Frequently asked questions

Allspice adds premium cooking tools directly to your recipe site, including recipe search, guided cooking, saved recipes, grocery lists, pantry tools, meal planning, and AI assistance. Allspice was shaped by the suggestions of over 100 different recipe publishers.

The goal is to give readers the modern cooking experience they expect while keeping them engaged with your content and your site.

Allspice is built for food publishers, especially recipe bloggers and content creators who want to:

• deliver a better reader experience
• increase session time and returning visitors
• unlock new revenue through subscriptions + commerce

Readers get the tools they already use elsewhere - recipe saving, meal planning, grocery lists, pantry tracking, AI help - directly on your site and tied to your content.

Publishers get a more interactive reader experience that can increase engagement, keep readers on recipe pages longer, and make the site feel more useful during cooking, planning, and shopping. Maximizing returning visits has become increasingly important as traffic has become more variable.

Allspice also gives publishers controls for placement, styling, analytics, and future monetization features such as premium products, grocery commerce, and in-widget advertising.

Yes. We can share live examples so you can see the reader experience on desktop and mobile.

Because each publisher can configure Allspice differently, examples may vary by button placement, styling, enabled features, and ad setup.

Some platforms focus primarily on shoppable recipes, sponsored campaigns, or sending users into a separate destination.

Allspice is different because it is built as an on-site cooking layer for publishers. The experience lives on your site and is designed to support the ad-supported recipe page model while adding search, saving, cooking, grocery, planning, and AI tools.

Yes. We're focused on the U.S. first, but the platform is designed for global publishers.

Allspice periodically offers early adopter, partner, or event-specific discounts.

Annual billing also provides savings compared with monthly billing. Any available discount code or offer will be shown during signup or shared directly by the Allspice team.

Right now, Allspice primarily supports WordPress publishers through our WordPress plugin.

We are also expanding support for non-WordPress publishers through script-based integrations. If your site is not on WordPress, reach out and we can confirm whether your setup is supported.

Not yet - but it's coming soon.
In the meantime, creators will be able to use a "link in bio" flow that opens an Allspice-hosted experience with the same tools plus a searchable library of their recipes.

Soon, yes. Social-first creators will be able to publish recipes via caption content or link-based import and offer a full Allspice recipe experience to their audience.

Allspice is installed as a WordPress plugin and automatically injects the Allspice widget/buttons on supported recipe posts.

Yes - recipes are auto-detected.
We strongly prefer publishers using JSON-LD recipe structured data, since that ensures the best extraction and the best user experience.

By default, recipe pages only.

Yes. Allspice can be configured so it does not have to appear everywhere at once. Exact controls may depend on your WordPress setup, categories, tags, and how your recipes are structured.

Yes. No-indexed posts are generally excluded from Allspice search results, and publishers can also exclude specific tags. This is useful for old content, private content, roundup pages, non-recipe posts, or sections you do not want included in the recipe search experience.

Yes. You can place buttons anywhere you want - for example:

• a "Search recipes" button in your header
• a "Save to Allspice" button in a newsletter section
• a homepage call-to-action

Yes. You can make any element trigger an Allspice action by applying a class we provide, so your site can look 100% custom.

Yes. You can enable/disable specific buttons and choose between:

• premade buttons (fastest)
• fully custom buttons (most control)

Yes. Publishers can customize the styling and white-label the widget. We add additional customization options by request.

We support public dev environments.
Because Allspice needs to crawl/scrape and access public pages (like sitemaps), private staging environments may not work unless publicly accessible.

If your domain's DNS is managed by Cloudflare, you should add the necessary TXT record directly within your Cloudflare DNS settings.

Yes. Allspice requests that you whitelist its IP address 34.171.197.31 in your DNS records.

Adding team members provides a secure way to collaborate on Allspice setup and design without sharing login credentials. It's useful for involving technical or design staff, especially when implementing multiple custom buttons, and ensures that different team members can manage specific aspects of the integration.

Available roles and permissions are shown in the Partner Portal when you invite a teammate.

It depends on which features you use today.

Allspice is designed to replace or enhance recipe search, but many publishers keep selected tools from other platforms, such as email capture blocks, account systems, or other widgets they still rely on. We can help you decide which features to keep, replace, or phase out during setup.

We are working on migration paths where possible for publishers who already have saved recipe users through other systems. What is possible depends on the platform, available export options, user permissions, and privacy requirements. If migration matters for your site, we can review the options during onboarding.

Yes. Allspice supports integrations with common email platforms, including Kit, Mailchimp, MailerLite, and Flodesk. If you use a different email provider, let us know. In many cases, we can quickly add support or recommend the best integration path.

Allspice is designed to load asynchronously and avoid blocking your page content.

The widget script is built to work alongside common WordPress, caching, and ad setups. As with any third-party script, performance can vary by site configuration, so we monitor compatibility and can help troubleshoot if an optimization plugin or theme interferes.

Yes, but caching/optimization plugins can sometimes interfere with scripts.
If needed, we'll guide you on small WP Rocket adjustments to ensure everything runs perfectly.

