6 Best Calorie Counter Apps & Websites in 2023
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- Written by Kate Barrington, Health Expert
Medically reviewed by
Kathy Shattler, MS, RDN
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Noom
- Helps you learn healthier habits
- Tracks weight and calorie intake
- Connect with other users
Cronometer
- Track both calories and macronutrient intake
- Premium version eliminates ads
- Sync data from fitness trackers and smart devices
Perfect Body
- Offers personalized meal plans
- The brand has a mobile app
- The program also includes workout routines
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Everyone wants to be healthy, but if you’re already overweight or obese, you may need to lose some weight to do it. Exercise is an essential component of any weight loss journey, but it won’t do you much good if you’re eating more calories than you burn.
When you burn more calories than you consume each day, you achieve a calorie deficit[1]. Calorie counting certainly isn’t the only thing you should be concerned with if you want to lose weight and get fit, but it’s a helpful tool.
As you’re working to balance your calorie intake with the number of calories you burn through exercise, it may take time to get a feel for how much you’re eating and how much you should be eating. Tracking calories by hand can be tedious, but, fortunately, plenty of applications (apps) and websites make it a breeze.
Best Calorie Counter Apps & Websites On The Market In (November. 2023)
- Noom – Editor’s Choice
- Cronometer – Best For Special Diets
- Perfect Body – Best Tracking
- MyFitnessPal – Best Calorie Counter App For Android
- Freshbit – Best Calorie Counter App For iPhone
- Lose It! – Best Free Calorie Counter
Is Calorie Counting Useful?
Calorie counting alone won’t help you lose weight but tracking your calorie intake can. When you know how many calories you’re taking in each day, you can set a goal and start sticking to it. If you’re new to calorie counting, keeping a food diary to track your intake can also be helpful – especially if you use it to learn how many calories are in the foods you commonly eat.
If you want to track calories, fitness apps and calorie counters are great tools to try. Calorie counting apps are available for android and iPhone; many are free. However, if you want extra features, many offer expanded options with a paid subscription.
The best calorie-counting app is simple to use and contains accurate calorie information. It makes it easy to see how many calories you’ve consumed each day and might even help you track the calories you burn through exercise.
Check out our top picks for the best calorie trackers available online and in the app store.
5 Best Calorie Counter Apps in 2023
Noom
Counting calories can help you shed excess body weight, but it isn’t the only part of the equation. The Noom app actually teaches you how to make healthier food choices to help you lose weight and keep it off.
- Helps you learn healthier habits
- Tracks weight and calorie intake
- Connect with other users
- Requires a paid subscription
Losing weight can be tough if you’re going it alone, but the Noom app gives you the support you need to be successful. It’s not a diet but an app that helps you cultivate healthy eating habits by keeping a food log and a weight chart. It also helps you choose a daily calorie budget to create a diet plan that works for you.
Each day, you’ll work through lessons on healthy eating and building healthy habits. You’ll learn how your food choices impact your health and weight so you can start making changes that trigger positive change. The program can cost as much as $200 a year, but there are different plan options, and you can try the app for a limited time for free.
Cronometer
A calorie calculator is great if you want to lose weight, but if you’re following a special diet you may need to track more than that. The chronometer is our top pick for people following specific diets like keto or paleo.
- Track both calories and macronutrient intake
- Premium version eliminates ads
- Sync data from fitness trackers and smart devices
- Premium version costs around $50 per month
The Cronometer app is a calorie tracker app that helps you track net carbs or fat intake. If you’re following the keto diet, you need to stay under a certain number of net carbs per day, and this app makes it easy to keep track. If you’re pregnant or lactating, the app can also help you determine how many calories you need each day.
This app is user-friendly and easy to use. In addition to your total calories consumed each day, you’ll see a handy bar chart that shows the breakdown of macronutrients in your diet. You can even track micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.
The Cronometer app has a free version, but with a monthly subscription, you’ll gain access to advanced analysis and an ad-free experience. You can also sync the app with smart devices to track your fitness goals, sleep data, body fat percentage, and more.
