Industry
Food and recipe app development: meal plans, shopping lists and AI recipe ideas by ODEL
ODEL builds recipe and meal planning apps: recipe libraries and personal cookbooks, meal plans, shopping lists grouped by aisle, pantry and allergen profiles, nutrition dashboards, voice-controlled cooking steps and AI recipe ideas from ingredients on hand. ODEL designed, built and publishes DishBook, a recipe keeper and meal planner on iPhone and Android in 16 languages, with a Supabase backend, a Node.js API and widgets. If you are a restaurant that wants online ordering, an ordering platform from your POS provider is usually the faster and cheaper route, and ODEL will say so. A custom app fits food creators, cookbook brands and founders with their own recipe product. Projects start with a discovery call and a written scope, and the app is published under your developer account with the source code yours.
Who it is for
- Food creators, bloggers and cookbook authors who want their recipes in an app with a subscription
- Founders building a meal planning, pantry or nutrition-aware cooking app
- Food brands that want a recipe companion app for their products
- Owners of an existing recipe app that needs a redesign, AI features or Android support
When we are not the right fit
- Restaurants that need online ordering and delivery: your POS provider's ordering tools or an existing ordering platform cost far less than a custom build
- Apps that give medical nutrition therapy or diet prescriptions
- People who only want a personal recipe manager: Paprika or Plan to Eat already exist
What you get
- Recipe library, saved favorites and personal recipes
- Meal planner with a shopping list grouped by aisle
- Pantry list and allergen profile
- Nutrition dashboard (informational, no medical claims)
- AI recipe suggestions with clear disclosure of the AI provider
- Voice commands for cooking steps and timers
- iOS and Android widgets
- Backend with accounts, Sign in with Apple and account deletion
- Subscriptions verified on the server
How the project runs
- 01
Build or buy check
Restaurants and personal use usually do better with existing tools; we say so in the first call.
- 02
Written scope
Recipes source and rights, AI features, accounts, platforms and subscription plans.
- 03
Clickable design
Home, recipe, plan and shopping list screens tested on your phone.
- 04
Build
Milestone builds for iPhone and Android from one Expo codebase, with the backend and admin as needed.
- 05
Launch
Store setup, subscriptions, privacy answers and localized listings under your accounts.
- 06
Grow
ASO, onboarding and paywall tests, new recipe features.
Technology
- Expo and React Native
- Supabase
- Node.js (Express) API with Redis
- OpenAI and Gemini APIs
- App Store Server Library and Google Play receipt checks
- PostHog analytics
- Next.js admin and landing site
- iOS and Android widgets
Apps we built and run
Live products ODEL designed, built and publishes. They show the work better than any promise.
Questions about working with us
Should my restaurant build its own ordering app?
Usually not at first. Ordering, payments and delivery are already handled by POS providers and ordering platforms, and a custom app needs ongoing work and a reason for customers to install it. A custom app makes sense for a recipe or cooking product, or for a brand with an audience that already asks for one.
How much does it cost to build this kind of app?
It depends on whether recipes are yours or user-added, AI features, accounts and a backend, an admin panel for content, nutrition data, and iPhone only or both stores. ODEL quotes each project after a short discovery call, as a written scope with a fixed quote or a phased plan, and publishes no price list. For market context only: Clutch's 2026 pricing guide puts the most common app project budget at 10,000 to 49,999 USD (Clutch does not state its sample size), and a 2022 GoodFirms survey of 267 development firms put simple apps at 12,960 to 30,240 USD. Store costs come on top: Apple charges 99 USD a year and Google Play 25 USD once.
How long does it take to launch?
It depends on scope, how fast decisions get made and whether your store accounts are ready. The 2022 GoodFirms survey put simple apps at 3 to 7 weeks and complex ones at 8 to 14 weeks of development. Then add store time: Apple says it reviews 90% of submissions in under 48 hours, and new personal Google Play accounts must run a 14-day closed test with at least 12 testers before production. A recipe app with a backend, admin and AI features is a larger project than an offline personal cookbook.
Can the app use AI to suggest recipes?
Yes. DishBook suggests recipe ideas from the ingredients a user has, through OpenAI and Gemini in its code. Apple's guideline 5.1.2(i) requires that you clearly disclose when personal data is shared with third parties, including third-party AI, and get explicit permission first, so that consent screen is part of the design.
What did ODEL learn building DishBook?
One Expo codebase covers iPhone and Android, including widgets on both. Purchases are checked on the server with Apple's App Store Server Library and Google's auth library, not trusted from the device alone. And version 2.2.0 cut notifications to the ones that help, and moved Favorites and My Recipes to the free tier.
Related services
Tell us about your project
Tell us what you want to build. Your brief comes straight to the developer who would build it, and you get a written reply by email.
- No cost and no commitment for the first conversation
- A written scope and a fixed quote or a phased plan
- You own the app, the code and the store accounts