Building a recipe site
The APIs you would realistically stitch together, grouped by role: core data first, then enrichment, images and location.
| API | Pricing | Auth | Format | Free tier | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CalorieNinjasNutrition facts for foods and meals parsed from a natural-language food query. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Freemium | API key | JSON | 100–1k/day | Deprecated |
ChompBarcode, name and ingredient lookups for 1.2M+ branded groceries with nutrition and allergen data. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Freemium | API key | JSON | — | Live |
DietlyAPIFood and nutrition lookup with calories, macros and barcode search from Open Food Facts and USDA. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Freemium | None | JSON | 10k+/day | Live |
Edamam Food DatabaseParses free-text or barcode food searches into matched foods with nutrient and allergen data. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Paid | API key | JSON | — | Live |
Edamam Nutrition AnalysisTurns plain-text ingredient lines or full recipes into calories, nutrients, and diet and allergy labels. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Paid | API key | JSON | — | Live |
Edamam Recipe SearchSearches millions of web recipes by ingredient or diet, returning nutrition data Edamam calculates itself. Food & Drink › Recipes | API key | JSON | — | Live | |
Food InfoHarmonized nutrition data for millions of foods merged from five national databases plus Open Food Facts. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Freemium | API key | JSON | 100–1k/day | Live |
FoodData CentralUSDA nutrient data for foundation, branded and survey foods, with full nutrient breakdowns. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Free | API key | JSON | 10k+/day | Live |
FruityviceBotanical family, genus, and per-100g nutrition data (calories, sugar, protein) for common fruits. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Free | None | JSON | Unlimited | Live |
Open Food FactsCrowd-sourced packaged-food data by barcode: ingredients, nutrition facts, allergens, Nutri-Score and photos. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Free | None | JSON | 10k+/day | Live |
PexelsSearch free stock photos and videos, with curated picks, collections and several image sizes per result. Media & Entertainment › Images & Photos | Free | API key | JSON | 100–1k/day | Live |
RecipeAPIRecipe search with ingredients, cooking instructions and nutrition data via a REST API. Food & Drink › Recipes | Freemium | API key | JSON | <100/day | Live |
SpoonacularRecipe search by ingredient, diet or nutrients, plus nutrition facts, grocery products and meal planning. Food & Drink › Recipes | Freemium | API key | JSON | — | Live |
TheCocktailDBCocktail and mocktail recipes with measures, glassware, ingredient details and photos, filterable by spirit. Food & Drink › Beverages | Freemium | API key | JSON | Unlimited | Live |
TheMealDBCrowd-sourced meal recipes with ingredients, measures, steps and photos, searchable by ingredient or cuisine. Food & Drink › Recipes | Freemium | API key | JSON | Unlimited | Live |
Your Move - Nutrition APIFood and nutrition search, barcode lookup, and meal-plan generation across 180+ countries. Food & Drink › Nutrition | Free trial | API key | JSON | — | Live |
ZestfulParses free-text recipe ingredient lines into structured quantity, unit and product data. Food & Drink › Recipes | Freemium | API key | JSON | <100/day | Untested |
CalorieNinjasFreemiumDeprecated
Nutrition facts for foods and meals parsed from a natural-language food query.
API key · JSON
100–1k/day
OpenAPI spec
ChompFreemiumLive
Barcode, name and ingredient lookups for 1.2M+ branded groceries with nutrition and allergen data.
API key · JSON
—
OpenAPI spec
DietlyAPIFreemiumLive
Food and nutrition lookup with calories, macros and barcode search from Open Food Facts and USDA.
None · JSON
10k+/day
llms.txt
Edamam Food DatabasePaidLive
Parses free-text or barcode food searches into matched foods with nutrient and allergen data.
API key · JSON
—
OpenAPI spec
Edamam Nutrition AnalysisPaidLive
Turns plain-text ingredient lines or full recipes into calories, nutrients, and diet and allergy labels.
API key · JSON
—
OpenAPI spec
Edamam Recipe SearchLive
Searches millions of web recipes by ingredient or diet, returning nutrition data Edamam calculates itself.
API key · JSON
—
OpenAPI spec
Food InfoFreemiumLive
Harmonized nutrition data for millions of foods merged from five national databases plus Open Food Facts.
API key · JSON
100–1k/day
OpenAPI spec · llms.txt
FoodData CentralFreeLive
USDA nutrient data for foundation, branded and survey foods, with full nutrient breakdowns.
API key · JSON
10k+/day
no machine-readable spec
FruityviceFreeLive
Botanical family, genus, and per-100g nutrition data (calories, sugar, protein) for common fruits.
None · JSON
Unlimited
no machine-readable spec
Open Food FactsFreeLive
Crowd-sourced packaged-food data by barcode: ingredients, nutrition facts, allergens, Nutri-Score and photos.
None · JSON
10k+/day
no machine-readable spec
PexelsFreeLive
Search free stock photos and videos, with curated picks, collections and several image sizes per result.
API key · JSON
100–1k/day
no machine-readable spec
RecipeAPIFreemiumLive
Recipe search with ingredients, cooking instructions and nutrition data via a REST API.
API key · JSON
<100/day
llms.txt
SpoonacularFreemiumLive
Recipe search by ingredient, diet or nutrients, plus nutrition facts, grocery products and meal planning.
API key · JSON
—
OpenAPI spec
TheCocktailDBFreemiumLive
Cocktail and mocktail recipes with measures, glassware, ingredient details and photos, filterable by spirit.
API key · JSON
Unlimited
OpenAPI spec
TheMealDBFreemiumLive
Crowd-sourced meal recipes with ingredients, measures, steps and photos, searchable by ingredient or cuisine.
API key · JSON
Unlimited
OpenAPI spec
Your Move - Nutrition APIFree trialLive
Food and nutrition search, barcode lookup, and meal-plan generation across 180+ countries.
API key · JSON
—
OpenAPI spec · llms.txt
ZestfulFreemiumUntested
Parses free-text recipe ingredient lines into structured quantity, unit and product data.
API key · JSON
<100/day
no machine-readable spec
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