Allspice is designed to work alongside existing ad providers and common site setups.

Because ad layouts vary by provider and publisher, we continue to improve compatibility with sticky ads, video players, footer ads, in-content ads, and other common placements.

Yes. Allspice is designed to work alongside publisher ad stacks. It does not replace your ad provider, remove ad units, or require you to change your monetization setup.

Like many reader-facing tools - including search overlays, recommendation widgets, save/favorite tools, membership prompts, email capture forms, popups, and slide-outs - Allspice may open over part of the page. When that happens, some background ad units may be partially covered while the widget is open.

That is a real consideration, but it is not unique to Allspice. Publishers already use many engagement products that temporarily change the reader experience, and these products are typically handled through compatibility work rather than treated as incompatible by default.

Allspice has done our part to make this manageable. We preserve key units where possible, including footer adhesion and floating video, and we can expose clear open/closed lifecycle events so an ad provider can pause background ad refresh while Allspice is open and resume it when Allspice closes.

Ultimately, the ad provider usually controls refresh behavior. Allspice can signal when the widget opens and closes, but we cannot reliably pause an ad provider’s background refresh unless they provide a supported hook or consume our lifecycle events.

Our view is that publishers should not have to choose between reader-facing innovation and ad monetization. When a tool is genuinely helpful to readers, publishers should feel comfortable asking their ad managers or ad providers for a practical compatibility path.

Yes. Allspice is designed to preserve publisher monetization rather than replace it.

Depending on your ad provider and configuration, ads may continue to show through placements such as footer ads, video players, floating units, or inline placements within the Allspice experience. Available placements can vary by site and ad provider.

Cook Mode is designed to increase engaged time while still supporting publisher monetization.

Ad behavior depends on your provider and configuration. Allspice can support high-value placements such as footer ads, video players, floating placements, and inline ads where supported. We recommend reviewing the setup during onboarding so the experience works well for both readers and revenue.

No. Allspice works directly on your site.
Users can optionally use the Allspice app/website later as their "home base" to manage saved recipes across multiple sites.

Allspice is built mobile-first because most recipe traffic happens on phones. The mobile experience is designed to be compact, easy to open and close, and useful while cooking. Publishers can also choose button placements and configurations that fit their site layout.

Yes. Users can use Allspice anonymously at first, but they'll eventually be prompted to create an account so their data stays safely saved and synced.

Readers can use many Allspice features anonymously at first, so they do not need to create an account immediately. If they want to save recipes, sync grocery lists, use pantry tools across devices, or keep their preferences long term, they can create an Allspice account. That account follows them across participating Allspice sites, so they are not creating a separate account for every publisher.

Their saved recipes, grocery lists, pantry data, and preferences can sync across:

• devices
• Allspice website
• Allspice app

Yes. Users can share grocery lists and pantries with other users (great for families, roommates, etc).

No. On your site, Allspice is designed to search and recommend recipes from your domain only. That applies to recipe search, AI-powered recipe search, and ingredient-based discovery. Cross-site recipe discovery is only planned for opt-in publisher groups or other experiences controlled by participating publishers.

No. Allspice is designed to keep the reader experience on your site. The AI assistant and cooking tools are built into the Allspice experience so readers can ask questions, cook, save, plan, and shop without needing to copy your recipe into a separate AI tool.

Yes - this is planned via Publisher Groups:

• If you own multiple sites, users can search across all of them
• If you partner with other creators, you can create a shared group to cross-promote recipes

(Opt-in and controlled by publishers.)

Cook Mode is a cleaner, step-by-step cooking experience that turns your recipe into something users can actually cook from, without clutter.

Cook Mode can include:

• step-by-step instructions
• images per step (when available)
• per-step ingredients
• timers and pacing controls (configurable)

Cook Mode can support ads, but the best setup depends on your ad provider, site layout, and revenue strategy. Allspice is designed to preserve key monetization placements where possible, and publishers can decide whether Cook Mode fits their site strategy.

Because it gives users a reason to stay on your page while they cook - rather than copying/pasting into another app or leaving for a tool like ChatGPT.

Allspice includes an AI assistant that can answer questions and help users take actions (depending on what's enabled), like:

• understanding a recipe
• adapting portions
• planning meals
• building grocery lists

Allspice combines recipe data, ingredient intelligence, and site-specific context to make the experience more relevant to each publisher. For niche sites, such as gluten-free, vegan, keto, allergy-friendly, or regional cuisine sites, we can review how your recipes are parsed and improve how important ingredients, substitutions, and terminology are handled over time.

Free readers currently receive 25 open-ended AI chat messages per month. This limit applies only to conversational AI chat, not to the full Allspice widget experience. Readers can still use recipe search, AI-powered recipe search results, guided cooking, saved recipes, and grocery list functionality for free.

If a reader reaches the monthly AI chat limit, they may be prompted to upgrade to Allspice Premium for additional open-ended chat usage. Once payouts are live, participating publishers will receive 25% of net Allspice Premium subscription revenue from attributed users, including users who originally created their Allspice account through the publisher’s site and later subscribe in the Allspice app.