Perfect Body
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Perfect Body considers your food preferences, water intake, and general health needs and goals.
- Offers personalized meal plans
- Numerous delicious recipes
- Has a mobile app
- Is an easy-to-use app and website
- Helps you monitor your progress
- Makes a payment to use
The Perfect Body online weight loss plan helps you within these two essential constraints. The first way is it offers you unlimited recipes for healthy meals. With these well-curated nutritious meal plans, you get to enjoy healthy foods that are easy to make, and they are also delicious recipes you will enjoy.
The platform considers your food preferences, water intake, and general health needs and goals. The brand’s website is designed to intake all your information once you log in.
Perfect Body also offers an exercise plan for all its users to burn fat. They take your current weight and ask you for your fitness goals and your goal weight. From this information, the algorithm curates workout plans recommended by a professional personal trainer to meet your fitness and health goals.
The platform may help if one aims to stay on the right track, set by the experts on Perfect Body. So, if you would like to bypass all the faux tactics on weight loss and health diets online that lack scientific backing, this brand claims that using their platform will offer you the best experience that will help you shed a few pounds.
MyFitnessPal
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The MyFitnessPal food tracking app has been around for quite a while. The basic version is available for free, but you’ll find a wealth of premium features with a paid subscription
- Extensive food database
- Download recipes and calculate calories per serving
- Paid version helps with meal plans and recipes
- User-uploaded foods may not be accurate
- Limited features in the free version
If you’re looking for a basic app to count calories, MyFitnessPal is a good option. With the free version, you can choose from a large database of foods to track your daily calorie counts. You can also input nutritional information directly from a food label and save it for later use. You can copy a whole meal for quick input if you tend to eat certain meals a lot.
With the MyFitnessPal paid version, you can track macronutrient intake, and you’ll have access to guided fitness plans. Achieving a healthy weight is easy when you have the MyFitnessPal app to help with meal preparation and recipes. The food database even includes many restaurant foods. The paid version costs $19.99 per month or $79.99 per year.
Freshbit
Tracking macronutrients is important if you’re following a Keto diet or simply trying to eat less sugar. The FreshBit app is easy to use and functions as a carb counter and fitness tracker.
- 3-in-1 calorie counter, water tracker, and exercise log
- Tracks macronutrients to manage carbohydrate (carb) intake
- Create your own recipes and diet plan
- Only available for iPhone or iPad
- Limited features for free version
The best calorie-counting apps are simple to use, and few apps are as easy as FreshBit. This app allows you to choose daily targets to help you create a calorie deficit. You can set custom goals for protein, fat, and carbs if you’re following a low-carb diet. Plus, tracking calories can be fun with visual trackers like graphs and charts.
FreshBit is Apple’s health app that helps track food and calories and provides a curated list of healthy recipes. You can also use nutritional information in the app to create custom recipes of your own. Having nutrition information at your fingertips allows you to achieve a more well-rounded diet.
One of the limitations of this fitness app is that it’s only available for Apple products like the iPhone and iPad. However, if you’re looking for the best calorie counter app for iPhone, it could be a great choice.
Lose It!
Counting calories doesn’t have to be difficult, and you don’t necessarily need advanced features. If you’re looking for a great free calorie-counting app, try to Lose It!
- Easily count calories for weight loss
- Set reminders to log calories in your food diary
- The database includes a restaurant and packaged foods
- Doesn’t track micronutrients
- The app can be tricky to navigate
With the Lose It! App, it’s easy to track progress toward your weight loss goals. It’s an easy-to-use health tracker and exercises log that helps you determine the ideal calorie deficit based on weight, height, age, and goals. It’s easy to add new foods to your diary, and you can even use a barcode scanner to enter information for packaged foods.
The key to weight management is consuming fewer calories or at least learning healthier eating habits. When you visualize your daily intake with the Lose It! food diary, your weight loss goals could be easier to achieve. If you want advanced features, there is a paid version for just $39.99 per year.
How Does A Calorie Tracker App Work?
