ChefExtract vs. Pluck: Price, Features, Free Tier

ChefExtract and Pluck are two of the strongest options when the recipe lives in the video, not only in the caption. Both run on iOS and Android. Both pull structured ingredients and steps from Instagram, TikTok, and other social sources. After that, they diverge on pricing model, offline behavior, and what “Pro” actually unlocks.

This comparison is written by the ChefExtract team, so we’ll be direct about where Pluck does things better, and where ChefExtract does.

Where they're the same

Both apps:

• Extract recipes from Instagram reels, TikTok, and other social sources
• Use multi-modal AI (frames, on-screen text, audio) on hard, caption-sparse videos
• Give you an editable structured recipe (ingredients + steps)
• Work on iOS and Android
• Have a free tier (with different caps)

If you just want “an app that can read a difficult TikTok,” either one works. The decision comes from pricing and how you cook.

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Pricing: yearly vs lifetime

Prices checked November 2026. App Store / Play prices vary by country.

Pluck: Free plan with 3 extractions per month and 10 saved recipes. Paid yearly plans: Light $23.99/year (10 extractions/month, 50 recipes); Plus $52.99/year (50/month, 500 recipes); Pro $107.99/year or $11.99/month (200/month, unlimited recipes). Pro also offers a $499.99 lifetime purchase — the clearest reason to pick Pluck if you prefer paying once.

ChefExtract: Free tier with 5 recipes and 5 extractions per year. Pro is $29.99/year with unlimited extractions and saved recipes. Follow & DM can unlock 3 months of Pro free (see ongoing offers).

On pure yearly cost for unlimited cookbook use, ChefExtract Pro is far cheaper than Pluck Pro’s annual price. Pluck wins if a one-time lifetime payment is the priority — accepting that Light and Plus still cap monthly extractions.

If cost for unlimited yearly use is the deciding factor: ChefExtract.

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Features: where Pluck wins

Lifetime Pro option: Pluck’s $499.99 lifetime SKU has no ChefExtract equivalent. If you hate renewals and extract heavily for years, lifetime math can beat stacking yearly bills.

AI cooking assistant: Pluck markets an in-cook assistant that knows the recipe and answers questions while you cook. ChefExtract focuses on a clean cook view without a chat-style assistant.

Tiered paid plans: Light / Plus / Pro let you buy a middle tier if you don’t need unlimited. ChefExtract is free → Pro (unlimited).

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Features: where ChefExtract wins

Offline storage: ChefExtract stores recipes and images locally. Pluck is partial offline (recipes yes, images no) and more cloud-oriented overall.

Simpler pricing for unlimited use: One Pro price — $29.99/year — with no monthly extraction cap once you’re on Pro.

Share Sheet + diet variations: One-tap share from Instagram/TikTok and one-tap recipe variations (vegan, vegetarian, custom) without navigating a larger feature surface.

Smaller install: ChefExtract is much lighter on disk (about iOS 45.4 MB · Android 13 MB vs Pluck’s larger footprint).

Photo/screenshot extraction into the same offline cookbook, including handwritten cards and cookbook pages.

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Extraction quality

On caption-rich posts and text-card reels, both apps do well. On heavily stylized, caption-sparse TikToks and Reels — where the recipe is primarily in the video — ChefExtract and Pluck are on par. Both use multi-modal AI; both keep fields editable when something is missed.

The practical difference is rarely “one always wins the reel.” It’s whether you hit a monthly extraction cap (Pluck Light/Plus) and whether the saved recipe is available offline with its image when you’re cooking.

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Which user is each app for?

ChefExtract is for someone who wants a personal offline cookbook from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest. They want Share Sheet speed, unlimited Pro at a low yearly price, and a kitchen that still works without wifi.

Pluck is for someone who wants multi-modal extraction and a path to a lifetime Pro purchase — or who prefers Pluck’s assistant-style cooking help — and is fine with monthly caps on the lower paid tiers (or paying Pro yearly / lifetime).

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The honest verdict

Choose ChefExtract if: You want an offline personal cookbook with social video extraction, unlimited Pro at $29.99/year, on iOS or Android.

Choose Pluck if: You specifically want a Pro lifetime deal (or Pluck’s cooking assistant) and accept monthly caps on Light/Plus — or you’re fine with Pluck Pro’s higher yearly price.

Ongoing offers and promotions

ChefExtract — Follow & DM. Follow ChefExtract on Instagram and send a DM with the word recipe. You'll get 3 months of Pro free. Terms and conditions apply: you must keep following the ChefExtract Instagram account for the entire free period — if you unfollow, Pro access may be removed. The offer is not cumulative (you can't stack multiple Follow & DM grants).

Pluck. No official ongoing promotion found on Pluck’s site at check time. Paid plans and the Pro lifetime purchase are standard pricing, not a limited offer.

For a wider Instagram-focused roundup (ChefExtract, Osta, ReciMe), see best app for saving Instagram recipes. For ReciMe’s meal-planning angle, see ChefExtract vs. ReciMe.