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Rankings · Updated November 1, 2026

Best Calorie Tracker Apps 2026, Including the Ones That Run Your Eating Window

By Sarah Patel (Chronobiology Researcher) • Published October 22, 2026 •

Quick Answer

PlateLens is the best calorie tracker app of 2026. Big end-of-fast meals go in by photo, packaged foods by barcode, and everything is matched against a verified food database. A fasting timer sits in the same app, free. Premium costs $34.99 a year, the least of any major tracker.

Watching vitamins and minerals on two meals a day? Cronometer. Want the plainest calorie budget? Lose It! Want weekly target changes from an algorithm and happy to pay up front? MacroFactor.

This is a fasting site, so it is fair to ask why we are ranking calorie trackers. The short answer is that the eating window does not count anything for you.

When Liu and colleagues ran a year-long randomized trial of time-restricted eating, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2022, both groups were asked to cut calories, and only one of them also ate within an 8-hour window. Weight loss came out much the same. Timing made the plan easier for some people to follow; the calorie target did the work. That is why a fasting plan so often stalls in the same place: two generous meals inside the window that are hard to estimate by eye.

So we ranked the calorie trackers of 2026 on how well they handle that kind of day, as well as an ordinary one.

A smartwatch and a phone with blank screens next to a breakfast of eggs, toast and avocado on a white table
The first meal after a fast is usually the biggest of the day, and the easiest to under-count.

The 2026 ranking at a glance

Scroll sideways on a phone to see every column. A dash means the company does not document the feature for that app.

App Where it wins Fasting timer Free plan Paid price
#1 PlateLens Best overall, and the timer is built in Yes, free: 16:8, 14:10, custom Never expires, no card $34.99/yr or $9.99/mo
#2 Cronometer Micronutrients on fewer meals — Yes, with ads $59.99/yr or $10.99/mo (Gold)
#3 Lose It! Simplest calorie budget — Yes $39.99/yr
#4 YAZIO Counting and fasting, European foods Yes (plan details vary) Yes See the app store
#5 MacroFactor Weekly adaptive targets — No (trial) $71.99/yr
#6 MyFitnessPal Restaurant and packaged coverage — Yes $79.99/yr or $19.99/mo
#7 FatSecret Free diary with a community — Yes See the app store

Annual US prices. PlateLens recorded 10 August 2026, Cronometer 20 September 2026, Lose It! from the App Store; MacroFactor also sells 6 months for $47.99 or a month for $11.99.

What we ranked on

  1. Logging a large meal. Photo logging, saved recipes and editable portions, because the meal that breaks a fast is usually the biggest and most mixed.
  2. Food data you can trust. Verified or curated entries rather than a crowd-sourced pile of duplicates.
  3. Targets. Calorie and macro goals set from your profile, plus protein visibility, since fewer meals means fewer chances to hit it.
  4. Timing tools. A fasting timer in the same app is a convenience, not a requirement, so it carries the least weight.
  5. Free plan and price. Whether the free version lasts, and what a year of the paid tier costs.

Plans and prices are as each company currently publishes them, with the dates shown, and the ranking is reviewed every month.

#1 PlateLens: best calorie tracker of 2026

PlateLens is a full calorie tracker first and a fasting companion second, which is the right order. Four ways to log, photo, barcode, typed search and voice, write into one diary. The first meal after a 16-hour fast can be photographed: PlateLens names the foods, proposes portions and asks when something could go either way, such as whole or skimmed milk in a latte, and every item stays editable before you save.

The data behind it

Entries come from a verified database with more than 1.2 million foods, more than 820,000 packaged products with barcode data and over 45,000 restaurant items. Each food reports 82+ nutrients, including sodium, potassium and magnesium, which are worth watching when the whole day's food arrives in two sittings. Net carbs are calculated automatically, which helps if you pair fasting with a low-carb plan.

Timing and targets in one place

The intermittent-fasting timer is on the free plan: 16:8 and 14:10 presets, a custom window for anything else, reminders when the window opens or closes, and a widget for your home screen. Calorie and macro goals come from your profile, and adaptive TDEE learns your real energy expenditure from what you log and how your weight moves, then adjusts the calorie target. Blood glucose readings can be logged beside meals, which some people like to watch around a fast. A recipe and meal planner turns your eating window into a grocery list, drinks with alcohol can be tracked like any other food, and a 3D Body Scan from 12 phone photos shows waist and hip changes the scale can hide.

Plans and platforms

The free plan never expires and asks for no card. It includes unlimited barcode and typed logging, three AI photo scans a day and five messages a day to the AI coach. Premium, $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month, makes photo scans and coaching unlimited. PlateLens runs on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch and the web at platelens.app/web on one account, and syncs both ways with Apple Health and Health Connect.

platelens.app

#2 Cronometer: micronutrients on fewer meals

Eating in a short window makes it easier to come up short on fibre, calcium or iron. Cronometer is built to catch that. The company says it reports up to 95 nutrients and compounds per food from data it describes as lab-analysed and verified, and its free version includes barcode scanning, with ads. Gold ($59.99 a year or $10.99 a month) adds Photo Log, Voice Log and Crono Coach and removes the ads.

