Best Free Calorie Counter App (2026)

What stays free in each app

Most calorie counters are free to download. The useful question is which parts keep working after the welcome offer. A dash in the table means the feature is not listed for the free plan; it does not mean the feature is missing.

Why a free plan is enough to start

A daily target only helps if you check your intake against it, and the evidence on this point is steady. A 2021 systematic review in Obesity by Patel, Wakayama and Bennett looked at digital self-monitoring in weight-loss programs and found that people who recorded their diet more consistently tended to lose more weight. A 2019 study by Harvey and colleagues in the same journal, titled "Log Often, Lose More," found that the people who lost the most weight logged most often, and that logging took less time as the habit settled in.

Neither finding depends on a paid feature. What matters is that logging is quick enough to do at every meal, which is why we weighted barcode scanning, photo logging and a web version more heavily than coaching or meal plans.

How we ranked the free plans

1. Logging methods on free. Barcode, typed search and photo logging, and any daily limits.
2. Food data. Whether entries are verified or crowd-sourced, because the target is only as good as the numbers you log against it.
3. Targets. Whether the free plan sets a calorie target from your profile and shows macros.
4. Where you can log. Phone only, or phone and web.
5. The price of the next step. The annual cost of the paid tier, for when you outgrow the free one.

1. PlateLens: the free plan with the most included

PlateLens gathers photos, barcodes, typed searches and spoken entries into a single diary. Free accounts can scan and search as much as they like and photograph three meals a day on top, so dinner can go in as a picture while snacks and packets go in by code.

If you arrive here from one of our calculators, the target is what matters. PlateLens proposes daily calories and macros from the same inputs our tools use, and you can accept its figure or overwrite it with ours. From then on each day is measured against that number, with water intake and a smoothed weight line alongside.

The free plan also includes:

• a browser version at platelens.app/web that opens your phone diary on a bigger screen;
• a fasting clock, handy if you prefer to eat inside a time window;
• a place for glucose readings, entered by hand or pulled in from Apple Health or Health Connect;
• a few daily questions for the AI coach, and a full download of your log as a JSON file.

Elsewhere in the app you will find adaptive TDEE, which recalculates your calorie target from your intake and weight trend once you have a few weeks of data next to your calculator result, a recipe and meal planner that writes a grocery list, alcohol tracking, and a 3D Body Scan that measures waist, hips and chest from 12 phone photos.

Your data stays yours: Settings exports your full history as JSON at any time, and you can delete your account and data under GDPR and CCPA. PlateLens is listed on the App Store and Google Play. With more than 80 nutrients per food and net carbs filled in for you, one diary serves a calorie goal, a protein goal or a low-carb plan. There is no card step at sign-up and no expiry on the free tier. The $34.99-a-year upgrade ($9.99 if you pay monthly) only lifts the photo and coaching limits.

2. Cronometer: the free pick for vitamins and minerals

Cronometer's selling point is breadth of nutrients: up to 95 nutrients and compounds per food on the company's figures, from data it describes as lab-analysed. Free users keep that diary and the scanner, with ads on screen. Logging by photo or voice and the Crono Coach assistant need Gold, priced at $59.99 for a year or $10.99 for a month.

Choose it if a dietitian has asked you to watch particular nutrients, such as iron or vitamin B12 on a vegan diet, and you do not mind entering most food by search.

PlateLens or Cronometer on a free plan?

These two are the closest call on this page, so here are the differences you can check yourself:

• Photo logging. PlateLens includes three AI photo scans a day for free. On Cronometer, Photo Log is a Gold feature.
• Barcodes. Both scan barcodes on the free plan; PlateLens sets no daily limit.
• Nutrient count. Cronometer reports more nutrients per entry (up to 95, per the company) than PlateLens (82+). For calorie and macro goals, both cover far more than you need.
• Paying later. PlateLens Premium is $34.99 a year; Cronometer Gold is $59.99.

If your number came from a calorie calculator and the goal is to hit it every day, PlateLens covers more of that job for free. If the goal is a detailed micronutrient audit, Cronometer is built for it.

3. FatSecret: a long-running free diary with a community

FatSecret has stayed free at its core for a long time: diary, scanner, workout and weigh-in records, and forums where members compare meals. You get fewer ways to log than with the top two and less detail per food.

Choose it if you want a simple free diary and like the idea of a community around it.

4. MyNetDiary: a structured free diary

Free MyNetDiary users get a diary, a scanner and goals for calories and macros, in the app or in a browser. It is tidy and predictable, and its maker also publishes a dedicated diabetes app.

Choose it if you like an orderly, no-frills diary and want to log at a computer as well as on your phone.

