Crouton is a recipe collection app that runs only on Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro) and syncs through iCloud. Pricing has three tiers: a free tier with a small recipe import cap, a $24.99 one-time Plus unlock for unlimited recipes, and a $14.99/year Discover subscription that adds an AI photo importer and the recipe-blog feed reader.
My wife and I made RecipeSage as the recipe app we wanted ourselves. It's free, open source, and runs in any browser, on iOS, and on Android. You can import from URLs, photos, PDFs, and Word docs entirely for free.
How they price
RecipeSage
Free forever. No subscription, no ads, no per-device fees, and no selling your data.
Crouton
Three tiers. Free with a small recipe import cap, $24.99 one-time for Plus, and $14.99/year for Discover (required for AI photo import and the recipe-blog feed reader).
Feature by feature
We've tried to be fair here. Where Crouton is genuinely stronger, we say so. Numbers and feature claims are sourced from each product's own documentation as of May 2026.
| Feature | RecipeSage | Crouton |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free & open source | Free with a cap, $24.99 one-time Plus, $14.99/year Discover |
| Web app (use from any browser) | Yes | No |
| iOS app | Yes | Yes |
| Android app | Yes | No |
| macOS app | Yes | Yes |
| Windows and Linux | Yes | No |
| Apple Watch app | No | Yes |
| Auto import from a URL Crouton's importer compatibility is more limited than RecipeSage's | Yes | Yes |
| AI import from a single photo RecipeSage's AI photo import is free. Crouton's AI photo import requires the $14.99/year Discover subscription. | Yes | Yes |
| Import from PDF | Yes | Yes |
| Import from Word documents | Yes | No |
| Firefox and Chrome browser extension | Yes | No |
| Drag-and-drop meal planner | Yes | Yes |
| Smart shopping list with aisle categorization Crouton's groceries tab syncs with Apple Reminders. | Yes | Partial |
| Recipe scaling and metric/imperial conversion | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in nutrition tracking (macros, vitamins, minerals) Crouton displays nutrition values pulled from the imported source but has no nutrition database, macro and micronutrient computation, or scaling-aware recalculation. | Yes | Partial |
| RSS-style recipe blog feed reader Crouton's Discover tab is a feed reader for recipe blogs with one-tap import. It requires the $14.99/year Discover subscription. | No | Yes |
| In-app cooking timers and Live Activities Crouton auto-detects timers from recipe text and surfaces them on the Lock Screen, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. | No | Yes |
| Hands-free cook mode (TrueDepth wink/mouth control) | No | Yes |
| Real multi-user collaboration with separate accounts Crouton shares libraries through iCloud which is extremely limited. RecipeSage has in-depth sharing permissions and collections. | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Data portability Crouton exports a proprietary .crumb file and PDF. RecipeSage supports well-recognized standardized formats including JSON-LD. | Yes | Yes |
| Public sharing by link or embed, no account needed RecipeSage's public profile, link sharing, and website embeds are free. Crouton's shareable recipe links require the paid Discover tier, and it has no website embed. | Yes | Partial |
| Printable PDF cookbook generator RecipeSage's Cookbook Generator compiles your recipes into one printable PDF with a cover page, optional table of contents, and each recipe on its own page. | Yes | No |
Why people switch from Crouton to RecipeSage
- Works on Android, Windows, and Linux RecipeSage runs in any browser and has a native Android app. Crouton is Apple-only. Its officially recommended way to share a recipe with an Android friend is to email a PDF.
- A web app Open RecipeSage in any browser, on any computer. Crouton has no web app, so a Chromebook, a work Windows laptop, or a Linux box can't see your library at all.
- Import recipes from images without a subscription Import from photo is entirely free in RecipeSage. Crouton's photo import sits behind the $14.99/year Discover subscription.
- Photo, PDF, and Word import RecipeSage imports recipes from photos, PDFs, and Word documents for free without paying for a Discover subscription.
- Firefox and Chrome browser extension The RecipeSage Clip Tool browser extension installs in Firefox or Chrome and captures a recipe from any site in one click.
- Built-in nutrition tracking RecipeSage tracks macros, vitamins, and minerals per serving on your recipes. It can also auto-fill from a pasted nutrition label.
- Multi-user collaboration with separate accounts Each family member can have their own RecipeSage account and still share recipes, plans, and shopping lists.
- Open source and self-hostable RecipeSage's code is on GitHub under the AGPL and you can run it on your own server. Crouton is closed source and runs on Apple's iCloud infrastructure.
- Turn your collection into a printable cookbook RecipeSage's Cookbook Generator assembles your recipes into a single PDF, with a cover page, an optional table of contents, and each recipe on its own page with its image and nutrition. It's an easy way to print a personal cookbook or give one as a gift. Crouton has no built-in cookbook generator.
Where Crouton is honestly stronger
We're not pretending RecipeSage wins on everything. Here's what Crouton does better than us today.
- Hands-free TrueDepth cook mode Right-eye wink advances a step, left-eye wink reverses, opening your mouth shows the ingredients list. Processing is on-device. This is something RecipeSage doesn't do.
- Combustion Predictive Thermometer integration If you already own a Combustion Predictive Thermometer (Combustion bought Crouton in 2025), probe temperatures stream directly into the recipe view. RecipeSage doesn't integrate with smart thermometers.
Bringing your Crouton recipes over
RecipeSage has a dedicated Crouton importer. It accepts Crouton's bulk export, a .zip archive of .crumb files.
- 1 In the Crouton desktop app, click Crouton in the top bar next to the Apple logo.
- 2 Open Crouton's settings.
- 3 Use Crouton's export option to save your recipes (the exact label varies by Crouton version).
- 4 Select a destination to save the .zip archive.
- 5 Create a free RecipeSage account at recipesage.com.
- 6 In RecipeSage, open Settings then Import then Crouton, and upload the .zip file you exported.
About the people behind RecipeSage
My wife and I built and run RecipeSage. We're not a venture-backed startup. We cook every night, we got tired of paying subscriptions and losing access to recipes when an app changed hands, so we built the app we wanted to use. Hosting is funded by donations and has been since 2018, and the source code is on GitHub under the AGPL.
If you ever want to leave RecipeSage, you can export everything in standard formats or run the whole thing on your own server. Your recipes are yours.
Common questions about switching from Crouton
Will Crouton's hands-free wink cook mode work in RecipeSage?
No. The TrueDepth wink and mouth-open navigation is genuinely unique to Crouton and we don't have an equivalent. RecipeSage will keep your screen on while cooking but isn't the same experience.
Can I use both Crouton and RecipeSage at the same time?
Sure. Just keep in mind that one of the best features about RecipeSage is that all of your recipes are shared between all of your devices.
Is there a free alternative to Crouton?
Yes. RecipeSage is a free, open source alternative to Crouton, with no subscription and no ads. You can import your recipes, plan meals, build shopping lists, track nutrition, and use it on the web, iOS, and Android. If you ever decide to leave, you can export everything or self-host.
If you want Android, the web, Linux, or non-Apple family members covered in the same recipe library, or you want to share your library between multiple family members or friends, that's where RecipeSage fits better. It's free, so there's no harm in trying it alongside Crouton for a couple of weeks :)