# ChefGPT

Aiolum story: https://aiolum.com/story/chefgpt/ · added 2026-10-25 · updated 2026-10-25

**In short.** ChefGPT (AI recipe, meal-plan and calorie-tracking app, Not stated (a directory lists Singapore)): US$54.7K verified revenue all time, October 2026. Evidence grade A: disclosed by a company or a filing, or verified by a payment processor. Team: 1 founder, no staff (founder's profile text on TrustMRR, October 2026). Launched January 2023; still running, revenue falling.

AI recipe, meal-plan and calorie-tracking app · Not stated (a directory lists Singapore) · AI-native · solo founder · still running, revenue falling · group: Health and appearance

- Outcome: US$54.7K verified revenue all time, October 2026 (evidence grade of the headline number: A; headline in US dollars: 54732)
- Launch: January 2023; months from launch to the outcome: 45
- Team: 1 founder, no staff (founder's profile text on TrustMRR, October 2026)
- Outside funding: Bootstrapped (founder's profile text)
- Main factor: Timing
- Meters, 1 to 4: evidence strength 3, copyable pattern 3, capital needed 1
- Tags: AI-native, Solo founder, Bootstrapped, Running, B2C, Health

**The product.** A website and a phone app that write recipes with AI. The user lists the ingredients at home, names a dish, gives a target of protein, carbohydrate and fat, or asks for a meal plan for a week. Since July 2025 the app also estimates the calories of a meal from a photo and logs them against a daily target, so the App Store now calls it an AI calorie tracker.

**Why it worked.** It launched in January 2023 with a name that people were already typing into search engines, and the company wrote that more than 35,000 people used it in its first two weeks. One person then kept adding features, languages and more than 2,000 recipe articles for search, and moved the app from recipe ideas toward calorie tracking, which people pay for every month.

Evidence grades: A = disclosed by a public company, a filing or a payment processor, or verified by one; B = two or more independent reports agree, or a journalist confirmed it; C = a founder claim that no one else verified; D = reported, not verified: one founder claim or a third-party estimate with no second source; calc = computed on this page from graded facts.

## Summary

ChefGPT is a recipe generator: a form collects ingredients, cooking time, skill level and diet, and a language model writes a recipe from those inputs. The same idea runs in four modes, PantryChef (cook from what you have), MasterChef (any dish), MacrosChef (hit a target of macronutrients, the grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat in a meal) and MealPlanChef (a plan for up to 30 days). In July 2025 the app added a photo calorie scanner, and today its App Store name is "ChefGPT: AI Calories Tracker". Most features need a paid subscription.

The founder named on the company's TrustMRR profile is Stefano Cantù, and the App Store lists the seller as MIU Digital Limited. TrustMRR reads revenue directly from RevenueCat, a service that records the in-app subscriptions sold through Apple and Google, through an API key that the owner connects. On 25 October 2026 that connection showed US$54,732 of revenue since the start, US$24,009 in the last 12 months, and monthly recurring revenue (MRR, the subscription revenue that repeats every month) of US$2,002 from 387 active subscriptions. A second marketplace that also reads RevenueCat, whatsthe.app, showed MRR of US$1,924 and 365 subscriptions on 1 October 2026.

The headline is the all-time total, not a monthly figure, because the recent months are below this site's floor of US$2,000 a month: the best months were November 2025 to January 2026, at about US$3,000 each, and February to September 2026 averaged about US$1,500. The business has been listed for sale on TrustMRR since 15 October 2026 at US$75,000. This page also shows four failed startups that tried to sell recipes and meal plans before a language model could write them for almost nothing.

