Crouton vs NYT Cooking
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Crouton is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.2. Crouton wins on 5 of the 5 scores, NYT Cooking on 0.
iPhone and Mac cooks who want a clean, focused recipe box
Cooks who want reliable recipes and don't mind paying for them
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Crouton | NYT Cooking |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Food & Cooking | Food & Cooking |
| Category rank | #1 of 7 | #7 of 7 |
| Developer | Crouton LLC | The New York Times Company |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | — | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | — |
| Web | — | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Crouton better than NYT Cooking?
Crouton is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.2. Crouton wins on 5 of the 5 scores, NYT Cooking on 0.
Which is cheaper, Crouton or NYT Cooking?
Crouton: Free core app; Crouton Discover listed at $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year. NYT Cooking: Free to browse; unlimited recipes need a Cooking or All Access subscription. On value for money, Crouton scores higher.
Do Crouton and NYT Cooking work on the same devices?
Only Crouton runs on Mac. Only NYT Cooking runs on Android, Web.
Which is more private, Crouton or NYT Cooking?
Crouton scores higher on privacy (8.8/10). App Store label: contact info and identifiers may be linked to you; purchases and usage data are collected but not linked. No tracking. Recipes sync through your own iCloud.
Strengths and weaknesses
Crouton
- Step mode shows ingredient amounts right in each step
- Imports from sites, PDFs and cookbook photos
- iCloud sync with no extra account
- No Android or Windows version
- Substitutions need the Discover subscription
Crouton is the recipe app that feels most at home on an iPhone. It pulls recipes from websites, PDFs and even a photo of a cookbook page, then turns them into a calm step-by-step view where tapping an ingredient shows its amount. Timers start from the steps, meal plans fill in from your own dinners, and everything syncs through iCloud. It's Apple-only, and the newest AI tricks sit behind a cheap Discover subscription.
Full Crouton review
NYT Cooking
- Every recipe is tested before it's published
- Reader notes add real-world tips
- Clean, appetizing design
- Full access needs a subscription
- Heavy tracking for an app you pay for
NYT Cooking is the recipe source you trust when dinner matters. More than 20,000 recipes, each tested by the Times, come with ratings and reader notes full of practical tips, plus short videos from cooks like Samin Nosrat and Ina Garten. The Recipe Box and grocery list keep plans together. You need a subscription for full access, and the app tracks you more than any other pick here.
Full NYT Cooking review
