Budget Bytes Reviews

First off, I love budget bytes online. The blog is great: it has price breakdowns of each ingredient if you use the exact amount, it’s easy to search, and it’s free.

BudgetBytes is $3 to even see BudgetBytes , and then you have to pay more to see 80% of the recipes you can see online for free. The layout is terrible, the search bar is unusable and you can’t get out of it once you tap on it unless you search something and luck out with the home bar coming back, and overall while I bought this on an iPad and it says it’s compatible for the iPad...it’s not at all. I couldn’t even type anything in the search bar or this review when trying to review in app because it won’t allow my Bluetooth keyboard to type AND for whatever reason blocks the iPad on screen keyboard (wether or not my physical keyboard is disconnected). It won’t rotate in landscape view so also weirdly unusable.....and it just point blank doesn’t have a lot of the great recipes and features the FREE site does. The recipes don’t show the cost per ingredient use and take an extra input step (that’s broken) to even see the cost per serving, and the whole app reads more like the cooking channel or some standard food app than budget bytes and all the things that are wonderful about the site.

I’m not an old person who’d demand a refund typically but I feel scammed and genuinely feel like I need to ask for my money back. What a rip off!

I want to start off this review by saying that I LOVE the blog and I also understand that content creators need to get paid. BUT I purchased BudgetBytes before the in app purchase/credit feature was added and I feel like I paid for a product thinking I was getting access to one thing and am now being asked to purchase more to get access to what I want. I would be less upset about this if it had been clear when I was purchasing BudgetBytes that this was going to be the case, but it feels like a bait and switch to me. I do appreciate that you can earn free credits, but the avg recipe is 10 credits, so those free credits don’t really go that far. I would have been happy to pay far more for BudgetBytes upfront (or a yearly or monthly subscription fee) with the guarantee I was getting access to everything as opposed to this new credit system, which is confusing, hard to use and doesn’t always work properly. Prior to this change, I enthusiastically recommended BudgetBytes, but the new credits system is not an improvement. If BudgetBytes developers are reading this, I would highly encourage you to consider a new pricing system - either charge more for BudgetBytes up front or a monthly or yearly subscription fee. A monthly or yearly subscription fee would help cover some of the cost of new content and continued development of BudgetBytes , but also allow you to abandon the very clunky credit system.

I discovered Budget Bytes a few years ago and have used it regularly ever since. In all that time, I don’t think I’ve run into any bad recipes. It’s great that it’s so reliable because I like to make different things all the time, but I have also found favorite recipes that I’ve made over and over. So many of the recipes are healthy, and not very labor-intensive. It kind of brings back your faith in cooking at home, even after a busy day - they show you that something delicious doesn’t have to involve a ton of steps, ingredients, or advance preparation - including desserts! They also just added some great features, like being able to slide recipes right into a meal plan for the week. As a longtime user of BudgetBytes , I really appreciate the tune-up! I love to cook and use many apps. I promise you that Budget Bytes will be one of your best choices. It honestly never lets me down.

I really enjoy BudgetBytes. It is super easy to find what I’m looking for. There are tons of free recipes, and even the ones you need credits for are still cheap. You get started with 300 credits and each recipe costs only 10. You get more credits by using BudgetBytes daily. My favorite part of the credit system is that you can look at the ingredients list before unlocking the recipe. A longer recipe list or one with lots of ingredients I don’t have will often cause me to choose a different recipe, so I really like that I can see that before using my credits.

I love the step-by-step instruction pictures. I really helps clarify anything I have questions about. I wish I had BudgetBytes a decade ago when I was starting out on my own!

So I pay $2.99 for a completely dysfunctional app. Not only do I have to “sign-up” for an app I already paid for, I can’t access recipes without using “credits” to unlock them. How do you get credits you ask? You HAVE to interact with BudgetBytes on a daily basis, leave reviews, etc. Then you can “unlock” the recipes you seemingly already paid to have. Ridiculous. Are here people trying to emulate EA games? I can tell you it won’t go well. Not to mention the login function didn’t work when I attempted to log in several times. When it finally did work, BudgetBytes FROZE MY ENTIRE PHONE. I had to depress my power off button and even that wouldn’t work. Suddenly it would come out of the freeze and things would be wonky. Deleted BudgetBytes and will be asking for a refund from iTunes as this is such a disingenuous way to do business with customers. At least make BudgetBytes free with all the hoops you make your paid users jump through. I hope BudgetBytes fails miserably in its current state.

I started using some of these recipes online a few years back when I was in college and loved them. Now as a new mom, using BudgetBytes with the recipes I love and the features that streamline my meal planning all in one place has been such a life saver!

The grocery list builder is awesome. I especially love the feature that allows you to deselect any ingredients you might already have at home and that it combines ingredients that might be used in multiple recipes on your list. The weekly meal planner is great too! We have a lot of fun planning out our week and understanding how to use all of the features was a snap!

Do your family and your wallet a favor and get BudgetBytes!

This is an amazing app! A digital cookbook of 500 recipes for $3 is a great deal. And, more importantly, the recipes are delicious and help you save money while also LEARNING how to use simple ingredients to ear healthy. I use BudgetBytes on a daily basis. The star score is lower because folks were upset when a credit based marketplace update was implemented, but all these folks just wanted things for free and didn’t understand the amount of time and education required to create the step-by-step videos w voiceover that come with this package. App developers have modified this credit system, so now there is no reason to pass up buying this cookbook.

Absolutely love BudgetBytes!

I was constantly researching meal prep bloggers, recipes, and ideas. But, then started realizing that meal prepping started to get costly and it shouldn’t be. I meal prep to stay healthy, to avoid eating out, and to stay within my monthly budget.

BudgetBytes made it easy! It allows me to stay organized every month by allowing me to create “cookbooks”. So every month at the beginning of the month I create a new cookbook of recipes specific to that month. BudgetBytes allows you to select the amount of servings you’d like so you can easily decrease or increase to the amount that you need.

Budget Byters that use BudgetBytes also leave reviews when they make a recipe, so you can see others feedback and ideas of what they used to replace ingredients. For example, I replace butter with ghee and normally always replace sugar with honey.

Definitely recommend for something that’s serious about meal prepping and is on a budget.

I like that BudgetBytes walks you through the recipe and the screen stays on while I’m working. However the ingredient names written in green on top of the image of the food was very hard to read and in the first recipe I tried (apple pie overnight oats) BudgetBytes version doesn’t divide the ingredients so I accidentally added 4x the oats and spices before getting to the milk and being befuddled as to how on earth I would get 2 cups of milk into a 12 oz mason jar. The website accurately splits the ingredients. So I had to futz around taking a cup of (now spiced) oats out of my jars, and we will see what comes out tomorrow in my SUPER spiced overnight oats!

On the whole I love the idea it just needs more content and more polish to justify $3 for what I can get more of, more accurately for free online.

The features of BudgetBytes so far seem very nice and it’s relatively straight forward, but there are major issues across the product offerings she provides. Her website, BudgetBytes , and the web-store all require separate accounts so there’s no consistency between them. I purchased a meal plan because I like what she does and wanted to support her and shortly after purchased BudgetBytes only to find that some recipes that are free online that are included in the meal plan aren’t free in BudgetBytes .

I have no issue paying for the meal plan even though the recipes are available online because there are other benefits you get, but paying for the meal plan and then having to pay to access that recipe in BudgetBytes (that you already paid for) is too much.

I just asked a question in the comments and discovered that once I typed it in I was unable to edit it at all before hitting send. I couldn’t correct it, delete a word, nothing. No chance to fix a typo. No chance to word the question better. I apparently got to the maximum number of characters so I couldn’t complete the last word. When I tried to delete a word and change it I found I was unable to do anything at all - except being forced to hit send. That is enough to discourage me from ever leaving a comment or asking a question. Very annoying aspect of the otherwise nice app. I have the paid version.

