Update: Existing Users Grandfathered in; New Users will Pay a Small App Subscription Fee

Update: Existing Users Grandfathered in; New Users will Pay a Small App Subscription Fee

Updated

Since 2014, we’ve been committed to providing you with high-quality connected cooking through the Anova Culinary app. It’s been thrilling to bring sous vide cooking into your kitchens and see the #anovafoodnerd community grow. We love being part of the journey, from your first sous vide cook to your latest culinary experiment.

As our community has grown, so have the demands on our resources. Our community has literally cooked 100s of millions of times with our app. Unfortunately, each connected cook costs us money. So, to continue delivering the exceptional service and innovative recipes you’ve come to expect, we’re introducing a small subscription fee for our app. The new Anova Sous Vide Subscription will allow us to maintain and enhance the app, ensuring it remains a valuable resource for all of our users. Here are the details:

  • Who will this impact? Only new customers will have to pay for a subscription. Existing customers who have an account with us before August 21st, 2024, will not be charged a subscription fee. To be an existing user, you must have downloaded our app AND made an account in the app before August 21st, 2024. In the event you are an existing user, you will be grandfathered in to free usage of the app. You helped us build Anova and our intent is that you will be grandfathered in forever.
  • What does it cost and what do customers get? The subscription will cost $1.99 per month or $9.99 per year USD. What you get with a subscription will vary from product to product, but in general, here’s what it includes:
    • Anova Sous Vide Guides: Learn the basics with guides created by our experts. Choose your preferred level of doneness and press start to get cooking.
    • Cook Notifications: Remote updates on your cook status.
    • Recipe Discovery: Find recipes from award-winning chefs, #anovafoodnerds, and more.
    • Recipe Saving: Bookmark your favorites and share your recipes with friends directly on the app.
  • When will this go into effect? This subscription will go into effect on August 21st, 2024. Again, if you already have an account with us and purchased a product prior to August, 21 2024, there will be no change in our service for you.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Our mission is to change the way the world cooks and this subscription will help us to continue on with this mission. We are excited to keep cooking with you and can’t wait to see what you create next!

Stephen Svajian
Co-Founder and CEO

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408 comments

Contrary to most opinions Inak reading, I would like to share my more moderate view, I am supportive. The sous vide device I have works without any app but the app itself represents a continuous value added service that for Anova requires continuous updates, innovations, server upgrades etc etc so as a customer I would be happy to support the service financially – to an extent – as long as my device also works independently of the app of course. It is my choice to pay for the added value of the remote app. There is no coerced collaboration of hardware and software. Just wanted to share this different view as well.

Jeroen Kruisweg

Stephen Svajian, have you ever heard the term “own goal”? If not, you’ve just scored the most significant one in history.

What exactly were you thinking when you conceived this idea? While others rely on subscription models to charge their customers, you’ve chosen to follow suit—congratulations on blending in with the crowd.

I wish your company the best of luck, because you’ll need it; this decision will cost you dearly. And by the way, your most loyal supporters, who have stood by you since the very beginning, will not soon forget this misstep—especially if you backtrack and abandon the subscription model in the future.

Once again, good luck—you’ll need plenty of it.

Daniel

I gave my daughter one of these and now she has to pay to use it? What kind of dystopia are you trying to create in this world? Pay money to use that thing which makes food for my grandchildren? You must be out of your freaking minds! I will never recommend you as a company again, and I used to sing your praises, which is why I gave it to her. I suppose you sat around in your boardrooms figuring out that you don’t mind pissing some people off because somehow $1.99 a month to use a food Appliance is worth it to you. This is the sickest policy from a company I have actually ever heard, ever!

Valerie Jennings

I’m an early user of both the original sous vide and the oven, so I’m grandfathered in. Asking now for a subscription to unlock the advertised features for the device? I’m pretty sure anyone who missed out would have the right for compensation under Australian consumer law, and probably many other jurisdictions. Sure, guides and shared recipes cost money to develop, charge for those, but charging for the basic functionality to use the device as advertised? That seems…dodgy.

Nathan Jones

Absolutely ridiculous idea. I have two precision ovens and had been eyeing up the new v2 APO. I’m not paying a subscription fee to be able to properly use a £1000+ device. Anova will not receive any more custom from me.

David

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