What does

Cookpad Inc. is a Tokyo-headquartered, publicly traded (Tokyo Stock Exchange, ticker 2193) operator of one of Japan's largest user-generated recipe platforms. Founded in 1998, the company runs a free recipe search and posting service with web and mobile (iOS/Android) access, supplemented by a Premium subscription tier at 308 yen per month that removes advertising, unlocks popularity-ranked search results, hall-of-fame and expert-selected recipes, premium meal planning, and cooksnap filtering. The platform is available in over 30 countries/regions via localized domains and is positioned by the company as Japan's No.1 recipe search service.

The business operates a multi-product ecosystem around the core recipe platform. Revenue is generated from Premium subscriptions, advertising on the free tier, an Enterprise Kitchen tier for corporate and commercial accounts, and a Partner Program (Partner, Hero, Fantasista tiers) that pays creators based on per-cooking counts via Amazon Gift Cards and bank transfer. Adjacent product lines include Cookpad Mart (grocery/ingredient delivery), Cookpad Data and Tabemiru (research data and analytics products sold to academia and enterprises), and Cookpad Challenges (community engagement). The company holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 / JIS Q 27001:2023 certification (since 2013) and runs on AWS infrastructure with Google, Meta, Fastly, Sentry, KARTE, and Stripe integrations.

Recent strategic activity is oriented around brand extension rather than core platform expansion: three cookbooks were published between February and April 2026, and the platform continues to maintain localized operations globally. No major M&A, fundraising, or leadership changes are disclosed in the input data. AI/ML use is limited to recipe recommendation and search ranking, supported by Weights & Biases tooling; no proprietary models or differentiated AI capabilities are disclosed.

Legal name

クックパッド株式会社 (Cookpad Inc.)

Website

https://cookpad.jp

Company type

Public

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Cookpad Inc. operates Japan's largest user-generated recipe-sharing platform, serving home cooks across 30+ countries via a free ad-supported service and a 308 yen/month Premium subscription, with adjacent creator monetization, grocery delivery, and research data products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recipe Sharing Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Cookbooks, Food & Drink Publishing (MPAJAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Meal Planning & Prep Coaching (Macros, Grocery Guidance) (HSADAFAN), Local Chef/Restaurant Meal Boxes & Marketplace Prepared Meals (CRAHAJAI)

Keywords

• Recipe sharing platform
• Cooking community network
• User-generated recipes
• Online recipe database
• Meal planning service

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Premium Subscription: Monthly subscription service at 308 yen/month providing ad-free experience, popular recipe sorting, hall of fame recipes, expert-selected recipes, and premium meal planning features
2. Advertising: Targeted advertising displayed to free users browsing recipes and content
3. Partner Program Rewards: Revenue sharing with content creators based on recipe cooking counts and premium recipe engagement. Partners receive free premium service, Heroes and Fantasistas earn per-cooking revenue
4. Enterprise Kitchen Services: Business/organizational accounts for commercial recipe sharing and promotion, allowing promotional content within guidelines

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cookpad operates a recipe-sharing platform and cooking community where users can search, post, save, and share user-generated recipes organized by category, ingredient, and trending topics. The platform supports free access with advertising and an optional premium subscription (308 yen/month) that offers ad-free browsing, popularity-ranked search, hall of fame recipes, expert-selected recipes, cooksnap filtering, recipe memos, and meal planning. A tiered partner program rewards content creators based on cooking counts.

Product overview

Cookpad operates a single integrated recipe-sharing platform at its core, offering free recipe search and posting with an optional premium subscription (Cookpad Premium). The ecosystem extends through a creator monetization program (Cookpad Partner Program), a research data service (Cookpad Data), a research analytics tool (Tabemiru), an enterprise tier (Enterprise Kitchen), community challenges, and an ingredient delivery add-on (Cookpad Mart). The platform is accessible via web and mobile applications (Android and iOS).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cookpad Premium: Premium subscription service offering ad-free experience, popular recipe access, expert-selected recipes, and meal planning features at 308 yen/month

