MyFitnessPal, Nutracheck, Cal AI, Cronometer, Lose It! and Yazio — real UK prices, what you actually get free, and how well each one knows British food.
Short answer: for UK high-street and supermarket food, Nutracheck and MacroSnap are the strongest; for the deepest database and wearable sync, MyFitnessPal; for micronutrients, Cronometer (also the most generous free tier); for fasting plus calories, Yazio.
| App | Free tier | UK price (Aug 2026) | UK food | Photo AI | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacroSnap | Unlimited manual logging + 3 AI scans/day | £4.99/mo · £29.99/yr · £39.99 lifetime | Excellent (chains) | Yes | UK high-street food, cheaply |
| MyFitnessPal | Yes — but no barcode | £64.99/yr Premium · £79.99/yr Premium+ | Good | Premium only | Biggest database + wearables |
| Nutracheck | 7-day trial, then daily limits | ~£25–£35/yr* | Excellent | No | UK supermarket barcode accuracy |
| Cronometer | Yes — generous | £9.99/mo · £59.99/yr | Moderate | Gold only | Micronutrient depth |
| Yazio | Yes — usable | ~£36–£48/yr* | Good | Yes | Fasting + calories in one |
| Lose It! | Yes — narrow | ~£30–£35/yr* | Moderate | Premium only | Mature all-rounder |
| Cal AI | No — scanning is paywalled | ~£15–£60/yr* | Moderate | Yes (core) | Photo-first logging |
* We could not confirm a single UK price for these. The App Store lists several concurrent subscription tiers for each, and which one you're shown can depend on promotions and when you sign up. Always check the price displayed in the app before subscribing. Prices checked August 2026 and they do change.
We set out to put one clear UK price against each app. We could only do that confidently for two of them — MyFitnessPal and Cronometer, both of which publish their figures openly.
For the rest, Apple's UK listings show multiple live subscription tiers at once. Yazio has nine concurrent in-app purchases including three different 12-month tiers (£35.90, £47.90 and £79.99). Lose It! lists eight Premium SKUs with no billing periods labelled. Cal AI shows annual tiers spanning roughly £14.99 to £59.99. That isn't us being cagey — it's genuinely hard for a normal person to know what they'll be charged before they commit. Whichever app you choose, check the price on the paywall screen itself.
If you're choosing between AI photo scanners, this matters more than price. In preliminary NIH/NIDDK research presented at NUTRITION 2026, four photo-based calorie apps were tested against meals weighed in a controlled metabolic kitchen. All four underestimated meals by roughly 250–345 calories, and fat by around 30g on average.
Cal AI, MyFitnessPal and Lose It! were among those tested. MacroSnap wasn't in the study, but we'd expect the same limitation — we estimate from photos too. Hidden oils, sauces and layered dishes are where every one of these tools struggles, because you cannot see cooking oil in a photograph. The findings are preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed.
The practical takeaway isn't "don't use photo scanning" — it's that a photo estimate is a starting point you should correct, not a measurement. It's the reason MacroSnap shows a calorie range and a confidence score and asks you to confirm portions and oils, rather than printing one confident-looking number. But no app on this page can weigh your dinner from a picture.
The long-established tracker with one of the largest food databases in the category, now split across a free ad-supported tier, Premium and Premium+.
Where it winsPick it if: you want the deepest database and the widest device support, you have years of logging history worth keeping, or you sync with a wearable or log alongside a coach who already uses it.
A UK-based tracker built around a British food database — supermarket own-brands and high-street items, verified from packaging.
Where it winsPick it if: you do a weekly UK supermarket shop, mostly eat packaged food, and want barcode scans you can trust more than a crowd-sourced database.
The accuracy-and-micronutrients option: a full vitamin and mineral panel rather than just calories and macros.
Where it winsPick it if: you care what's in your food, not just the calorie count — tracking iron, B12 or vitamin D, eating vegan or vegetarian, or following medical advice.
A European tracker that combines calorie counting with intermittent fasting in a single app.
Where it winsPick it if: you're doing 16:8 or 5:2 and want the fasting timer and the food diary in the same place.
A mature, well-rated American calorie counter with photo logging (Snap It) on its Premium plan.
Where it winsPick it if: you want a proven, conventional tracker and you mostly log home-cooked or American-brand food.
The viral photo-first tracker — point your camera at a meal and it estimates the calories. Acquired by MyFitnessPal in March 2026.
Where it winsPick it if: speed is everything, you've abandoned manual tracking before, and you're happy treating the numbers as rough.
A UK-first tracker built around the food British people actually eat — Greggs, Nando's, KFC, meal deals, chippy teas and curry-house takeaways — with an honest calorie range instead of one fake-precise number.
Where it winsWe'd rather you used the right app than our app. Genuinely choose something else if:
No account needed. If you're mostly logging Greggs, Nando's, meal deals and takeaways — and you'd rather see an honest range than a fake-precise number — MacroSnap takes about ten seconds to try. It runs in your browser, so there's nothing to install.
Try MacroSnap free →For UK high-street and supermarket food specifically, Nutracheck (reliable UK supermarket barcode matches) and MacroSnap (UK chains and takeaways built in, with a free tier). MyFitnessPal has the largest overall database and the best integrations, but its entries mix verified and user-submitted data, so figures for the same product can differ.
Yes. Cronometer's free tier is unusually generous — unlimited logging and barcode scanning included, with ads and a rolling 7-day reporting limit. MyFitnessPal is free indefinitely for manual logging, though barcode and photo scanning need Premium. Yazio's free tier includes the diary and barcode scanner. MacroSnap is free for unlimited manual logging plus three AI photo scans a day.
Checked August 2026: MyFitnessPal Premium £64.99/yr and Premium+ £79.99/yr; Cronometer Gold £9.99/mo or £59.99/yr; MacroSnap £29.99/yr or £39.99 lifetime. Cal AI, Lose It!, Nutracheck and Yazio don't publish one clear UK price — the App Store lists several concurrent tiers for each — so budget a range and check the paywall screen before subscribing.
They're estimates, not measurements. In preliminary NIH/NIDDK research presented at NUTRITION 2026, four photo-based apps were tested against meals weighed in a controlled kitchen and all four underestimated by roughly 250–345 calories, and fat by around 30g on average. That's a limitation of photo estimation generally — it applies to MacroSnap too. Hidden oils, sauces and layered dishes are the weak spot. The findings are preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed.
Cronometer — it shows a full vitamin and mineral panel rather than just calories and macros, which makes it the strongest choice for tracking iron, B12 or vitamin D, on a vegan or vegetarian diet, or on medical advice.
Not necessarily. If you log manually and don't need barcode scanning, MyFitnessPal's free tier works indefinitely. If you want barcode scanning free, Cronometer includes it. Paying mainly buys you speed — photo scanning, barcode, and coaching features. Try the free tiers first and only pay once you know you'll keep logging.