Best Calorie App in 2026: 5 Apps Compared
On a store page, every calorie app tells the same story. In daily use they diverge on very concrete points: do you need an account, is barcode scanning included in the free tier, does the app hold up without a network, and what does the subscription actually cost.
Below, five apps compared on six factual criteria, each checked on 26 July 2026 against the vendors' own pages and sourced at the bottom. There is no "best app" in absolute terms — there is the column that matters to you.
Calorie tracking apps compared, 2026
Five mainstream apps, six verifiable criteria, one rule: every cell links to a public, dated source. Where a vendor does not publish the information, we say so instead of guessing.
| Criterion | Radish | MyFitnessPal | Yazio | Cronometer | FatSecret |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price as observed on 26 July 2026 | Free for life on the core app (diary, Nutri-Score, 11 vitamins and minerals, barcode scan, recipes), with no account and no ads. Optional paid extras exist; no feature in this table depends on them. | Free tier + Premium €79.99/year; Premium+ €99.99/year or €24.99/monthEU storefront, in euros as displayed, excluding promotions (source) | Free tier + paid PRO. No price published on the vendor's own site; in-app purchases listed on the French App Store page: €11.90 to €59.90 depending on the plan (3 or 12 months)Euros, FR storefront (source) | Free account + Gold $10.99/month or $59.99/yearVendor price in US dollars, not converted (source) | Free tier + Premium. No price published in the open; in-app purchases listed on the French App Store page: €9.39 to €53.90 depending on the planEuros, FR storefront (source) |
| Account required | No — no account, no email address | Yes — access goes through account creation (source) | No — the vendor states the app "can be operated with or without a personalized user account" (source) | Yes — email sign-up then validation (source) | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 |
| Counting works without a connection | Yes — embedded database, no server call needed to log a meal | No — the official help centre states that without an internet connection the food database is not accessible (source) | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 | Not documented — absent from the official list of free-account features (source) | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 |
| Barcode scanning in the free tier | Yes — via Open Food Facts | No — the official help centre states that since 1 October 2022 barcode scanning requires a Premium subscription (source) | Not documented — scanning exists, the vendor does not publicly state whether it is included in the free tier | Yes — listed among free-account features (source) | Yes — the vendor presents the app and its core features, scanning included, as free (source) |
| Nutri-Score displayed | Yes — A to E on every food | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 | Not documented by the vendor as of 26 July 2026 |
| Micronutrients stated by the vendor | 11 vitamins and minerals + fibre, sugars and saturated fat, values from the CIQUAL and USDA tables | No public figure | No public figure | Up to 84 nutrients and compounds, from the free account onwards (source) | No public figure |
How to read it: Yes = feature documented as available · No = feature documented as unavailable or paid · Not documented = the vendor does not publish the information, and we do not decide for them.
What the table says, criterion by criterion
The real price is not the one on the store page
Two models coexist. On one side, the subscription: MyFitnessPal publishes its rates openly on its Premium page, which is welcome and makes comparison possible (€79.99/year for Premium, €99.99/year for Premium+). On the other, vendors who display no price on their site and reveal it at sign-up inside the app — that is the case for Yazio and FatSecret, whose amounts can only be read off store listings, where several plans coexist. The useful question is what payment unlocks. A subscription that opens a coach and meal plans is not worth the same as one that opens a scanner.
Account required: the row that surprises people most
It is easy to assume every app demands an account. It does not. MyFitnessPal and Cronometer do go through sign-up. Yazio explicitly documents the opposite: its app can run with or without a personalised account. Radish asks for none, because your food log stays on your phone. With no account there is no password to manage and no session to recover, and the app opens in a second on day one.
Offline: the least documented criterion on the market
This is the most telling row here. Only one vendor documents the topic clearly, and it is to say that without a connection the food database becomes inaccessible. The other three do not address it publicly. In practice, an app whose database lives on a server cannot answer on a plane, in a basement or abroad without data. An app whose database is embedded can. If you travel, this row will probably decide for you. Our dedicated article on offline tracking explains why it weighs more than it looks.
Barcode scanning: free in three, paid in one
Scanning has become the basic gesture of food logging, and its status varies a lot. Cronometer lists it in its free account, FatSecret presents it as a free core feature, Radish includes it unconditionally via Open Food Facts. MyFitnessPal moved it behind Premium on 1 October 2022 and documents that on its own help centre. For many users, that is the tipping point towards a free alternative. If you scan a lot of packaged products, test this feature on day one — it is the one you will use most.
Nutri-Score: a European label still rarely supported
The Nutri-Score is an official front-of-pack nutrition label in France and several European countries, grading a product from A to E. It is a marker of overall quality, not a health verdict, and it complements calorie counting rather than replacing it: two foods at 200 kcal can have very different profiles. None of the four other vendors compared here publicly documents displaying it, which makes sense — these are largely products built for a North American market. Radish shows it on every food, computed with the revised 2022-2023 algorithm (French decree of 14 March 2025).
