#5 in the 2027 ranking · Best for restaurant and packaged breadth
MyFitnessPal review
By Theo Marchetti · Published October 22, 2026 · Updated October 22, 2026
MyFitnessPal has the largest crowd-sourced food database and the widest restaurant coverage of any calorie tracker, and millions of people already have years of history in it. Its photo and voice logging are Premium features at $79.99 a year. It is #5 in our 2027 ranking.
| Website | www.myfitnesspal.com |
|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, web |
| Free | $0: food diary on the crowd-sourced database |
| Premium | $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month: Meal Scan, voice logging, barcode scanning and more |
US prices as published by the company. PlateLens Premium checked August 10, 2026; Cronometer Gold September 20, 2026; other prices as read for this edition.
What it does well
- The largest crowd-sourced food database in the category
- The widest coverage of chain restaurants and regional packaged products
- A large ecosystem of device and app integrations
- Recipes and a long-running community
Worth knowing
- User-submitted entries mean the same food often appears many times with different numbers
- Its Premium page lists barcode scanning among the paid benefits
- The most expensive Premium plan of the major trackers
What it is like to use
For many people MyFitnessPal is calorie counting. Search almost any branded food or chain-restaurant meal and someone has entered it. That breadth is the reason to choose it, and the reason long-time users stay.
The same openness is the main drawback. Because users submit entries, popular foods carry many duplicates with different values, and picking the right one becomes a judgement call each time.
The database, up close
MyFitnessPal’s catalogue is its reason to exist. Chain-restaurant menus, supermarket own-brands, regional products and homemade recipes are all there because someone, somewhere, added them. For people who eat a lot of packaged and restaurant food, that breadth saves searching.
The trade-off is quality control. Search for a common food and you may see a dozen versions. Some match the label, some are typos, some are another country’s product. Experienced users learn to pick entries with complete nutrient data or verified markers, and to save the right one once it is found.
Integrations and community
MyFitnessPal connects with a large range of fitness devices and apps, so steps and workouts from your watch or another app can flow in. Its long history also means a large community, with forums, recipes and friends who may already use it. For some people, that social history is worth more than any feature.
What Premium adds
Meal Scan (photo logging), voice logging and, according to its own Premium page, barcode scanning are among the paid benefits. Premium costs $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month, the most expensive of the major trackers.
MyFitnessPal compared with PlateLens
| MyFitnessPal | PlateLens | |
|---|---|---|
| Food database | Largest crowd-sourced | Largest verified |
| Photo logging | Meal Scan, Premium | 3 scans a day free; unlimited on Premium |
| Voice logging | Premium | Yes |
| Barcode | Listed among Premium benefits | Unlimited, free |
| Premium | $79.99/yr or $19.99/mo | $34.99/yr or $9.99/mo |
Who it suits
- People with years of history and friends on the app.
- People who eat mostly at chain restaurants and want the widest menu coverage.
- People who rely on its device and app integrations.
Who should look elsewhere
People starting fresh who want clean data, AI logging without paying, or a lower Premium price.
Should you choose it?
Stay with MyFitnessPal if years of logs and friends are there. If not, PlateLens is the better place to start. See the head-to-heads: PlateLens vs MyFitnessPal · Lose It! vs MyFitnessPal.
Verdict
MyFitnessPal remains the coverage champion and a reasonable choice if your history lives there. If you are starting fresh in 2027, PlateLens gives you a verified database, AI photo logging on its free plan and a Premium price less than half of MyFitnessPal's.
Questions readers ask
Is MyFitnessPal still free?
MyFitnessPal has a free plan with a food diary on its crowd-sourced database. Meal Scan, voice logging and, according to its Premium page, barcode scanning are among the Premium benefits, at $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month.
Why are there so many duplicate entries in MyFitnessPal?
Because users can add foods. That openness is what makes the catalogue so large, but popular foods often appear many times with different values, so it pays to choose entries carefully or check them against the label.
Is MyFitnessPal good for weight loss?
It has helped millions of people count calories, and its database makes it easy to find almost any food. The main things to watch are duplicate entries with different values and the price of Premium if you want photo or voice logging.
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