MyNetDiary and Cronometer are the strongest free calorie counters if barcode scan stays free. FatSecret, MyFitnessPal and Lose It! also have free diaries, with more features behind Premium. Carby is not a free calorie counter.
| App | Starter price | If you stay a year | Trial | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MyNetDiary | Free. Premium $8.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Premium Plus $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, on MyNetDiary’s about and AI scanner pages. | $0 on Free. $59.99 on Premium yearly. $99.99 on Premium Plus yearly. A $179.99 lifetime option is listed on the free-tracker page. | Free tier needs no trial. Premium trial on iOS is documented in MyNetDiary’s FAQ index; length is shown in the store checkout. | Premium can be bought on MyNetDiary.com (Paddle) or as an in-app purchase. App Store and Google Play refunds follow those stores. |
| Cronometer | Free Basic. Gold $4.99 a month billed annually at $59.99, or $10.99 a month billed monthly, on cronometer.com/gold. | $59.99 on Gold yearly. $131.88 if you stay on Gold monthly at $10.99. $0 on Basic. Grocery is extra. | Basic is free with no time limit. Gold checkout is on the Gold page and in the apps. | Web Gold: set Do Not Auto-Renew in Account Settings and access continues to the end of the term. App Store or Google Play Gold follows those stores. |
| FatSecret | Free core app. Premium is a paid in-app upgrade; fatsecret.com says pricing varies by region and is viewed in the app. | $0 if you stay on the free tracker. Premium yearly cost is the in-app price in your region. Grocery is extra. | Free core needs no trial. Premium trial, if any, is shown in the store checkout. | App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores. This page does not invent a web refund window, because the public FAQ does not state one. |
| MyFitnessPal | Free food diary. Premium $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month. Premium+ $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month, on MyFitnessPal’s Premium+ page. | $79.99 on Premium yearly. $99.99 on Premium+ yearly. $0 if you stay on the free diary. Grocery is extra. | 7-day Premium or Premium+ trial if you have never upgraded or redeemed a trial. First charge is after the trial unless you cancel. Auto-renews. | Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal to avoid the next charge. Premium features stay until the paid period ends. App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores. |
| Lose It! | Free to download, with an optional Premium subscription. Lose It! does not publish a dollar price on the public Premium page; read the in-app checkout. | Free if you stay on Basic. Premium yearly cost is shown in the app, not on loseit.com/premium. Grocery is extra. | Free Basic needs no trial. Premium trial, if offered, is shown in the App Store or Google Play checkout you see. | App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores. Deleting the app does not cancel a store subscription. |
| Carby | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | 3-day trial on the web yearly offer visitors actually see. Monthly ($9.99) and weekly ($4.99) plans also exist. Read the checkout. | Web Stripe charges: email within 30 days of the charge for a refund. App Store charges go through Apple. Cancel during the trial and you are not charged. |
Grocery purchases are extra. Tracker prices are from public vendor pages and US iTunes Lookup, checked October 20, 2026. Carby is a dinner planner, not a food diary.
Their comparison table: free barcode, no ads, up to 108 nutrients, no account required to start.
MyNetDiary is for A free, ad-free calorie diary with a staff-verified database and a free barcode scanner. Skip it if you want the app to generate five family dinners under a grocery cap at Walmart or Aldi.
Unlimited time on Basic. Gold is optional at $59.99 a year.
Cronometer is for A verified food diary when you care about vitamins and minerals, not only calories. Skip it if you want the app to pick this week’s family dinners under a store budget.
Calorie and macro tracking, barcode, weight logging, community. Premium is extra in the app.
FatSecret is for A free calorie diary with barcode scan and no requirement to pay for core logging. Skip it if you need dinners planned around a named US grocery store and a spending limit.
Search and log. Barcode, Meal Scan and Voice Log are Premium.
MyFitnessPal is for Logging calories and macros in a huge food database, including restaurant items. Skip it if you need dinners and a shopping list built around a grocery budget, not a diary of what you already ate.
Calorie tracking, weight-loss plan, community. Scanner and Snap It are Premium.
Lose It! is for A simple daily calorie budget with barcode or photo logging on Premium. Skip it if you want next week’s dinners picked under a grocery spending cap.
3-day web trial, then $39.99 a year on that offer. Not a calorie diary at any price.
Carby is for A household that shops a named US store and wants the week of dinners to start from a spending limit. Skip it if you need the planner to drop ingredients into a retailer pickup or delivery cart.
MyNetDiary if you want free barcode and no ads. Cronometer if you want free barcode plus micronutrients. FatSecret if you want simple. MyFitnessPal or Lose It! if you accept scans as paid.
Carby has a 3-day web trial, then $39.99 a year on the web yearly offer. Public store dinner pages and the dinner budget calculator are free to read. That is not a calorie counter.
MyNetDiary, Cronometer and FatSecret, on the public pages checked October 20, 2026. MyFitnessPal and Lose It! list barcode scan as Premium.
Sources checked October 20, 2026: MyNetDiary homepage · MyNetDiary about · MyNetDiary free tracker page · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 287529757 · Cronometer homepage · Cronometer Gold · Cronometer subscription types · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1145935738 · FatSecret homepage · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 347184248 · MyFitnessPal homepage · MyFitnessPal Premium · MyFitnessPal Premium+ · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 341232718 · Lose It! homepage · Lose It! Premium · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 297368629 · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.