MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer: Which Is Better?

MyFitnessPal is the best-known calorie counter in the world. Cronometer is the one dietitians and people who love data tend to recommend. Both are good apps – they’re just built for different people.

The short answer: choose Cronometer if you want accurate data, detailed vitamins and minerals, and more features for free (including the barcode scanner). Choose MyFitnessPal if you eat a lot of branded or restaurant food and want the biggest database and the most app connections.

Prices and features checked in October 2026 on each company’s website. Both apps change their plans from time to time.

MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer at a glance

	MyFitnessPal	Cronometer
Free plan	Calorie, nutrition, weight and exercise tracking	Logging, 80+ nutrients, your own targets for macros, vitamins and minerals
Barcode scanner	Premium only	Free
Photo / voice logging	Meal scan and voice log in Premium	Photo and voice log in Gold
Custom macro goals	Premium	Free
Food database	Very large, mostly added by users	Over 1 million foods tested in labs or checked by experts
Paid plan (US)	Premium: $79.99/year, after a 7-day free trial	Gold: $59.99/year
Best for	Branded and restaurant foods, connected apps	Accuracy, vitamins and minerals, value

Sources: MyFitnessPal Premium, Cronometer Gold.

Food database and accuracy

This is the biggest difference between the two.

MyFitnessPal has one of the largest food databases of any app, and most of it was added by users. That’s why you can find almost any branded snack or restaurant dish. But it’s also why you’ll often see five entries for the same food, with five different calorie counts. Picking entries with a green check mark (verified) and scanning barcodes helps a lot.

Cronometer does the opposite. It has a smaller database of over 1 million foods tested in labs or checked by experts, mostly from official sources such as government databases. Sometimes you’ll need to add a rare product yourself. But the numbers you find are much more reliable – especially for vitamins and minerals.

Winner: Cronometer for accuracy, MyFitnessPal for coverage.

What you get for free

Cronometer’s free Basic plan gives you a lot: food, exercise and body measurement logging, tracking of 80+ nutrients, your own targets for macros, vitamins and minerals, the barcode scanner, device syncing and 7-day reports.

MyFitnessPal’s free plan covers the essentials – calorie and nutrition tracking, weight tracking and exercise tracking – but the features that make logging fast (barcode scan, meal scan, voice log) and custom macro goals are part of Premium. The free version also shows ads.

Winner: Cronometer. If you don’t want to pay, it gives you far more.

Premium vs Gold: price and features

	MyFitnessPal Premium	Cronometer Gold
Yearly (US)	$79.99, after a 7-day free trial	$59.99
Main extras	Barcode and meal scan, voice log, custom macro goals, ad-free, intermittent fasting, food insights	Photo and voice log, recipe importer, fasting timer, macro scheduler, nutrition scores, custom charts, longer reports, AI coach

Both apps regularly offer discounts, and prices differ by country.

Winner: Cronometer – cheaper, and its free plan already includes what MyFitnessPal charges for.

Macros, vitamins and minerals

Both apps track calories, protein, carbs and fat. The difference is depth:

• Cronometer tracks 80+ nutrients on the free plan – vitamins, minerals, amino acids, omega-3s and more – and lets you set a target for each. It’s the top choice for vegans, people low in a vitamin or mineral, athletes and anyone following a dietitian’s plan.
• MyFitnessPal focuses on calories and macros, with a shorter list of nutrients. For most people trying to lose weight, that’s enough.

Winner: Cronometer for detail, tie for simple weight loss.

Ease of use and logging speed

MyFitnessPal is quicker to start with: almost every food is already in the database, recent meals are easy to repeat, and – with Premium – you can scan barcodes or describe a meal with your voice.

Cronometer has more numbers on every screen, which some people love and others find overwhelming. Logging is fast once you’ve saved your regular foods, and the free barcode scanner closes most of the gap.

Winner: MyFitnessPal for beginners, Cronometer once you know what you’re doing.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Cronometer if you:

• want accurate numbers and a free barcode scanner
• care about vitamins, minerals or a specific diet (vegan, keto, medical)
• prefer to pay less – or nothing at all

Choose MyFitnessPal if you:

• eat out often or buy lots of branded products
• want the biggest database and the most connected apps and devices
• like a simpler screen focused on calories and macros

Also considering Lose It? See Lose It vs MyFitnessPal, or compare more apps in our list of the best MyFitnessPal alternatives.

An alternative: NutriSmart

Both apps count how much you eat. If you also care about what’s in your food, NutriSmart adds what neither of them focuses on:

• Count calories from a photo of your plate, or scan a barcode
• Check ingredients: photograph a label and see harmful additives and ultra-processed ingredients explained, with a health score out of 100
• Plan your week: a 7-day meal plan with AI recipes and a ready shopping list
• Water, steps and weight tracking in the same app

No features behind a paywall. Every feature in NutriSmart – including barcode scanning, photo logging and the ingredient checker – works on the free plan. Scans use scan points: you get one for each short video ad you choose to watch, you can buy a pack, and each friend you invite gives you 7 days of Premium. Premium simply removes the limit.

It sets your calorie and macro targets with the same method used in our free calorie calculator, so you can check your numbers before you install anything.

MyFitnessPal, Cronometer and Lose It! are trademarks of their respective owners. NutriSmart is not affiliated with them.