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BigOven tops 8 million app downloads, makes menu planner, grocery list free

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Bootstrapping sensation BigOven today is announcing that it has recorded more than eight million downloads of its recipe finder app across iPad, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Nook and Kindle Fire. Not bad for a company that’s been bootstrapped from its earliest days by entrepreneur Steve Murch.

In addition to announcing the new app milestone, BigOven also is making its Grocery List and Menu Planner services free. Those services had previously been part of the company’s $20 annual premium subscription plan.

Steve Murch

“We have found them to be very popular with cooks and advertisers alike, and are now opening them up to all customers,” said Murch of the decision to make them free.

“By making these features free, it allows us to reach a much wider base of home cooks with great services that span the cooking lifecycle from recipe discovery through planning and shopping,” he said.

In addition, the company said that it is now rolling out Facebook integration, allowing cooks to view the recipes added and favorited by Facebook friends.

BigOven, which boasts more than 400,000 recipes and 1.8 million registered users, will continue to offer its premium service.

That includes an ad-free experience, access to private notes on recipes and 25 credits for the company’s RecipeScan service, an automated tool that turns handwritten recipes into digital copies.

Steve Murch’s talk from GeekWire’s Startup Day: Bootstrapping a startup: Less cash, more cowbell

  • Guest

    8 million unique installs? It is very common for companies to quote installs, but every update generates a new install, so this statistic is not particularly meaningful. 8 million “unique” installs or “device” installs is more relevant. I wild humbly suggest that you ask probe a little deeper when people quote these numbers.

    • johnhcook

      Thanks for the comment. I did get that info from Steve Murch, but just didn’t include it here. Here you go, diirectly from BigOven’s Murch: “That’s new installs, not including upgrades.”

      • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steve-Murch/705204492 Steve Murch

        Thanks John, I can confirm that here — 8+ million downloads, i.e., of course not counting extra when someone upgrades.

        That number is across all our supported mobile app platforms — iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android, Android Tablet, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire and NOOK.

  • hinduf

    They are really pushy with the upgrades. This morning, I reached 25 recipes. Now I can’t edit or delete any of my stuff or add anymore recipes. My account is basically blocked if I don’t upgrade. I wouldn’t mind paying a fixed price to uprade if there was a way to export your data. With this app, you are signing to pay 2$/month for life or until you decide to quit and loose all your work. I quit.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steve-Murch/705204492 Steve Murch

      BigOven’s multiple servers that power the recipe cloud (which allows your recipes, grocery list and menus to sync across mobile and tablet devices as well as the web) cost tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and that doesn’t even include the cost for developing, supporting and marketing new features. A fixed price simply doesn’t work in a model where the costs are recurring (and potentially infinite.) Those companies that are using a fixed-price against recurring-cost are, we think, making a big long-term mistake.

      Pro membership, which is optional, removes all advertisement and unlocks a bunch of additional features (including unlimited recipe posting), and it’s just $0.05 per day. We think that’s a bargain, especially compared with some competitive offerings. If you choose not to upgrade, we hope you continue as a free member — the apps are completely free, and with them, you can search over 400,000 recipes, add ratings, photos and more. Happy cooking!

  • Amy Everpean

    I am a totally organized person and like to keep track of my groceries with a list.I recently found a website, http://www.smartshopperusa.com which has been the best way ever to keep track of all my groceries i need!

  • Steve Livesley

    I’ve just started using this service and have successfully imported a recipe from Allrecipes. I found this site because I was searching to see if there was any way to organise my shopping list by aisle (for my local supermarket). I’m considering upgrading but not if I don’t have this feature.