The Best Food Tracking Apps for 2027: A Field Guide

A food diary is the cheapest nutrition advice there is. A few weeks of honest records will tell you more about your eating than any diet book, provided you pick a diary you will actually keep. These are the five worth knowing for 2027, each sized up the same way, beginning with our first choice, PlateLens.

Every plan and price below is the one the company publishes, dated when we noted it, and checked again monthly.

PlateLens

In short: the simplest diary to keep complete, with the richest detail behind each item.

How you log: point the camera at a meal and the app names the foods and guesses the amounts, leaving each line for you to approve or adjust. Barcodes, a quick search and spoken descriptions work too, and saved meals and recipes make repeats instant.

What it records: upwards of 80 nutrient values per item, fiber, sugar, salt, potassium, calcium and iron among them, plus net carbs calculated for you. Calorie, protein, carb and fat goals start from your profile, and adaptive TDEE refines the calorie goal as your weight trend comes in.

Also inside: a fasting clock, a glucose log that sits next to your meals, drink tracking for alcohol, a planner that builds a shopping list from chosen recipes, and a 3D Body Scan estimating waist, hip and chest measurements from about twelve pictures. Use it on iPhone, Android, Apple Watch or in a browser; it trades data with Apple Health and Health Connect and exports everything as JSON.

Free version: never expires, no card at sign-up. Unlimited scans and typed entries, three photo meals a day, five coach questions a day.

Paid: Premium ($34.99 annually or $9.99 monthly, noted 10 August 2026) removes the photo and coach caps.

Choose it if: you want one diary for any goal, from more fiber to a lower weight.

MyFitnessPal

In short: the largest catalogue around, written by its own users.

Strengths: no rival covers as many chain menus and local brands, and it links with plenty of fitness gadgets.

Watch for: look-alike entries with clashing numbers; match the one to the packet.

Free version: the diary and that huge catalogue. Paid: Premium at $79.99 annually or $19.99 monthly, which is where the scanner, Meal Scan and spoken entries sit.

Choose it if: chains supply most of what you eat.

Carb Manager

In short: a diary built around net carbs.

Strengths: keto-minded goals and a deep shelf of low-carb recipes. Meal plans and the advanced tools belong to Premium; see the app store for today’s price.

Choose it if: keto or a strict low-carb plan is the entire point.

Cronometer

In short: the specialist for micronutrients.

Strengths: as many as 95 nutrients and compounds per item by the company’s reckoning, from what it describes as lab-analysed data; a long-time favourite with vegans.

Free version: scanning, alongside adverts. Paid: Gold, $59.99 annually or $10.99 monthly (noted 20 September 2026), with photo logging, voice logging and the Crono Coach assistant.

Choose it if: one particular vitamin or mineral needs close watching.

Lifesum

In short: logging organised around an eating style.

Strengths: pick keto, Mediterranean, high-protein or another style, and the diary, scanner and recipes fall in line, in a cheerful design. Most styles need Premium, priced country by country.

Choose it if: you’d like a set eating style to follow.

Why a food diary is worth a month of your time

Most of us misjudge our own eating in predictable ways. We remember the meals and forget the extras: the milk in three coffees, the handful of nuts, the second glass of wine. We underestimate oils and sauces and overestimate vegetables. A month of records corrects that, and what turns up is usually simple to act on: a breakfast with almost no protein, fiber that seldom reaches 20 grams, a long afternoon gap that ends at the biscuit tin.

The diary that gets you there is the one with the fewest excuses to skip a meal, which is why PlateLens leads this guide. For the method, read how to track what you eat; to turn findings into changes, try eating more vegetables or eating less sugar.

How to choose

Start with PlateLens unless one need outweighs everything else: MyFitnessPal for chain meals, Carb Manager for keto, Cronometer for micronutrient depth, or Lifesum if you want a style handed to you.