The best calorie tracking apps, compared on six criteria
Cronometer, MacroFactor, MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, Cal AI and Noom, scored on criteria you can check. Dalia Health publishes this guide and makes Dalia, which is listed separately and not ranked.
Last reviewed October 15, 2026
The best calorie tracker is the one you keep using: across 39 trials, logging more with a digital tool was linked with weight loss in 74% of the times it was examined.[1] On six criteria we state below, Cronometer scores highest, with a free plan, free barcode scanning and over 1 million lab-analyzed or verified foods.[2, 3] Dalia Health publishes this guide and makes Dalia, so Dalia is listed separately and not ranked.
Key takeaways
- In 39 trials, logging more often with a digital tool was linked with weight loss in 74% of the times it was examined.[1]
- On our six criteria, Cronometer scores highest: a free plan, free barcode scanning, photo logging on its paid plan, over 1 million lab-analyzed or verified foods, and a $59.99 yearly plan.[2, 3]
- MacroFactor is the only app here whose own page describes targets that adjust to your metabolism, and it has no free version.[4]
- Photo estimates are fast but rough. In a 2025 test of three general-purpose AI models (not the apps in this guide), the two best still missed calories by 35.8% on average, and all underestimated more as portions grew.[18]
- Dalia Health publishes this guide and makes Dalia. Dalia is listed separately and is not ranked.
Important
Disclosure: we make Dalia
Dalia Health publishes this guide, and Dalia, the AI health coach you text, is our product. To keep the ranking fair, we do not rank Dalia. No app paid to be included. Every price and feature below comes from the app's own website or App Store listing, checked on October 15, 2026. Prices change and can differ by country, so check the app before you subscribe.
How we ranked them
Each app gets one point for each of six criteria, using only what its own pages say. "Not stated" means we could not find it on the app's own pages that day. It does not mean the app lacks the feature. Ties share a rank.
Prices are scored from the app's website only. App Store listings show many offers at once, and the Lose It!, Cal AI and MyFitnessPal listings each show several prices, some under $60.[7, 9, 6]
- 1Free plan for logging food. You can log meals without paying.
- 2Free barcode scanning. Scanning a package is included in the free plan.
- 3Photo logging, on any plan.
- 4A verified food database, as the app describes it.
- 5Adaptive targets that the app says adjust to your own data.
- 6Yearly price under $60, as listed on the app's own page.
These criteria favor a tracker that is cheap to start, quick to log and careful about its data. They do not score coaching, lessons, community or design, which matter a lot to some people. If those matter more to you, use the "Who each app suits" list further down.
| App | Free plan | Free barcode | Photo logging | Verified foods | Adaptive targets | Under $60 a year | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cronometer | Yes[2] | Yes[3] | Yes, Gold[2] | Yes[2] | Not stated | Yes, $59.99[2] | 5 |
| MacroFactor | No[4] | No free plan[4] | Yes[4] | Yes[4] | Yes[4] | No, $71.99[4] | 3 |
| MyFitnessPal | Yes[5] | No, Premium[5] | Yes, Premium[5] | Not stated | Not stated | No, $79.99[5] | 2 |
| Lose It! | Yes[7] | No, Premium[7] | Yes, Premium[7] | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | 2 |
| Cal AI | Not stated | Not stated | Yes, subscription[9] | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | 1 |
| Noom | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | No, $209[10] | 0 |
The six apps, ranked
Cronometer
Score 5 of 6: free plan with detailed nutrients
Basic $0 · Gold $59.99 a year or $10.99 a month (cronometer.com, Oct 15, 2026)
Cronometer's free Basic plan includes a barcode scanner and access to a database of over 1 million lab-analyzed or verified foods.[2, 3] Its paid Gold plan adds ad-free tracking and Photo Log, which identifies the ingredients and servings in a photo of your meal.[2] We found no description of targets that adjust to your data on its pages.
Pros
- Free plan with barcode scanning
- Over 1 million lab-analyzed or verified foods
- Photo and voice logging on Gold
Cons
- Photo logging needs the paid plan
- No adaptive targets described on its pages
MacroFactor
Score 3 of 6: targets that adjust to you
$71.99 a year, $47.99 every 6 months, or $11.99 a month; 7-day free trial (macrofactor.com, Oct 15, 2026)
MacroFactor says its nutrition plan adjusts your diet to fit your metabolism.[4] It lists more than 1.36 million verified food entries, barcode and label scanning, and logging from a photo or a description of your meal.[4] It says there is not, and will never be, a free version; it offers a 7-day free trial instead.[4]
Pros
- Targets that adjust to your data
- Over 1.36 million verified food entries
- Photo, description and barcode logging
Cons
- No free plan
- Yearly price above our $60 line
MyFitnessPal
Score 2 of 6: 20.5M+ foods, including restaurant dishes
Free plan · Premium $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month; 7-day free trial for new Premium users (myfitnesspal.com, Oct 15, 2026)
MyFitnessPal lists 20.5M+ foods, including restaurant dishes.[6] It has a basic free version.[5] Barcode Scan, Meal Scan (point your camera at a food) and Voice Log are Premium logging tools that the free version does not include.[5] It says more than 35 apps and devices connect to it.[5]
Pros
- Free plan
- More than 20.5 million foods listed
- Connects with more than 35 apps and devices
Cons
- Barcode and meal scanning need Premium
- Premium is $79.99 a year
Lose It!
