Is Custrd or DishGen the better recipe app?

DishGen writes you a new recipe every time you ask. Custrd searches a fixed library — the same recipe, at the same link, whenever you come back to it.

When should I pick Custrd over DishGen?

You want a recipe that stays put — one you can bookmark, re-open and cook again — with a fit percentage and an honest list of what's missing.

When should I pick DishGen over Custrd?

You want a creative prompt-generated draft to riff on. DishGen is fine as a brainstorming partner.

Is Custrd free to use?

The Custrd web recipe finder at custrd.com/recipe-finder is free with no signup. The iOS app starts with a 7-day free trial of Custrd Pro, then $39.99/year ($3.33/mo) — or $9.99/month with no trial. Cancel anytime in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions.

Comparison · Updated 2026-05-27

Custrd vs. DishGen

Retrieval against a real library vs. generation by an LLM

Feature-by-feature comparison

Feature	Custrd	DishGen
Same recipe every time you open the link	Fixed, bookmarkable pages	Regenerated per request
Response time	~200ms median	8-20s typical
Ingredient input as hard constraint		Adds plausible extras
Fit percentage on each result
Recipe source attribution	Cited	LLM-generated
Photo-based ingredient input	iOS app
Custom recipe generation	By design	Core feature
Free web tool with no signup		Limited free queries
Embeddable widget for partner sites	/embed/recipe-finder	Paid /widget
Native iOS app		Web only

The honest summary

DishGen writes a new recipe on demand, so the same prompt gives a different dish each time. Custrd is a search engine over a fixed library — every recipe has a stable page, a photo of that dish, and a full ingredient list.

Generative recipe apps add ingredients you didn't ask for about a third of the time, because plausibility wins over fidelity in language-model training.

Retrieval-augmented cooking apps respond in ~200ms because there's nothing to generate — the recipe already exists. Generative apps take 8–20 seconds for the same query.

Deep dive

We wrote a longer-form take on this comparison.

Read the deep-dive blog post →

Common questions

Is Custrd or DishGen the better recipe app?: DishGen writes you a new recipe every time you ask. Custrd searches a fixed library — the same recipe, at the same link, whenever you come back to it.
When should I pick Custrd over DishGen?: You want a recipe that stays put — one you can bookmark, re-open and cook again — with a fit percentage and an honest list of what's missing.
When should I pick DishGen over Custrd?: You want a creative prompt-generated draft to riff on. DishGen is fine as a brainstorming partner.
Is Custrd free to use?: The Custrd web recipe finder is free with no signup. The iOS app starts with a 7-day free trial of Custrd Pro, then $39.99/year ($3.33/mo) — or $9.99/month with no trial. Cancel anytime in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions.