Comparison guide

Free food cost calculators in 2026: free tools, templates and paid apps compared

Disclosure: we make Larderly Restaurant Food Cost Sheet, one of the options below. This comparison is made from public information on each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-11-10; we did not receive anything from the other vendors.

If you only need to price one dish right now, a free online calculator such as the KitchenNmbrs food cost calculator (or our own free calculator) is enough. If you want every dish costed in a file you keep, the free Eat App Excel template costs nothing, and our one-time spreadsheet adds suggested menu prices and a purchases log with a monthly tracker for the real monthly food cost. If you want supplier prices, invoices or your POS to update recipe costs for you, a subscription app such as meez, Recipe Cost Calculator or MarketMan fits better than any spreadsheet, ours included. Groups with five or more locations should look at Apicbase or MarketMan.

Prices checked 2026-11-10.

This page compares free food cost calculators, free food cost templates and paid recipe costing apps for small restaurants, cafes and food trucks. All of them answer the same core question: what does a plate cost to make, what share of the menu price is that, and what should the dish sell for. They differ in how much typing you do, whether your recipes are saved, and whether prices update on their own. Disclosure: we make one of the options listed (a one-time spreadsheet). This is a comparison made from public information on each vendor's own pages, checked on 2026-11-10; we did not run paid trials, and prices can change, so check the linked pricing page before you buy.

How we compared

• Cost: free, monthly subscription or one-time payment, as published by the vendor
• What it calculates: plate cost per dish, food cost percentage, suggested menu price, actual (inventory-based) food cost
• Whether recipes are saved and can be updated when ingredient prices change
• Effort: manual entry versus supplier price, invoice or POS integration
• Fit for a single small restaurant versus multi-location groups

The options

KitchenNmbrs Food Cost Calculator

KitchenNmbrs · freemium · Free calculator (no signup); paid app from £42 per month · price checked 2026-11-10 on the vendor page

A free online calculator for one dish at a time: enter each ingredient's purchase price, package size, quantity per portion and waste %, and it shows ingredient cost, food cost %, gross margin and a suggested sell price.

Good:

• No signup needed for the calculator
• Per-ingredient entry with a waste % field
• Handles VAT-inclusive or VAT-exclusive prices and lets you choose a currency
• Shows a suggested sell price from a target food cost %

Watch out:

• Saving dishes requires starting a trial of the paid app (from £42 per month)
• One dish at a time; the menu-wide version is part of the paid app
• Exchange rates are not applied automatically when you switch currency

Best for: Quickly pricing a single new dish or special without installing anything.

Free Food Cost Calculator for Excel

Eat App · free · USD 0 (free download, no sign up required) · price checked 2026-11-10 on the vendor page

A free downloadable Excel file (delivered as a .zip) from a restaurant reservation software company that calculates food cost per dish and food cost percentage, with space for recipe and allergy information.

Good:

• Free, with no sign up or email form before download
• Calculates food cost per dish and food cost percentage
• Recalculates margins when you change an item, so you can test prices

Watch out:

• The download page does not describe the sheet's exact fields or limits, so you only see them after downloading
• No inventory-based actual food cost or stock count is described
• Manual entry of all ingredient prices; no supplier or POS link

Best for: A small restaurant that wants a free Excel file to cost its dishes and does not need stock counting.

Larderly Restaurant Food Cost Sheet (made by us)

Bardach Technologies · paid · USD 29.99 one-time · price checked 2026-11-10 on the store page

A one-time spreadsheet (.xlsx) that works in Excel and Google Sheets. It calculates plate cost, food cost percentage and a suggested menu price for every dish, and adds a purchases log and monthly tracker (opening stock + purchases - closing stock) so you can see your real monthly food cost, not only the theoretical one. A free food cost and menu price calculator (no sign-up) is also available at recipescosting.bardach-technologies.com if you only need one dish.

Good:

• One-time purchase, no monthly fee
• Covers the whole menu: plate cost, food cost % and suggested menu price per dish
• Purchases log and monthly tracker for the actual monthly food cost
• No macros; works in Excel and Google Sheets
• Free online calculator available for single dishes

Watch out:

• Manual entry: no supplier price import or invoice scanning
• No POS integration, so sales and theoretical usage are not pulled in automatically
• Single-file spreadsheet; no multi-user app, mobile app or multi-location reporting
• Costs money, while the free templates above cover basic plate costing

Best for: An independent restaurant or cafe that wants full-menu costing and a monthly food cost check without paying a subscription.

Recipe Cost Calculator

Recipe Cost Calculator · paid · $24.17 per month, billed annually (Core plan); Core + Planning + Inventory $107.50 per month billed annually · price checked 2026-11-10 on the vendor page

A web app for recipe costing and food business management, with per-ingredient and per-category costs, menu pricing checks, inventory, production planning, allergen tags and nutrition labels.

Good:

• Saved recipes with costs by ingredient or category
• Flags menu items that miss your targets
• Optional inventory, production planning and invoice processing
• Works on desktop and mobile devices

Watch out:

• Monthly subscription; inventory needs the higher $107.50 per month (billed annually) tier
• Add-ons cost extra (nutrition labels $12.50/mo, extra users $7.50/mo, invoice processing $1 per invoice)
• The site has 'Sign up for free' buttons but does not say what the free option includes
• The pricing page shows annual-billing prices; monthly-billing prices are not listed

Best for: Small food businesses that want saved recipes, unit conversions and nutrition labels in a web app at a modest monthly cost.

meez

meez · paid · USD 19 per month billed annually, or USD 24 per month billed monthly (Starter) · price checked 2026-11-10 on the vendor page

A recipe management platform for professional kitchens. The Starter plan includes basic recipe costing, automated yield calculations, a recipe margin calculator and cost import/export; higher plans add inventory, invoice processing and POS integration.

