favorite recipes that they tried making online. So, the app can integrate a social button to people can share from the app and this also increases user engagement.

8. Plan Meals

This functionality allows users to plan a meal each day and add recipes for the next meal they plan to prepare.

9. Community

Your app can bring the users together by providing this option so they can interact with one another with the community option. Also, the users can communicate by asking questions or sharing ideas.

10. Manage Payment

Users can use this functionality to pay for subscriptions (weekly/monthly/annually), make purchases on the app store, or more.

What Tech Stack Is Needed To Develop A Recipe App?

How Much Does It Cost To Create A Recipe Mobile App?

Determining the cost of an app depends on a number of factors, such as features, app sizes, and the number of platforms the app is developed for, and a lot more. Hence, it is clear that there is no standard cost to create an app and a rough estimate can be gathered depending upon the most critical aspects that drive the final app cost. And if you choose on adding more features and add to the app complexity, the app price will also keep going higher.

Then app platforms affect the app pricing, like developing an app for iOS is comparatively more expensive than Android, and developing the app for both the platforms doubles the cost as then two teams would be required to develop the cost, and so the cost doubles as well. Then the app development cost even varies as per the developers’ location, expertise, and skills. Usually, the app development team should consist of:

• Project Managers
• iOS Developers or Android Developers, or both
• Front-end & Backend Developer
• UI/UX Designer
• Quality Analysis Experts
• Marketing Team

And ultimately, considering all of the various factors, the average cost to create a simple app with basic features and for a single platform should cost around $50000-60000, whereas the app with advanced features, more complexity and for both the iOS and Android platforms might cost around $100000-$120000.

Conclusion

Creating a recipe app is very much in trend this year and we can expect more and more people to come around and experiment with this genre as the recipe app is a brilliant idea for startups. And all you need is to get in touch with the right app development company that can turn your idea into a reality.