Sugo vs AnyList: shopping list first, or kitchen first?
AnyList has the best shared shopping list in the category. Sugo is built around what you can cook tonight. An honest comparison, checked August 2026.
These two apps look like competitors and are really answers to different questions.
AnyList's question is: two people are at two different shops and the list needs to be right. Sugo's question is: it is six in the evening, what can I make with what is here. If you know which of those is your household's actual problem, you already know which app to install.
I build Sugo, so treat the framing with appropriate suspicion. All prices and features checked August 2026.
The short version
AnyList is the right choice if the shared shopping list is the centre of your household's food life, or if you need Android. Sugo is the right choice if the problem is the recipes themselves: too many, in too many formats, and none of them helping at six in the evening. Sugo imports from video, photos and handwriting, matches recipes against what is already in your pantry, and reads the steps aloud while you cook.
Where AnyList wins, and it is not close
The shared list is the best in this category. Real-time sync between people, Siri input, automatic categorisation into aisles, and a decade of focus on exactly this one problem. If your household coordinates shopping constantly, AnyList has quietly been the right answer since before most recipe apps existed.
It is the cheapest paid tier here. AnyList Complete is $9.99/year for an individual and $14.99/year for a household. Sugo's famiglia is $119.99/year. That is not a small difference, and if the shopping list is the value you are buying, AnyList is a bargain.
It runs on iOS and Android, with web and Mac apps on the paid tier. Sugo is currently iPhone only, in open beta. In a mixed-phone household that matters more than any feature comparison.
Complete also covers recipe import from cooking sites, the meal-planning calendar, recipe scaling, photos, budget tracking and Apple Watch.
Where Sugo goes further
Sugo captures recipes AnyList cannot reach
AnyList imports recipes from cooking websites and blogs. That is the classic model and it works for classic sources.
Sugo imports from links, photos, screenshots, handwritten recipe cards, photographed cookbook pages, and video from TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, including steps that are only ever spoken aloud. If your recipes arrive as screenshots and saved reels rather than as bookmarks, this is the difference between an app that works for you and one that does not.
In Sugo the shopping list is an output, not the centre
In AnyList the list is the product and recipes support it. In Sugo the list is what falls out of a decision you already made.
You plan the week from recipes you have saved, and the grocery list assembles itself: duplicate ingredients merged, grouped by aisle. Then the pantry closes the loop by removing what you already own from the equation, so the list is what is actually missing rather than every ingredient in every recipe.
Sugo answers what to cook, not just what to buy
Sugo's pantry compares what is in your kitchen against every recipe you have saved, and surfaces what you can cook tonight without shopping, plus what is one ingredient away.
That is the part neither a shopping list nor a recipe box does. AnyList tells you what to buy once you have decided. Sugo helps with the deciding.
Sugo helps with the cooking, not just the planning
Once the shopping is done, AnyList's job is largely finished. Sugo's starts: a hands-free cook mode with one large step at a time, timers pulled out of the instructions, voice control, and wink-to-advance for when the kitchen is too loud to talk.
The honest comparison
| AnyList | Sugo | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | The shared shopping list | What you can cook tonight |
| Price | Free, or $9.99–14.99/yr Complete | Free, or $59.99/yr sugo+ ($5.00/mo), $119.99/yr famiglia ($10.00/mo) |
| Platforms | iOS, Android; web and Mac on Complete | iPhone only, TestFlight beta |
| Shared list | Best in category | Yes, household-wide on famiglia |
| Import from a link | Cooking sites, on Complete | Yes, 25/month free |
| Import from video or a photo | No | Yes |
| Pantry matching | No | Yes |
| Hands-free cooking | No | Voice and wink |
| Meal planning | On Complete | Yes, shared and votable |
Where Sugo is behind
- AnyList's shared lists are more mature than ours. Ten years on one problem shows, and it shows in the small things: how fast a change propagates, how well categorisation guesses, how it behaves on a bad connection.
- AnyList is much cheaper, and runs on Android.
- AnyList is a finished product. Sugo is in open beta.
So which one?
Choose AnyList if the shopping list is the centre of your household's food life, if you need Android, or if you want the cheapest thing here that does the job well.
Choose Sugo if the recipes themselves are the problem: too many, in too many formats, and none of them helping at six in the evening.
They also coexist perfectly well. Plenty of people plan and cook in one app and keep a shopping list somewhere the whole family already uses. Sugo's free plan has no time limit and does not ask for a card, so trying it does not mean leaving anything behind.
For the wider picture, including Paprika, Crouton and ReciMe, see the full recipe app comparison.