Allspice uses proprietary food + ingredient data to:

• consolidate ingredients intelligently
• reduce duplicates across recipes
• help users shop cost-effectively

This is a huge upgrade over basic checklist-style grocery apps.

On your site, ingredient-based recipe results come from your own recipes. Allspice is designed to help readers discover more of your content, not send them to other publishers' recipes.

Yes. Users can edit recipes and save personal versions, so the recipe evolves with them.

Yes - users can create meal plans, and we'll continue expanding this feature over time (including free or paid meal plan support).

Yes - users can track pantry items and keep grocery lists connected to what they already have.

Allspice is designed to improve user experience, increase engagement, and keep users on your site longer during cooking and planning.

We are actively building additional monetization layers, including:

• grocery affiliate commerce
• in-widget advertising
• premium user experiences

These will be introduced over time and designed to complement existing publisher revenue streams.

Revenue sharing is being added alongside our premium meal planning and payout infrastructure.

Participating publishers are expected to receive 25% of net Allspice Premium subscription revenue from attributed users. Publishers will also be able to receive 90% of net revenue from premium products they create through Allspice, such as premium meal plans, recipes, or collections based on their own content. Publishers will also receive 100% of grocery delivery affiliate revenue.

Yes.

We are actively developing monetization features such as:

• grocery affiliate integrations
• in-widget advertising
• optional premium user experiences

These will be designed to align with publisher incentives and integrate cleanly with existing ad setups.

Allspice is a premium product for publishers.

Pricing reflects the infrastructure, ongoing development, and support required to deliver a high-performance on-page experience across a wide range of sites and configurations.

Allspice pricing is generally based on your site's typical traffic level, not a single unusual spike. If your traffic is seasonal or one month is unusually high, we can review the broader pattern during onboarding so your plan reflects the real size of your site.

Most of the Allspice widget experience is free for readers, including recipe search, AI-powered recipe search results, guided cooking, saved recipes, and grocery list functionality.

Open-ended AI chat has a free monthly limit because it has ongoing infrastructure costs. This 25-message free limit resets each month. Readers who want additional AI chat usage may upgrade to Allspice Premium.

Allspice provides:

• Interactive cooking experiences (guided cooking, chat, and planning tools)
• Increased session time and deeper user engagement
• Advanced UI components designed for recipe pages
• Publisher controls for customization and placement
• Ongoing improvements to performance, compatibility, and reliability

No.

Allspice is designed to work alongside existing ad providers and site setups. We continuously improve compatibility with common ad formats, caching systems, and optimization tools to ensure minimal disruption.

Yes. Publishers get a dashboard to track usage and manage their integration.

Daily.

Right now the dashboard includes performance around:

• recipes
• usage
• ingredients

Soon it will also include:

• revenue analytics
• deeper audience insights (aggregated + anonymized)

No. Publisher analytics are anonymized and aggregated, and subject to Allspice terms.
Over time, we'll add richer insights (example: "what % of your audience prefers gluten-free"), while maintaining privacy protection.

Allspice is designed with privacy and compliance in mind, including support for CCPA-style requirements.

GDPR and UK GDPR readiness are in progress. We are continuing to update our policies, data handling practices, and publisher documentation as those requirements are finalized. If your site has specific legal or compliance requirements, contact us and we can provide more detail for your legal team.

Many publishers already have privacy policy language covering third-party tools, embedded services, analytics, and user accounts, but you should review your own policy and legal requirements.

For transparency, some publishers choose to mention Allspice as a third-party tool used to enhance recipe browsing, cooking, saving, grocery list, and planning experiences.

If helpful, you can use language like: "We use third-party tools, including Allspice, to enhance recipe browsing and cooking experiences. If you choose to interact with these tools, such as by creating an account, information may be collected and processed by those services in accordance with their own privacy policies."

Because demand is high, publishers typically join through a waitlist. Setup is simple and we can guide you, or you can work with one of our approved integration partners.

After you create an account, you can start the setup process in the Partner Portal and schedule an intro or onboarding call. If you joined through a partner, event, or discount code, we can help make sure the right offer is applied to your account.

Allspice is built for reliability and monitored as production infrastructure. We target high availability, but any formal uptime commitments are governed by the applicable agreement for your account. Availability reports are available at https://allspicelabs.com/status/.

Yes. Allspice can be configured around eligible recipe posts, templates, categories, tags, and other setup rules depending on your site. By default, Allspice is intended for recipe content that meets basic recipe requirements, but we can help configure exclusions or a more selective rollout during onboarding.

Allspice supports most membership or exclusive recipe strategies, but the best setup depends on how your gated content is structured. During onboarding, we can review whether certain recipes should be included, excluded, or handled separately so private or member-only content is not exposed unintentionally.

We're actively building:

• support for non-WordPress publishers
• paywalled recipe support
• more advanced analytics + revenue reporting
• improved ad options
• upgraded meal plan features
• social creator support