## Pricing

ChefGPT prices in October 2026, from the web app's pricing page, the App Store in-app purchase list, the founder's TrustMRR profile and the API page (grade C)

| Plan | Per month, billed yearly (US$) | Per month, billed monthly (US$) | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic (web) | 0 | 0 | 10 AI generations a month, manual calorie tracking, meal plans up to 3 days, 5 saved recipes |
| Pro (web) |  | 12.99 | Unlimited generations, AI calorie tracking, meal plans up to 30 days, no ads; 3-day trial |
| Pro yearly (app) | 2.50 |  | US$29.99 a year; also sold at US$39.99 (3.33 a month) and US$69.99 (5.83 a month) |
| Pro monthly (app) |  | 9.99 | All Pro features |
| Pro weekly (app) |  |  | US$4.99 a week |
| API Essential |  | 19.99 | 1,000 requests a month, 1 embeddable widget |
| API Grow |  | 49.99 | 2,500 requests a month, 5 widgets |
| API Pro |  | 99.99 | 10,000 requests a month, 20 widgets |

The web pricing page shows the monthly Pro price; its yearly price loads by script and could not be read. The founder's TrustMRR profile lists app plans at US$29.99, US$39.99 and US$69.99 a year with a 3-day trial, US$9.99 a month and US$4.99 a week. The App Store lists ten in-app purchases from US$2.99 to US$89.99, including a "One Time Offer" at US$59.99. In February 2023 and May 2024 the company's blog gave the Pro price as US$2.99 a month or US$29.99 a year. Free app users can watch an advertisement to get one more generation. The API plans are sold separately to other apps and websites.

## How much revenue does ChefGPT make? The numbers, graded

US$54,732 of verified app revenue in 45 months, read from the payment data that the founder connected to TrustMRR, with a second RevenueCat-verified marketplace that agrees on the size of the business

| Fact | Value | Grade | Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verified revenue, all time, to 25 October 2026 | US$54,732 | A | TrustMRR, read from RevenueCat through an API key; revenue last synced 25 October 2026. RevenueCat is the only payment source named, so the total covers what RevenueCat records; the profile does not say whether web or API sales pass through it, or whether the figure is before Apple's and Google's commission. | [1] |
| Verified revenue, last 12 months | US$24,009 | A | TrustMRR, same connection. | [1] |
| Average revenue per month over the last 12 months | about US$2,001 | calc | Calculated: 24,009 divided by 12 equals 2,000.75. | [1] |
| Best month in the public table | US$3,343, January 2026 | A | TrustMRR monthly table. November 2025 was US$3,172 and December 2025 US$2,721. | [1] |
| Revenue per month, February to September 2026 | US$1,160 to US$1,748, average US$1,506 | A | TrustMRR monthly table. The average is calculated: the eight months sum to 12,048. | [1] |
| Fall from the best three months to July to September 2026 | about 52% | calc | Calculated: November 2025 to January 2026 averaged 3,079 a month; July to September 2026 averaged 1,477. | [1] |
| Revenue, 1 to 25 October 2026 | US$1,955 | A | TrustMRR monthly table, a partial month. The last 30 days were US$2,244, which TrustMRR shows as 49.4% more than the 30 days before. | [1] |
| Revenue before November 2025 | about US$31,493 | calc | Calculated: the all-time total of 54,732 minus the 12 months in the table, which sum to 23,239. The rolling 12-month figure of 24,009 covers slightly different days. | [1] |
| Monthly recurring revenue, 25 October 2026 | US$2,002 from 387 active subscriptions | A | TrustMRR snapshot. That is about US$5.17 a month per subscription (calculated). | [1] |
| Monthly recurring revenue, 1 October 2026 | US$1,924 from 365 active subscriptions | A | whatsthe.app, which states that all metrics are verified with RevenueCat. Revenue in the last 28 days: US$1,411. | [2] |
| Team | 1 person, no staff | C | Founder-written profile text on TrustMRR: team size 1 person; the seller's message says the app runs with no staff. | [1] |
| Outside funding | none (bootstrapped) | C | Founder-written profile text on TrustMRR. No source read for this page mentions an investor. | [1] |
| Running cost of AI | about US$150 a month | C | Seller's message on TrustMRR. The profile also shows a profit margin of 60% for the last 30 days, a figure that depends on costs the owner enters. | [1] |
| Asking price, listed 15 October 2026 | US$75,000 | C | TrustMRR acquisition section. The seller writes that he is selling to focus on his personal life. One offer received at the time of reading. | [1] |
| Asking price as a multiple of the last 12 months of revenue | about 3.1 times | calc | Calculated: 75,000 divided by 24,009. TrustMRR shows 2.8 times, measured against the last 30 days multiplied by 12. | [1] |
| Users in the first two weeks | over 35,000, with 33,000 recipes generated | C | Company blog post of 3 February 2023. These are free users, not customers. | [8] |
| Seller and developer of the app | MIU Digital Limited | C | Seller and developer field on the App Store; Google Play lists MIU Digital. The website's terms and privacy policy name no company. | [5, 6, 13] |
| Founder | Stefano Cantù | C | Named as founder on the TrustMRR profile, which links the App Store app and the Google Play app of MIU Digital. | [1] |
| App store ratings, October 2026 | 234 ratings at 4.4 on the US App Store; about 2,130 reviews (2.13K) at 3.9 and 100,000+ downloads on Google Play | C | Read from the store pages on 25 October 2026. whatsthe.app counts about 1,500 App Store ratings across all countries. | [5, 6, 2] |
| Website traffic, May 2026 | about 61,000 visits a month, 70.7% from organic search | D | Estimate by the directory indexator.ai; no second source. | [17] |
| Time from launch to the all-time figure | 45 months | calc | Calculated: January 2023 to October 2026. | [1, 8] |

