Free Calorie Counter Apps With No Subscription (2026)
PlateLens is the calorie counter app to use without a subscription in 2026: its free plan never expires, includes the AI coach, and is the only one here that logs meals from a photo, your voice or a typed description. FatSecret, Cronometer and MyNetDiary are the strongest subscription-free manual trackers, all keeping barcode scanning and macro tracking free. MyFitnessPal is the one most people assume is free and isn't any more — barcode scanning moved behind Premium.
"No subscription" splits three ways: apps with no paid tier pressure at all (FatSecret), apps with a free tier that stays useful forever (Cronometer, MyNetDiary), and apps with a permanent free plan that has daily allowances instead of an expiry date (PlateLens). A free trial is none of these.
What "no subscription" actually means
The phrase gets used for four different things, and the difference decides whether you can still use the app in three months.
- Genuinely free, ad-supported. No subscription exists. FatSecret is the clearest example.
- Free tier that never expires. A paid plan exists, but the free one is complete enough to use indefinitely. Cronometer and MyNetDiary both qualify.
- Free plan with daily allowances. Everything is included and nothing expires, but some actions have a per-day cap that resets. This is how PlateLens works.
- A trial. Full access for a few days, then a charge. This is not a free app, and most AI photo trackers are in this group.
If the app asked for a card before you logged your first meal, you are in the fourth group.
Calorie counter apps with no subscription
Every app below except PlateLens is a manual tracker: you search a database, scan a barcode or type. That works, but it is the part people quit over. AI photo logging removes it — and almost every AI tracker charges for it after a trial.
1. PlateLens — a free plan that doesn't expire
PlateLens includes photo scans, voice and text logging, barcode scanning and the AI coach on its free plan, with daily allowances that reset rather than a countdown to a charge. The coach is not paywalled. You can also fix a wrong estimate by describing it — "that was two eggs, not one" — instead of hunting for the right database entry.
- Photo, voice and text meal logging
- Barcode scanning
- The AI coach
- Calories and macros in grams
- Apple Health and Health Connect sync
- Daily allowances that reset, with no expiry date
- Premium at $9.99/month or $34.99/year lifts the daily allowances
- Free plan never expires and needs no card
- AI coach included rather than paywalled
- Correct a meal by describing it in text or voice
- Phone, web and Apple Watch on one account
- Give it the weights and it uses them instead of estimating
- 82+ micronutrients tracked from USDA FoodData Central
- Photo scans and coach messages have a daily allowance on the free plan
- No recipe builder
Best for: people who quit manual tracking because logging took too long.
2. FatSecret — the only major tracker with no paid pressure
FatSecret has been running since 2008 and never moved its core features behind a paywall. Barcode scanning, gram-level macro tracking, recipes, weight and exercise logging and data export are all in the free app. An optional Premium+ tier exists, but nothing you need day to day sits inside it.
- Unlimited food logging
- Barcode scanning
- Full macros in grams
- Recipes, exercise and weight logging
- Data export
- Nothing essential. Premium+ is optional and removes ads
- Barcode scanning is free, unlike MyFitnessPal
- Full macros in grams, not percentages
- Large food database built over 15+ years
- Crowdsourced database, so the same food can have many conflicting entries
- Interface has not been modernised in years
- Ads throughout
- No real AI photo estimation
Best for: anyone who wants full manual tracking and will never pay a cent.
Head to head: PlateLens vs FatSecret.
3. Cronometer — the most accurate free tier
Cronometer's free account covers calories, macros, barcode scanning, biometrics and micronutrient tracking against verified sources — principally USDA FoodData Central and the Nutrition Coordinating Center database rather than user submissions. That verification is why its numbers are more trustworthy than crowdsourced alternatives.
- Food logging, calories and macros
- Barcode scanning
- Micronutrient tracking against verified data
- Biometrics and wearable sync
- Advanced reports and trends
- Fasting tracking
- Saved recipes with full nutrient breakdowns
- Ad-free experience
- Verified data instead of user-submitted guesses
- Deep micronutrient tracking in the free tier
- Barcode scanning free
- Steepest learning curve of any app here
- Smaller database for obscure packaged and regional foods
- Advanced reports and fasting tracking need Gold
Best for: people who want accuracy and will weigh their food.
Head to head: PlateLens vs Cronometer.
4. MyNetDiary — verified foods, ad-free basic
MyNetDiary's free tier includes a staff-verified food database and free barcode scanning without ads in the basic experience. It sits between FatSecret's breadth and Cronometer's rigour, and it is the app Google's own summaries most often name for this exact question.
- Food logging against a staff-verified database
- Barcode scanning
- Calorie tracking, ad-free in basic
- Wide nutrient coverage
- Deeper analytics and trends
- Some macro views
- Meal planning
- Staff-verified entries rather than pure crowdsourcing
- Free barcode scanning, no ads in basic
- Tracks a wide nutrient range
- Deeper analytics and some macro views push toward Premium
- Smaller community than MyFitnessPal
- No AI photo logging worth relying on
Best for: people who want verified data without Cronometer's complexity.