Score 2 of 6: a free plan with a weight loss plan
Free plan · Premium price not listed on its website (Oct 15, 2026)
Lose It!'s free plan includes calorie tracking, a weight loss plan and community support.[7] Photo meal logging, voice logging, the barcode scanner and tracking for nutrients and other health measures are listed as Premium features.[7] We could not find a Premium price on its own website, so we did not score one.
Pros
- Free plan with a weight loss plan
- Photo, voice and barcode logging on Premium
Cons
- Barcode scanning needs Premium
- Premium price not shown on its website
Cal AI
Score 1 of 6: built around photo logging
Subscription · 3-day free trial; price not listed on its website (Oct 15, 2026)
Cal AI is built around logging by photo: you snap a photo, scan a barcode or describe your meal.[8] Its App Store listing says food scanning results require a subscription, and its site offers a 3-day free trial.[9, 8] Cal AI's own FAQ says it is about 80% accurate and that good lighting helps.[8]
Pros
- Photo, barcode and description logging
- Publishes its own accuracy figure (about 80%)
Cons
- Scanning results need a subscription
- Price not shown on its website
Noom
Score 0 of 6: a habits program, not a plain tracker
Noom Weight plans start at $17 a month, based on a $209 yearly plan (App Store listing, Oct 15, 2026)
Noom is a behavior change program: daily lessons on psychology and habits, AI food logging with over 1 million food items, step tracking, communities and optional 1:1 coaching.[10] It says that in most cases you can start with a free trial.[11] Our criteria score trackers, so they miss most of what Noom offers.
Pros
- Daily lessons on habits and behavior
- Optional 1:1 coaching
- Free trial in most cases
Cons
- Plans are paid, from a $209 yearly plan
- Our tracker criteria do not score its lessons
Where Dalia fits (ours, not ranked)
Dalia, the AI health coach you text, is a different kind of app. It is not built around a food database. You log by text or by meal photo, and the coach reads your meals next to your weight, sleep and workouts, then texts you first when your weight trend moves. Meal photos give estimated calories and macros, never exact counts.
On the criteria above, Dalia has a free plan with unlimited text logging, a few meal photos and a daily cap on coach messages. Barcode scanning, a verified database and adaptive targets are not part of what we claim for it. Current plans and prices are on the plans page.
What a year costs, monthly or yearly
Paying monthly costs more over a year for every app that lists both prices.[2, 4, 5] The worked example uses the prices on each app's own page on October 15, 2026.
Worked example
Twelve monthly payments against one yearly payment
Take someone who plans to track for a full year and compares the two ways to pay for each app that lists both.
Cronometer Gold, monthly
$10.99 × 12
$131.88
Cronometer Gold, yearly instead
$131.88 − $59.99
$71.89 saved
MacroFactor, monthly
$11.99 × 12
$143.88
MacroFactor, yearly instead
$143.88 − $71.99
$71.89 saved
MyFitnessPal Premium, monthly
$19.99 × 12
$239.88
MyFitnessPal Premium, yearly instead
$239.88 − $79.99
$159.89 saved
Cheapest full year of the three paid plans
Cronometer Gold, yearly: $59.99
Does tracking help you lose weight?
Tracking is linked with weight loss, but the evidence is mixed on apps by themselves. A review of 22 studies found a consistent link between self-monitoring and weight loss, but rated the evidence weak because of how the studies were done.[12] A later review of 39 trials found more digital logging went with weight loss in 74% of the times it was examined.[1]
A 2026 US guideline says intensive weight loss programs should include self-monitoring of food intake, physical activity and weight.[14] An app alone may not be enough. In a trial of 212 primary care patients, helping people start MyFitnessPal made no difference to their weight after 6 months.[13] If you are setting a target first, read what a calorie deficit is.
How accurate are calorie apps?
Close for calories, less so for some nutrients. In a 2018 study of five apps, results matched research software fairly well for energy and the main nutrients, with correlations of 0.73 to 0.96.[15] Each app came out lower than the research software on at least one nutrient.[15] App databases change, so these results describe the versions tested then.
