Method
How we rank
Maintained by Hannah Whitlock ยท Last reviewed October 22, 2026
The 2027 edition answers one question: which calorie tracker should most people use next year? Every app on the list is scored against the same six criteria, weighted by how much each one affects whether people keep logging.
The six criteria
| Criterion | Weight | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Ways to log | 25% | Photo, voice, barcode, typed search and saved meals. More methods in one diary means you always have a fast option, which is what keeps people logging. |
| Database quality | 20% | Verified entries, branded products with barcode data and restaurant items. A crowd-sourced entry typed in wrong by a stranger ends up in your totals. |
| Free plan | 15% | What you can do without paying, forever. A trial is not a free plan. |
| Price | 15% | The published annual price of the paid plan, and what it unlocks. |
| Nutrient depth | 15% | How many nutrients each entry carries beyond calories and macros. |
| Health routine | 10% | Apple Health and Health Connect sync, web access, weight trends, fasting, glucose and body measurements. |
Logging methods and database quality carry the most weight because the evidence on weight management points to consistent self-monitoring as the habit that matters, and those two criteria decide how fast and trustworthy each entry is.
Where the information comes from
Features, plans and prices come from each company's own website, help pages and app-store listings, read for this edition. When a company does not describe a feature in a way we can confirm, the tables show a dash rather than a guess. Prices are US prices; the date each price was checked is printed under the price table.
Background on nutrition and weight management comes from published research and public-health sources, cited where they are used.
What we do not do
- We do not accept payment for a place in the ranking.
- We do not publish user reviews or ratings we did not collect.
- We do not fill a table cell from memory. A dash means "not confirmed", never "missing".
How the edition is updated
The ranking carries a year because it answers a question for that year. During the year we update prices, plans and features when a company changes them, and every change after publication goes on the corrections page with its date. A change in the order of the ranking is always explained there.
Questions about the method: see about the edition.