Cronometer vs MyFitnessPal: Which Free Version Should You Choose?

For someone starting fresh and staying free, Cronometer is our pick if barcode scanning and protein goals in grams are priorities. MyFitnessPal is still a useful free diary, especially if you already rely on its saved meals or want its documented web-recipe import option.

The choice gets easier when you compare the tasks you do every day. Finding a packaged yogurt, repeating breakfast, and saving a pot of chili reveal more than a long feature list.

Checked October 18, 2026 against the official sources linked below. This is a documentation-based comparison, not a hands-on speed or accuracy test. CalorieCue publishes this guide and offers a competing calorie-tracking app. The cover is an editorial illustration; the CalorieCue example uses an actual app screenshot.

Cronometer vs MyFitnessPal: the free-plan comparison

Both apps have ongoing free plans. A paid trial temporarily unlocks extra features, so check that you are comparing Basic or Free rather than a trial account.

Sources: Cronometer's plan comparison, MyFitnessPal's plan comparison, and MyFitnessPal's free-version guide. Feature availability can vary with app version, language and region; check the current offer in your account.

For a wider shortlist, see our best free calorie counter apps. Here, the decision stays focused on these two apps.

Packaged foods: Cronometer has the free barcode advantage

If most of your logging starts with a carton, tub or wrapper, this difference matters immediately. Cronometer includes barcode lookup free. MyFitnessPal's barcode-scanner guide says the scanner requires Premium. You can still search for foods manually in MyFitnessPal Free.

The scanner finds an entry; you still supply the portion. Imagine a fictional yogurt label showing 160 calories and 12 grams of protein per 100 grams. If you eat a 250-gram tub, the label-based total is 400 calories and 30 grams of protein. Logging “one serving” as 100 grams would miss most of that tub, whichever app found it.

Before saving, match the flavor, label values, serving unit and amount eaten. Try a few products from your own supermarket before moving your routine. A scanner's availability does not establish how well its database covers your local brands.

Our recommendation: choose Cronometer if free barcode lookup solves a daily frustration. Keep MyFitnessPal on the shortlist if searching and reusing your familiar foods already feels easy.

Protein goals: viewing grams is different from setting them

You can see your logged protein without paying for MyFitnessPal. Its paid restriction concerns entering a target directly in grams, not all access to protein information. MyFitnessPal's Premium feature guide identifies gram-based goal setting as a paid feature.

Cronometer's Fixed Targets instructions explain how to enter a daily gram amount for each macro. This is useful when you already have a target and want the diary to compare your intake with that number.

Here is why the distinction matters. In an illustrative 2,000-calorie setup, a 25% protein target corresponds to 125 grams: 2,000 × 0.25 ÷ 4. At 1,600 calories, the same percentage corresponds to 100 grams. These are arithmetic examples, not suggested targets. Our calories-per-gram guide explains the calculation.

If you want your protein target to stay at a specific gram amount while you adjust calories, direct gram controls are convenient. If percentage-based goals suit your routine, MyFitnessPal Free may be enough. For help choosing foods after setting your goal, use our protein-per-calorie chart.

Repeated breakfasts: both can save you starting again

A breakfast of oats, milk, berries and nut butter is four items on day one. On day two, the useful question is whether you can reuse the checked combination and change just the amount you ate.

Cronometer documents free custom meals and copy-and-paste entries in its food-logging shortcuts guide. MyFitnessPal's free guide includes creating meals and accessing recent or frequent foods. Neither requires you to rebuild every familiar meal from scratch.

Try this before choosing:

1. Enter the breakfast you actually eat, including milk, toppings and spreads.
2. Save it as a reusable meal.
3. Log it again with a smaller portion of one ingredient.
4. Check that the updated amounts describe today's breakfast.

Saving time helps only if the saved entry remains useful. A breakfast called “my usual” can quietly become wrong when you change the brand, bowl size or toppings.

If your MyFitnessPal meals are already checked and easy to reuse, that is a practical reason to stay. Switch when a recurring limitation matters more than the work of rebuilding your favorites.

Homemade recipes: MyFitnessPal has a free import option

Both apps let you create recipes manually. MyFitnessPal's free-version documentation also includes Add From Web. Cronometer's URL Recipe Importer is a Gold feature. That makes MyFitnessPal worth trying if you often cook from online recipes and want an import starting point without a subscription.

