Full disclosure up front: we make LensPlate, so read this the way you'd read any manufacturer's comparison — check our claims. That said, we use these apps constantly to understand the category, the facts below are verifiable, and each app here genuinely is the best pick for somebody. The honest version of this page is more useful to you (and, frankly, to us) than a rigged one.
The short version
| App | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| LensPlate | Photo + barcode + label scanning in one, native iOS feel | $39.99/yr (3-day trial) or $9.99/mo |
| Cal AI | Pure photo-scanning simplicity | ~$29.99/yr with trial |
| MyFitnessPal | Biggest food database, ecosystem integrations | Free tier; Premium $19.99/mo or $79.99/yr |
| Cronometer | Micronutrient depth, best real free tier | Free; Gold ~$49.99/yr |
| Amy Food Journal | Fastest text-first logging | $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr (3-day trial) |
LensPlate — all three scanning modes, one app
LensPlate's bet is that no single input method covers a real day of eating. A cooked dinner needs the camera; a protein bar needs the barcode; a bag of granola at the store needs the label. LensPlate does all three: AI photo scans with a per-ingredient breakdown you can adjust before logging, barcode scans with a health score and healthier-alternative suggestions, and nutrition-label reading for everything else. Your daily targets come from a personalized plan (goal, pace, diet type), and an adaptive calorie model refines them as your weight trend comes in.
Honest limitations: iPhone only, no free tier beyond the 3-day trial, and AI photo scans have a 30/day fair-use cap (barcodes are unlimited).
Cal AI — the category's billboard
Cal AI popularized photo-first calorie counting and its scan flow is genuinely slick, with strong recognition on common foods. It's a good pick if you want exactly one feature — point, shoot, log — and nothing else. The trade-offs: portion editing is coarser than a per-ingredient breakdown, and the aggressive onboarding/paywall funnel is a matter of taste.
MyFitnessPal — the incumbent database
Twenty-plus million foods, every integration under the sun, and years of your history if you're a returning user. Two things to know in 2026: photo scanning is now Premium-only, and Premium costs $19.99/month or $79.99/year — roughly double most AI-first apps. The crowdsourced database is vast but uneven; verify unfamiliar entries. Best for people whose routine is built on barcode scanning and saved recipes rather than photos.
Cronometer — for the micronutrient-curious
No AI photo scanning, but the most rigorous nutrition data in the category (lab-sourced and USDA-verified) and a free tier that's actually usable, with barcode scanning included. If you track vitamin D and magnesium as seriously as protein, or want zero-cost tracking and don't mind manual entry, this is the pick.
Amy Food Journal — typing over snapping
Amy's pitch is "food tracking like Notes": type "two eggs and toast" and it becomes calories. For people who find cameras fussy, that text-first flow is genuinely fast. The flip side: no meal grouping, thinner progress tooling, and at $99.99/year it's the most expensive app in this list.
How to actually choose
- You mostly eat home-cooked or restaurant meals → photo-first (LensPlate, Cal AI). Read our honest take on AI accuracy first so your expectations are calibrated.
- You mostly eat packaged/branded food→ database and barcode strength matters more than AI (MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, LensPlate's barcode mode).
- You want free → Cronometer, full stop.
- You hate taking photos → Amy.
Whichever you pick, the app you'll still be using in March beats the app with the best spec sheet. Every one of these has a trial — run your three most typical days through it before you commit.