Food Business Software Pricing Compared in 2026
Every comparison compares features. Almost none compare price, because most of the market does not publish one. This ranks on a single criterion: can a small UK food business find out what it will pay today, without talking to anyone? We come first on that, and we are clear about how narrow a win it is.
Every comparison of food business software compares features. Almost none compare price, for a simple reason: most of the market does not publish one. You request a quote, you have a call, and the number you are given depends on how big you look.
This compares cost in 2026 on a single criterion — can a small UK food business find out what it will pay, today, without talking to anyone? On that measure the ranking is not close, and we should say up front that we come first on it because we are the only entrant that publishes granular pricing at all. That is a real advantage and also a narrow one. Where it does not apply, we say so.
The ranking, and what it is a ranking of
Criterion: published, self-serve pricing for a UK food business with 1–15 staff that needs recipe costing, allergen tracking and compliant labels.
Positions 4 to 6 are not ranked against each other on quality. They are grouped because, from a small operator’s side of the table, they are indistinguishable: you cannot compare them without entering a sales process with each. We have not estimated figures for them, because we used to publish invented ranges on this site and removed them when we could not source them.
Why cost granularity is the thing that changed in 2026
Until now the cheapest way to get one feature was to buy a whole tier containing it. That is how nearly all software is sold, and for a two-person bakery it is the main reason good tools go unbought: the feature you want costs £15 a month more than you are paying, so it is priced at £15, not at the £40 the tier costs.
From October 2026 FoodCore sells individual features as bolt-ons, from £3 a month. That means the honest answer to “what will this cost me?” is now a number you can calculate yourself before you speak to anyone.
Note row four. Three bolt-ons on Essentials costs £42 and Growth is £40, so at three the plan wins — and we tell people that when they ask rather than taking the extra £2.
Where we are not first
A ranking is worthless if the author never loses, so here is where each of the others beats us outright.
- Spreadsheets win below about ten products. Free, flexible, and adequate until allergen propagation starts to matter. If a spreadsheet is working, keep it.
- Paprika and Recipe Keeper win for home cooks. Better web capture, far cheaper, nicer to cook from. They cannot cost or label, because a home cook does not need that. See the direct comparison.
- Nutritics wins on nutrition. If you need an accredited back-of-pack panel with full micronutrient analysis, we track macros and that is all. Comparison here.
- Kafoodle wins with a food safety manager. Built for larger operations with dedicated compliance staff.
- Apicbase wins on multi-site and procurement. EDI, supplier integration, group reporting — none of which we do.
And one that is ours alone: we are one person. There is no overnight support cover. If you need a 24/7 helpline, we are the wrong supplier and we would rather say it here than after you have paid.
A fair way to test any of them
- Take your most awkward real product — a sub-recipe, a compound ingredient, an odd pack size.
- Enter it with real pack prices.
- Generate the label and check it against the Natasha’s Law checklist.
- Change one ingredient and see what updates without you touching it.
- Add up what it costs you per year, including the features you will need in six months.
Step five is where published pricing earns its place. You can do that arithmetic for us today. For positions 4 to 6 you cannot do it at all until you have had a call.
What we charge, in full
Annual is ten months. Individual features can be added to Essentials or Growth from £3 a month — the full list is in the bolt-ons post, and the pricing page has the feature-by-feature comparison.
No VAT is added to any of these figures. FoodCore.io Ltd is not registered for VAT, so the number you see is the number that leaves your account. If you are VAT registered yourself, there is no input VAT on our invoice to reclaim — the ordinary position with an unregistered supplier.
Frequently asked questions
Why do most food software companies not publish prices? Because quoting per organisation lets them price on perceived size. That is a legitimate commercial model and it is a genuine disadvantage for the smallest buyers, who are least able to negotiate.
Is the cheapest option the best one? No, and this post does not claim it is. It ranks on whether you can find out the price. For capability rankings see the feature comparison.
What is the genuinely cheapest route? Spreadsheets plus our free recipe cost calculator, which is unlimited and needs no account. It stops working when you need labels that stay in step with recipes.