2026 Best calorie counter apps UK · 6 compared

Best calorie counter apps UK 2026: 6 reviewed

Q: What is the best free calorie counter app UK?

Several apps have a free tier in the UK. We are free to download with up to 25 logs a day, barcode scanning with an additive flag and up to 5 reactions. Nutracheck's free Lite tier has limited daily entries. Lose It and MyFitnessPal both have free tiers supported by ads. The one that's best depends on what you actually want to track.

Get NutraSafe on the App Store → See the table

Six UK-relevant calorie apps, side by side. NutraSafe is ours, so we mark that clearly and tell you when one of the others is the better fit. Each app gets one strength and one limitation.

The short answer: there's no single best calorie counter app for everyone in the UK. For fast logging off UK supermarket barcodes, most of these six do the job. The real difference is what you want beyond calories: the biggest food database (MyFitnessPal), the deepest micronutrient detail (Cronometer), or additives, vitamins and reactions in one diary (NutraSafe, which is ours). Here's how the six compare.

01 Side by side

The apps side by side

Price, food coverage, what each one tracks. Where we know a figure, we cite it. Where we don't, we say "check their listing" rather than guessing.

App	Best for	Free tier	Paid price	UK fit
NutraSafe	Food + additives + vits + reactions + training, one diaryUK NRV by default. AI Coach on Pro.	25 logs / day, 5 reactions, no ads	£3.99 / month or £34.99 / yearAnnual saves about £13.	UK supermarket builtTesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose own-brands.
MyFitnessPal	Largest single food databaseCalorie + macro tracker.	Ad-supported, basic logging	£15.99 / month or £64.99 / yearAnnual saves about £127.	Mixed US + user-submittedBig database; entry quality varies.
Nutracheck	UK weight loss with verified UK foodsFood images, in-house verification.	Lite tier with daily limits	£6.99 / month or £39.99 / year7-day free trial.	UK-focused, long-running database
Cronometer	Deep micronutrient trackingUp to 84 nutrients per food, amino acids included.	Ad-supported	£9.99 / month or £59.99 / yearAnnual saves about £60.	US-rooted (USDA / NCCDB)UK own-label often needs manual entry.
Yuka	At-the-shelf scan with 0 to 100 gradeNot a diary; per-product only.	Basic scanning + grade + ingredient list	£10 / yearSame features at every tier; pay more to support Yuka.	Mixed UK coverageBranded multinationals scan; own-label hit-or-miss.
Lose It	Snap It photo logging + social challengesWeight-loss focused.	Ad-supported, basic logging	£75.99 / yearPremium tier on UK App Store.	US-rooted databaseUK own-label may need manual entry.

Get NutraSafe, free download →

Free to download · no subscription to start

02 App by app

The six apps reviewed

Each app gets a paragraph on what it does well and a paragraph on what it doesn't. We cover ours (NutraSafe) the same way.

01 · Our app

NutraSafe

UK food and health diary. Food, additives, vits, reactions, workouts, fasting, one diary.

Free tier: 25 logs / day, 5 reactions
Pro: £3.99/month or £34.99/year, iOS
Platform: iPhone, UK

What it's for. Logging UK supermarket food and getting more back than just calories. Every food shows additive scanner flags in plain English (480+ entries, EFSA / FSA / NHS / WHO / IARC cited where there is a published concern). 14 vitamins and 12 minerals fill in against UK NRVs as you log, the same job as a dedicated vitamin tracker. Workouts, fasting and reactions live in the same diary. AI Coach on Pro reads the lot and helps you set goals or meal plans.

StrengthMore than a calorie counter. One app for food, additives, vitamins, reactions and training, instead of five.

LimitationiPhone only. No Android, no web logging. Newer database than the long-running UK incumbents.

Best forUK shoppers reading the ingredient list. Anyone juggling a food diary, additive scanner, vitamin and mineral tracker, intermittent fasting timer and workout log in one place. UK supermarket coverage (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose) for branded and own-brand items.

02

MyFitnessPal

Calorie + macro tracker with the largest single food database, including user-submitted entries.