A calorie tracking application simplifies the process of tracking your daily calorie intake. Counting calories is important for weight management. If you’re trying to lose weight, you want to burn more calories than you consume each day. If you’re trying to gain weight, the proportion should be flipped. You can even use one of these apps to make sure you’re staying within your calorie budget to maintain a healthy weight.
Calorie counters are easy to use. You create a personal account and then input basic information about yourself, such as weight, height, and age. If you have a specific goal (such as weight gain or loss), you may be able to indicate that as well. The app will use this information and will calculate your ideal calorie intake to achieve your goal.
To use the app, you will need to input the foods you eat each day. Most apps have a database of foods to select from, though you can also enter calories manually. Some apps sync with fitness trackers, or you can manually add calories burned through exercise.
These apps do require consistent use for the best results, but you’ll get into the habit quickly and find that they’re very easy to use.
How To Choose The Best Calorie Tracker App
The best calorie-counting apps are the ones you’ll use consistently. There’s no single choice for the best one out there, so it’s important to determine what you’re looking for before you shop.
Here are some factors to consider:
Free vs. Paid
If you’re working with a limited budget, you might prefer a free app. Keep in mind that free versions will be limited in features, however. The best calorie counter apps often require a monthly or yearly subscription. Some apps offer both options, and you might be able to do a free trial of the paid version to see if you even need the advanced features.
Food Database
Tracking calories can be tedious if you have to input the information for every food by hand. The most useful calorie-counting apps have a large database of foods to choose from, so you simply point and click to add the food to your food diary. A good app has verified calorie counts but also includes popular packaged foods and restaurant foods.
Calorie And Fitness Tracking
The most important thing to look for in a calorie tracker is its calorie tracking ability. You don’t want to have to input calories manually, though in some cases, it might be helpful to simply add the number of calories from a portion of food instead of looking it up.
You might find it helpful to see how many calories you’re eating from protein, fat, and carbs or how many micronutrients are in your favorite foods. Some apps also sync with fitness trackers to help you see how many calories you burn compared to how many you consume.
Recipes And Meal Plans
Though you may have to pay a subscription for it, some apps provide a library of healthy recipes. You can create a custom meal plan with these recipes that work with your diet. You may even be able to create your own recipes by grouping foods from the database to determine the number of calories per serving.
In addition to these features, it’s worth considering whether the app has ads or other things that might detract from your experience. Some apps offer great features, but they’re clunky to use or don’t have great customer support. If possible, choose a free app trial so you can get a feel for it before you pay.
Final Thought
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just get healthier, calorie counter apps can be a useful tool. By using a calorie tracker, you can see a visual representation of how many calories you’re taking in each day compared to how many you’re burning. You may also be able to track macronutrient intake for special diets like keto and low-carb diets.
If you’re new to calorie counting, look for an app that helps you create a calorie budget based on your weight, height, age, and goals. A free app is likely to offer basic features, but if you want access to recipes, meal planning, or educational content, you might have to pay a subscription.
Frequently Asked Questions
Calorie counting is by no means the only method for weight management, but it can certainly help. When you understand how many calories you’re taking in, you can better manage your diet and balance it with exercise to lose weight or at least prevent weight gain.
With so many options available, there is no single choice for the best calorie-counting apps. The best option is what works for you and, more importantly, what you’ll use consistently and one which fits your budget.
When it comes to the best calorie counter app, free options are available, but many require a subscription. We like Chronometer because, while the subscription offers advanced features, the free app still helps you track calories and macronutrient intake.
If you’re not looking for anything complicated, choose a free app or one with limited features. All you need is an app where you can input your daily food intake and see how many calories you’re eating compared to your daily calorie goal.
+ 1 sources
Health Canal avoids using tertiary references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and rely on peer-reviewed studies, academic researches from medical associations and institutions. To ensure the accuracy of articles in Health Canal, you can read more about the editorial process here
- Kim, J.Y. (2021). Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome, [online] 30(1), pp.20–31. doi:10.7570/jomes20065.
Written by:
Kate Barrington, Health Expert
Medically reviewed by:
Medically reviewed by:
