Is the Ivy food app free? What it costs, and what's free instead
Free to download, not free to keep using. Ivy's UK App Store listing gives a 3-day trial, then full access needs Ivy Pro. Pro Access is listed at £8.99 to £39.99, as a monthly or a yearly subscription. We make a competing app, so every Ivy figure on this page is read off Ivy's own store listings, with the date we checked, and the free options are compared as they are.
NutraSafe
A food and health diary. Scan a UK barcode, see the score, the additives named in plain English, and the allergens in our ingredient data. Vitamins and minerals fill in against UK NRVs as you log. Reactions, workouts and fasting in the same diary.
Ivy
A barcode scanner built around processed food. Its listing says it covers over 3 million products and flags seed oils, additives, pesticides, heavy metals and microplastics, with dietary preferences and allergen intolerances you set. No food diary.
Side-by-side comparison
Price, trial, what each app covers, what's free. Every Ivy figure is from Ivy's UK App Store or Google Play listing on 4 September 2026. Where a listing does not say, we say "not stated" rather than guess.
| Feature | NutraSafe | Ivy |
|---|---|---|
| Price (paid tier) | £3.99 / month or £34.99 / year, iPhoneFree download. Free tier covers the basics. | Pro Access £8.99 to £39.99Five price points on the UK App Store. Monthly or yearly; the listing does not say which is which. |
| Free trial | No trial neededThe free tier has no time limit. | 3 daysOn the yearly plan, per the Google Play listing. Charged when it ends unless cancelled. |
| Permanent free tier | Yes25 food logs a day, scan with score, additive count, allergen alerts. | Not describedNeither store listing mentions a free tier after the trial. |
| What kind of app | Food and health diaryScanner plus a record of your week. | Scan-and-verdict toolPer product. No diary. |
| Platforms | iPhone, iOS 17 or laterAndroid in development. | iOS 15.1 or later, AndroidEight countries including the UK. |
| Database | Built around UK supermarket barcodesTesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose own-brands, plus branded. | "Over 3 million products"Ivy's own figure. No UK-specific count stated. |
| Additives & E numbers | 480+ entries in plain EnglishEFSA, FSA, NHS, WHO, IARC cited per line. Count is free; naming each one is Pro. | FlaggedListing names additives among the flags. Sources not stated on the listing. |
| Seed oils, pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics | Not in scopeWe read the label. A label does not carry these. | FlaggedIvy's own framing. How it is estimated is not stated on the listing. |
| Allergens | Big 14 flagged from our ingredient dataFree on scans. The pack is the final word. | Intolerances you set are flaggedGluten, wheat, fish, milk, peanuts, tree nuts and more, per the listing. |
| Vitamins & minerals | 13 vitamins, 12 minerals vs UK NRVPro. Fills in as you log. | Not stated |
| Reactions / triggers | Log how you felt, see patternsSuspected triggers analysis on Pro. | Progress trackerListing describes tracking energy, mental clarity and well-being. |
| Product not in the database | Photograph the label, AI meal scanPro feature. Or add it by hand, free. | Photograph the labelIvy says it reads the ingredients and scores it. |
What Ivy costs, from its own listings
Ivy is listed as Ivy: Processed Food Scanner, developer Ramzy Nanou. On 4 September 2026 the UK App Store showed version 2.3.14, updated 21 August, 4.7 stars from 22,000 ratings, and Google Play showed 4.6 stars from 16,383 reviews. The cost facts below are what those two pages say.
A 3-day trial, then Ivy Pro
The App Store listing states a 3-day free trial. The Google Play listing says Pro comes as two subscriptions, monthly and yearly, and that the free trial is on the yearly one. Full access after day three is paid on both platforms.
3 daysPro Access at £8.99 to £39.99
The UK App Store's in-app purchases list shows Pro Access at £8.99, £19.99, £29.99, £32.99 and £39.99. The listing does not say which price is the monthly and which the yearly plan, so the price screen inside the app is the only place to read it before the trial starts.
Five price pointsCancel through the store, not the app
Apple: Settings, your name, Subscriptions, Ivy, Cancel. Apple says to cancel at least 24 hours before a trial ends to avoid the first charge. Google: Play, your profile, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions.
24 hoursThe free alternatives, and what each one leaves out
None of these is an Ivy clone. Ivy's pesticide, heavy-metal and microplastic flags are its own framing, and no free app we know of estimates them. What the free apps do is scan a UK barcode and tell you something true about the pack. Seven scanners, ours included, are compared side by side in our best food scanner apps uk roundup.
NHS Food Scanner
Free on iOS and Android. Scan a barcode, get traffic-light sugar, salt and fat, and a healthier swap. It keeps no diary and does not cover additives, E numbers or allergens.
Free · traffic lightsOpen Food Facts
Free and community-built, no account needed. Shows NOVA processing groups and Nutri-Score on many products, which is the nearest free thing to a processing reading. Coverage of smaller own-label ranges is patchy and data quality varies, because volunteers enter it.
Free · open dataYuka
Scanning and the 0 to 100 grade are free indefinitely. Premium, from £10 a year, adds search, offline mode and unlimited history. The catalogue is French in origin, so UK own-label is hit-or-miss. Priced out in Is the Yuka app free?
Free tier · £10/yrNutraSafe, ours, so judge accordingly
Free to download. The free tier covers up to 25 food logs a day, the barcode scan with the food's score and a count of the additives on the pack, allergen alerts, and reaction logging while you build a baseline. Pro, £3.99 a month, names each additive and what it does, and adds vitamins and minerals against UK NRVs, the AI Coach, workouts and fasting.