Micronutrients: the row where Radish is not in front
Worth saying plainly: on the number of nutrients tracked, Cronometer is well ahead, with up to 84 nutrients and compounds advertised from the free account onwards. Radish tracks 14, chosen among those that matter most day to day: the ones people often fall short on (iron, calcium, vitamin D, folate, B12…) as well as the ones people exceed without noticing (sugars, saturated fat, salt), with values from the official CIQUAL (Anses) and USDA tables. Two philosophies: analytical completeness on one side, a readable everyday subset on the other. If you follow a precise protocol with a healthcare professional, depth matters more.
Ready to try Radish?Private calorie counter, Nutri-Score, 11 vitamins and minerals, no ads. Free for life on the core app, no account.Get Radish →Which app for which profile
The table does not crown a winner, it maps use cases:
- You want the broadest food database and a mature ecosystem: MyFitnessPal remains the market's historical benchmark, provided you accept an account and a subscription for scanning.
- You follow a detailed nutrition protocol: Cronometer, with up to 84 nutrients from the free account, is the deepest option here.
- You want a free app with no account to get started: Yazio documents usage without a personalised account, which lowers the entry barrier.
- You scan a lot and want to pay nothing: FatSecret presents its core features, scanning included, as free.
- Privacy, offline use and Nutri-Score come first: that is Radish's ground — the food log stays on the phone, the app works in airplane mode, and the only features that send anything out (barcode scan, optional AI) are ones you trigger.
How we checked
This comparison is produced by the Radish team, vendor of one of the apps listed. Better to state it than to hide it — which is exactly why the method is published.
- One public source per cell. Every data point comes from the vendor's official page or store listing, never from a third-party article or from memory.
- A single, displayed check date: 26 July 2026, for every row.
- Currencies not converted, scope stated (monthly or annual, French storefront), promotions excluded.
- No inference. Anything a vendor does not publish is marked "not documented", including when a conclusion would suit us.
- Nutrition criteria rely on the official CIQUAL (Anses) and USDA FoodData Central tables, not on unverified contributions.
Test for three days before committing
A table points, use decides. Before paying for anything, run this trial on two candidates:
- Log three typical meals from a real week and see whether your foods exist in the database.
- Time logging one breakfast: a tedious app gets deleted within ten days.
- Turn off the network and log a full meal again.
- Scan five products from your cupboard and count the failures.
- Find out how to export or delete your data before you have six months of it.
Three days is almost always enough to know which one you will stick with: consistency produces results, not the theoretical precision of the database.
FAQ
What is the best calorie app in 2026?
None is, in absolute terms, and being wary of anyone who claims otherwise is a good reflex. For nutritional depth, Cronometer advertises up to 84 nutrients from the free account. For database breadth and ecosystem, MyFitnessPal remains the historical benchmark. For privacy, offline use and Nutri-Score, Radish is built around those three points. The right choice depends on which criterion you rank first.
Is barcode scanning free in these apps?
It depends. Radish, Cronometer and FatSecret document scanning available without paying. On MyFitnessPal, the official help centre states that barcode scanning has required a Premium subscription since 1 October 2022. On Yazio, the vendor does not publicly state the status of this feature in the free tier.
Can you track calories without creating an account?
Yes. Radish asks for no account and no email address, since everything is stored locally on the phone. Yazio also documents operation without a personalised user account. MyFitnessPal and Cronometer do go through sign-up.
Why do some cells say "not documented"?
Because the vendor does not publish the information on its official pages as of 26 July 2026. Rather than guessing from partial tests or third-party articles, we flag it. A comparison is only worth something if every cell can be traced back to a source.
Can a free app be reliable?
The useful question is how it makes money: advertising, audience resale, subscription, or none of the three. Radish is free on the core app because the food log stays on the phone, which removes server costs — and the commercial uses that come with them.
Sources and check dates
- MyFitnessPal — Premium and Premium+ pricing: myfitnesspal.com/premium, accessed 26 July 2026 (EU storefront, euros, excluding promotions).
- MyFitnessPal — barcode scanning restricted to Premium since 1 October 2022: official help centre, accessed 26 July 2026.
- MyFitnessPal — food database access without a connection: official help centre, accessed 26 July 2026.
- Yazio — use with or without a user account: help.yazio.com, accessed 26 July 2026.
- Yazio — in-app purchases (€11.90 to €59.90): French App Store listing, checked 26 July 2026.
- Cronometer — Gold pricing and free-account features (scanning, up to 84 nutrients): cronometer.com/gold, accessed 26 July 2026 (prices in US dollars, not converted).
- Cronometer — account creation: cronometer.com/signup, accessed 26 July 2026.
- FatSecret — barcode scanning among core features: official FatSecret help, accessed 26 July 2026.
- FatSecret — in-app purchases (€9.39 to €53.90): French App Store listing, checked 26 July 2026.
- Radish micronutrients — official CIQUAL (Anses) and USDA FoodData Central tables.
Prices and features change. This table is re-checked at every monthly audit; if you spot a discrepancy, tell us and we will correct the row with a new check date.
The "best" calorie app in 2026 depends on which row of the table matters most to you: nutritional depth, database breadth, price, or privacy. Set your priority criterion, test two candidates for three days, and decide on real use. If offline use, no account and Nutri-Score come out on top, try Radish: free for life on the core app, no account, no ads.
General educational information, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or follow a specific diet, speak to a healthcare professional.
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