Carby vs Lose It!: dinner budget or calorie budget?
Lose It! gives you a daily calorie budget and a food log. Carby gives you a weekly grocery budget and five dinners. Use Lose It! to count. Use Carby to plan shopping. Carby does not replace Lose It!.
Side by side
| Criterion | Carby | Lose It! |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Weekly dinners built around a named US grocery store and a budget you type first, with estimated ingredient costs and one aisle-grouped list. | A calorie-counting weight-loss app. You get a personalized daily calorie budget, then log food with search. Premium adds barcode scan, Snap It photo logging, Say It voice logging, macros and fasting. |
| Starter price | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | 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. |
| Cost if you stay a year | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | Free if you stay on Basic. Premium yearly cost is shown in the app, not on loseit.com/premium. Grocery is extra. |
| 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. | Free Basic needs no trial. Premium trial, if offered, is shown in the App Store or Google Play checkout you see. |
| Refunds | 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. | App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores. Deleting the app does not cancel a store subscription. |
| Grocery list | One shopping list for the week, grouped by aisle. You shop it yourself. | Premium lists meal and exercise planning. It is not a store-priced family grocery list. |
| Store cost estimates | Yes | No |
| Food diary / calorie log | No. Carby does not log calories, carbs or photos of food you already ate. | A calorie-counting weight-loss app. You get a personalized daily calorie budget, then log food with search. Premium adds barcode scan, Snap It photo logging, Say It voice logging, macros and fasting. |
| App Store rating | 4.0 from 29 ratings (small sample) | 4.8 from 781,478 ratings |
Cost if you actually stay
Carby: $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial
Lose It!: Free if you stay on Basic. Premium yearly cost is shown in the app, not on loseit.com/premium. Grocery is extra.
Lose It! facts are from its public site and US iTunes Lookup, checked October 20, 2026. Missing dollar amounts were omitted, not guessed. Carby web yearly is $39.99 after a 3-day trial, with a 30-day web refund. Grocery purchases are extra on both sides. Carby does not replace a food diary.
Where they win
- A personalized daily calorie budget from age, height, weight and goal.
- Barcode, Snap It photo logging and Say It voice logging on Premium.
- 781,478 App Store ratings vs Carby’s 29.
Where we win
- Dinners built around a named US store and a grocery cap you type.
- Estimated ingredient costs on the plan, then one aisle list.
- A published web yearly price ($39.99). Lose It! Premium’s dollar amount is only in the app, not on their public Premium page.
Choose us if / pick them if
Choose Carby if: Choose Carby if Sunday shopping is the problem and calories are not.
Pick Lose It! if: Pick Lose It! if staying inside a daily calorie number is the problem and you will log meals after you eat.
Lose It! alternatives by jobFrequently asked questions
Is Carby a Lose It alternative?
Not for calorie counting. Carby does not assign a daily calorie budget or log food. It is an alternative only if you actually wanted a dinner planner.
Does Lose It! plan grocery dinners?
Premium lists meal and exercise planning. That is still built around your calorie budget. It does not show Carby-style store catalog estimates for Walmart or Aldi.
Which is cheaper?
Lose It! Basic is free. Their Premium price is in the app, not on loseit.com/premium, so this page does not invent it. Carby web yearly is $39.99 after a 3-day trial.
Sources checked October 20, 2026: App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · Lose It! homepage · Lose It! Premium · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 297368629. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.