Question 1

What can I make with the ingredients in my fridge?

Accepted Answer

Add what you have — type it, snap a photo, or use voice input — and Cook Compass matches your ingredients against a real recipe database, then personalizes the best fits with AI. You get a complete recipe with an ingredient list, step-by-step instructions, and cooking time, tailored to your dietary preferences, meal type, available equipment, and time limit.

Question 2

How does Cook Compass turn a photo into a recipe?

Accepted Answer

Tap the camera icon in the ingredient box and upload a photo of your fridge, pantry, or counter. Our vision AI recognizes the ingredients and adds them to your list — you can edit or remove anything before generating. From there, the same matching and personalization flow turns them into a recipe. Photo recognition is always free — guests get up to 5 scans a day without signing in, and signed-in users get unlimited scans.

Question 3

Do I need to create an account?

Accepted Answer

Yes — generating a recipe requires a free account, which takes under a minute with email or Google sign-in. A free account gets you 30 credits every day, enough for about 3 recipes a day, and lets you save your favorite recipes.

Question 4

Are the recipes AI-generated or from a real recipe database?

Accepted Answer

Both, in a deliberate order. We first search a real recipe database for dishes matching your ingredients — exact matches come straight from tested recipes. Close matches are personalized by AI while keeping the original recipe's substance. Only when nothing in the database fits does the AI create a recipe from scratch for you.

Question 5

Is Cook Compass a free AI recipe generator?

Accepted Answer

Yes — you can use Cook Compass as a free AI recipe generator every day. The Free plan gives you 30 credits daily, resetting at midnight UTC — enough for about 3 recipes or 6 AI chats a day. Photo ingredient recognition is always free. Upgrade to Pro or Ultimate for much larger monthly credit pools.

Question 6

How do credits work?

Accepted Answer

Credits power all AI features: Generate a recipe — 10 credits Ask the AI a question — 5 credits Adjust a recipe with AI — 10 credits Photo ingredient recognition — always free AI dish photo on recipe pages — tap Generate photo on any recipe page (Pro/Ultimate), costs 0 credits Free users get 30 credits every day. Pro and Ultimate users get a monthly credit pool that resets on your subscription renewal date.

Question 7

Do recipes come with a photo of the dish?

Accepted Answer

Yes on paid plans — tap Generate photo on any recipe page. Pro includes 80 photos per month and Ultimate 200, at no credit cost. Photos are AI-generated visualizations of the dish, not real cooking results. Free users can upgrade to unlock photos.

Question 8

Are the generated recipes reliable?

Accepted Answer

Every recommendation is grounded in real, tested recipe data. Our AI ranks and personalizes recipes to fit your ingredients and preferences — it doesn't invent dishes from thin air. Exact matches come straight from the recipe database, so steps and quantities stay trustworthy.

Question 9

What ingredient input methods are supported?

Accepted Answer

Type ingredients manually, snap a photo for AI recognition, or use voice input — pick whichever is most convenient for you. All three feed into the same ingredient list, which you can edit before generating.

Question 10

What happens if I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

You can cancel anytime from your account page. You keep full access until the end of your current billing period, then your account switches to the Free plan — no cancellation fees, and you won't be charged again.

Question 11

What happens if I run out of credits?

Accepted Answer

Free credits reset every day, and Pro/Ultimate pools reset on your renewal date. If you run out, you can wait for the reset or upgrade for a larger pool — upgrades are prorated, so you only pay the difference.

Question 12

Do unused credits roll over?

Accepted Answer

No. Free daily credits reset every day, and Pro/Ultimate monthly pools reset on each renewal date — unused credits don't carry over. The pools are sized generously for everyday cooking, so most users never hit the limit.

Question 13

What's your refund policy?

Accepted Answer

We offer a full refund if you request it within 7 days of your initial subscription purchase, provided you've used less than 20% of your plan's credit allowance and generated no more than 10 AI dish photos during that period. To request a refund, contact us at support@cookcompassai.com with your account email and reason — our team reviews requests within 3-5 business days. Refunds are available once per customer, for the first subscription purchase only. You can also cancel anytime from your account page to avoid future charges.

Question 14

Is my data (photos, voice, ingredients) safe?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Photos are sent to our AI provider only to recognize ingredients and are never stored on our servers. Voice input is transcribed by your browser's built-in speech engine — we only receive the text result. Your recipes and favorites stay private to your account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started

Credits & Pricing

Recipe Reliability

Privacy & Data

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