How to read this table: a grade A value is read from the app's subscription data through RevenueCat, by TrustMRR or whatsthe.app. A grade C value comes from the founder's profile text, the company's own pages or the app store listings. A grade D value is a directory's estimate. A "calc" value was computed on this page from the rows above it.

## When did ChefGPT launch, and how did it grow? Timeline

From a web recipe generator in January 2023 to a calorie-tracking app listed for sale in October 2026. Each entry carries its grade.

- **January 2023** (grade C [8, 17]): Early launch of the ChefGPT website. A directory dates the first release to 20 January 2023 and lists a Product Hunt launch that month with 17 upvotes.
- **3 February 2023** (grade C [8]): Official launch post: over 35,000 users and 33,000 generated recipes in two weeks. New modes MasterChef, MacrosChef, MealPlanChef and wine pairing. Pro costs US$2.99 a month or US$29.99 a year; the free plan gives 5 recipes a month.
- **April 2023** (grade C [12]): An affiliate program pays 20% of each Pro subscription for as long as the referred user stays. The interface and the recipes become available in 7 more languages.
- **May 2023** (grade C [18]): A button sends a recipe's ingredients to an Amazon Fresh cart in the United States. Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese are added.
- **16 June 2023** (grade C [2, 9]): The iPhone app is released worldwide, with Pro sold as an in-app purchase; an Android app follows.
- **December 2023** (grade C [10]): MixologyMaestro for cocktails, an AI-generated image for every recipe, and recipe generation from a photo of the ingredients.
- **May 2024** (grade C [11]): The free plan grows to 10 generations a month; Pro stays at US$2.99 a month; meal plans of up to 30 days for Pro users.
- **14 July 2025** (grade C [5]): ChefGPT 2.0 adds tailored calorie plans and an AI calorie scanner that reads a photo of a meal.
- **November 2025 to January 2026** (grade A [1]): The best months in the public data: US$3,172, US$2,721 and US$3,343.
- **February 2026** (grade C [5]): Version 3.1 adds fasting-window tracking, weight history charts and a new onboarding tutorial.
- **February to September 2026** (grade A [1]): Revenue falls to between US$1,160 and US$1,748 a month.
- **15 October 2026** (grade C [1]): The founder lists ChefGPT for sale on TrustMRR at US$75,000.
- **25 October 2026** (grade A [1]): US$54,732 of verified revenue since the start, US$2,002 MRR and 387 active subscriptions.

## Why did ChefGPT work?

### Timing and a name people searched for

ChefGPT went live in January 2023 with GPT in its name. The company wrote that more than 35,000 people used it in the first two weeks. In May 2026 the directory indexator.ai estimated 2,820 searches a month for "chefgpt" and 1,290 for "chef gpt", so the name itself still brings visitors.