In a 2020 study, MyFitnessPal's calorie totals matched a national food database closely, once implausible entries were removed.[16] It did less well on cholesterol and sodium.[16] Barcode scans did well in a Dutch study: for 79% of products, the calorie value was within 5% of the true value.[17]
Photo estimates are the roughest. In a 2025 test of three general-purpose AI chat models on 52 food photos (not any app in this guide), the best two missed calories by 35.8% on average.[18] All three underestimated more as portions got larger.[18] A photo is a fast start; check the portion, especially for big plates.
Who each app suits
- Want a free plan with barcode scanning? Cronometer.[3]
- Want targets that adjust to your own data? MacroFactor.[4]
- Want restaurant dishes in the food list and many app connections? MyFitnessPal.[6, 5]
- Want a free weight loss plan and a community? Lose It![7]
- Want to log mostly by photo? Cal AI, with its own stated limits.[8]
- Want lessons on habits and optional coaching? Noom.[10]
- Want a coach that reads food next to sleep, weight and training, by text? Dalia, which we make.
When to talk to a clinician
Frequently asked questions
Of the six apps we checked, Cronometer, MyFitnessPal and Lose It! have free plans. Cronometer's free plan includes barcode scanning; MyFitnessPal and Lose It! list barcode scanning as a paid feature. Plans change, so check the app's own page.
Mostly close for calories, less so for some nutrients. Studies of popular apps found calorie totals tracked research databases well, while each app came out low on at least one nutrient. Photo estimates are rougher, especially for large portions.
References & further reading
- 1.Self-monitoring via digital health in weight loss interventions: a systematic review among adults with overweight or obesity, Obesity (Patel et al.), 2021
- 2.Cronometer Gold (plans and features, accessed 2026-10-15), Cronometer
- 3.Cronometer home page (accessed 2026-10-15), Cronometer
- 4.MacroFactor nutrition app (features, pricing and FAQ, accessed 2026-10-15), MacroFactor
- 5.MyFitnessPal Premium (accessed 2026-10-15), MyFitnessPal
- 6.MyFitnessPal: Calorie Counter, App Store listing (accessed 2026-10-15), MyFitnessPal, Inc. (Apple App Store)
- 7.Lose It! Calorie Counter, App Store listing (accessed 2026-10-15), FitNow, Inc. (Apple App Store)
- 8.Cal AI home page and FAQ (accessed 2026-10-15), Cal AI
- 9.Cal AI: Calorie Tracker, App Store listing (accessed 2026-10-15), Viral Development LLC (Apple App Store)
- 10.Noom Weight Loss, Food Tracker, App Store listing (accessed 2026-10-15), Noom, Inc. (Apple App Store)
- 11.Noom home page and FAQ (accessed 2026-10-15), Noom
- 12.Self-monitoring in weight loss: a systematic review of the literature, Journal of the American Dietetic Association (Burke et al.), 2011
- 13.Effectiveness of a smartphone application for weight loss compared with usual care in overweight primary care patients: a randomized, controlled trial, Annals of Internal Medicine (Laing et al.), 2014
- 14.2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Ndumele et al.), 2026
- 15.Assessment of the accuracy of nutrient calculations of five popular nutrition tracking applications, Public Health Nutrition (Griffiths et al.), 2018
- 16.Accuracy of nutrient calculations using the consumer-focused online app MyFitnessPal: validation study, Journal of Medical Internet Research (Evenepoel et al.), 2020
- 17.Food identification by barcode scanning in the Netherlands: a quality assessment of labelled food product databases underlying popular nutrition applications, Public Health Nutrition (Maringer et al.), 2019
- 18.Performance evaluation of 3 large language models for nutritional content estimation from food images, Current Developments in Nutrition (Fridolfsson et al.), 2025
- 19.Calorie counting and fitness tracking technology: associations with eating disorder symptomatology, Eating Behaviors (Simpson and Mazzeo), 2017
- 20.My Fitness Pal calorie tracker usage in the eating disorders, Eating Behaviors (Levinson et al.), 2017
- 21.Eating disorders, National Institute of Mental Health
- 22.Low blood glucose (hypoglycemia), NIDDK (NIH)
- 23.Overweight and pregnant, NHS
Eashan Vagish
Founder, Dalia Health
Eashan Vagish is the founder of Dalia Health, where he works on making heart and metabolic health easier to understand and track. He writes these guides to answer the health questions people actually ask, in plain language, with links to the research behind every claim.
Medical disclaimer: This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified healthcare professional. Always talk to your doctor about your individual health, and seek immediate care for any urgent symptoms.
How we write, source and correct these guides: our editorial policy. Spot an error? Email info@daliahealth.com.
Keep reading
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
There is no single number. Here is how to estimate a starting target, why it is only a starting guess, and who should not set one alone.
Weight management 7 min read
What is a calorie deficit?
What a calorie deficit is, how big one to aim for, how to work one out, and the limits guidelines set.
Weight management 4 min read
How much protein do you need?
The official minimum, the higher goal in the newest Dietary Guidelines, the ranges for training and for older adults, and a worked example in grams.
Nutrition 8 min read