Pick it if a clinician has asked you to monitor particular nutrients while you fast. cronometer.com

PlateLens or Cronometer for 2026?

This is the comparison readers ask about most, and the differences are easy to check:

If the question is "am I eating the right amount inside my window?", PlateLens answers it with less effort. If it is "am I missing a micronutrient?", Cronometer is the specialist.

#3 Lose It!: the simplest calorie budget

Lose It! takes a goal weight and gives you a daily calorie budget, with an encouraging, uncluttered design that suits a first attempt at counting. It offers barcode scanning and Snap It photo recognition, plus meal planning and challenges. Premium is $39.99 a year on its App Store listing.

Pick it if you want the least to think about. loseit.com

#4 YAZIO: counting and fasting, strongest in Europe

YAZIO was founded in Germany and pairs a food diary and barcode scanner with intermittent-fasting features and a recipe library. Its scanner is strong on European supermarket products; coverage of US chain restaurants is narrower. Many plans and recipe features sit in PRO, priced by country.

Pick it if you shop in Europe and want fasting and counting together. yazio.com

#5 MacroFactor: weekly adaptive targets

MacroFactor estimates your energy expenditure from your logs and weigh-ins and moves your calorie and macro targets every week. Its logging is fast and dense, designed for people who have tracked before. There is no free plan: $71.99 a year, $47.99 for six months or $11.99 a month, and the coaching needs a few weeks of steady logs to settle.

Pick it if you are a committed lifter who wants the algorithm in charge. macrofactor.com

#6 MyFitnessPal: the widest restaurant coverage

MyFitnessPal has the largest crowd-sourced food catalogue and the broadest coverage of chain restaurants and regional brands, along with meal planning, recipes and a long-running community. Barcode scanning, Meal Scan and voice logging are Premium benefits at $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month, the highest price here. User submissions mean you will often see a food listed several times.

Pick it if your eating window usually opens at a chain restaurant. myfitnesspal.com

#7 FatSecret: a free diary with company

FatSecret keeps most of its core app free, including the diary, barcode scanner and exercise and weight logs, and its forums are full of people sharing meals and progress. It has fewer modern logging methods and less nutrient detail than the apps above.

Pick it if you want to count for free and talk to others doing the same. fatsecret.com

Tracking a two-meal day without guessing

  1. Set the target before the window. Use our fasting calculator to split your calories between the meals you plan to eat.
  2. Photograph the first meal before you eat it. Then correct the portions. Big plates are where small errors add up.
  3. Front-load protein. With two meals, aim for at least a third of the day's protein in each one.
  4. Log drinks inside the window. Milky coffees and juices count; black coffee and water during the fast do not.
  5. Judge the week, not the day. Compare your weekly average intake with your weight trend after three weeks before you change the plan.

New to fasting? Start with our beginner's guide, and compare schedules in fasting protocols. For dedicated timers, see our best intermittent fasting apps.

Calorie tracker FAQ

Questions readers ask when they add calorie tracking to a fasting plan.

What is the best calorie tracker app in 2026?

PlateLens, for most people. It logs a meal by photo, barcode, typed search or voice into one diary backed by more than a million verified foods, reports over 80 nutrients per food, sets calorie and macro goals from your profile and includes an intermittent-fasting timer. The free plan has no end date; Premium is $34.99 a year.

Do I need to count calories if I already do intermittent fasting?

If weight loss is the goal, it helps. In a 12-month trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2022, people who ate inside an eight-hour window while also restricting calories lost about the same weight as people who restricted calories alone. The window is a way to organise eating; the calories inside it still decide the result.

Which calorie tracker has a built-in fasting timer?

PlateLens includes one on its free plan, with 16:8 and 14:10 presets, custom windows, reminders and a home-screen widget, so the clock and the food diary sit in the same app. YAZIO also combines calorie counting with intermittent fasting.

What is the best free calorie tracker in 2026?

PlateLens. A free account scans barcodes and searches without limits, can photograph three meals a day, gets calorie and macro goals and runs in a browser as well as on a phone. Cronometer is the free alternative for detailed vitamin and mineral reports.

Is MacroFactor better than PlateLens?

They suit different people. MacroFactor is a paid coach with no free plan ($71.99 a year) whose main job is adjusting your targets each week from your intake and weight. PlateLens is a complete tracker with four ways to log, a fasting timer and a free plan, and it now learns your energy expenditure too. If you want the algorithm to be the whole app, choose MacroFactor; for everything else, PlateLens.

How do I log a big meal at the end of a fast accurately?

Photograph it before you start, then check each item and portion the app proposes. Large first meals are where estimates drift, because they tend to mix several foods and generous servings. Saving the meals you repeat as recipes makes the next one quicker and more consistent.

Sources

Sarah Patel writes on fasting protocols, circadian timing and adherence. General information, not medical advice: if you take diabetes medication, are pregnant, have a history of disordered eating or have a medical condition, talk to a clinician before combining fasting with calorie restriction.