Ori

Choosing an app

Best Free Calorie Counter App (2026)

6 min read
A person taking a photo of their food with a phone.
Photo by Steve Daniel on Unsplash.

For most people, MyNetDiary and Cronometer give you the most for free. Both include a barcode scanner and detailed nutrient tracking without paying, and MyNetDiary’s free version has no ads. FatSecret also scans barcodes for free. MyFitnessPal and Lose It! are free for counting calories but charge for barcode scanning. Ori, our app, is free for logging food and weight and can hide the numbers if you find them stressful.

In brief

  • All six apps here have a free version for logging food and counting calories.
  • MyNetDiary, Cronometer and FatSecret include a barcode scanner for free.
  • All six apps, Ori included, keep logging a meal from a photo for their paid plans.
  • You don't need a scanner to count calories. Searching for a food by name works too.
  • Ori's free version can hide calorie and weight numbers. It has no barcode scanner.

What is the best free calorie counter app?

MyNetDiary and Cronometer are the most complete free calorie counters we found, because both include a barcode scanner and detailed nutrient tracking for free. Which one is best for you depends on what you want for free.

App Free barcode scanner? Free version highlights Paid plan
MyNetDiary Yes 108 nutrients, voice logging, no ads Premium, price shown in the app
Cronometer Yes Up to 95 nutrients, 7-day reports Gold $10.99 a month
FatSecret Yes Protein, carbs and fat, reports, a community Premium, price varies by region
MyFitnessPal No, Premium only Food, weight and exercise tracking Premium $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year
Lose It! No, Premium only A weight loss plan and daily calorie budget Premium, price shown in the app
Ori No, it has no scanner Food and weight logging, hiding the numbers Premium, price shown in the app

We checked each app’s own website or US App Store listing on 1 November 2026, and the prices are in US dollars. Prices and features change, so check before you pay.

Which free calorie apps scan barcodes?

MyNetDiary, Cronometer and FatSecret are the free calorie counters here with a barcode scanner. MyFitnessPal and Lose It! keep scanning for their paid plans. Ori doesn’t have a barcode scanner at all, though Ori Premium can scan a nutrition label.

Scanning saves time, but you don’t need it to count calories. Searching for a food and picking the closest match works too. If you’re unsure how precise you need to be, our post on whether you need to weigh food to count calories covers it.

Is MyFitnessPal free?

Yes. MyFitnessPal’s free account includes food, weight and exercise tracking. Premium adds barcode scanning, Meal Scan, Voice Log and no ads.

In the US, Premium costs $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year. There’s a 7-day free trial if you’ve never had Premium or a trial before.

So you can count calories in MyFitnessPal for free, but you’ll search for foods by name rather than scan them. If you’d like something simpler, we compared alternatives to MyFitnessPal and simple calorie counter apps for beginners.

Which free calorie app suits you?

MyNetDiary suits people who want the most for free, Cronometer suits people who want nutrient detail, Lose It! suits people who want a set plan, and Ori suits people who find the numbers stressful.

MyNetDiary is a good fit if you want as much as possible without paying. Its free version includes the barcode scanner, voice logging, 108 nutrients and progress charts. Its App Store page says there are no ads. Meal Scan, where you log a meal from a photo, is in Premium.

Cronometer is built for detail. Its free version tracks up to 95 nutrients and other compounds, so you can check vitamins and minerals as well as calories. It says its database has over 1 million foods that are lab-analysed or verified. Logging from a photo or by voice needs its Gold plan.

FatSecret suits you if you like a bit of encouragement. Its free version tracks protein, carbs and fat, and includes reports, achievements and streaks, and a supportive community. Photo logging (Smart Food Scan), meal planning and custom meals are in Premium.

MyFitnessPal suits you if you want food, weight and exercise tracking together in one free account.

If you’d like a clear plan, try Lose It!. Its free version builds a weight loss plan and a daily calorie budget from your details, and you can join support groups. Barcode scanning, photo logging and voice logging are in Premium.

Ori is our app, made by a small UK team, for people who find calorie numbers stressful. Stealth Health, which is free, hides calorie, macro and weight numbers on supported screens and tells you how things are going in plain words. The free version also covers food and weight logging, a starting calorie target, and a free taste of Look Away weigh-ins and logging by chat.

Premium adds logging by chat, photo or label scan, and full Look Away weigh-ins, where your phone reads your scale so you never see the number. It also adjusts your calorie target as your weight changes. If a calmer app sounds right, you can try Ori here.

How do you choose a free calorie app?

  1. Decide what matters most: barcode scanning, nutrient detail, a set plan, or fewer numbers.
  2. Work out a starting target with our calorie deficit calculator, so you can check the app’s suggestion against it.
  3. Try one or two apps for a normal week, including a few foods you eat often, and see how quickly you can find them. New to this? Our guide on how to count calories covers the basics.
  4. Keep the one you find quickest to use.

If counting starts to make you anxious, it’s fine to step back. We compared calorie apps that let you hide the numbers.

Sources

Continue exploring

A gentle safety note

Ori supports general wellness. It is not medical care. If you have a history of disordered eating, are pregnant or breastfeeding, take medicines that affect weight or appetite, or have a clinical nutrition need, speak with a qualified healthcare professional before changing your intake or weight goal.

Read Ori's Health Disclaimer