Yuka vs NutraSafe — what each app does, free vs paid

We're NutraSafe — a UK food scanner app. Yuka is the most-asked-about alternative, so here's what each app does, what each one costs, and where they differ. We made one of these apps, so this isn't a neutral review — we've tried to describe Yuka factually and let you decide which fits your routine. Prices verified 7 May 2026.

The starting point — what each app is built for

Yuka and our app share one thing: you scan a barcode and see something useful. The difference is what each app does with the food after that scan.

Pricing — free vs paid for both apps

Both apps have a free tier and a paid tier. Pricing verified 7 May 2026 from the UK App Store and yuka.io.

Yuka pricing

• Yuka basic (free): scanning, the grade, ingredient breakdown with additives flagged, basic per-product nutrition.
• Yuka Premium (£15/year, UK): adds the search bar (look up products without scanning), offline mode and unlimited scan history.

NutraSafe pricing

• Free to download. The free tier includes barcode scanning + our per-product grade, up to 25 food logs per day, up to 5 reactions logged, our public E-number lookup at /e-numbers/, and no ads.
• NutraSafe Pro: £3.99/month (iOS, monthly only). Unlocks vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs, AI Coach, AI meal scan, allergen warning detail on barcode scans, fasting features, processed-food and NRV insights, suspected-triggers analysis and full reaction history.

Feature-by-feature comparison

What Yuka tracks

Yuka's job is the per-scan judgment. The app reads the barcode, looks up the product in its database, and gives you a 0-100 colour-coded score made up of three weighted parts: nutritional quality (using the Nutri-Score system), additive presence and risk, and organic certification status. The ingredient list is shown with additives flagged at the bullet level, so you can see which ones drove the grade.

The strength of that model is speed — one scan, one number, one decision in the aisle. Yuka also scans cosmetics and personal-care products in the same app, which sits outside what we do. The Premium tier (£15/year in the UK) adds a search bar so you can look products up without a barcode in hand, an offline mode, and unlimited scan history.

The database started in France in 2017 and has been growing internationally since. Yuka is on the UK App Store and works with many UK barcodes, but the database is primarily French in origin — UK supermarket own-label products may not always appear. That's a factual point about coverage, not a criticism of the app's design.

What NutraSafe tracks

We do the per-scan grade too — scan a UK barcode and you'll see ingredients, additives, our grade and macros in seconds. On top of that, we track what happens after the scan.

• Daily food diary (free, up to 25 logs/day) — log what you eat, see calories and the 7 standard macros (carbs, protein, fat, sat fat, sugar, salt, fibre).
• Vitamins and 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 numbers above are why we built this in.
• Allergen warning detail on every scan (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.
• Food reaction logging (5 free, full history on Pro) — log symptoms after a food, build up a record you can take to your GP.
• Suspected-triggers analysis (Pro) — pattern analysis across your reaction log to surface candidate trigger foods.
• Processed-food and NRV insights (Pro) — daily picture of how processed your food is, with the macro and additive breakdown behind the score.
• Fasting features (Pro) — built-in tools for tracking fasting windows.
• Public E-number lookup (free, on the website) — 330+ E-numbers with what each one does, at /e-numbers/.

Free tiers — what you get without paying

Both apps have a real free tier. Here's what each one includes.

Yuka basic (free)

• Unlimited barcode scans
• The 0-100 grade with colour coding
• Ingredient list with additives flagged
• Per-product nutrition info
• Cosmetic scanning included

Search bar, offline mode and unlimited scan history are on Yuka Premium (£15/year, UK).

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, fasting features and full reaction-pattern analysis are on NutraSafe Pro (£3.99/month, iOS, monthly only).

UK food database coverage

If you're shopping in a UK supermarket, this matters.

Yuka's database

• Started in France in 2017, grown internationally
• Primarily French in origin — strongest for French and major European brands
• UK supermarket own-label products may not always appear
• Includes cosmetic and personal-care products alongside food

Our database

• Reads the standard UK food barcode (GTIN/EAN) used across every UK supermarket — Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Waitrose, Co-op and Iceland all look up the same way (no per-retailer integrations)
• UK restaurant chain entries included where available
• Each entry includes ingredient and additive data so the grade and allergen checks can run
• Newer than Yuka's overall database (we started later); growing with reviewed user submissions

In practice: Yuka tends to recognise major branded UK products. UK supermarket own-label items — the ones that fill most baskets — are where coverage differs and where we put most of our database work.

Which app might suit you

Yuka might suit you if you:

• Want one fast per-scan grade in the aisle and don't need a daily diary
• Scan cosmetics and personal-care products as well as food
• Are happy with the standard label nutrition rather than vitamin/mineral tracking against UK NRVs
• Want an annual price (£15/year) rather than a monthly one
• Use Android (we're iOS-only at the moment)

NutraSafe might suit you if you:

• Want to see vitamins and minerals tracked daily against UK NRVs, not just calories and macros
• Shop mainly UK supermarket own-label products
• Want allergen warnings on every barcode scan
• Want to log food reactions and take a record to your GP
• Use AI tools — meal scan and Coach — alongside the diary
• Prefer a monthly plan rather than committing for a year

How the grades differ

Yuka's grade (0-100)

• 60% nutritional quality (Nutri-Score model)
• 30% additive presence and risk
• 10% organic certification

Bands: Excellent (75-100, dark green), Good (50-75, light green), Poor (25-50, orange), Bad (0-25, red).

Our grade

• Processing level (where the food sits on the ultra-processed-to-whole spectrum)
• Additive analysis based on the published evidence we've reviewed
• Nutritional value (sugar, fibre, protein, salt and fat balance)

We don't factor organic certification into the grade — only the nutrition and the additive/processing picture from the ingredient list and label.

Honest framing — both apps have a place

Yuka is a well-designed app with millions of users in Europe and a clear focus on the per-scan grade. We've tried to describe what it does factually rather than pretending to be neutral — we made one of the apps in this comparison.

The two apps prioritise different things. If a single per-scan judgment is what you want, Yuka does that well. If you also want vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs, allergen warnings on every scan, AI tools and a reaction log you can take to your GP, that's what we built our app around.

Frequently asked questions

Is Yuka good for UK products?

Yuka is on the UK App Store and works with many UK barcodes. The database is primarily French in origin, so UK supermarket own-label products may not always appear. We built our food database around UK supermarket products, so coverage of own-label items is one of the differences.

Does Yuka track vitamins and minerals?

Yuka shows the per-product nutrition information from the label and grades the product on additives and ingredients. It doesn't track daily vitamin or mineral intake against UK NRVs. We track vitamins (A, C, D, E, K and the B-group) and minerals (iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc and others) on NutraSafe Pro.

Is Yuka free?

Yes — Yuka's basic tier is free with unlimited scans, the grade and the ingredient breakdown. Yuka Premium is £15/year in the UK and unlocks the search bar, offline mode and unlimited scan history.

Which app is better for additives?

Both flag additives on every scan. Yuka folds additives into a single 0-100 grade alongside Nutri-Score nutrition and organic status. We give a per-product grade and an ingredient breakdown. The two are pitched at the same problem but framed differently — the right one depends on which framing you find more useful day-to-day.

Is NutraSafe free?

NutraSafe is free to download. The free tier lets you log up to 25 foods/day with barcode scanning + grade and up to 5 reactions. NutraSafe Pro costs £3.99/month (iOS, monthly only) and unlocks vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs, AI Coach, AI meal scan, allergen warning detail, fasting features and full reaction-pattern analysis.