Free tier: Ad-supported logging
Paid: £15.99/month or £64.99/year
Platform: iOS, Android, web

What it's for. Counting calories and macros with the broadest food coverage of the lot. The user-submitted database means almost anything you eat is in there somewhere, including restaurant items and homemade meals. Recipe import, water tracking and a long-running community.

StrengthDatabase volume. If it's edible and has been logged before, MFP probably has it.

LimitationMixed entry quality. US-skewed, ad-heavy on free, and user-submitted nutrition data isn't always accurate. Premium at £15.99/month is the highest monthly tier in this roundup.

Best forMainstream calorie tracking with the largest food database. US-rooted with strong UK barcode coverage. A good fit for anyone migrating from an older fitness diary app or wanting Premium features like macro targets and meal plans. See how it stacks up in our vs MyFitnessPal comparison.

03

Nutracheck

UK calorie counter with in-house food verification and product images on entries.

Free tier: Lite with daily limits
Paid: £6.99 / month or £39.99 / year
Platform: iOS, Android

What it's for. A long-standing UK calorie counter focused on weight loss. Their in-house team verifies UK food entries, with product images on cards. Strong UK coverage for the seven label-panel nutrients (calories, carbs, fat, protein, fibre, sugar, salt).

StrengthUK database maturity. Years of verified UK entries, with food images that help you pick the right product fast.

LimitationNarrow scope. No vitamins / minerals tracking, no additive flags, no reactions log. Calories first, that's the job.

Best forUK weight loss focus. In-house verified UK food database with brand-specific items, food photos on every entry, and a daily calorie countdown. Built around weight loss workflows rather than additive analysis or micronutrient depth.

04

Cronometer

Precision micronutrient tracker. Up to 84 nutrients per food. USDA / NCCDB roots.

Free tier: Ad-supported
Paid: £9.99/month or £59.99/year
Platform: iOS, Android, web

What it's for. Going deep on nutrients per food. Amino acids, individual fatty acids, omega-3 / omega-6 split, the lot. Multiple region presets (US RDI, EU NRV and others). Strong for people doing protein-quality work, very-high-protein or very-low-carb diets, or clinical-grade tracking.

StrengthNutrient depth. The widest per-food nutrient panel of the apps in this list.

LimitationUK coverage is patchy. US-rooted database means UK supermarket own-label items often need manual entry. UK NRVs aren't a labelled preset (EU NRV is close in practice).

Best forPower-user micronutrient tracking. Up to 84 nutrients per food: amino acids, omega-3 / omega-6 split, individual fatty acids. Best for high-protein or low-carb diets, vegan B12 / iron tracking, or anyone wanting clinical-grade detail.

05

Yuka

Barcode scanner with a 0 to 100 grade per product and an additive ingredient breakdown.

Free tier: Scanning + grade + ingredients
Paid: £10/year (sliding scale up)
Platform: iOS, Android

What it's for. Picking a packet at the shelf. Point the camera, get a 0 to 100 grade, get the additive list. Premium adds search, offline mode and unlimited scan history. Not a daily diary, not a calorie counter; one-scan-at-a-time decisions.

StrengthAt-the-shelf clarity. A single number is fast to read when you're choosing between two packets.

LimitationNot a diary. No calorie tracking, no daily vitamin intake, no reactions, no workouts. Per-product, not per-day.

Best forQuick verdict scanning at the supermarket shelf. Best for a fast read on a single product's additive load and Nutri-Score. Not a daily food diary, calorie counter, or micronutrient tracker.

06

Lose It

US-rooted weight-loss calorie counter with Snap It photo logging and social challenges.

Free tier: Ad-supported logging
Paid: £75.99/year
Platform: iOS, Android

What it's for. Calorie and macro tracking aimed at weight loss, with Snap It photo logging and group challenges. Mature US calorie counter, available on the UK App Store.

StrengthSnap It and community. Photo logging is mature and the group challenges keep people accountable.

LimitationUS database, calories only. UK own-label often needs manual entry. At £75.99/year it's the priciest annual sub in this roundup, and there's no additive scanning, no vitamin-vs-NRV tracking, no reactions log.

