Dillr vs ChatGPT for Cooking
ChatGPT can generate recipes and answer cooking questions. It even remembers some things between sessions now. But there's a difference between general memory and knowing your kitchen.
ChatGPT is remarkably good at generating recipes. You can describe what you’re in the mood for, list the ingredients you have, and get something reasonable back in seconds. For a one-off cooking question — “what can I make with chicken thighs and leeks?” — it works well.
Where ChatGPT works
ChatGPT is a great brainstorming partner. It can generate recipe ideas on the fly, explain cooking techniques, suggest substitutions, and answer questions about food science. It’s flexible, conversational, and available whenever you need it. For a quick idea or a second opinion, it’s useful.
It even remembers things between sessions now. If you told it you’re vegetarian last month, it’ll know next time. For a lot of cooking questions, that’s enough.
Where the gap is
The gap isn’t about whether ChatGPT remembers. It does. But its memory is general-purpose: facts it picks up across every topic you discuss, from work emails to vacation planning to dinner.
Cooking context is different. It’s not just “she’s dairy-free.” It’s knowing that oat Barista works in sauces but not in baking. That your son handles baked dairy but not fresh. That you made the mushroom risotto last Tuesday and thought it needed more acidity. That kind of layered, evolving context doesn’t fit well in a general memory system that also tracks your coding preferences and travel plans.
There’s also no recipe library. If ChatGPT generates a great recipe on Tuesday, you need to copy it somewhere else to keep it. There’s no version history, no way to track how a dish evolved over multiple cooking sessions, no place for your post-cook notes to live.
The advice gets better with memory, but it’s still general. ChatGPT doesn’t know that the last time you tried a stir-fry the kids complained about the texture, or that you’ve been gradually reducing the salt in your bolognese over three versions. That kind of context builds over time, and it needs a place to live.
What Dillr does differently
Dillr is purpose-built for cooking. Your recipes live in one place, editable through conversation. Each one has a history: what you changed, why, and what you’d do differently next time. Your post-cook notes get folded back in for the next round.
And the memory is specific to your kitchen. When you ask “what should I make tonight,” the answer draws on what you’ve cooked, what worked, what’s in your fridge, and who’s eating. Not because you prompted carefully, but because Dillr has been paying attention.
Someone who remembers a few things about you is helpful. Someone who’s been cooking alongside you for months is different.
That’s what we’re building at Dillr.