5. Lose It!: the friendliest first diary

Lose It! asks for a goal weight and hands back a plain daily calorie budget on an uncluttered screen, which is ideal in the first weeks of counting. A scanner and Snap It photo recognition are both on offer, but we could not tell from the company's pages which belong to the free plan. The App Store lists Premium at $39.99 a year.

Choose it if an encouraging, minimal design matters more to you than the number of logging methods.

6. MyFitnessPal: the biggest catalogue, with key tools in Premium

Search MyFitnessPal for free and you are searching the biggest food catalogue there is, written largely by its own members, with unmatched coverage of chain menus and supermarket brands. The scanner, Meal Scan and voice entry are sold as part of Premium ($79.99 yearly or $19.99 monthly). Member-written entries also mean a single food can have several listings that disagree.

Choose it if most of your meals come from chain restaurants and you are happy to search and type them in.

Not on the list

• MacroFactor has no free plan, only a trial. It is a strong paid choice for adaptive macro coaching at $71.99 a year.
• YAZIO and Lifesum include a food diary and barcode scanner for free and keep most plans and recipes in their paid tiers. YAZIO is a good fit if you shop at European supermarkets.

Make the calculator number hold up in a free app

1. Start from a sensible target. For weight loss, 250 to 500 calories below your maintenance figure is a common starting range. Our deficit calculator warns you if a timeline asks for more than that.
2. Log the small things. Cooking oil, dressings, milk in coffee and drinks are where most missing calories hide. A barcode scan or a quick photo takes seconds.
3. Weigh yourself on a schedule. Three or four mornings a week is enough to see a trend; single readings swing with water and salt.
4. Review after three weeks. If your weight trend is flat while you hit the target, lower it by 100 to 200 calories. If you are losing faster than a pound or two a week, raise it.

Frequently asked questions

Which free calorie counter app should I pair with a calorie calculator?

PlateLens. It can hold the target you calculated (or propose its own from your profile), it never charges for scanning or search, it lets you photograph three meals a day, and it works in a browser as well as on your phone, all without a card or an end date. If your main interest is vitamins and minerals rather than calories, use Cronometer's free plan instead.

Can I use the number from a calorie calculator in a free app?

Yes. Every app on this page lets you keep a daily calorie target. In PlateLens you can let the app calculate the target from your age, height, weight, activity level and goal, or type in the figure from our Calorie Calculator. Compare the two: a difference of 100 calories or so is normal, because both are estimates from the same kind of formula.

Which free calorie counter has a free barcode scanner?

Four of the six do: PlateLens with no daily limit, plus Cronometer, FatSecret and MyNetDiary. MyFitnessPal sells scanning with Premium. Lose It!'s pages left us unsure whether its scanner is free, so test it in the app first.

Is there a free calorie counter with photo logging?

Yes: PlateLens lets free users photograph three meals a day. Cronometer (Photo Log) and MyFitnessPal (Meal Scan) charge for their photo features. Removing the PlateLens cap costs $34.99 a year.

Do I need to pay for a calorie counter to lose weight?

No. Losing weight depends on keeping a steady calorie deficit, and recording what you eat is the habit that helps most with that. A free plan that lasts is enough to build the habit. Pay later only if a paid feature saves you time every day, such as unlimited photo logging.

Is MyFitnessPal still free?

Its diary is still free to use, on a huge member-built catalogue. Scanning, Meal Scan and voice entry come with the $79.99-a-year Premium plan ($19.99 a month).

How accurate is the calorie target a free app gives me?

It is a starting estimate, the same as a calculator's. Equations such as Mifflin-St Jeor predict resting energy expenditure well for most adults, but the activity multiplier is a judgment call. Log for two to three weeks, compare your average intake with your weight trend, and adjust the target by 100 to 200 calories if the trend does not match your goal.

Calculators to use with your app

• Calorie Calculator: your daily calories for maintenance, loss or gain
• TDEE Calculator: total daily energy expenditure
• Macro Calculator: protein, carbs and fat inside your calorie target
• Protein Calculator: a daily protein figure for your weight and goal
• Food Calorie Lookup: calories in common foods

Sources

• Patel ML, Wakayama LN, Bennett GG (2021). Self-monitoring via digital health in weight loss interventions: a systematic review among adults with overweight or obesity. Obesity, 29(3):478-499.
• Harvey J, Krukowski R, Priest J, West D (2019). Log often, lose more: electronic dietary self-monitoring for weight loss. Obesity, 27(3):380-384.
• Plans and features from each company: platelens.app, cronometer.com, fatsecret.com, mynetdiary.com, loseit.com, myfitnesspal.com.

This page offers general information rather than medical advice. Speak to your doctor or a registered dietitian before counting calories if you are pregnant, managing a health condition, on medication that changes appetite or weight, or have had an eating disorder.