Best forPhoto-led calorie counting. Snap It photo scan, weight-loss social challenges, US-branded food coverage. A simpler, lower-friction alternative to MyFitnessPal for people focused on calorie deficit.

03 Which one for you

Which calorie counter app should you pick?

If you can finish one of these sentences, you've picked. None of these are wrong answers; they're different jobs.

if

"I want a UK weight-loss calorie counter, that's it."

You're after a daily target, a UK food database, and not much else. Nutracheck is the long-standing pick for that job, with verified UK food entries and images on cards.

Pick Nutracheck

if

"I want nutrient depth, amino acids and all."

You're tracking protein quality, fatty-acid splits or doing clinical-grade work. Cronometer goes the deepest of any app in this list on per-food nutrients.

Pick Cronometer

if

"I just want to scan a packet in the aisle."

You don't want a diary. You want a quick read on what's in the packet you're holding. Yuka's barcode-scan-and-grade is the fastest tool for that single job.

Pick Yuka

if

"I want the biggest database for any food."

Restaurant items, homemade meals, US brands you brought back from holiday. MyFitnessPal's user-submitted database is still the broadest. Watch entry quality.

Pick MyFitnessPal

if

"I log via photo and want group challenges."

You like the accountability of a community and you log meals by camera more than by search. Lose It's Snap It and social challenges are mature.

Pick Lose It

if

"I want food, additives, vits, training, fasting in one diary."

You want plain-English additive lines on UK supermarket food, vitamins and minerals filling in against UK NRVs, your workouts in the same diary, and an AI Coach that reads all of it. That's the gap we built NutraSafe for.

Pick NutraSafe

Get NutraSafe on the App Store →

Free download · 25 logs/day free · Pro £3.99/month or £34.99/year

04 Common questions

Calorie counter app questions

We refer to each app's own listing for current pricing rather than guessing.

What is the best calorie counter app in the UK?

It depends on what you want to track. For UK supermarket foods and barcode scanning, we work well, and so do Nutracheck and MyFitnessPal. For the widest micronutrient detail, Cronometer. For additives, vitamins and reactions alongside calories, that's us. MyFitnessPal has the largest food database; Nutracheck has a long-standing UK one. There's no single winner, so pick by the feature you'll actually use.

What is the best free calorie counter app in the UK?

Several apps have a free tier in the UK. We're free to download with up to 25 logs a day, barcode scanning with an additive flag and up to 5 reactions. Nutracheck's free Lite tier has limited daily entries. Lose It and MyFitnessPal both have free tiers supported by ads. The one that's best depends on what you actually want to track.

Is MyFitnessPal still the best calorie counter?

MyFitnessPal has the largest food database of the lot, including a long history of user-submitted entries. Premium is £15.99/month or £64.99/year on iOS, materially more than most UK competitors. Many people now look at alternatives that focus more on UK foods or add vitamins, additives or reactions.

Which calorie counter has the best UK food database?

Nutracheck has a long-standing UK food database with an in-house verification team. We're also built around UK supermarket products (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose own-brands). MyFitnessPal has the volume but mixes US and user-submitted entries. Cronometer is US-rooted via USDA / NCCDB.

What calorie counter app tracks vitamins and minerals?

We track 14 vitamins and 12 minerals against UK NRVs. Cronometer tracks the widest set of nutrients including amino acids and individual fatty acids. MyFitnessPal Premium tracks some micronutrients. Nutracheck focuses on the seven label-panel nutrients. Yuka isn't a daily-intake tracker at all.

Can I track calories without a subscription?

Yes. We have a free tier with barcode scanning, and so do Nutracheck and Lose It. Our free tier caps at 25 logs a day. MyFitnessPal has a free tier supported by ads. If you only need basic calorie tracking and won't hit a daily cap, any of these work without paying.

Which calorie counter app is best for ingredient scanning?

Yuka scans ingredients and flags additives, and so do we. Yuka is a barcode scanner with a 0 to 100 grade per product. We're a full food diary with plain-English additive lines and 480+ entries in the library, EFSA / FSA / NHS / WHO / IARC cited where there is a published concern. Pick by job: scan-and-go verdict (Yuka) or diary plus library (ours).