Understanding Your Account Type (4 Types Explained)
Creator sign-up is opening soon. This article describes the designed creator experience — what choosing your account type will look like when sign-up opens. It is not a currently-live product you can log into today.
When you sign up, one of the first things we'll ask is a simple question: what are you? You'll pick from four account types — Creator, Grocery store, Kitchen appliance brand, or Food brand. That one pick shapes everything that follows: how your page is built, the language on it, what your fans are invited to do, and which number your forecast is built around.
You're not locked into a rigid box. Every account type runs on the same foundation — a team of experts builds your profile and recipes, you review and approve it in a guided handoff, and you go live with a unique link and a 90-day launch plan. What changes between the types is the framing: a creator earns subscriptions, a grocery store fills baskets, an appliance brand activates owners, and a food brand earns a place in the weekly rotation.
Here's what each one means.
1. Creator
Who you are: Food creators, recipe developers, meal-prep accounts, cookbook authors, dietitians, and home cooks with an audience you've built on Instagram, YouTube, a blog, or an email list.
What your page does: Your followers can follow you free and cook your first 3 recipes on us. To unlock your full catalog, they subscribe to you directly — at a monthly price you set (most creators land around the suggested $6.99/mo). Your fans pay you, not a middleman app that charges them to save your recipes while you never see a cent.
Your forecast metric: earnings. Your forecast estimates what you're on track to earn each month, built from your following, your price, and how often you post and link back. For example, a creator with a 412K following at the suggested $6.99/mo might see a forecast in the range of several thousand dollars a month — framed as a floor, not a ceiling, that updates as your real numbers come in. These are illustrative model outputs, not a promise or a guarantee of earnings.
Your first milestone: your first 10 Founding Subscribers, then your first $100.
2. Grocery store
Who you are: Independent grocers, regional chains, specialty food retailers, and co-ops.
What your page does: Every recipe a shopper plans becomes a meal plan and a shopping list that points straight back to your aisles — basket after basket, week after week. You invite your shoppers with your unique link, your email list, and printable in-store QR signage (shelf-talkers, window clings, receipt footers) that scan to your page. There's no subscription to set; your grocery store page is free, and the payoff is in fuller baskets and repeat trips.
Your forecast metric: shoppers activated into weekly regulars. Instead of earnings, your forecast estimates how many of your reachable shoppers you could turn into bigger-basket regulars cooking from your aisles every week. A store with a few hundred thousand in total reach might be on pace to elevate tens of thousands of shoppers into weekly regulars — again, a floor that updates with your real data, not a guarantee.
Your first milestone: your first 100 shoppers cooking from your aisles.
3. Kitchen appliance brand
Who you are: Makers of kitchen appliances — air fryers, blenders, grills, slow cookers, food processors, and the like.
What your page does: Nothing builds brand loyalty like a weekly habit. Instead of a recipe insert that gets one glance before the drawer, your page becomes a living library of recipes tuned to your appliance. A scan-to-join QR in every box, plus your unique link in email and social, turns new owners into people who actually cook — driving real use, better reviews, and referrals. Your appliance brand page is free; the payoff is owners who keep your appliance on the counter, not in the cupboard.
Your forecast metric: owners activated into superfans. Your forecast estimates how many of your reachable owners you could turn into superfans cooking with your appliance every week. A brand with a few million in total reach might be on pace to activate a large share of owners into weekly cooks — a floor, not a ceiling, that sharpens as your real numbers land.
Your first milestone: your first 100 owners cooking with your appliance.
4. Food brand
Who you are: Food and beverage brands selling products direct-to-consumer or on shelf — from specialty pantry goods to meal kits to packaged staples.
What your page does: Your brand already emails recipe ideas, but an email gets opened once and forgotten. Your PrepSmart page folds your recipes into the weekly planning, shopping, and cooking habits your customers actually return to — putting your products back in the rotation week after week. You invite customers with your unique link, your email list, and on-pack QR codes and box inserts that scan to your page. Your food brand page is free; the payoff is repeat orders and a permanent place in the weekly list.
Your forecast metric: customers turned into superfans. Your forecast estimates how many of your reachable customers you could turn into superfans — fans who keep your product on the weekly list and reorder again and again. A brand with several hundred thousand in total reach might be on pace to turn tens of thousands of customers into superfans — a floor that updates with your real data, not a promise.
Your first milestone: your first 100 superfans.
How Your Account Type Shapes Your Experience
Your account type quietly tunes four things:
- Your page — what it's called (your profile, your store page, your brand page), the recipes it features, and the brand voice the team captures for you.
- What your audience is invited to do — subscribe to you, fill a basket from your aisles, cook with your appliance, or work your products into the weekly rotation.
- Your forecast metric — earnings for creators; activated shoppers, owners, or customers for the brand types. Every forecast is framed as a floor, not a ceiling, and updates with your real data.
- Your go-live toolkit — creators get launch posts and email drafts; the brand types also get a downloadable QR code kit for in-store signage, in-box inserts, or on-pack labels.
What doesn't change is the foundation. No matter which type you pick, a team of experts — real specialists, with AI-assisted tools that speed the work — builds your profile, recipes, and brand voice in advance. You review and approve it in a guided handoff, then go live with your unique link and a 90-day launch plan. Your Growth Strategist (your client-success point of contact) is there from day one.
A Note on Subscriptions and Pricing
Only the Creator account type sets a monthly subscription price. The three brand types — Grocery store, Kitchen appliance brand, and Food brand — run free pages built to drive baskets, activate owners, or earn repeat orders; there's no subscriber price to set. Any dollar figures you see in a forecast are illustrative model estimates anchored to typical patterns, not actual or guaranteed results.
Not Sure Which Type You Are?
If you span more than one — say you're a food brand with a strong personal creator following — pick the type that best matches how you want your audience to engage and how you'd measure success. You'll confirm your type during sign-up, and your Strategist can help you position a primary type with the rest as secondary.
Next Steps
Want the bigger picture first? What Is PrepSmart and Why Join as a Creator?
Curious how your profile gets built before launch? Read about the team of experts.
Questions about your account type? Contact PrepSmart Creator Support.