Best Nutrition Tracking Apps in 2025
Proper nutrition is half the battle in fitness. Whether you're trying to lose weight, build muscle, or simply eat healthier, these nutrition tracking apps help you monitor calories, macros, and develop sustainable eating habits. We've tested the most popular food logging apps to find the best options for different goals and budgets.
From traditional calorie counters to AI-powered photo recognition, these apps put a comprehensive food journal in your pocket. Discover which nutrition app works best for your lifestyle, dietary preferences, and fitness goals.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal (MFP) is the veteran of calorie counters – a hugely popular app that's been around for over a decade. It's known for its massive food database (over 14 million foods) and barcode scanner, making logging meals very convenient. MFP tracks your calories, macros, and more, and can also log exercise and steps, giving you a picture of calories in vs out. Dietitians often recommend MyFitnessPal for its completeness and beginner-friendly design. Important: In late 2022, MFP put the barcode scanner behind the Premium paywall, which caused some discontent among long-time users. The free version still lets you search and log foods, but features like scanning, macro goals, and food analysis require Premium ($19.99/month or $79.99/year).
Key Features:
- • Massive 14+ million food database
- • Exercise integration and step tracking
- • Recipe importer and custom food creation
- • Active community forums for support
- • Beginner-friendly with goal-setting guidance
Pricing:
Free with ads and basic features • Premium: $19.99/month or $79.99/year for barcode scanning and macro goals
Cronometer
Cronometer is a precision-focused nutrition tracker beloved by those who want deep nutritional data. Unlike most calorie apps, Cronometer tracks up to 84 micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.) in addition to calories and macros. Its food database leans on verified sources like the USDA, meaning the data is very accurate – you won't find the huge clutter of user-created entries that other apps have. Cronometer's interface is clean and it allows extensive customization of targets. The app is free with ads, and a Gold subscription (~$8.99/month or $49/year) removes ads and adds extras like recipe imports and more charts. Many Reddit users switched to Cronometer when MFP introduced paid scanning, since Cronometer's free version includes a barcode scanner and all core features.
Key Features:
- • Tracks 84 micronutrients beyond calories and macros
- • USDA-verified food database for accuracy
- • Barcode scanner included in free version
- • Extensive customization of nutrition targets
- • Clean interface focused on data accuracy
Pricing:
Free with ads and core features • Gold: $8.99/month or $49/year for premium features
Cal AI
Cal AI is a breakthrough photo-based calorie and macro tracker that has taken the nutrition app world by storm since its May 2024 launch. Created by 18-year-old founders Zach Yadegari and Henry Langmack, this app leverages cutting-edge AI image recognition to estimate calories, protein, carbs, and fat from a single food photo. Simply snap a picture of your meal, and Cal AI's computer vision technology (powered by models from Anthropic and OpenAI) analyzes the image and logs your nutrition data automatically. The app has achieved remarkable success with over 5 million downloads in just eight months, maintaining a 4.8-star rating across both Apple (66,000+ reviews) and Google Play (75,000+ reviews) stores. The "snap a photo" approach dramatically reduces the friction of food logging compared to traditional database searches.
Key Features:
- • AI-powered photo recognition for instant logging
- • Advanced computer vision using OpenAI and Anthropic models
- • 90% accuracy according to founders' testing
- • Dramatically reduces food logging friction
- • 4.8-star rating with millions of users
Pricing:
Subscription-based with various tiers for photo recognition features
MacroFactor
MacroFactor is a newer app (launched 2021) that has quickly gained a cult following among fitness enthusiasts, especially on Reddit, for its powerful macro tracking and coaching algorithm. Unlike traditional food logs, MacroFactor doesn't just track your intake – it actively adjusts your nutrition targets each week based on your actual metabolism and progress. Users input their food and body weight daily, and the app's "AI coaching" calculates your true energy expenditure and updates your calorie/macro goals to keep you on track for your weight loss or muscle gain targets. The app is subscription-only (around $11.99/month or $79/year), with a 7-day free trial. The MacroFactor community raves about how this app helped them break plateaus by adjusting intake intelligently.
Key Features:
- • AI coaching that adjusts targets based on your metabolism
- • Weekly recalculation of energy expenditure
- • Verified food database with no user-generated errors
- • Detailed analytics and trend tracking
- • Strong Reddit community support (r/MacroFactor)
Pricing:
Subscription-only: $11.99/month or $79/year • 7-day free trial
Lifesum
Lifesum is a beautifully designed nutrition app that combines calorie & macro tracking with healthy habit coaching. It's often recommended for those who want a more lifestyle-oriented tracker. Lifesum has a free version that allows basic logging of food, water, and exercise, but to unlock its full potential you'd use the Premium version (~$8/month). Premium offers tailored meal plans (like high-protein, keto, Mediterranean, etc.), recipes, and even a "Life Score" that grades your daily eating habits. One standout feature is Lifesum's support for intermittent fasting – it lets you choose a fasting schedule (16:8, 5:2, etc.), then it will adjust your calorie/macro targets for your eating window and provide a fasting timer. Many people find its daily scores and attractive visuals make the journey more motivating.
Key Features:
- • Beautiful, lifestyle-oriented design and interface
- • Integrated intermittent fasting support and timer
- • Tailored meal plans for different diet styles
- • Daily "Life Score" to grade eating habits
- • Recipe database and meal planning tools
Pricing:
Basic free version • Premium: ~$8/month for meal plans and advanced features
Which Nutrition Tracking App Should You Choose?
Quick Recommendations:
- For Beginners: MyFitnessPal - huge database and community support make it easy to start
- For Accuracy: Cronometer - verified USDA data and micronutrient tracking
- For Convenience: Cal AI - photo-based tracking eliminates database searching
- For Advanced Users: MacroFactor - AI coaching that adapts to your metabolism
- For Lifestyle Focus: Lifesum - beautiful design with intermittent fasting support
The best nutrition app depends on your tracking style, budget, and goals. Consider whether you want basic calorie counting, detailed micronutrient analysis, or AI-powered coaching. Most apps offer free trials, so test a few to find your perfect match.