‘Everything is a subscription now’ includes the Anova sous vide cooker

The world just went a little further down the road of everything becoming a subscription, with the news that the companion app for the Anova sous vide cooker will now cost $2/month or $10/year …

Sous vide cooking

For anyone unfamiliar, sous vide is a method of cooking food by vacuum sealing it in a plastic bag, and then immersing it in water heated to a very precisely-controlled temperature.

Because the food is completely sealed, all of the flavor is retained, and the precise temperature control means that the cooking method delivers incredibly consistent results.

Anova device and app

Anova’s sous vide device comprises a programmable heating element, and a companion app. The app allows you to find the right temperatures and timings for different foods, to control it remotely, and to receive updates on your phone when the food is ready.

Up to now, that’s been free, as you’d expect from a companion app there to help sell hardware. But the company says that from tomorrow, new customers will have to pay for a monthly or annual subscription to use it.

The switch to subscription

Here’s how the company explained the move:

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 […]

The subscription will cost $1.99 per month or $9.99 per year USD.

The good news is that existing owners don’t have to pay, and Anova says it intends (but does not promise) that this will always remain the case.

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.

9to5Mac’s Take

While I appreciate the company’s position, I can’t help feeling like this is a damaging move. Sure, ten bucks a year is a small sum in the scheme of things, but it’s happening within the context of a growing feeling that we’re hardly allowed to breathe these days without taking out an oxygen subscription.

I’ve been a happy Anova sous vide owner for many years now, and have recommended it to many (it’s a fantastic way to cook beautifully tender steaks, for example, just browning them in a pan for a few seconds afterwards), but I’ll now hesitate to do so.

What’s your take? Please share your thoughts in the comments.