### One model call behind many forms

PantryChef, MasterChef, MacrosChef and MealPlanChef are the same task, asking a language model for a recipe, with different inputs on the form: ingredients, a dish name, gram targets, or body measurements and a goal. Each new mode, language and kitchen tool is a change to a form and a prompt, which is how one person could publish several product updates in 2023.

### From recipe ideas to a daily habit

A recipe generator is used when someone does not know what to cook. A calorie tracker is opened at every meal. In July 2025 the app added photo calorie scanning and calorie plans, later water, fasting and weight tracking, and renamed itself an AI calorie tracker. The three best months in the public data, November 2025 to January 2026, came after that change; the data does not show the months before, so the effect cannot be measured.

### Search pages in many languages

The website's sitemap lists more than 2,000 recipe articles in English and pages in 19 other languages. The founder's TrustMRR profile names app store optimization, search engine optimization and content marketing as the channels, and indexator.ai estimated that 70.7% of the website's visits in May 2026 came from organic search.

### A hard paywall in the app

The App Store text says that access to the features requires an active paid subscription. The app sells ten different subscription prices, and one App Store review from March 2026 describes repeated discount offers on a spinning wheel during onboarding, from about US$80 a year down to US$20.

## How it was built

These details come from the founder's TrustMRR profile, the company's pages and the app store listings. They are grade C. No source names the language model that writes the recipes.

- Expo and React Native with TypeScript for the iPhone and Android apps, according to the tech stack on the founder's TrustMRR profile.
- Firebase for the backend and Vercel for hosting, from the same profile. The website's page source loads files from the folder _next, which the Next.js framework uses.
- RevenueCat for app subscriptions, connected to TrustMRR as the verified revenue source. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are also connected.
- AI-generated recipe images and photo recognition of ingredients since December 2023, and a photo calorie scanner since July 2025.
- Buttons that send ingredients to Amazon Fresh or Instacart carts, and a merchandise shop with caps, aprons and hoodies run on Fourthwall.
- A paid API with an embeddable widget that sells the same recipe and meal-plan generation to other apps and websites.
- The seller states AI costs of about US$150 a month and no staff.

Sources: [1, 3, 7, 10, 14]

## Who tried this before ChefGPT, and why did they fail?

Four companies in the Loot Drop database tried to sell home cooks recipes, meal plans or organized cooking, before a language model could write a recipe for almost nothing. The values below are from that database and are not independently verified.

The failed startups come from Loot Drop (https://www.loot-drop.io/), a free database of dead startups, retold here in our own words; Loot Drop describes its entries as AI-assisted summaries of public sources, so they carry no evidence grade.

### Refolo (2017 to 2021; funding US$2M; cause: No Market Need)

- Promise: A personal meal planner with customized recipes for people moving to plant-based food.
- Why it died: It charged for meal plans while free recipe sites existed, and larger wellness apps added the same features.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/1994-refolo

### Springpad (2008 to 2014; funding US$7.5M; cause: Unit Economics)

- Promise: Collect and organize web content, including recipes, in one place.
- Why it died: Users liked the free product, but the company never found a feature they would pay for before the money ran out.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/1893-springpad

### Dinnr (2012 to 2013; funding US$120K; cause: Unit Economics)

- Promise: Same-day delivery of measured ingredients with a recipe.
- Why it died: Same-day delivery of fresh food needed logistics that the company could not pay for.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/1984-dinnr

### Chef’d (2014 to 2019; funding US$35M; cause: Ran Out of Cash)

- Promise: Chef-designed meal kits bought one at a time, without a subscription.
- Why it died: Perishable logistics were expensive, subscription competitors had steadier cash flow, and the money ran out when investors left.
- Record: https://www.loot-drop.io/startup/47-chefd

## What changed

The four predecessors had a cost for every recipe or meal they delivered. Refolo and Springpad needed people to write or collect the recipes, and Dinnr and Chef’d had to buy, pack and ship food. When free recipe sites or larger companies offered something similar, the customers did not pay enough to cover those costs.