Automatic importing still needs a review. A matched ingredient may use a different product, unit or preparation state. Check the oil, sauces and serving count before treating the result as your recipe. MyFitnessPal recipe instructions and Cronometer Recipe Importer.

Consider a fictional batch totaling 2,160 calories. Divide it into six equal servings and each is 360 calories. Divide the same batch into eight equal servings and each is 270. The app cannot resolve that difference if the recipe still says six servings after you portion it into eight containers.

When portions are uneven, calculate from the finished batch weight instead. Our homemade-food calorie calculator walks through both methods. Save a recipe only after its ingredients and yield make sense; update it when you change the recipe.

Which app is more accurate?

We have not run a controlled accuracy test, so we are not naming a winner. Cronometer emphasizes detailed nutrient tracking and verified food data; that does not prove every meal you enter will be closer to its true nutrition than the same meal in another app.

For either diary, ask four questions:

• Is this the food I ate, including its brand or preparation method?
• Does the entry describe raw or cooked food?
• Is the serving unit correct: grams, ounces, a cup, or a package?
• Have I included the amount eaten and any oil, dressing or sauce?

A carefully checked saved meal is more useful than an impressive-looking total built from the wrong serving. If two apps disagree, compare their individual entries before deciding one app is inaccurate.

Where CalorieCue fits if you prefer meal photos

Under their published plans, Cronometer's Photo Log is Gold and MyFitnessPal's Meal Scan is Premium. MyFitnessPal also specifies device, app-version and language requirements in its Meal Scanner guide.

If the part you want to change is searching for every item on your plate, try a photo-based starting point. CalorieCue's ongoing free plan includes 3 meal-photo scans per day on iPhone, separate from an optional Premium trial. See the current CalorieCue plan details.

For a chicken-and-rice bowl, photograph the meal, review the suggested foods and portions, and add any missed oil or sauce before saving. A photograph cannot reliably reveal everything used in cooking. Our photo food-logging guide shows what to check.

Choose this workflow because it fits your meals, not because a photograph guarantees a precise measurement. If you mainly need a free barcode scanner or detailed nutrient controls, Cronometer remains a strong choice.

Our recommendation: choose around your next meal

Start with Cronometer Basic if you want barcode scanning, direct gram targets and detailed nutrient tracking without a subscription.

Choose or keep MyFitnessPal Free if its diary already works for you, your saved meals are useful, and percentage goals meet your needs. Its documented free web-recipe import option is a concrete reason to try it for home cooking.

Try CalorieCue's free daily scans if you want to begin with a photo and review the result. The example above shows the daily dashboard and includes the iPhone download link.

You do not need to buy a plan to make this decision. Use a packaged food, a repeat breakfast and a homemade recipe to check your own routine first. If you later want paid features, compare the price, billing period and renewal terms shown for your region rather than assuming a quoted US price applies everywhere.

Still considering FatSecret? Read Cronometer vs FatSecret or FatSecret vs MyFitnessPal for those specific choices.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cronometer better than MyFitnessPal for free users?

It is our pick for free barcode scanning and fixed macro goals in grams. MyFitnessPal Free remains useful for a familiar diary, saved meals and web-recipe importing. Choose around the task you repeat most.

Is MyFitnessPal's barcode scanner free?

Its official help guide currently lists the scanner as Premium. Cronometer includes barcode scanning in Basic. We checked these plans on October 18, 2026; confirm current availability in your app and region.

Can I track protein in MyFitnessPal without Premium?

Yes. Viewing logged protein is free. Entering a target directly in grams requires Premium; free targets use percentages.

Can I save homemade recipes in both free versions?

Yes. Both support manual recipes. MyFitnessPal also documents Add From Web for free users; Cronometer's URL importer requires Gold. Review ingredients and servings either way.

Which app is more accurate?

We have not measured an accuracy winner. Check the food match, preparation state, unit and quantity before comparing totals.

Do Cronometer or MyFitnessPal offer free photo calorie scanning?

Their published plans place Photo Log in Cronometer Gold and Meal Scan in MyFitnessPal Premium. CalorieCue offers 3 free meal-photo scans daily on iPhone, with estimates to review before saving.