MyFitnessPal vs Lose It! (2026): What You Actually Get for Free

Most comparisons of these two apps were written when their free tiers were much more generous. Both have tightened since, and the specific things that got gated are the things that make logging fast.

So this comparison starts with the free tier, because that's where the 2026 decision actually gets made.

We build a competing app, Callie. The comparison below is based on both companies' current App Store listings, and we've kept our own product to a clearly-labeled section at the end.

The 30-second answer

MyFitnessPal has the better free tier: its 20.5M+ food database, basic macro tracking and core device syncing stay free, at the cost of ads. Lose It!'s free tier is close to plain calorie logging, and neither app's free tier includes AI logging or a barcode scanner. If you plan to pay, Lose It! is the cheaper paid app and the only one of the two with a lifetime purchase.

What's actually free in each app

This is the table to read first.

Feature	MyFitnessPal	Lose It!
Manual food logging
Food database access	Free (20.5M+ foods)	Free
Barcode scanner	Premium (since Oct 2022)	Premium
Scan a whole meal / plate	Premium	Premium (Snap It)
AI photo logging	Premium	Premium
AI voice logging	Premium	Premium
Macro tracking	Free (custom goals Premium)	Premium
Macro-by-meal goals	Premium (since May 2026)	Premium
Recipe URL import	Premium (since May 2026)	Premium
Intermittent fasting tools	Limited	Premium
Meal planning	Premium+	Premium
Wearable / fitness app sync	Free (core), broad support	Premium
Web / desktop access
Ad-free	Premium	Premium

The pattern is the same in both apps: anything that removes typing is a paid feature. Free users in 2026 are manual-entry users.

Barcode scanning, the most accurate logging method either app offers, is paid in both. MyFitnessPal lists "Barcode Scan & Meal Scan" as Premium in its Free vs Premium table, and the scanner has been Premium since October 2022. Lose It! moved its scanner (Scan It) into Premium too. Some users report that free scanning still works on old MyFitnessPal accounts or in some regions, but you should not count on it.

MyFitnessPal's free tier still comes out ahead, for less dramatic reasons: basic macro tracking and core device syncing are free, and search covers a much bigger database. Lose It! puts macros and fitness app syncs in Premium.

Pricing

Feature	MyFitnessPal	Lose It!
Free to download
In-app purchase range	$9.99 – $79.99	$9.99 – $79.99
Monthly	$9.99 / $19.99	$9.99
Annual	$49.99 / $79.99	$39.99 commonly listed
Lifetime purchase		$49.99 / $59.99
Tiers	Premium, Premium+	Premium
Free trial	See listing	7-day trial commonly offered

Lose It! is the cheaper paid app, and the lifetime option is genuinely unusual in a category that has moved almost entirely to recurring subscriptions. If you know you want to track for years, the arithmetic favors it strongly.

MyFitnessPal's Premium pricing has roughly doubled from the $9.99/month of its Under Armour era. It has been owned by the private equity firm Francisco Partners since 2020.

Head-to-head on each dimension

Food database

MyFitnessPal wins, and it's still the app's strongest asset: 20.5 million+ foods, 68,500 brands, 380+ restaurant chains. The cost of a crowdsourced database that size is duplicate and inconsistent entries, so learning to spot verified entries is part of using it well.

Lose It!'s database is large and generally cleaner, but smaller on obscure regional and packaged products.

Speed

On paid plans, roughly comparable — both offer photo and voice logging.

On free plans, both are slow in the same way: search, scroll, pick an entry, set a portion. Expect around 45 seconds per meal. Neither free tier has a barcode scanner, so packaged food is no faster in either app.

Interface

Lose It! is the friendlier app for beginners — cleaner, less dense, fewer upsell surfaces. MyFitnessPal packs more in and pushes Premium harder.

Integrations

MyFitnessPal has the longer list and keeps core syncing on the free tier. Lose It! places fitness app syncs in Premium. If you own a Garmin, Withings or Strava-linked device, check both lists before paying.

Platform requirements

Lose It! requires iOS 18.0 or later; MyFitnessPal supports iOS 17.0. Lose It! also ships iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro builds.

Photo logging quality

Both use AI photo estimation, and both are subject to the same category limits — roughly 10–25% error against a weighed reference, worst on layered and mixed dishes where calories hide below the surface. MyFitnessPal's scan-a-meal became Premium-only in May 2026. Neither app makes it easy to review and correct the estimate before it lands in your daily total, which is where most silent under-logging comes from.

Which should you pick?

Choose MyFitnessPal if you're staying on the free tier and want free macro tracking and device syncing, you want the largest database, or you need a specific integration. Accept the ads, and note that scanning packaged food needs Premium.

Choose Lose It! if you're going to pay, you want the lowest cost or a lifetime purchase, and you prefer a simpler interface. It's also the better first tracker for someone who has never counted calories.

Look elsewhere if you want AI logging without a subscription, or you want to log in a language other than English. Both apps are functionally English-first, and both paywall the fast logging paths.

If you're leaving MyFitnessPal anyway

This is the part where we talk about our own app, so weigh it accordingly.

We charge for AI logging too — no pretending otherwise. The difference is what it costs: $34.99 a year, against $79.99 for either app above. Three AI logs are free so you can test photo, voice and text before deciding. Beyond price:

• You review before anything is logged. Callie shows detected foods, portions, calories and macros on a review screen; you edit, then confirm. Since photo estimation is 10–25% off across every app in the category, correcting the estimate matters more than which model produced it.
• Localized UI in English, French, Spanish, German and Arabic, plus an AI coach that chats in any language.
• Habit features neither app has: a GitHub-style streak dashboard, scheduled cheat days that keep your streak intact, and a daily diet plan matched to your BMI, weight and allergies.
• Depth-aware portion estimation. Callie reads the depth and camera metadata your phone writes into the photo file, so it estimates real-world scale rather than inferring it from a flat image — the portion-size problem both apps above also have.
• Support answered by a person, usually within a day. Small team, no ticket queue.
• No ads.

Where we don't win: MyFitnessPal's database is bigger than ours, Lose It!'s lifetime purchase has no equivalent from us, and both have longer integration lists. And if your requirement is a tracker that costs nothing at all, none of the three apps in this article qualifies — that's Cronometer or FatSecret.

Full head-to-heads: Callie vs Lose It! and Callie vs MyFitnessPal. Also relevant, since the two apps in this article now share an owner with a third: MyFitnessPal vs Cal AI.

Sources

1. MyFitnessPal App Store listing (accessed October 2026). PREMIUM section lists "barcode scan, meal scan & voice logging". https://apps.apple.com/us/app/myfitnesspal-calorie-counter/id341232718
2. Lose It! App Store listing (accessed August 2026). https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lose-it-calorie-counter/id297368629
3. MyFitnessPal, Free vs Premium (accessed October 2026). https://www.myfitnesspal.com/premium
4. MyFitnessPal Help Center — feature and plan documentation. https://support.myfitnesspal.com/
5. TechCrunch (March 2, 2026). "MyFitnessPal has acquired Cal AI, the viral calorie app built by teens." https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/02/myfitnesspal-has-acquired-cal-ai-the-viral-calorie-app-built-by-teens/
6. USDA FoodData Central. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/