I’ve only been using for a few months but the recipes I’ve come across are amazing on here and have become norms in the household and on top of that it really has helped me budget out meals and plan the week so much better than I was before. Was recommended to me by a friend and I recommend to everyone else who needs a single source for both recipes, list making, and meal planning. Plus they add items to your online shopping carts too!

I love Budget Bytes! I love the many recipe options for all occasions and most are simple and quick to make! However, it is not worth paying $2.99 for an app when you have access to it for free online. You don't have access to all recipes like you do online. You have your earn credits to get more recipes. Don't get me wrong, it is a great app for cooking, but if I'm paying $2.99 for an app, I should have access to all the recipes that are available online for free. I am greatly disappointed.

I’ve been using BudgetBytes for nearly 3 years now. These recipes are very easy & after awhile you end up having mostly everything you’ll need for them. BudgetBytes makes it easy to organize your week, shopping list & fill your cookbook. My categories consist of Soup, Sides & Sauces, Chicken, Pastas, Sausage, Ground Turkey/Beef, & Desserts!
Some of these recipes can be rather heavy in calories, but it’s easy to make substitutions & customization is available for diet restrictions and/or allergies.

I just recently moved halfway across the country after graduating college and joining the military. When I first settled into my apartment, none of my personal affects had arrived. I had a skillet, some tongs, and a spatula. I used BudgetBytes, with it’s handy instructions and tips, to feed myself on a budget. People wonder where there paycheck goes at the end of the month, and the answer is it’s all spent on food! With BudgetBytes I was able to get a better handle on my dining expenses, while not sacrificing quality or quantity.

Initially I was bummed to download BudgetBytes and see there was no nutritional info a few months back. I messaged the team to see what was up, because I love the budget bytes site and recipes. They were already on top of adding it to the site and said it should be on there by September. Currently in mid august it’s already up!!
I’ve been using the site for years to plan and meal prep and BudgetBytes makes it even easier. 10/10 recommend

I’ve been a fan of the this app website for about 2 years. I’m so glad there’s an app because I’ve been wanting to filter by recipe cost, even though BudgetBytes has it broken down by serving cost which is fine. I’m having fun organizing my favorite recipes by total per meal in BudgetBytes cookbooks based off the serving cost provided. It would be nice to be able to search within your Cookbook or favorite recipes or to even search within those sections by an ingredient.

I learned of BudgetBytes by coming across the website when my husband and I were in a pinch financially. I purchased BudgetBytes because we loved the website so much. Unfortunately BudgetBytes does not have nearly as many recipes as the website. Hoping they add to BudgetBytes as it is more convenient when cooking step by step. For example the website has meal prep guidance and more. Thought BudgetBytes would give me more since I paid for BudgetBytes and the website is free.

I have always enjoyed budget bytes recipes online, and I am enjoying the interactivity of BudgetBytes . Usually I would feel frustrated having certain recipes hated behind in-app currency, but in this case I actually enjoy it because it forces me to work through a few meals at a time without being paralyzed by a whole catalogue of choices.

Two things that have been frustrating me are that I can’t seem to delete cookbooks once I’ve created them, which is hurting my desire to keep everything organized.

Additionally, when viewing my account, once I go into settings there doesn’t seem to be a “back” button, so the only way to go back to the main account page again is to exit and reopen BudgetBytes .

Looking forward to updates in the future!

I love the Budget Bytes blog and love the recipes. I just wish I could love BudgetBytes more. I’m even okay with the credit system for new recipes. My problem is when I take the time to scroll through all the recipes and create cookbooks, I can never seem to load more than the first 15 or so recipes in a cookbook I created. Every time I pull down for more it just takes me to the top of the same recipes and never loads the rest that I have saved in that cookbook. It’s a shame because I love BudgetBytes, but I am tired of constantly recreating cookbooks or searching for recipes that don’t load in the cookbooks I have saved them in.