diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 63d48f1..2040ae8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 
 All notable changes to Epicure are documented here. This file is mirrored in-app at `/changelog` (and in the admin dashboard) via `apps/web/lib/changelog.ts` — update both together.
 
+## 0.30.0 — 2026-07-14 16:05
+
+### Added
+- **Admins can now set the site-wide default AI provider/model** per use case (text generation, photo/vision, meal-plan generation) from Settings → Admin, applied whenever a user hasn't picked their own model preference or brought their own API key.
+
 ## 0.29.0 — 2026-07-14 15:20
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/apps/web/app/admin/settings/page.tsx b/apps/web/app/admin/settings/page.tsx
index 51d6350..c8106d5 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/admin/settings/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/app/admin/settings/page.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { Metadata } from "next";
 import { getAllSiteSettings, isSignupsDisabled } from "@/lib/site-settings";
 import { AdminSettingsForm } from "@/components/admin/admin-settings-form";
+import { AdminDefaultModelForm } from "@/components/admin/admin-default-model-form";
 import { SignupsToggle } from "@/components/admin/signups-toggle";
 
 export const metadata: Metadata = {};
@@ -42,6 +43,17 @@ export default async function AdminSettingsPage() {
       {SETTING_GROUPS.map((group) => (
         <AdminSettingsForm key={group.title} group={group} settings={settings} />
       ))}
+
+      <AdminDefaultModelForm
+        initialValues={{
+          DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER: settings["DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER"]?.value ?? null,
+          DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL: settings["DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL"]?.value ?? null,
+          DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER: settings["DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER"]?.value ?? null,
+          DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL: settings["DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL"]?.value ?? null,
+          DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER: settings["DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER"]?.value ?? null,
+          DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL: settings["DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL"]?.value ?? null,
+        }}
+      />
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/v1/admin/settings/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/v1/admin/settings/route.ts
index 92e36d3..13995e0 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/v1/admin/settings/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/v1/admin/settings/route.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ const ALLOWED_KEYS: SiteSettingKey[] = [
   "NEXT_PUBLIC_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY",
   "VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY",
   "SIGNUPS_DISABLED",
+  "DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER",
+  "DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL",
+  "DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER",
+  "DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL",
+  "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER",
+  "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL",
 ];
 
 async function requireAdmin() {
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/batch-cook/generate/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/batch-cook/generate/route.ts
index d2a725b..aa9064d 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/batch-cook/generate/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/batch-cook/generate/route.ts
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
   const userId = session!.user.id;
   const locale = (session!.user as { locale?: string }).locale ?? "en";
   const [configResult, privateBio] = await Promise.all([
-    resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId)),
+    resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId, "text")),
     getUserPrivateBio(userId),
   ]);
   if (!configResult.ok) return configResult.response;
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/meal-plan/generate/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/meal-plan/generate/route.ts
index 2a92eb3..b0535ea 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/meal-plan/generate/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/meal-plan/generate/route.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
   const userId = session!.user.id;
   const locale = (session!.user as { locale?: string }).locale ?? "en";
   const [configResult, privateBio] = await Promise.all([
-    resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId)),
+    resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId, "mealPlan")),
     getUserPrivateBio(userId),
   ]);
   if (!configResult.ok) return configResult.response;
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/scale/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/scale/route.ts
index e015124..2a59500 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/scale/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/scale/route.ts
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "Not found" }, { status: 404 });
   }
 
-  const configResult = await resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(session!.user.id));
+  const configResult = await resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(session!.user.id, "text"));
   if (!configResult.ok) return configResult.response;
   const aiConfig = configResult.data;
 
diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/substitute/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/substitute/route.ts
index a7bc853..efaae29 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/substitute/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/v1/ai/substitute/route.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
   if (parsed.data.provider) {
     aiConfig = { provider: parsed.data.provider, model: parsed.data.model };
   } else {
-    const configResult = await resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(session!.user.id));
+    const configResult = await resolveAiConfigOrError(() => getDefaultProviderWithKey(session!.user.id, "text"));
     if (!configResult.ok) return configResult.response;
     aiConfig = configResult.data;
   }
diff --git a/apps/web/components/admin/admin-default-model-form.tsx b/apps/web/components/admin/admin-default-model-form.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6e68076
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/components/admin/admin-default-model-form.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+"use client";
+
+import { useState } from "react";
+import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
+import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input";
+import { Label } from "@/components/ui/label";
+import {
+  Select,
+  SelectContent,
+  SelectGroup,
+  SelectItem,
+  SelectLabel,
+  SelectTrigger,
+  SelectValue,
+} from "@/components/ui/select";
+import { toast } from "sonner";
+
+type Provider = "openai" | "anthropic" | "openrouter" | "ollama" | "";
+
+type UseCase = {
+  key: "text" | "vision" | "mealPlan";
+  providerSetting: "DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER" | "DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER" | "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER";
+  modelSetting: "DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL" | "DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL" | "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL";
+  label: string;
+  description: string;
+};
+
+const USE_CASES: UseCase[] = [
+  {
+    key: "text",
+    providerSetting: "DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER",
+    modelSetting: "DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL",
+    label: "Text generation",
+    description: "Recipe generation, chat, substitutions, pairings, and other text-based AI features.",
+  },
+  {
+    key: "vision",
+    providerSetting: "DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER",
+    modelSetting: "DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL",
+    label: "Vision (photo import/scan)",
+    description: "Importing a recipe from a photo and pantry barcode/photo scanning.",
+  },
+  {
+    key: "mealPlan",
+    providerSetting: "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER",
+    modelSetting: "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL",
+    label: "Meal plan generation",
+    description: "Generating a full week's meal plan.",
+  },
+];
+
+const PRESET_MODELS: Record<string, { label: string; models: { value: string; label: string }[] }> = {
+  openai: {
+    label: "OpenAI",
+    models: [
+      { value: "gpt-4o", label: "GPT-4o" },
+      { value: "gpt-4o-mini", label: "GPT-4o mini (faster)" },
+      { value: "o3-mini", label: "o3-mini (reasoning)" },
+      { value: "gpt-4-turbo", label: "GPT-4 Turbo" },
+    ],
+  },
+  anthropic: {
+    label: "Anthropic",
+    models: [
+      { value: "claude-sonnet-4-6", label: "Claude Sonnet 4.6" },
+      { value: "claude-opus-4-8", label: "Claude Opus 4.8 (most capable)" },
+      { value: "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001", label: "Claude Haiku 4.5 (fastest)" },
+    ],
+  },
+};
+
+type Values = Partial<Record<UseCase["providerSetting"] | UseCase["modelSetting"], string | null>>;
+
+export function AdminDefaultModelForm({ initialValues }: { initialValues: Values }) {
+  const [values, setValues] = useState<Values>(initialValues);
+  const [saving, setSaving] = useState(false);
+
+  function setField(key: UseCase["providerSetting"] | UseCase["modelSetting"], value: string | null) {
+    setValues((prev) => ({ ...prev, [key]: value || null }));
+  }
+
+  async function handleSave() {
+    setSaving(true);
+    try {
+      const res = await fetch("/api/v1/admin/settings", {
+        method: "PUT",
+        headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+        body: JSON.stringify(values),
+      });
+      if (!res.ok) throw new Error("Save failed");
+      toast.success("Default AI providers saved");
+    } catch {
+      toast.error("Failed to save defaults");
+    } finally {
+      setSaving(false);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <section className="rounded-xl border p-6 space-y-4">
+      <div>
+        <h2 className="font-semibold text-lg">Default AI Providers</h2>
+        <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground mt-1">
+          What to use for a given feature when a user hasn&apos;t set their own model preference and has no personal API key.
+          Leave a provider unset to fall back to whichever provider key is configured above.
+        </p>
+      </div>
+
+      <div className="space-y-3">
+        {USE_CASES.map(({ key, providerSetting, modelSetting, label, description }) => {
+          const provider = (values[providerSetting] ?? "") as Provider;
+          const model = (values[modelSetting] ?? "") as string;
+          const presets = provider && PRESET_MODELS[provider]?.models;
+
+          return (
+            <div key={key} className="rounded-lg border p-4 space-y-3">
+              <div>
+                <p className="font-medium text-sm">{label}</p>
+                <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">{description}</p>
+              </div>
+              <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-3">
+                <div className="space-y-1.5">
+                  <Label className="text-xs">Provider</Label>
+                  <Select
+                    value={provider || "default"}
+                    onValueChange={(v) => {
+                      const val = v === "default" ? null : v;
+                      setField(providerSetting, val);
+                      setField(modelSetting, null);
+                    }}
+                  >
+                    <SelectTrigger className="h-8 text-sm">
+                      <SelectValue />
+                    </SelectTrigger>
+                    <SelectContent>
+                      <SelectItem value="default">
+                        <span className="text-muted-foreground">Auto (first configured key)</span>
+                      </SelectItem>
+                      <SelectItem value="openai">OpenAI</SelectItem>
+                      <SelectItem value="anthropic">Anthropic</SelectItem>
+                      <SelectItem value="openrouter">OpenRouter</SelectItem>
+                      <SelectItem value="ollama">Ollama (local)</SelectItem>
+                    </SelectContent>
+                  </Select>
+                </div>
+
+                <div className="space-y-1.5">
+                  <Label className="text-xs">Model</Label>
+                  {presets ? (
+                    <Select
+                      value={model || "default"}
+                      onValueChange={(v) => setField(modelSetting, v === "default" ? null : v)}
+                    >
+                      <SelectTrigger className="h-8 text-sm">
+                        <SelectValue placeholder="Provider default" />
+                      </SelectTrigger>
+                      <SelectContent>
+                        <SelectItem value="default">
+                          <span className="text-muted-foreground">Provider default</span>
+                        </SelectItem>
+                        <SelectGroup>
+                          <SelectLabel>{PRESET_MODELS[provider]?.label}</SelectLabel>
+                          {presets.map((m) => (
+                            <SelectItem key={m.value} value={m.value}>{m.label}</SelectItem>
+                          ))}
+                        </SelectGroup>
+                      </SelectContent>
+                    </Select>
+                  ) : (
+                    <Input
+                      className="h-8 text-sm"
+                      placeholder={provider ? "Model name" : "—"}
+                      value={model}
+                      onChange={(e) => setField(modelSetting, e.target.value)}
+                      disabled={!provider}
+                    />
+                  )}
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          );
+        })}
+      </div>
+
+      <Button onClick={() => { void handleSave(); }} disabled={saving} size="sm">
+        {saving ? "Saving…" : "Save"}
+      </Button>
+    </section>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/ai/resolve-user-key.ts b/apps/web/lib/ai/resolve-user-key.ts
index 6d9e509..30bc48d 100644
--- a/apps/web/lib/ai/resolve-user-key.ts
+++ b/apps/web/lib/ai/resolve-user-key.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,23 @@
 import { db, userAiKeys, userModelPrefs, eq, and } from "@epicure/db";
 import { decrypt } from "@/lib/encrypt";
-import { getSiteSetting } from "@/lib/site-settings";
+import { getSiteSetting, type SiteSettingKey } from "@/lib/site-settings";
 import type { AiConfig, AiProvider } from "./factory";
 
 export type ModelUseCase = "text" | "vision" | "mealPlan";
 
+const USE_CASE_SITE_DEFAULTS: Record<ModelUseCase, { provider: SiteSettingKey; model: SiteSettingKey }> = {
+  text: { provider: "DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER", model: "DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL" },
+  vision: { provider: "DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER", model: "DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL" },
+  mealPlan: { provider: "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER", model: "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL" },
+};
+
+const PROVIDER_API_KEY_SETTING: Record<AiProvider, SiteSettingKey | null> = {
+  openrouter: "OPENROUTER_API_KEY",
+  openai: "OPENAI_API_KEY",
+  anthropic: "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
+  ollama: null,
+};
+
 /**
  * Thrown when a user's saved BYOK key exists but fails to decrypt (e.g. the
  * encryption secret rotated, or the stored ciphertext is corrupt). Callers
@@ -52,10 +65,10 @@ export async function getModelConfigForUseCase(userId: string, useCase: ModelUse
     return withUserKey(userId, config);
   }
 
-  return getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId);
+  return getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId, useCase);
 }
 
-export async function getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId: string): Promise<AiConfig> {
+export async function getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId: string, useCase?: ModelUseCase): Promise<AiConfig> {
   const keys = await db.query.userAiKeys.findMany({
     where: eq(userAiKeys.userId, userId),
     columns: { provider: true, encryptedKey: true },
@@ -63,7 +76,7 @@ export async function getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId: string): Promise<AiConfi
 
   const order: AiProvider[] = ["openrouter", "openai", "anthropic", "ollama"];
 
-  // 1. User BYOK key takes highest priority
+  // 1. User's own BYOK key takes highest priority — it's their own credentials/billing.
   for (const p of order) {
     const row = keys.find((k) => k.provider === p);
     if (row) {
@@ -75,20 +88,26 @@ export async function getDefaultProviderWithKey(userId: string): Promise<AiConfi
     }
   }
 
-  // 2. Admin site-setting overrides (DB → env fallback handled inside getSiteSetting)
-  const providerEnvKeys: Record<AiProvider, string | null> = {
-    openrouter: "OPENROUTER_API_KEY",
-    openai: "OPENAI_API_KEY",
-    anthropic: "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY",
-    ollama: null,
-  };
+  // 2. Admin-configured default provider/model for this use case, if set.
+  if (useCase) {
+    const setting = USE_CASE_SITE_DEFAULTS[useCase];
+    const defaultProvider = (await getSiteSetting(setting.provider)) as AiProvider | null;
+    if (defaultProvider) {
+      const defaultModel = await getSiteSetting(setting.model);
+      const apiKeySetting = PROVIDER_API_KEY_SETTING[defaultProvider];
+      const apiKey = apiKeySetting ? await getSiteSetting(apiKeySetting) : null;
+      return { provider: defaultProvider, model: defaultModel ?? undefined, apiKey: apiKey ?? undefined };
+    }
+  }
+
+  // 3. Admin site-setting API keys, first provider found (no explicit default set)
   for (const p of order) {
-    const envKey = providerEnvKeys[p];
-    if (!envKey) continue;
-    const apiKey = await getSiteSetting(envKey as Parameters<typeof getSiteSetting>[0]);
+    const apiKeySetting = PROVIDER_API_KEY_SETTING[p];
+    if (!apiKeySetting) continue;
+    const apiKey = await getSiteSetting(apiKeySetting);
     if (apiKey) return { provider: p, apiKey };
   }
 
