Carby vs MyFitnessPal: grocery dinners or a calorie diary?
Use MyFitnessPal if you need to count calories and macros in a food diary. Use Carby if you need five dinners and a shopping list under a grocery budget. They are different jobs. Carby is not a MyFitnessPal calorie tracker.
Side by side
| Criterion | Carby | MyFitnessPal |
|---|---|---|
| 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 and macro food diary. Free members search and log food. Premium adds barcode scan, Meal Scan, Voice Log, custom macros and ad-free logging. Premium+ adds a meal planner, recipes and grocery lists. |
| Starter price | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | 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. |
| Cost if you stay a year | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | $79.99 on Premium yearly. $99.99 on Premium+ yearly. $0 if you stay on the free diary. 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Grocery list | One shopping list for the week, grouped by aisle. You shop it yourself. | Automated ingredient lists and grocery-app delivery syncing are Premium+ features. The free and Premium diaries do not plan a Carby-style store-budget week. |
| 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 and macro food diary. Free members search and log food. Premium adds barcode scan, Meal Scan, Voice Log, custom macros and ad-free logging. Premium+ adds a meal planner, recipes and grocery lists. |
| App Store rating | 4.0 from 29 ratings (small sample) | 4.7 from 2,380,195 ratings |
Cost if you actually stay
Carby: $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial
MyFitnessPal: $79.99 on Premium yearly. $99.99 on Premium+ yearly. $0 if you stay on the free diary. Grocery is extra.
MyFitnessPal 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 free food diary with a huge database, including restaurant menus.
- Premium barcode, Meal Scan and Voice Log, plus Premium+ meal planner and grocery lists.
- 2.38 million App Store ratings vs Carby’s 29.
Where we win
- The plan starts from a grocery budget you type, with catalog cost estimates for a named US store.
- One aisle-grouped list for the week of dinners, not a diary of yesterday’s plate.
- Web yearly $39.99 after a 3-day trial, versus $79.99 Premium or $99.99 Premium+ if you pay MyFitnessPal for a year.
Choose us if / pick them if
Choose Carby if: Choose Carby if you are about to shop and the number that matters is the dinner budget, not calories already eaten.
Pick MyFitnessPal if: Pick MyFitnessPal if you want to log food, workouts and macros. Pick Premium+ if you also want their meal planner and grocery lists on top of the diary.
MyFitnessPal alternatives by jobFrequently asked questions
Is Carby a MyFitnessPal alternative?
Only if you wanted dinner planning instead of calorie counting. Carby does not log food you already ate. MyFitnessPal does. If you need both, keep the diary and add Carby for shopping.
Does Carby count calories like MyFitnessPal?
No. Carby plans upcoming dinners around a store and a spending limit. It is not a calorie counter.
How much is MyFitnessPal vs Carby?
MyFitnessPal’s diary is free. Premium is $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month. Premium+ is $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month, on their Premium+ page. Carby web yearly is $39.99 after a 3-day trial. Grocery is extra on both.
Sources checked October 20, 2026: App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · MyFitnessPal homepage · MyFitnessPal Premium · MyFitnessPal Premium+ · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 341232718. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.