Compare · Food Tracker vs MyFitnessPal
A free alternative to MyFitnessPal.
MyFitnessPal is the app most people start with, and the one most people stop using. Logging means searching a crowd-sourced database, picking the closest entry and typing a serving, and since 2022 the scanner that made that bearable has been a paid feature. Food Tracker removes the search altogether: you describe the meal, or photograph it, and your assistant does the rest.
At a glance
MyFitnessPal prices checked October 2026. Free tier with ads. Premium $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Premium+ $24.99 a month or $99.99 a year. US prices.
MyFitnessPalFood Tracker
- PriceMyFitnessPalFree with ads. Premium from $79.99 a year.Food TrackerFree. No tiers, no trial, nothing held back.
- Logging a mealMyFitnessPalSearch a database, pick an entry, type the serving. Every meal, every day.Food TrackerTell your assistant what you ate. It itemises the meal, estimates portions in grams, shows you the numbers and logs them when you say yes.
- Photo of your plateMyFitnessPalMeal Scan, Premium only.Food TrackerFree, through ChatGPT or Claude.
- Voice noteMyFitnessPalVoice logging, Premium only.Food TrackerFree, through ChatGPT or Claude.
- Barcode scannerMyFitnessPalPremium only since October 2022.Food TrackerNone. Send a photo of the label or name the product and the assistant works from that.
- Food databaseMyFitnessPalCrowd-sourced, millions of entries, uneven accuracy. Many duplicates and wrong numbers.Food TrackerNone to search. The assistant estimates from food-composition data, and you check the numbers before they are saved.
- Indian foodMyFitnessPalPresent, but user-submitted and inconsistent from one entry to the next.Food TrackerEstimated from the dish and the portion, so dal, upma or biryani log like anything else. Micronutrients are compared with ICMR-NIN RDAs.
- MicronutrientsMyFitnessPalMacros on the free tier; the nutrient dashboard needs Premium.Food TrackerSeventeen, free: sugar, the fats, cholesterol, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, vitamins A, C, D, B12 and folate.
- AdsMyFitnessPalYes, on the free tier.Food TrackerNone.
- WeightMyFitnessPalA weight log and progress chart.Food TrackerDaily weight with a 7-day average, and body composition read from a photo of the scale printout.
- For clinics and gymsMyFitnessPalNo programme or coach view.Food TrackerWhite-labelled programmes for clinics, hospitals, gyms and trainers; staff see summaries, never meals.
Why people leave MyFitnessPal
The free app used to include the barcode scanner. On 1 October 2022 it became a Premium feature, and MyFitnessPal's own support pages say so plainly. Photo logging and voice logging arrived later and went straight into Premium. What is left for free is the part everyone disliked: searching a database that mixes verified brands with millions of user entries, choosing between six versions of the same dish, and typing the serving size.
Premium itself has gone from about $50 a year to $79.99, with a Premium+ tier above it for meal planning. For someone who only wanted the scanner back, that is a lot of subscription for one feature.
What is different about Food Tracker
There is no database to search because there is no search. You send ChatGPT or Claude a photo of your plate, a voice note on the way out of the restaurant, or a line of text, and it works out every item, the portion in grams, the calories, the macros and seventeen micronutrients. It shows you the list and asks about anything it cannot see, such as oil or a sauce. When you say yes, the meal is logged.
The app itself only shows you the numbers: today against your targets, each meal, weekly averages, your weight trend. No AI runs inside it, which is why it is free: the thinking happens under your own ChatGPT or Claude account, and the free versions of both work.
Where MyFitnessPal is still better
- Scanning packaged foods: a barcode gives exact label data; a photo of the label gives an estimate.
- A huge verified database of branded and restaurant foods, especially in the US and UK.
- Syncing with Garmin, Fitbit, Apple Health and other trackers.
- Working offline, importing recipes from the web, and a large community.
Switch to Food Tracker if
- Most of what you eat is home-cooked or a mixed dish with no barcode.
- You stopped logging because searching and typing every meal was tedious.
- You were only paying Premium for the scanner or for nutrient detail.
- You eat Indian food and the database entries never match what is on your plate.
Three minutes to set up. Then you only talk to your assistant.