Free tier · Pro £3.99/moIf ultra-processed is the question
The processing reading is one part of the scan, not the whole of it. Our UPF checker page shows what a scan says about processing, and the ultra-processed foods list covers the UK aisle by category.
UPFIvy vs Yuka, in one line each
Cost: Yuka scans for nothing, Ivy is paid after three days. Flags: Yuka grades on additives and nutrition, Ivy adds seed oils and contaminants. Diary: neither keeps one. If you want the scan and a record of the week, that is a different category of app.
Ivy vs YukaWhen Ivy is the better pick
Three cases where we would point someone at Ivy rather than at us.
You want the seed-oil and contaminant flags
Ivy is the only app on this page that markets pesticide, heavy-metal and microplastic flags. We do not, because a label does not carry that information and we do not test packets. If those flags are the point, Ivy is the app that offers them; go in knowing the subscription starts on day four.
Contaminant flagsYou are on Android
Ivy is on Google Play today. We are iPhone only, with Android in development. Until it lands, the NHS Food Scanner, Open Food Facts and Yuka all run on Android for nothing.
AndroidYou want a scan and nothing after it
Ivy answers "what is in this packet" and stops. We answer that and then keep the diary, the vitamins, the reactions and the training. If the diary is a feature you would never open, a scan-only tool is the lighter choice, and two of them above cost nothing.
Scan onlyWhat NutraSafe does
Ivy's job is the verdict on one packet. Ours is the packet and the week around it: additives named, allergens flagged, vitamins and minerals against UK NRVs, reactions, workouts and fasting in one diary, with a coach that reads the lot on Pro.
Scan a UK barcode, free
The food barcode scanner reads the pack: score, ingredients, a count of the additives, allergen alerts from our ingredient data. Up to 25 logs a day on the free tier.
Free + ProEvery additive named, in plain English
480+ entries with what it is and what published research says it does in the body. EFSA, FSA, NHS, WHO and IARC cited where the evidence exists. The E-number list is on this website for anyone; naming each one on a scan is Pro.
Library + ProVitamins and minerals against UK NRVs
13 vitamins and 12 minerals. Bars fill in against the UK NRV as you log, so you can see where the day or week is running short. Pro.
ProFood reaction tracking
Log how you felt: mood, gut, skin. The diary surfaces foods that line up with the rough days. We don't diagnose; we give you something solid to bring to a clinician.
Free + ProWorkouts and a fasting timer in the same diary
Sets, reps, weight and personal bests, Apple Watch if you train with one. 16:8, 5:2 or your own fasting pattern next to the food. Both Pro.
ProFull tier breakdown
What is free for as long as you want it, and what £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year adds, line by line, on the pricing page.
PricingCommon questions
Ivy's price and trial, Android, the free apps, and what we won't claim to do.
Is the Ivy food app free?
Free to download, not free to keep using. Ivy's UK App Store listing gives a 3-day free trial, after which full access needs an Ivy Pro subscription. Neither store listing describes a permanent free tier. Pro Access in-app purchases on the UK App Store run from £8.99 to £39.99, checked 4 September 2026.
How much does the Ivy food app cost?
Ivy's UK App Store listing shows Pro Access at £8.99, £19.99, £29.99, £32.99 and £39.99. Its Google Play listing says there are two Pro subscriptions, monthly and yearly, with the free trial on the yearly one. Neither listing says which price is which term, so read the price screen inside the app before the trial starts. Checked 4 September 2026.
Is the Ivy food app free on Android?
The same model as iPhone. Ivy's Google Play listing says Pro is bought as an in-app purchase, with a monthly and a yearly subscription and a free trial on the yearly plan. The download is free; the features behind Ivy Pro are not.
What is a free alternative to the Ivy food app?
The NHS Food Scanner is free on iOS and Android and shows traffic-light sugar, salt and fat. Open Food Facts is free and community-built, and shows NOVA processing groups on many products. Yuka scans and grades on its free tier, with Premium from £10 a year. Our app, NutraSafe, is free to download: the free tier covers barcode scanning with the food's score, the additive count and up to 25 logged foods a day, and NutraSafe Pro is £3.99 a month on iPhone.
Is Ivy better than Yuka?
They are built differently. Yuka scans and grades for nothing, with Premium from £10 a year adding search, offline mode and unlimited history. Ivy is subscription-first: a 3-day trial, then Ivy Pro. Ivy's listing flags seed oils, pesticides, heavy metals and microplastics as well as additives; Yuka grades on additives and nutrition. If cost decides it, Yuka's free tier is the difference. Neither keeps a food diary.
Is the NHS Food Scanner app free?
Yes, on iOS and Android. It scans a barcode and shows traffic-light ratings for sugar, salt and fat with healthier swaps. It keeps no food diary and does not cover additives, E numbers or allergens.
How do I cancel an Ivy free trial?
Through the store, not the app. On iPhone: Settings, tap your name, Subscriptions, choose Ivy, Cancel. Apple's guidance is to cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends to avoid the first charge. On Android: Google Play, your profile, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions.
Is NutraSafe free?
Free to download. The free tier covers up to 25 food logs a day, barcode scanning with the food's score and a count of the additives on the pack, allergen alerts on scans, reaction logging while you build a baseline, and the E-number library on this website. Pro is £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year on iPhone, names each additive and what it does, lifts the caps and adds the AI Coach, AI meal scan, workouts, fasting and suspected-trigger analysis.
Does NutraSafe flag seed oils, pesticides or microplastics like Ivy?
No. We read what is on the label: ingredients, additives and E numbers with what published research says they do, allergens in our ingredient data, and the nutrition panel. We do not estimate pesticide, heavy metal or microplastic content, because a label does not carry that information and we do not test packets. If those flags are why you want Ivy, Ivy is the app that markets them.