The ones that look free and aren't
MyFitnessPal is the most common surprise. It still has a free tier and still has the largest food database in the category, but barcode scanning moved to Premium in 2022 and gram-level macros require a subscription — the free tier only shows percentages. Premium runs around $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year. If you remember MyFitnessPal from 2019, the free app you remember no longer exists.
Lose It! keeps barcode scanning free but puts macro tracking behind Premium, which makes its free tier a calorie-only experience.
Most AI photo trackers — Cal AI, CalorieCue and similar — offer a short trial and then charge. That is a legitimate model, but it is not a free app, and marketing copy often blurs the line.
Side by side
| App | Free access expires? | Free barcode | Free macros in grams | AI photo logging |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlateLens | No — daily allowances | Yes | Yes | Yes, on the free plan |
| FatSecret | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cronometer | No | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| MyNetDiary | No | Yes | Partly | No |
| Lose It! | No | Yes | Premium | Premium |
| MyFitnessPal | No | Premium | Premium | Premium |
| Cal AI | Yes — trial | In trial | In trial | In trial |
Prices and tier boundaries change. Everything above was checked in August 2026 against each app's own store listing or pricing page.
Which one should you pick
- Want photo, voice or typed logging without subscribing: PlateLens.
- Never want to see a paywall: FatSecret.
- Want the most trustworthy numbers: Cronometer.
- Want verified data without the complexity: MyNetDiary.
- Quit tracking because logging was slow: PlateLens — the friction, not the price, is what broke your last attempt.
- Need the biggest database for restaurants and packaged foods: MyFitnessPal, and budget for Premium.
Before you pick an app, work out the number you are tracking against: our calorie calculator gives you a daily target from your own stats. And for the record, PlateLens Premium is $9.99 a month or $34.99 a year — the free plan above needs no card and has no end date.
AI photo logging on a plan that never expires
Snap a photo, say what you ate, or scan a barcode. The free plan includes the AI coach and needs no card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a calorie counter app with no subscription?
Yes. FatSecret has no subscription requirement at all and keeps barcode scanning and gram-level macros free. Cronometer and MyNetDiary both have free tiers that never expire. For AI photo logging without a subscription, PlateLens has a free plan with daily allowances rather than an expiry date.
Is MyFitnessPal 100% free?
No. MyFitnessPal has a free tier, but barcode scanning moved to Premium in 2022 and macro tracking in grams requires a subscription — the free tier shows percentages only. Premium costs around $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year.
Which calorie counter app is most accurate and free?
Cronometer's free tier is the most accurate, because it draws on verified sources such as USDA FoodData Central rather than user-submitted entries. Crowdsourced databases like MyFitnessPal's and FatSecret's carry meaningful variance on the same food.
Is there a free alternative to MyFitnessPal?
FatSecret is the closest free replacement: it covers the same manual logging workflow and keeps barcode scanning free. Cronometer is the better choice if accuracy matters more than database size, and PlateLens replaces database search entirely with photo and voice logging on a free plan.
What is the difference between a free tier and a free trial?
A free tier has no end date — you can use it indefinitely, sometimes with limits or ads. A free trial gives full access for a few days and then charges you, usually automatically. Most AI photo calorie trackers offer a trial, not a free tier.
Do free calorie counter apps have barcode scanning?
Most do. FatSecret, Cronometer, MyNetDiary and Lose It! all include barcode scanning at no cost, and PlateLens includes it on its free plan. MyFitnessPal is the notable exception, having moved the feature to Premium.
Do I need a credit card to start?
PlateLens, FatSecret, Cronometer and MyNetDiary all let you start without entering payment details. Trial-based AI apps usually ask for a card up front, which is the clearest signal that you are looking at a trial rather than a free plan.
Can I track macros in grams for free?
Yes. FatSecret, Cronometer and PlateLens all show macros in grams on their free plans. MyFitnessPal shows percentages only unless you subscribe, and Lose It! puts macro tracking behind Premium.
Is FatSecret really free?
Yes. FatSecret has run since 2008 without moving core features behind a subscription. Logging, barcode scanning, gram-level macros, recipes and data export are all free, funded by ads. A Premium+ tier exists but nothing essential sits inside it.
What happens when a free trial ends?
You are charged, usually automatically, at the subscription price. That is why a trial and a free tier are different products: a free tier has no end date, while a trial is a scheduled payment you have to cancel to avoid.
Do free calorie counter apps work offline?
Partly. Most let you log against a cached database offline and sync later. AI photo recognition needs a connection, because the analysis runs on a server rather than on your phone.
Is a free app with ads better than a paid one?
It depends on whether you keep using it. A free app you abandon after two weeks returns nothing. If ads or slow logging are what stopped you before, a subscription you actually use costs less in practice than a free app you don't.