Products and services

• Cookpad (クックパッド) A recipe-sharing platform that allows users to search, post, save, and share cooking recipes. It is a free service with optional premium upgrades, featuring user-generated recipe content organized by category, ingredient, and trending topics. For home cooks and general consumers seeking recipe ideas and meal planning assistance.
• Cookpad Premium (クックパッド プレミアム) A paid subscription service priced at 308 JPY/month that removes advertisements, enables popularity-ranked search results, provides access to Hall of Fame recipes, cooksnap filtering, recipe memo features, and expert-selected recipes. For individual home cooks who want an enhanced, ad-free experience.
• Cookpad Partner Program (クックパッドパートナープログラム) A creator monetization program for recipe authors with tiered statuses (Partner, Hero, Fantasista). Partners receive free premium service; Heroes earn cooking-count-based revenue paid via Amazon Gift Cards; Fantasistas receive higher per-cooking revenue, premium recipe posting rights, and bank transfer payments. For passionate home cooks who post recipes and want to build an audience and earn income.
• Cookpad Data (クックパッドデータ) A data service providing historical recipe and meal plan data (published before September 30, 2014) to academic researchers and enterprises for food-related research purposes.
• Tabemiru (たべる) A search analytics and statistical information service provided free to university researchers to promote food research, offering analysis of recipe search patterns from Cookpad data.
• Enterprise Kitchen (企業・団体キッチン) A special account tier for companies, organizations, and commercial entities that allows commercial use of Cookpad for product promotion and brand marketing, with the ability to transfer kitchen management between team members. For marketing and brand teams seeking commercial recipe sharing capabilities.
• Cookpad Challenges (レシピチャレンジ) Community recipe challenges where users participate by submitting recipes that meet specific themes, with recognition for top contributors.
• Cookpad Mart (クックパッドマート) A food delivery and grocery service integrated with Cookpad, allowing users to purchase ingredients directly through the platform. Inquiries are handled through a separate contact form.

Quantifiable outcome

• Premium recipes have been cooked over 300,000 times

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationAWS provides cloud infrastructure for Cookpad's platform services, enabling the service to operate reliably at scale. Information transmitted includes browsing history for service provision.
• Google LLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle provides advertising, analytics, and cloud services including IP addresses, cookie information, terminal information, location data, browsing history, search history, and advertising viewing information for behavioral analysis and service optimization.
• BSIグループジャパン株式会社 (BSI Japan)coreTechnology or IntegrationBSI serves as the certification body for Cookpad's ISO 27001 information security certification.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Delish: Delish is a Hearst-owned food platform with recipes, cooking videos, and viral food content. It overlaps with Cookpad in recipe discovery and competes for cooking-related audience engagement.
• Allrecipes: Allrecipes is one of the largest U.S.-based user-generated recipe platforms with millions of community-submitted recipes and active photo-sharing features. It directly competes with Cookpad in recipe discovery, search, and community engagement within the home-cooking vertical.
• NYT Cooking: NYT Cooking is a recipe and cooking platform from The New York Times offering tested recipes, ratings, and a community of home cooks. It overlaps directly with Cookpad's recipe search, meal planning, and curated/popular recipe ranking features.
• Tasty (BuzzFeed): Tasty is BuzzFeed's recipe and cooking video platform offering recipe discovery, step-by-step videos, and meal ideas. It competes with Cookpad in recipe discovery and increasingly uses video-first formats that challenge text-and-photo platforms like Cookpad.
• Food.com: Food.com is a recipe-sharing platform with user-submitted recipes and cooking community features. It operates as a direct peer to Cookpad's core recipe search and UGC-driven community experience.
• Epicurious: Epicurious is a recipes and cooking platform from Dotdash Meredith offering professionally curated and user-rated recipes. It directly compares to Cookpad in recipe discovery, search, and meal planning.

Emerging players

• SideChef: SideChef is a recipe app and smart kitchen platform offering guided cooking, meal planning, and integrated grocery ordering. It overlaps with Cookpad in recipe discovery and meal planning while adding a more commerce-driven experience.

Broad incumbents

• HelloFresh: HelloFresh is a global meal kit subscription service that owns the recipe-to-ingredient commerce funnel. It is comparable to Cookpad's recipe-plus-Cookpad Mart offering and represents a broader incumbent in food content commerce.
• Pinterest: Pinterest is a major visual discovery platform where recipe and food content drive significant engagement. It competes with Cookpad in food inspiration and recipe discovery, particularly via visual search.
• YouTube (Cooking Verticals): YouTube is a dominant video content platform that captures much of the modern cooking-content attention through channels and tutorials. It is a broader incumbent that competes with Cookpad for cooking-content consumption share, especially among younger demographics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/cookpad_jp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cookpad

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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