You have been running your food blog on WP Recipe Maker free for a while, and it has held up well. Your recipes show up in Google with proper schema, readers can shop your ingredients right from the page, and it has not cost you anything. So one question keeps coming back. Is the $49 Premium plan actually worth paying for, or is free already enough for where your blog is now?
Here’s what each tier includes, so you can see exactly what your money buys before you spend it.
The short version: WP Recipe Maker’s free plugin handles recipe schema (JSON-LD), the Template Editor, and shoppable Instacart, Walmart, and Chicory buttons, while Premium ($49/yr) adds adjustable servings, one-click user ratings, Cook Mode, and ingredient and equipment affiliate links.
You’re not making this call alone. WP Recipe Maker runs on more than 50,000 active installs and holds a 5.0 rating from 354 reviews on WordPress.org, so plenty of food bloggers already rely on the plugin you’re weighing.
What does WP Recipe Maker free include?
WP Recipe Maker’s free version outputs Google-ready recipe schema (JSON-LD), includes the visual Template Editor, and connects to Instacart, Walmart, and Chicory, all without a license. It publishes real recipe cards, helps them rank, and lets you earn money from day one.
Every recipe gets that schema automatically. It’s the structured data Google reads to place posts in rich results and recipe carousels. It is the same technical base the paid tiers build on, so your recipes can show up properly from your very first post. There is also a built-in SEO check that flags metadata problems before they cost you rankings, plus How-to schema if you publish non-food guides.
Free also fits the way you already work. It runs inside Gutenberg, the Classic editor, and Elementor, so you drop a recipe card into your posts without changing your setup. The Template Editor is free too – WP Recipe Maker lets you restyle any template (colors, fonts, layout) with no code and no paywall.
On top of that, free covers the little touches readers notice.
- A print button so visitors can take your recipe to the kitchen.
- Jump-to-recipe links that skip the backstory and land on the card.
- Recipe video support inside both the card and the metadata.
- Star ratings tied to comments, so readers can score a recipe when they leave feedback.
WP Recipe Maker free connects to Instacart, Walmart, and Chicory (all US-only, and only Chicory and Instacart currently pay a commission), so readers can shop your ingredients and you collect from those clicks before you pay for anything.
Put it together and free covers the three things a growing blog needs first. Your recipes read well, they are built to rank, and they can bring in revenue. For plenty of bloggers, that is enough for months. You only start weighing an upgrade once you want more say over servings, nutrition, and how readers rate your cards.
What does WP Recipe Maker Premium add for $49 a year?
WP Recipe Maker Premium costs $49 a year for one site and adds adjustable servings, one-click user ratings, ingredient and equipment affiliate links, custom recipe taxonomies, and Cook Mode. Here are the four that matter most for a growing blog.
Adjustable servings. Premium lets readers change the serving count on your card, and every ingredient amount rescales on its own. Someone cooking for two does not have to halve your numbers by hand, and someone feeding a crowd gets the right quantities in one tap. That means fewer math mistakes in your comments and a smoother cook for your readers.
One-click user ratings. Free ratings only register when a reader leaves a comment, which most people skip. Premium adds a ratings box that lets a reader tap a star and leave feedback in one modal, without navigating away from the recipe card. By default, WP Recipe Maker asks for a comment, name, and email with each rating, so every star comes with a real review your readers can use. You can switch any of those requirements off on the Star Ratings settings page if you’d rather collect stars on their own. You can see it live on the WP Recipe Maker user ratings demo. More ratings mean stronger star counts on your cards and in search, which nudges click-through in your favor.
Ingredient and equipment affiliate links. This is the money feature. Premium lets you link ingredients and equipment straight from the recipe card to products you earn a commission on. You can switch on a setting that adds nofollow or sponsored to all of those links by default, so they follow Google’s guidance for paid links without you tagging each one. You’ll still need an affiliate disclosure on the post, and our guide to placing affiliate links in recipe posts covers both.
Custom recipe taxonomies. Premium lets you sort recipes by your own labels, like difficulty, price level, or method, on top of the standard course and cuisine. That makes it easier for readers to browse your archive and find the next thing to cook, which keeps them on your site longer.
Before you buy, note that Custom Recipe Fields, which let you add brand-new data points to a recipe, come with Pro. They sound a lot like custom recipe taxonomies, so the two are easy to mix up when you compare plans.
They pay you back in reader trust, easier cooking, and affiliate income. If you already recommend ingredients and tools in your posts, the affiliate links alone can earn back the $49.
