The best free calorie counting apps: a complete and updated guide

Lose weight Maintaining or maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be a complex challenge in our daily lives. Although the combination of regular physical exercise and a balanced diet is one of the most effective ways to stay healthy, the reality is that many people need extra help to be consistent, have more accurate information, or simply get motivated. Therefore, calorie counting apps They have become essential tools for those who want to have greater control over their diet and health.

Currently, the Google Play Store and App Store They offer a huge variety of apps for this purpose. Many are free, while others require a subscription to access advanced features. If you're looking for a free and comprehensive option, we offer you the best ones. The 5 best free apps for counting calories, as well as many other alternatives and tips to help you get the most out of these types of apps and achieve your health goals.

Why Count Calories? Benefits and Key Concepts

Counting calories is an effective strategy not only for losing weight, but also for maintain it, gain muscle mass or improve the quality of the daily dietCalories represent the energy we get from food, and keeping a balanced record helps us avoid excesses or deficiencies that can affect our health.

What is a calorie? In scientific terms, a calorie is a unit of measurement for energy, although in nutrition, the term kilocalorie (Kcal) is used to indicate the amount of energy a food provides. Our intake should be balanced based on our daily energy expenditure, which depends on our basal metabolic rate, physical activity level, and other personal factors.

Keeping detailed records allows you to:

• Visualize eating patterns and detect possible excesses or deficits.
• Evaluate the proportion of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) and micronutrients.
• Motivate yourself by tracking progress and achieving specific goals.
• Analyze nutritional quality of food, beyond calories.

Nowadays, thanks to technology and artificial intelligence, it is possible count calories easily from your mobile, scan barcodes, take photos of food, and access global databases with millions of foods.

EasyFit: Visual tracking, recipes, and animated statistics

The first recommended app on our list is EasyfitIts name already hints at its focus: making diet management as simple as possible. It's perfect for users who want to maintain their weight, as well as those looking to lose fat, gain muscle, or simply lead a healthier life.

EasyFit allows:

• Record food consumed and the sporting activities carried out.
• Monitor your weight and waistline with visual charts and statistics to motivate you.
• Monitor your daily water and macronutrient intake.
• Add your own recipes and consult built-in suggestions.
• Access to a database with more than 1500 common foods.

The app facilitates automatic calorie and macronutrient calculations, and its manual and automatic tracking system is very intuitive. It also offers animated statistics that allow you to see your progress in real time. All of this makes it an ideal app for monitoring your fitness without complications.

FatSecret: Global Community, Food Recognition, and Recipes

FatSecret is internationally recognized for its huge food database and its global community. It's especially useful for those looking for a free app with powerful tools and additional features to track both your food and exercise.

Its main features include:

• Allows register food by searching, scanning a barcode, or using the image recognition function, which can identify dishes and products from photographs.
• Offer complete nutritional information with calories, macros and micronutrients, including products from well-known brands, restaurants and supermarkets.
• Exercise diary and calorie burn log.
• Diet calendar and weight tracking.
• Access to a healthy recipe book and the ability to create your own recipe book.
• Integration with Google Fit, Samsung Health and Fitbit.
• Synchronization with health professionals through FatSecret Professional, ideal if you follow a supervised plan.

In addition, FatSecret incorporates Reminders to record meals, exercises, and weigh-ins, as well as a digital community that will support and motivate you to achieve your goals.

Yazio: personalized plans, integration with health apps, and recipes

yazio It is another free application that has gained popularity thanks to its personalized nutritional plans and its focus on improving eating habits. It's ideal for those looking to lose weight, gain muscle, or simply take better control of their diet in a simple and effective way.

It stands out for the following functionalities:

• Daily food log, with a database of over 2 million foods.
• Function of barcode scanning to easily add food.
• Personal plans tailored to your goals: lose weight, gain muscle, or maintain your current state.
• Track carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and other key nutrients.
• Options to add your own recipes and favorite foods.
• Physical activity, sports, and exercise log, with support for over 200 different activities.
• Sync with fitness and health apps, including Apple Health and Google Fit.
• Healthy recipe section and progress analysis with charts and graphs.

Yazio also offers a PRO version, with extended functionalities such as Advanced diet plans, exclusive recipes, and detailed nutritional analysis, but the free version is more than enough for everyday use and for most users.

Lose It!: Global Foodbase, Food Scanner, and Active Community

Lose It! It is another excellent option free for Android and iOS. It is mainly oriented towards the pérdida peso but it is also suitable for other objectives such as muscle maintenance or gain. Its success lies in the very extensive database of more than 7 million foods, brands and dishes from restaurants around the world.

Includes:

• Barcode scanning and photo recognition feature to identify dishes and record meals.
• Weight tracking and recording. Allows you to set goals, analyze progress, and adapt strategies.
• Access to a great online community where you can share experiences, advice and motivation.
• Record your exercise and physical activities to adjust your daily calorie count.
• Visual analysis tools: custom charts and tables.
• Synchronization with health apps and devices.

