Cronometer vs NutraSafe — UK comparison, free vs paid

We're NutraSafe — a UK food scanner app. Cronometer is the most thorough micronutrient tracker we get asked about, so here's how the two apps compare and where they differ. Prices verified 7 May 2026; we made one of the apps in this comparison so this is our description, not a neutral test.

Pricing breakdown

Pricing verified 7 May 2026 from the UK App Store listings.

NutraSafe pricing

• Free to download. The free tier lets you log up to 25 foods/day with barcode scanning and our per-product grade and up to 5 reactions.
• NutraSafe Pro: £3.99/month (iOS, monthly only — no annual tier). Unlocks vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs, AI Coach, AI meal scan, allergen warning detail, fasting features, processed-food and NRV insights, and full reaction history.

Cronometer pricing

• Free tier: supported by ads. Includes calorie and nutrient tracking and barcode scanning.
• Cronometer Gold: a higher monthly price than NutraSafe Pro. Removes ads and adds custom biometric tracking, recipe importer, ingredient comparisons and other extras. Check the App Store for the current Gold price — it changes from time to time.

What each app tracks

Cronometer is well-known for thorough micronutrient tracking — a wide range of vitamins, minerals and amino acids per food. Its food database is rooted in US sources like USDA and NCCDB, so it is less UK-specific than ours. We also track vitamins (A, C, D, E, K and the B-group) and minerals (iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and others) against UK NRVs, alongside calories, macros, additives, allergen warnings and food reactions.

What NutraSafe includes

• Barcode scanning with our per-product grade (Free) — scan a UK barcode and see ingredients, additives and our grade in seconds.
• Up to 25 food logs/day and 5 food reactions (Free) — calorie and macro logging at no cost on the free tier.
• Public E-number lookup (Free, on the website) — 330+ E-numbers used in UK food, with what each one does, at /e-numbers/.
• Vitamins & minerals against UK NRVs (Pro) — daily percentages for vitamin A, the B-complex, C, D, E, K, plus iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and others. The NDNS 2019-2023 data above shows why we built this in.
• Allergen warning detail on barcode scans (Pro) — set your allergens once, get a detailed alert on every scan that matches.
• AI meal scan (Pro) — photograph a meal, we estimate ingredients and macros.
• AI Coach (Pro) — chat with an assistant that has visibility of your diary and food reactions.
• Suspected-triggers analysis (Pro) — pattern analysis across your reaction log to surface candidate trigger foods.
• Processed-food insights (Pro) — a daily picture of how processed your food is, with the macro/additive breakdown behind the score.
• Fasting features (Pro) — built-in fasting timer and history.

What Cronometer includes

• Thorough micronutrient tracking — a wide range of vitamins, minerals and amino acids per food.
• USDA / NCCDB-rooted database — strong on whole-food and US-product entries.
• Biometric and blood-test logging — record body measurements, blood test results and supplements alongside food intake.
• Custom nutrient targets — set your own daily goals per nutrient.
• Detailed exports — export your log for a healthcare provider.
• Recipe importer — paste a URL to import a recipe (Gold).

Which app fits which user?

NutraSafe might suit you if you:

• Shop at UK supermarkets and want UK barcode coverage out of the box
• Want vitamins and minerals tracked daily against UK NRVs, not US RDAs
• Want to scan products for additives and E-numbers, with a per-product grade
• Have allergens you want flagged on every scan
• Want to log food reactions and take a record to your GP
• Prefer a single monthly price (£3.99/month, iOS) without an annual commitment

Cronometer might suit you if you:

• Want the broadest nutrient breakdown available, including amino acids
• Log biometrics, blood test results and supplements alongside food
• Eat a mostly whole-food diet where USDA-style entries cover what you log
• Need detailed exports for a healthcare provider or coach
• Are happy with a US-rooted database and willing to enter UK products manually when needed
• Want an ad-supported free tier or are happy paying for Gold

The UK angle

This is the genuine differentiator, not a knock on Cronometer. Cronometer's database draws on USDA, NCCDB and other North-American-leaning sources. That makes it thorough for whole foods and US-branded products and less suited to UK supermarket-specific items, where you may need to enter products manually or accept partial data.

We built our database around UK supermarket barcodes — Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Waitrose and Co-op — with the ingredient and additive data needed to run our per-product grade and allergen checks. We also reference UK NRVs (Nutrient Reference Values from UK government nutrition labelling) rather than US RDAs, which matters if you're tracking against the targets your GP or NHS resources are likely to use.

If you are based in the UK and most of what you eat comes from UK supermarkets, that probably matters to you. If you cook from whole ingredients most of the time, it matters less.

What you get on the free plans

The two free plans differ in what they prioritise. Here's what each one includes.

NutraSafe free tier

• Up to 25 food logs per day
• Barcode scanning with our per-product grade
• Up to 5 food reactions logged
• Our public E-number lookup at /e-numbers/
• No ads

Vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs, allergen warning detail, AI Coach, AI meal scan and full reaction-pattern analysis are on NutraSafe Pro (£3.99/month, iOS, monthly only).

Cronometer free tier

• Calorie and macro tracking
• Barcode scanning included
• Vitamin and mineral tracking with US-rooted targets
• Supported by ads
• Cronometer Gold removes ads and adds biometric tracking, custom biometrics, recipe importer and other extras

Food database

NutraSafe database

• Built specifically for UK supermarkets — Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Waitrose, Co-op
• Updated regularly, with user submissions reviewed by us before they're published
• Each entry includes ingredient and additive data so we can run the grade and allergen checks
• Targets are UK NRVs (Nutrient Reference Values from UK food labelling)

Cronometer database

• Rooted in USDA, NCCDB and other North American nutrient datasets
• Strong on whole foods and US-branded products
• Less UK-specific — UK supermarket items can need manual entry
• Targets are typically US RDAs unless you customise them

So which should you pick?

The honest answer — they do different things

For the broadest nutrient breakdown, including amino acids, plus biometric and blood-test logging: Cronometer goes further on micronutrient breadth than we do. Their database is rooted in US sources and is thorough on whole foods. If you want detailed exports for a healthcare provider, that is also their strong suit.

For UK supermarket scanning, additive and E-number analysis, allergen warnings on every scan, and vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs: that is what we built. NutraSafe Pro is £3.99/month, monthly only, on iOS.

You can try both. Both apps have a free option, so the easiest way to decide is to download them and see which fits your routine. Some people end up using both alongside each other.