-  // 3. Let factory use raw env vars
+  // 4. Let factory use raw env vars
   return {};
 }
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/changelog.ts b/apps/web/lib/changelog.ts
index 55e72b7..fe83aba 100644
--- a/apps/web/lib/changelog.ts
+++ b/apps/web/lib/changelog.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Mirrors CHANGELOG.md at the repo root — update both together.
-export const APP_VERSION = "0.29.0";
+export const APP_VERSION = "0.30.0";
 
 export type ChangelogEntry = {
   version: string;
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ export type ChangelogEntry = {
 };
 
 export const CHANGELOG: ChangelogEntry[] = [
+  {
+    version: "0.30.0",
+    date: "2026-07-14 16:05",
+    added: [
+      "**Admins can now set the site-wide default AI provider/model** per use case (text generation, photo/vision, meal-plan generation) from Settings → Admin, applied whenever a user hasn't picked their own model preference or brought their own API key.",
+    ],
+  },
   {
     version: "0.29.0",
     date: "2026-07-14 15:20",
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/openapi.ts b/apps/web/lib/openapi.ts
index 1a36f3b..187b7ba 100644
--- a/apps/web/lib/openapi.ts
+++ b/apps/web/lib/openapi.ts
@@ -682,6 +682,12 @@ export function generateOpenApiSpec(): object {
     NEXT_PUBLIC_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY: z.string().nullable().optional(),
     VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY: z.string().nullable().optional().describe("secret — write-only, never returned"),
     SIGNUPS_DISABLED: z.string().nullable().optional(),
+    DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER: z.enum(["openai", "anthropic", "openrouter", "ollama"]).nullable().optional().describe("Site-wide default for recipe/chat text generation when a user has no personal model preference and no BYOK key."),
+    DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL: z.string().nullable().optional(),
+    DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER: z.enum(["openai", "anthropic", "openrouter", "ollama"]).nullable().optional().describe("Site-wide default for photo/vision use cases (pantry scan, photo import)."),
+    DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL: z.string().nullable().optional(),
+    DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER: z.enum(["openai", "anthropic", "openrouter", "ollama"]).nullable().optional().describe("Site-wide default for AI meal-plan generation."),
+    DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL: z.string().nullable().optional(),
   }).describe("Unknown keys are silently ignored. Setting a key to null or \"\" deletes it (falls back to env var)."));
 
   const TestEmailBodyRef = registry.register("TestEmailBody", z.object({ to: z.string().min(1) }));
diff --git a/apps/web/lib/site-settings.ts b/apps/web/lib/site-settings.ts
index ee0205a..e92b518 100644
--- a/apps/web/lib/site-settings.ts
+++ b/apps/web/lib/site-settings.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,13 @@ export type SiteSettingKey =
   | "OLLAMA_BASE_URL"
   | "NEXT_PUBLIC_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY"
   | "VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY"
-  | "SIGNUPS_DISABLED";
+  | "SIGNUPS_DISABLED"
+  | "DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER"
+  | "DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL"
+  | "DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER"
+  | "DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL"
+  | "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER"
+  | "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL";
 
 const SECRET_KEYS: SiteSettingKey[] = [
   "OPENAI_API_KEY",
@@ -46,6 +52,12 @@ export async function getAllSiteSettings(): Promise<Record<string, { value: stri
     "OLLAMA_BASE_URL",
     "NEXT_PUBLIC_VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY",
     "VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY",
+    "DEFAULT_TEXT_PROVIDER",
+    "DEFAULT_TEXT_MODEL",
+    "DEFAULT_VISION_PROVIDER",
+    "DEFAULT_VISION_MODEL",
+    "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_PROVIDER",
+    "DEFAULT_MEAL_PLAN_MODEL",
   ];
 
   const result: Record<string, { value: string | null; isSecret: boolean; fromDb: boolean }> = {};
diff --git a/apps/web/package.json b/apps/web/package.json
index 5f37df3..4711a8d 100644
--- a/apps/web/package.json
+++ b/apps/web/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@epicure/web",
-  "version": "0.29.0",
+  "version": "0.30.0",
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "next dev",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 46e390a..663f2b7 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "epicure",
-  "version": "0.29.0",
+  "version": "0.30.0",
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "pnpm --filter web dev",