The tiers compared side by side
If you want the whole picture in one look, here it is. The table below shows every headline feature and whether it comes with Free or with Premium, so you can find any one of them fast.
| Feature | Free ($0) | Premium ($49/yr) |
| Recipe schema, templates, print and jump | Yes | Yes |
| Instacart, Walmart, Chicory | Yes | Yes |
| Adjustable servings and one-click rating | No | Yes |
| Ingredient and equipment affiliate links | No | Yes |
| Custom recipe taxonomies | No | Yes |
| Manual nutrition label | No | Yes |
| Custom recipe fields | No | No |
| Unit and temperature conversion | No | No |
| Automatic nutrition calculation | No | No |
| Recipe Collections and submissions | No | No |
| WooCommerce products | No | No |
Note: The rows marked yes under Premium are what your $49 buys over the free plugin. The rows marked no in both columns are features that belong to Pro or Elite, and the next sections walk through exactly which tier each one needs, so you only pay for the level your blog has actually reached.
When Pro or Elite is worth it
Free and Premium cover most blogs for a long time, and two tiers sit above them if yours keeps growing. WP Recipe Maker Pro ($99/yr) is worth it once you need automatic nutrition calculation, unit and temperature conversion for readers who cook in different measurement systems, or custom recipe fields. Elite ($149/yr) suits established sites and agencies that want Recipe Collections with meal planning and shopping lists, reader recipe submissions, or WooCommerce products. See what Pro adds over Premium, or compare the full lineup on the WP Recipe Maker plans page.
Should you upgrade your food blog?
Upgrading is a stage decision, and for most food bloggers the right moment is one of these three points.
- You start monetizing. Once ingredient and equipment affiliate links are part of how you earn, Premium is the tier that unlocks them. The Instacart, Walmart, and Chicory buttons you may already use stay.
- You publish at volume. When you’re posting often and managing a growing archive, custom taxonomies keep it easy to browse, and adjustable servings cut down the ‘how do I halve this?’ questions in your comments.
- You need nutrition or conversion depth. If your niche is keto, gluten-free, or macro counting, or your readers span different countries, Pro handles the calculations and unit switching for you.
Of course, upgrading is not a migration or a rebuild. You keep the free plugin active and install the paid version right next to it, and your existing recipes carry on exactly as they are. The paid features simply switch on. Nothing to move, nothing to redo.
What bloggers report once the paid tools are in place backs this up. Jonas at FitTasteTic says WP Recipe Maker helped grow his traffic by around 500% after a Google update, enough for him to leave his full-time job. Your numbers will depend on your content and niche, but the pattern is steady. Bloggers who commit to the paid tools tend to grow.
If money is tight, remember you are not locked in. Every paid plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked, and you can upgrade from Premium to Pro or Elite later by paying only the difference. You are never pushed to buy more than your blog needs today.
When you are ready, head to the WP Recipe Maker plans page and choose the bundle that fits where your blog is right now.
Common questions about upgrading WP Recipe Maker
A few smaller questions come up a lot when bloggers weigh the jump from free to paid.
Are recipe ratings free or Premium?
Both, in different forms. Free gives you star ratings tied to comments, so a reader scores your recipe when they leave feedback. Premium adds a ratings box inside the recipe card, so readers can rate without scrolling to the comment form. It asks for a comment, name, and email by default, and you can switch any of those off in the Star Ratings settings if you’d rather make rating quicker.
Does upgrading affect my SEO?
No. This is the reassurance most people want first. Your recipe schema stays exactly as it is when you upgrade. The structured data that earns your rich results does not reset or change, so the rankings and recipe cards you already have carry straight over. You are adding features on top of the same SEO base, not swapping it out.
Is there a free trial?
There is no free trial, but buying is still low risk. WP Recipe Maker backs every paid plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked, so you can buy, test it on your own site, and get a full refund if it is not the right fit. You can also explore the live demo site first to see the paid features in action before you spend anything.
How does WP Recipe Maker compare to other recipe plugins?
WP Recipe Maker runs from a free plugin through three paid tiers, so you can start on free and move up as your blog grows without switching tools. Every plan includes the no-code Template Editor, Pro adds automatic nutrition and unit conversion; and Elite adds Recipe Collections, which no other major recipe plugin offers. For a feature-by-feature look at how it compares with WP Tasty Recipes, Create (formerly Create by Mediavine), and others, see our full recipe plugin comparison.