Good:

• Low entry price for saved, costed recipes
• Automated yield calculations and a recipe margin calculator
• Clear upgrade path to inventory (Pro) and invoice processing (Premium)
• 14-day free trial

Watch out:

• No free plan
• Inventory starts on Pro at USD 89 per month billed annually (USD 119 monthly)
• POS integration and menu engineering are only listed in the Enterprise plan (custom price)

Best for: Chef-led kitchens that want recipes, yields and costing in one app and expect to grow into inventory later.

MarketMan

MarketMan · paid · $249 per month (Starter); $299 per month (Growth); Enterprise from $449 · price checked 2026-11-10 on the vendor page

Restaurant inventory and purchasing software that includes real-time recipe costing on every plan, aimed at independent operators up to chains and franchises.

Good:

• Real-time recipe costing included on all plans
• Combines costing with inventory and purchasing
• Plans for single operators and for multi-location groups

Watch out:

• Highest entry price in this list ($249 per month for Starter)
• No free plan or free trial is shown on the pricing page; it offers demos instead
• More system than a small restaurant needs if it only wants plate costs

Best for: Restaurants that want recipe costs to follow live purchasing and inventory data and can justify a monthly software budget.

Apicbase

Apicbase · paid · Price not published (talk to sales) · price checked 2026-11-10 on the vendor page

Back-of-house software for multi-location food businesses with menu engineering, procurement, inventory, sales analytics and cost of goods dashboards.

Good:

• Menu engineering with up to 1,000 recipes (Growth) or 2,000 (Professional)
• Cost of goods insights and dashboard
• Procurement, inventory and demand forecasting in the same system

Watch out:

• Prices are not published; you have to talk to their team
• Growth plan is listed as starting from 5 outlets, so it is not aimed at a single small restaurant
• Billed annually; monthly billing adds a 15% fee according to the pricing FAQ

Best for: Restaurant groups with five or more locations that need central recipe costing, purchasing and reporting.

Free calculator, free template, one-time sheet or subscription app?

A free online calculator answers one question for one dish: what does it cost, and what should it sell for. It is the fastest option, but most do not save your work unless you sign up for a paid app.

A free template (such as Eat App's) keeps your recipes in a file you own. You type every ingredient price by hand and update it yourself when suppliers change prices.

A one-time spreadsheet such as ours does the same job across the whole menu and adds a monthly tracker from opening and closing stock, so you can compare what your food should have cost with what it actually cost. You still enter prices by hand, and there is no link to suppliers or your POS.

Subscription apps (Recipe Cost Calculator, meez, MarketMan, Apicbase) save recipes in the cloud, and the higher tiers pull in invoices, supplier prices, inventory or POS sales. That saves time every week, at a monthly cost that ranges from about $19 to $249 or more.

Theoretical food cost versus actual food cost

Plate costing gives you the theoretical food cost: what each dish should cost if it is portioned exactly to the recipe and nothing is wasted.

Actual food cost comes from your stock: opening inventory plus purchases minus closing inventory, divided by food sales for the same period. The gap between the two shows waste, over-portioning, theft or prices that changed since you last updated the recipes.

Most free calculators and templates only give the theoretical number. To see the actual number you need a regular stock count, either in a spreadsheet that includes one or in an inventory app.

How we compared these options

We read each vendor's own product and pricing pages on 2026-11-10 and copied the prices as shown, including the currency symbol and billing period. Where a vendor publishes no price, we say so. We did not buy subscriptions or run trials, and we did not use review sites, ratings or user counts. Features listed are only those stated on the vendor pages linked in the sources.

Try it free first

Before buying anything, use the Free food cost and menu price calculator. It is free and needs no sign-up.

Questions

What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?

Many restaurants aim for roughly 28% to 35% of the menu price, but the right target depends on your concept. Dishes with expensive proteins usually run higher, and drinks, desserts and pasta usually run lower. Look at the percentage across the whole menu and at the profit each dish brings in, not only the percentage of one plate.

How do I calculate the plate cost of a dish?

For each ingredient, divide the purchase price by the purchase quantity to get a cost per unit (per gram, ounce or piece), adjust for trim and waste, and multiply by the amount used in one portion. Add up all ingredients, including garnish, sauces and oil. The total is the plate cost.

How do I calculate food cost percentage?

Divide the plate cost by the menu price (without sales tax or VAT) and multiply by 100. For example, a plate cost of $4.20 on a $14.00 dish is a 30% food cost.

How do I set a menu price from food cost?

Divide the plate cost by your target food cost percentage. With a $4.20 plate cost and a 30% target, the price is $4.20 / 0.30 = $14.00. Then round to a sensible price and check it against what similar dishes sell for nearby.

How do I calculate my actual monthly food cost?

Count your stock at the start and end of the month. Take opening inventory plus everything you bought during the month, subtract closing inventory, and divide by food sales for the month. Compare the result with your theoretical plate costs; a large gap usually means waste, over-portioning or out-of-date recipe prices.

Is a free food cost spreadsheet enough for a small restaurant?

For a small menu, often yes, as long as you update ingredient prices regularly. A spreadsheet starts to fall short when you have many suppliers, prices that change weekly or several locations; then an app that imports invoices or supplier prices can save more time than it costs.

Sources

• KitchenNmbrs – Food Cost Calculator for Restaurants
• Eat App – Free Food Cost Calculator for Excel
• Recipe Cost Calculator – Pricing
• Recipe Cost Calculator – Product overview
• meez – Pricing
• MarketMan – Pricing
• Apicbase – Pricing
• Free food cost and menu price calculator (no sign-up)

• All comparison guidesMore honest comparisons
• All free toolsCalculators that need no sign-up