Lose It! also stands out for its user challenge system, ideal for motivation and healthy competition. The free version offers everything you need to track calories and progress, although there's a premium option with extra features like additional nutrient tracking, meal history, and advanced customization.

Macros: Complete Macro Control and Meal Planner

La app Macros It is ideal if you are looking for a tool focused on both calorie counting and meal planning and precise macronutrient management. It's very useful for those who exercise, follow specific diets (such as ketogenic, high-protein, etc.), or want to keep a close eye on what they eat.

Macros allow you to:

• Record and calculate calories, carbohydrates, fats and proteins consumed daily.
• Plan meals and create a personal library of foods and dishes.
• Use the public food library and add your own products.
• Set personalized goals based on your energy needs: lose weight, maintain weight, gain muscle mass.
• Body Measurement Tracking such as waist, weight and body fat percentage.
• Monitor progress through clear graphs and reports.

This app stands out for its flexibility, allowing you to adapt your diet to any goal and lifestyle, while also offering a personalized and detailed experience.

MyFitnessPal: The world's leading and most comprehensive calorie counting app

Among the most internationally known free applications, MyFitnessPal occupies a prominent place and is considered by many to be the most complete application for the calorie control, macronutrients, and nutritional monitoringIn addition to being free, it stands out for:

• Have a database of more than 14 million foods from all over the world, including restaurant dishes.
• Offer quick check-in through barcode scanning, manual search, or photo recognition of food.
• Allow customization of calorie and macronutrient goals by day or meal.
• Record and analyze progress with customizable dashboards and detailed graphs.
• Integrate step and exercise tracking, as well as compatibility with more than 50 fitness apps and devices (smartwatches, wristbands, etc.).
• Water consumption record and hydration control.
• Access to an international community to share recipes, challenges, and support.
• Sync with Wear OS and Apple Watch.

The free version covers virtually all the needs of those looking to lose weight, gain muscle mass, or simply improve their diet. There's also a premium version for those who want additional features like personalized reports, guided meal plans, and more micronutrient tracking.

Other recommended free calorie counting apps

• MyNetDiary: It stands out for its simplicity and its free barcode scanner. It allows you to analyze the nutritional quality of your food and create detailed diaries with reminders and support for multiple diet plans.
• Lifesum: combines calorie tracking, barcode scanning, menu planning, and healthy recipes. It offers plans for different lifestyles (intermittent fasting, keto, etc.) and a scoring system to improve diet quality.
• Chronometer: Highly focused on those who want precise control of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals) in addition to macros. Ideal for athletes and people with very specific nutritional needs.
• Phythia: Uses artificial intelligence to create personalized meal plans based on your goals and characteristics, with a powerful recipe system and food scanner.
• The coconut: A Spanish app specialized in evaluating the nutritional quality and processing level of supermarket foods. Very useful for making informed decisions about daily consumption.
• Yuka: allows you to scan products and obtain nutritional ratings, health benefits and drawbacks, with a focus on real and sustainable nutrition.
• Aqualert: Although it is not a calorie counter, it completes diet tracking by helping to monitor and remember daily hydration, something essential for health and performance.
• MyRealFood: An option for those who want to follow a "real food" diet. It allows you to scan products, access recipes, and create healthy shopping lists.

How to choose the best calorie counting app?

With so many options available, the question may arise as to What is the best app for counting calories?The truth is that the best app is the one that best suits your needs, habits, and goals. To choose the right one, keep the following aspects in mind:

• Comfort and usability: It must be easy to use and fast so as not to lose interest.
• Extensive and updated database: to register all types of food, including those from your region.
• Barcode scanning and photo recognition capabilities: greatly speeds up meal logging.
• Extra features such as macro tracking, water, steps, exercise logging, and device syncing.
• possibility of create and save your own recipes or access an active community of users.
• Compatibility with your devices and other health apps.

Don't forget that consistency is key to successful calorie counting. If you find an app isn't motivating or difficult to use, try others until you find the one that works best for you.

Tips for getting the most out of calorie counting apps

1. Record everything you consume, including drinks, snacks, sauces, and side dishes. It's easy to underestimate the "hidden" calories.
2. Use the function of barcode scanning for greater precision and speed.
3. Take advantage of your physical activity log: Many apps automatically adjust your daily calorie intake based on your recorded exercise.
4. Customize your goals based on your specific needs (age, weight, gender, activity level).
5. Check out the recipes and plans available in the app to diversify your diet and avoid monotony.
6. Track your progress with graphs and visual statistics. This data will help you adjust habits and celebrate your achievements.
7. Keep hydrated: Many calorie counters allow you to record water, which is essential for health and metabolism.
8. If you find it useful, take advantage of the digital community from the app to find support and motivation.

The calorie counting apps They have completely transformed the way we manage our nutrition and track our health and fitness progress. Thanks to their ease of use, comprehensive databases, and the ability to customize goals, any user can keep a more accurate record of their intake, improve their diet, and increase motivation to achieve goals. The best calorie counting apps offer not only basic counting but also tips, meal plans, device integration, and active communities to guide you through the process. Trying out various options and adapting the tool to your lifestyle is key to getting the most out of it and seeing lasting results.