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 | Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0.005/recipe | $99/month |
| Recipes | 100/month | Unlimited (100 free/mo) | 25,000 included |
| Overage | Hard cap | N/A (usage-based) | $0.003/recipe |
| Rate limit | 3 req/s | 10 req/s | 25 req/s |
| Monthly commitment | None | None | $99/month |
| Credit card required | No | Yes | Yes |
| 14 Nutrients | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Diet & health labels | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Confidence scores | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full caching | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| No attribution | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Community | Priority email |
How It Works
Free — $0
100 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 — $0.005/recipe
Add a credit card and pay only for what you use. Every account gets 100 free recipes per month. Beyond that, each recipe analysis costs $0.005 (half a penny). Use 500 recipes in January, pay $2. Use 0 in February, pay $0. No monthly minimum, no commitment.
Max — $99/month
25,000 recipes included at the highest rate limit (25 req/s). Beyond 25,000, additional recipes cost $0.003 each — 40% less than pay-as-you-go. At PAYG rates, 25,000 recipes would cost $124.50, so Max saves you money from day one at that volume. For production apps with predictable, high-volume traffic.
Cost Examples
| Monthly Usage | Free | Pay-as-you-go | Max | Best Option |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 recipes | $0 | $0 | $99 | Free |
| 500 recipes | Limit exceeded | $2.00 | $99 | Pay-as-you-go |
| 2,500 recipes | Limit exceeded | $12.00 | $99 | Pay-as-you-go |
| 10,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $49.50 | $99 | Pay-as-you-go |
| 20,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $99.50 | $99.00 | Max |
| 50,000 recipes | Limit exceeded | $249.50 | $174.00 | Max |
The crossover point is around 20,000 recipes/month. Below that, pay-as-you-go is cheaper. Above that, the Max plan's included 25,000 recipes plus discounted overage rate ($0.003) saves you money.
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.
Comparison With Competitors
| Monthly Usage | NutrientAPI | Edamam | Spoonacular |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 recipes | $2.00 (PAYG) | $29/mo | $29/mo |
| 2,500 recipes | $12.00 (PAYG) | $29/mo | $29/mo |
| 10,000 recipes | $49.50 (PAYG) | $299/mo | $79-149/mo |
| 50,000 recipes | $174 (Max) | Custom ($$$) | $149+/mo |
At every usage level, NutrientAPI is the same price or cheaper — and you never pay for recipes you don't analyze. See detailed comparisons: vs Edamam | vs Spoonacular
Enterprise
For organizations that need more than the Max plan offers, we provide custom enterprise agreements with:
- Custom rate limits above 25 req/s
- Volume pricing on high-throughput workloads
- SLA guarantees with uptime commitments
- Dedicated support channel
- Custom invoicing and payment terms
Contact us at support@nutrientapi.com to discuss your requirements.
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 100 free recipes on pay-as-you-go?
Yes. Every account gets 100 free recipes per month, including pay-as-you-go accounts. You only start paying at recipe 101.
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 Max when your usage regularly crosses ~20,000 recipes/month. Downgrade back to pay-as-you-go if usage drops. No contracts, no penalties.
What happens when I exceed 25,000 recipes on the Max plan?
Additional recipes beyond the included 25,000 are billed at $0.003 per recipe — 40% less than the pay-as-you-go rate. There is no hard cap; you can analyze as many recipes as you need. Usage above 25,000 appears as overage on your monthly invoice.
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.