ChefGPT writes each recipe on request with a rented language model, for any diet, ingredient list or macronutrient target, in about 20 languages, and ships nothing physical. The seller states the AI cost at about US$150 a month. That is why one person could run it, and also why it is easy to copy: the App Store shows several other AI recipe generators next to it, and the move to calorie tracking puts it against larger calorie apps.

## Can one person copy ChefGPT now?

**Verdict: The method, yes. The result is small.**

Wrapping a language model in forms for one everyday task, then adding features every month, is easy to repeat, and ChefGPT shows that it can earn a verified US$54,732 over almost four years. It also shows the limits: revenue has stayed near US$2,000 a month, the best months did not last, and the owner is selling.

1. Pick one daily task where people already search for help, and put a language model behind a short form for it.
2. Offer several entry points to the same model call (by ingredients, by dish, by nutrition target, by plan) so that each one ranks for its own searches.
3. Publish the product in many languages early; the model writes the output in the user's language at no extra cost.
4. Move from occasional use to daily use (here, from recipes to calorie tracking) so that a monthly subscription makes sense to the customer.
5. Connect the subscription data to a public verification service before trying to sell the business.

**What is still open.** Narrow cooking tools for a group with fixed rules are still open: meal plans for one medical diet written with a dietitian, school or hospital kitchens, or recipes from the stock of one grocery chain.

## What could go wrong for ChefGPT?

- **Revenue is falling from its best months.** The verified months fell from about US$3,079 on average in November 2025 to January 2026 to about US$1,477 in July to September 2026, a fall of about 52%. October 2026 was better, with US$1,955 by the 25th, and the last 30 days were 49.4% above the 30 days before. MRR stood at US$2,002, right at this site's floor.
- **Claims on the company's pages that do not match.** The home page says the app is "Loved by more than 1 Million Home Cooks" and shows "Over 100k 5-star ratings"; the pricing page says over 600,000 users and the API page 800,000. The US App Store shows 234 ratings, Google Play about 2,130 reviews, and TrustMRR counts 387 active subscriptions. The user counts may include free users of the 2023 website, but no source explains them.
- **Health wording.** The home page says AI recipes and calorie tracking help users "see results—up to 4x quicker" and cites no study. The meal-plan page calls the product "Your AI Powered Nutritionist", offers the goal "Lose Weight" and a "quick detox weekend", and a blog article says that diabetic readers can enjoy one dish "without worrying about your blood sugar levels". No page read for this story claims to treat or cure a disease, and none carries a medical disclaimer; the terms only say the service is provided "as is".
- **Paywall tactics.** The App Store text says the features require a paid subscription, the store lists ten different prices, and a March 2026 review titled "Shady Pricing Tactics" describes repeated discount offers on a spinning wheel before the reviewer could try the app.
- **A business for sale.** The founder listed ChefGPT for sale on 15 October 2026 at US$75,000. A new owner may change the product, the prices and the channels, so the method on this page describes the founder's period.
- **Easy to copy.** The App Store suggests several other AI recipe apps next to ChefGPT, and calorie tracking from photos is offered by many apps. The product depends on a rented language model that no source names.

