MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer: Which Nutrition Tracker Is Better?

This MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer page is a source-reviewed guide, not a hands-on lab test. It puts dated store prices, ratings, and privacy labels in one table so you can pick a large food search or a micronutrient diary.

Pick MyFitnessPal if you want a 20.5-million-food search and you will pay $79.99 / a UK yearly SKU for barcode and an ad-free diary. Pick Cronometer if you want 90-plus nutrients, a free scanner, and you can live with ads or pay $59.99 / £59.99 for Gold. That is the whole decision. Do not add a third app to dodge it.

Read the entity pages: our MyFitnessPal review and Cronometer review. For a wider set, see best calorie tracking apps.

MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer: size versus depth

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Download Cronometer: Calorie Counter on the App Store · Get Cronometer: Calorie Counter on Google Play

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MyFitnessPal, Inc. is the mass-market diary. The US listing, captured 13 September 2026, sells restaurant dishes, AI coach tools on paid plans, GLP-1 reminders, and 40-plus device hooks. iOS 18 is required. That cuts older phones.

Cronometer Software Inc. is a Canadian listing in Revelstoke, B.C. The US page says more than 1.1 million verified foods, including analysed entries, and tracking of 95-plus nutrients. Gold adds photo and voice logging, a fasting tracker, recipe import, custom charts, Nutrition Scores, Crono Coach, and no ads. Basic still logs food, exercise, biometrics, and a seven-day report window, per the Gold page.

A burrito search and a folate gap are different jobs. One app will not win both on the same day.

What you actually pay over a year

MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer price talk should start with the annual SKU you are shown. US Apple and myfitnesspal.com/premium listed Premium at $79.99 a year on 13 September 2026. Premium+ was $99.99 a year on the web page. Monthly Premium at $19.99 becomes $239.88 if you stay twelve months.

Cronometer Gold annual was $59.99 / £59.99 on Apple that day. Monthly was $10.99 / £9.99. Twelve months of US monthly Gold is $131.88. That is more than the annual. A leftover £39.99 Gold year appeared on the UK list. Treat it as a possible promo, not a promise.

If both annual list prices hold, Gold is the cheaper 12-month sticker. That does not make it “better.” It buys micronutrient charts and fewer ads. It does not buy MyFitnessPal’s restaurant corpus.

Ratings and the ad complaint

MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer ratings look close on Apple (4.7 versus 4.8 in the US). The pools do not. 2.4 million ratings is a different world from 98,000. UK Cronometer is only 6,800 ratings at 4.7. Play is 4.4 versus 4.6, with MyFitnessPal’s sample in the millions.

Cronometer Play reviews in 2025 describe ads that seize the app for 15–30 seconds. The developer said a bug was fixed in version 4.39.3 and offered Gold trials. That is a process risk on the free tier, not a nutrient finding. MyFitnessPal complaints in 2026 cluster on UI changes and the barcode paywall.

Privacy labels in plain language

MyFitnessPal’s US Apple label said identifiers and usage may track you across other companies’ apps and sites. Device ID and advertising data sit under third-party ads. Play said the app may share location, personal info, and device IDs.

Cronometer’s US Apple label said contact info, identifiers, and usage may track you. Health, fitness, email, and sensitive info appear under marketing rows in the extract we captured. Play said the app may share personal info and may collect location plus five other types. Both declare transit encryption and deletion.

If you log supplements and lab-ish biometrics, Cronometer will hold more of that. Read cronometer.com/privacy before you sync a CGM or a wearable.

Who should skip each app

Skip MyFitnessPal if you refuse to pay for a barcode and you want iron, iodine, and amino acids on day one. Skip Cronometer if you live on chain restaurants and you need a social feed. Skip both if calorie logging has already become a compulsion. Ask a clinician first.

Label law still sits on the packet. See reading food labels in the UK and US. Hydration is not a vitamin row; see our everyday hydration guide. Protein portions live in the protein intake everyday guide.

What the evidence does not show

We found no 2026 peer-reviewed error study for either app’s calorie or micronutrient totals. Cronometer’s NCC-style language is a database claim, not a trial we re-ran. MyFitnessPal’s “science backed” line is marketing. Dietitian use is a testimonial pattern, not a sample size.

NHS and CDC pages still treat energy balance as one tool among many. An app cannot diagnose a deficiency from a low vitamin cell. Blood tests belong with a GP.