Chowdown vs What To Cook?
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted recipe managers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Chowdown
Static-site recipe collection built on Jekyll
VS
What To Cook?
Get a recipe to cook today, based on the ingredients you have at home
| Feature | Chowdown | What To Cook? |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Recipe Managers | Recipe Managers |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | HTML | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 665 | ★ 67 |
| First released | 2014 | 2025 |
| Replaces | Paprika, BigOven | — |
Why pick each one
Choose What To Cook? if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Java
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Chowdown or What To Cook? better?
Chowdown is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider What To Cook? if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Chowdown and What To Cook? free and open-source?
Yes. Chowdown is licensed under MIT and What To Cook? under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Chowdown and What To Cook? with Docker?
Chowdown: check the project docs for container support. What To Cook?: yes.