## Sources

1. TrustMRR, ChefGPT markdown profile, revenue synced 25 October 2026 — https://trustmrr.com/startup/chefgpt.md (grade A). Read the markdown profile in full on 25 October 2026. The revenue table, monthly timeline, MRR and subscriptions come from RevenueCat through an API key (grade A). The founder name, team size, funding, tech stack, channels, prices and seller message are founder-written text (grade C).
2. whatsthe.app: ChefGPT: AI Calories Tracker, metrics updated 1 October 2026 — https://www.whatsthe.app/chefgpt (grade A). Read in full. A marketplace for mobile apps that states all metrics are verified with RevenueCat. Source for the MRR of US$1,924, 365 subscriptions, the last 28 days of revenue, the release date of 16 June 2023 and the ratings by country.
3. ChefGPT home page, read 25 October 2026 — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/ (grade C). Read in full. Source for the product description, the "up to 4x quicker" wording and the user and rating claims.
4. ChefGPT web app pricing page, read 25 October 2026 — https://app.chefgpt.xyz/pricing (grade C). Read in full. Source for the Basic and Pro features and the Pro monthly price of US$12.99; the yearly price loads by script and could not be read.
5. Apple App Store: ChefGPT: AI Calories Tracker (id6449961549), read 25 October 2026 — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chefgpt/id6449961549 (grade C). Read in full. Source for the seller MIU Digital Limited, the in-app purchase prices, the version history from 2023 to April 2026, the ratings, a review about pricing, and the developer's other apps.
6. Google Play: ChefGPT: AI Meal Plans Tracker (com.miudigital.chefgpt), read 25 October 2026 — https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.miudigital.chefgpt (grade C). Read in full. Source for the developer MIU Digital, 100,000+ downloads, 2.13K reviews and the update of 22 July 2026.
7. ChefGPT feature page: MealPlanChef, read 25 October 2026 — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/features/mealPlanChef (grade C). Read in full, with the MacrosChef, MasterChef and PantryChef pages. Source for the inputs of each mode, the weight-loss goal, the detox wording and the Amazon Fresh and Instacart buttons.
8. ChefGPT blog, 3 February 2023: Introducing ChefGPT — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/news/hello-world (grade C). Read in full. Source for the early launch, the 35,000 users in two weeks and the first prices.
9. ChefGPT blog, 2 July 2023: Introducing the ChefGPT app — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/news/introducing-the-chefgpt-app (grade C). Read in full. Source for the iPhone app launch and the plan for Android.
10. ChefGPT blog, 17 December 2023: December Product Update — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/changelog/december-product-update (grade C). Read in full. Source for MixologyMaestro, recipe images and ingredient photos.
11. ChefGPT blog, 27 May 2024: May 2024 Product Update — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/changelog/may-2024-product-update (grade C). Read in full. Source for the free plan, the Pro price in 2024 and the rewarded advertisements.
12. ChefGPT blog, 3 April 2023: Introducing ChefGPT's Affiliate Program — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/news/chefGPT-affiliate-program (grade C). Read in full. Source for the 20% recurring commission. It makes no income promises.
13. ChefGPT terms of service, last updated 27 January 2023 — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/terms (grade C). Read in full, with the privacy policy. Neither names a company or a person. Source for the "as is" clause and the US$5 referral payment.
14. ChefGPT API home page, read 25 October 2026 — https://api.chefgpt.xyz/ (grade C). Read in full. Source for the API plans and prices and the 800,000 users claim.
15. ChefGPT blog recipe articles: German Recipes for Weight Loss (1 June 2025) and Delicious Diabetic Indian Recipes (24 October 2025) — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/recipes/german-recipes-for-weight-loss (grade C). Read both in full to check health claims. Diet marketing, no claims to treat a disease. The second article is at /blog/recipes/delicious-diabetic-indian-recipes.
16. Apple App Store: PuffPal: Quit Vaping Addiction, by MIU Digital Limited, read 25 October 2026 — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/puffpal-quit-vaping-addiction/id6751634576 (grade C). Read in full, with the SoberPal, SugarPal, DecafPal and SCRT Chat pages, to check the developer's other products. They are habit trackers with a virtual pet and make no treatment claims.
17. indexator.ai: ChefGPT company page, traffic data for May 2026 — https://dev.indexator.ai/companies/chefgpt (grade D). Read in full. A directory with estimates. Source for the traffic estimate, the share of organic search, the keyword volumes, the first release date and the Product Hunt launch. It lists Singapore as headquarters, not confirmed elsewhere.
18. ChefGPT blog, 10 May 2023: May Product Update — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/blog/changelog/may-product-update (grade C). Read in full. Source for the Amazon Fresh button and the new languages.
19. Loot Drop database export, 1,749 failed startups — https://www.loot-drop.io/ (grade C). Local export. AI-written summaries, not independently verified. Source for the failed predecessors.
20. ChefGPT sitemap, read 25 October 2026 — https://www.chefgpt.xyz/sitemap-0.xml (grade C). Read in full. 2,259 addresses, of which 2,048 are English recipe articles, plus pages in 19 other languages.