Pricing
Pay only for what you use. Every plan includes all features — the only differences are volume and rate limits.
Plans
| Free | Pay-as-you-go | Pro | Max | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0.05/recipe | $149/month | $249/month |
| Recipes | 25/month | Unlimited (25 free/mo) | 10,000 included | 50,000 included |
| Overage | Hard cap | N/A (usage-based) | $0.03/recipe | $0.01/recipe |
| Rate limit | 3 req/s | 10 req/s | 25 req/s | 50 req/s |
| Monthly commitment | None | None | $149/month | $249/month |
| Credit card required | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 14 Nutrients | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Diet & health labels | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Confidence scores | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full caching | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No attribution | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Community | Priority email | Priority email |
How It Works
Free — $0
25 recipes per month, no credit card required. Full access to every feature: all 14 nutrients, labels, confidence scores, caching, no attribution. No time limit. This is your permanent evaluation tier.
Pay-as-you-go — $0.05/recipe
Add a credit card and pay only for what you use. Every account gets 25 free recipes per month. Beyond that, each recipe analysis costs $0.05 (a nickel). Use 500 recipes in January, pay $23.75. Use 0 in February, pay $0. No monthly minimum, no commitment.
Pro — $149/month
10,000 recipes included at 25 req/s. Beyond 10,000, additional recipes cost $0.03 each — 40% less than pay-as-you-go. At PAYG rates, 10,000 recipes would cost $498.75, so Pro cuts that by 70% at its included cap. For real production volume at predictable cost.
Max — $249/month
50,000 recipes included at 50 req/s — the highest rate limit we offer. Beyond 50,000, additional recipes cost $0.01 each — 80% less than pay-as-you-go. Max includes full caching, no attribution, and confidence scoring as standard — no add-ons, no gated features.
Cost Examples
| Monthly Usage | Free | PAYG | Pro | Max | Best Option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 recipes | $0 | $0 | $149 | $249 | Free |
| 500 recipes | Limit exceeded | $23.75 | $149 | $249 | PAYG |
| 2,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $98.75 | $149 | $249 | PAYG |
| 3,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $148.75 | $149.00 | $249 | Breakeven PAYG/Pro |
| 5,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $248.75 | $149.00 | $249 | Pro |
| 10,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $498.75 | $149.00 | $249 | Pro |
| 13,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $648.75 | $239.00 | $249 | Pro (by $10) |
| 15,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $748.75 | $299.00 | $249.00 | Max |
| 25,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $1,248.75 | $599.00 | $249.00 | Max |
| 50,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $2,498.75 | $1,349.00 | $249.00 | Max |
| 100,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $4,998.75 | $2,849.00 | $749.00 | Max |
Two crossover points to know: PAYG → Pro at ~3,000 recipes/month, and Pro → Max at ~13,000 recipes/month. Below 3K, PAYG is cheapest. Between 3K-13K, Pro wins. Above 13K, Max wins — and the gap widens fast as volume grows.
What Counts as a Recipe?
Each POST /v1/analyze request counts as one recipe, regardless of the number of ingredients. A recipe with 3 ingredients costs the same as one with 30 ingredients.
Comparing to other nutrition APIs? See our detailed breakdowns: vs Edamam · vs Spoonacular.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cache API responses?
Yes. All plans allow full, unlimited caching. Store results in your database, CDN, or local cache for as long as you want. No restrictions on duration, size, or how you serve cached data. If you cancel, the cached data is yours to keep.
Do I need to attribute NutrientAPI?
No. Zero attribution on any plan, including Free. No badges, no links, no mentions required.
Do I get 25 free recipes on pay-as-you-go?
Yes. Every account gets 25 free recipes per month, including pay-as-you-go accounts. You only start paying at recipe 26.
What happens if I exceed my rate limit?
Requests beyond your rate limit receive a 429 Too Many Requests response with a Retry-After header. Implement a short backoff and retry. The limit resets every second.
Can I switch between plans anytime?
Yes. Upgrade to Pro when your usage regularly crosses ~3,000 recipes/month, then to Max at ~13,000 recipes/month. Downgrade any time usage drops. No contracts, no penalties.
When should I upgrade from Pro to Max?
Around 13,000 recipes/month. At that volume, Pro overage starts making Max the cheaper option. By 15,000 recipes/month, Pro costs $299 and Max costs $249 — plus you get twice the rate limit (50 req/s vs 25 req/s) and a much lower overage rate ($0.01 vs $0.03) if you keep growing.
What happens when I exceed 10,000 recipes on the Pro plan?
Additional recipes beyond the included 10,000 are billed at $0.03 per recipe — 40% less than the pay-as-you-go rate. There is no hard cap. That said, if you're regularly exceeding ~13,000, Max is the better deal.
What happens when I exceed 50,000 recipes on the Max plan?
Additional recipes beyond the included 50,000 are billed at $0.01 per recipe — 80% less than pay-as-you-go. No hard cap. For sustained volumes well above 50K, contact us about custom pricing.
Is there a spending limit on pay-as-you-go?
You can set a monthly spending cap in your dashboard. Once reached, additional requests receive a 429 response until the next billing cycle, protecting you from unexpected bills.
Do all plans return the same data?
Yes. Every plan returns identical data: all 14 nutrients, per-ingredient breakdowns, per-serving totals, diet and health labels, and confidence scores. No features are gated behind higher tiers.