Best Free Calorie Counters 2026: 6 Options Compared
Best free Calorie Counters compared: Cronometer, MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, YAZIO and 2 more, with free-plan limits, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Learning & Everyday Apps
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cronometer | Free (Basic plan: logs food, exercise and biometrics, tracks up to 84 nutrients, barcode scanner, 1M+ verified food database; reports and charts limited to 7 days; ads shown); paid from $4.99 per month, billed annually at $59.99 (Gold; $10.99 billed monthly) | iOS, Android, Web | Tracking micronutrients accurately | Docs only |
| MyFitnessPal | Free (nutrition, weight and exercise tracking; barcode scanning, voice logging, custom macro goals and ad-free logging need Premium); paid from $79.99 per year (Premium; $19.99 billed monthly) | iOS, Android, Web | Largest food database and community | Docs only |
| Lose It! | Free (free calorie tracking, a weight loss plan and community support) | iOS, Android, Web | Simple weight-loss tracking | Docs only |
| YAZIO | Free (free calorie tracker with barcode scanner, a food database of over 4 million items and a water tracker; PRO adds ad-free use, meal plans and in-depth analysis) | iOS, Android | Beginners wanting a clean interface | Docs only |
| fatsecret | Free (calorie and macro tracking, weight logging, barcode scanner and community; four meal types; water tracker and meal plans need Premium) | iOS, Android, Web | Free tracking with a community | Docs only |
| OpenNutriTracker | Free (free and open source; no account, sign-in, analytics or ads); paid from $0 per free | Android, iOS | Privacy-focused tracking | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- You care about vitamins and minerals, not just calories (Cronometer is the pick)
- You want the biggest list of branded foods (MyFitnessPal is the pick)
- You do not want an account or ads (OpenNutriTracker is the pick)
- You want the easiest daily logging (YAZIO is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You need paid-tier features, uptime guarantees or support that these free plans leave out
Calorie counters share the same core, a food database and a daily total, so the real differences are accuracy, ads and what sits behind the paywall. Cronometer is the most data-focused: its free Basic plan tracks up to 84 nutrients with a verified food database of over a million items, though reports are limited to 7 days and ads appear. MyFitnessPal has the largest user-made food list and a barcode scanner, but voice logging, custom macro goals and ad-free logging need Premium at $79.99 a year. Lose It! and YAZIO focus on weight-loss plans and easy logging, with YAZIO adding a water tracker and a database of over 4 million items; its PRO tier adds meal plans. FatSecret gives calorie and macro tracking plus a community for free, with water tracking and meal plans locked behind Premium. OpenNutriTracker is open source (GPL-3.0), with no account, ads or analytics, which suits privacy-minded users willing to accept a simpler food database. The trade-off is convenience versus accuracy: crowd-sourced entries are quick but often wrong, and verified entries take longer to find. Whichever you pick, log for two weeks and compare weekly averages rather than single days.
Cronometer
Free Basic plan tracks up to 84 nutrients with a 1M+ verified database and barcode scanner; reports are limited to 7 days and ads show. Gold is $59.99 a year.
Price: Free (Basic plan: logs food, exercise and biometrics, tracks up to 84 nutrients, barcode scanner, 1M+ verified food database; reports and charts limited to 7 days; ads shown); paid from $4.99 per month, billed annually at $59.99 (Gold; $10.99 billed monthly) (Cronometer pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Tracking micronutrients accurately.
MyFitnessPal
Free tier gives nutrition, weight and exercise tracking and barcode scanning. Voice logging, custom macro goals and ad-free use need Premium at $79.99 a year.
Price: Free (nutrition, weight and exercise tracking; barcode scanning, voice logging, custom macro goals and ad-free logging need Premium); paid from $79.99 per year (Premium; $19.99 billed monthly) (MyFitnessPal pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Largest food database and community.
Compare: MyFitnessPal alternatives
Lose It!
Free calorie tracking, a weight-loss plan and community support. Check the site for which features are paid.
Price: Free (free calorie tracking, a weight loss plan and community support) (Lose It! pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Simple weight-loss tracking.
YAZIO
Free tracker with barcode scanner, a database of 4 million+ items and a water tracker. PRO adds ad-free use, meal plans and deeper analysis.
Price: Free (free calorie tracker with barcode scanner, a food database of over 4 million items and a water tracker; PRO adds ad-free use, meal plans and in-depth analysis) (YAZIO pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Beginners wanting a clean interface.
fatsecret
Free calorie and macro tracking with a barcode scanner and community. Water tracker and meal plans need Premium.
Price: Free (calorie and macro tracking, weight logging, barcode scanner and community; four meal types; water tracker and meal plans need Premium) (fatsecret pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: iOS, Android, Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Free tracking with a community.
OpenNutriTracker
GPL-3.0 app with no account, sign-in, analytics or ads. Its food database is more limited than commercial rivals.
Price: Free (free and open source; no account, sign-in, analytics or ads); paid from $0 per free (OpenNutriTracker pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Android, iOS. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 2.8k GitHub stars · latest release v2.5.0 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Privacy-focused tracking.
Which one to pick
- You care about vitamins and minerals, not just calories: Cronometer
- You want the biggest list of branded foods: MyFitnessPal
- You do not want an account or ads: OpenNutriTracker
- You want the easiest daily logging: YAZIO
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Cronometer, MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, YAZIO, fatsecret, OpenNutriTracker: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing, license and product pages checked 2026-10-23: Cronometer, MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, YAZIO, fatsecret, OpenNutriTracker. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.