Anova oven app subscription model

Anova Culinary began charging new users $1.99 per month or $9.99 per year to use the app that controls its sous vide cookers and ovens on August 21, 2024, converting remote control and recipe features that had been free for ten years into a subscription service.^[1] Customers who had created an Anova account before that date were grandfathered into free access. All buyers of Anova connected devices after August 21, 2024 must pay the subscription to use app features that were previously included in the purchase price.^[2]

Anova launched the Precision Cooker, its first connected sous vide device, in 2014 with a free companion app for remote control and recipe access. The app was included at no extra charge for all subsequent products, including the Precision Oven (launched 2020) and its follow-on models. By 2024, Anova CEO Stephen Svajian stated the app had been used for "100s of millions" of connected cooking sessions.^[2]

Anova has operated as a subsidiary of Electrolux since February 2017, when the Swedish appliance conglomerate acquired the company for $250 million.^[3] Electrolux cut approximately 3,000 employees in fall 2023.^[4]

On August 15, 2024, CEO Stephen Svajian sent an email to Anova users and published it on the company blog announcing the subscription. The "Anova Sous Vide Subscription" costs $1.99 per month or $9.99 per year and covers the following features, which had previously been free:^[2]

• Manual control: customizing cook time and temperature remotely through the app
• Cook notifications: receiving remote status updates during a cook
• Recipe guides: access to Anova's sous vide and combi oven recipe library

The subscription applies to all Anova connected devices, including sous vide cookers and the Precision Oven product line. Without a subscription, Anova's connected devices operate as basic appliances without app connectivity.^[1]

Svajian justified the change by stating that "each connected cook costs us money," citing the infrastructure expense of supporting "hundreds of millions" of connected cooking sessions. He did not disclose specific cost figures.^[4]

Anova grandfathered existing customers who had created an app account before August 21, 2024 into free access indefinitely. The company characterized the fee as "a small app subscription fee" and emphasized that the core appliance functionality (manual physical controls, if present on the device) was unaffected.^[2]

Simultaneously with the subscription announcement, Anova announced it would remove app support for the original Precision Cooker models (Bluetooth and Bluetooth+Wi-Fi versions) beginning September 2025, which would have left owners of the oldest devices with no app access and no subscription option. After consumer backlash, Anova reversed the deprecation plan on November 21, 2024, announcing it would "continue to support all versions of our products indefinitely."^[5]

The announcement generated 195 comments on Anova's blog post, the majority expressing dissatisfaction. Engadget, Slashdot, and The Spoon covered the backlash. Representative reactions included accusations of "enshittification" and comparisons to the Sonos app controversy.^[4][6]

Users also cited competitors as alternatives. Breville's Joule sous vide device, sold through the "Breville+" app, provides step-by-step video recipes, remote control, and cooking guides to hardware owners entirely free of charge.^[7] Anova's $1.99/month charge for equivalent features on hardware that consumers had already purchased drew direct comparisons to this free model.

The Precision Oven 2.0, launched November 5, 2024 at $1,199, requires the subscription for recipe access from day one of ownership. Buyers of the $1,199 oven are paying a subscription for features that were included at no extra charge on the $599 original Precision Oven at launch in 2020.^[8]

• Anova Culinary
• Service Siphoning
• Planned obsolescence
• Bait-and-switch