quick answer
Stay with MyFitnessPal if you want a free plan, use Android or the web, or rely on its huge database of branded and restaurant foods.
Switch to EXO if searching and weighing every item is why you stopped logging. EXO counts a whole plate from one photo, and tracks vitamins, minerals and supplements next to sleep and activity from Apple Health.
EXO and MyFitnessPal at a glance
| EXO | MyFitnessPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories from a meal photo | Yes | Premium (Meal Scan) |
| Barcode scan | Yes | Premium |
| Nutrition label scan | Yes | Not listed |
| Voice or typed description | Yes, typed or dictated | Premium (Voice Log) |
| Food database search | Yes, built on USDA data | Yes, 20.5M+ foods, free |
| Vitamins and minerals | 13 vitamins and 11 minerals | Some, more in Premium |
| Supplement tracking | Yes, with label scans | Not listed |
| Meal plans | AI, a meal, day or week | Paid Meal Planner |
| Workout plans | AI strength plans | Exercise logging |
| Device connections | Apple Health | 40+ apps and devices |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone, Android, web, Apple Watch, Wear OS |
| Free plan | No, free trial on yearly plans | Yes |
| US App Store rating | 5.0 (1 rating) | 4.7 (2,384,064 ratings) |
| On the App Store since | August 2026 | December 2009 |
From each app's US App Store listing and MyFitnessPal's Premium page, read October 26, 2026. "Not listed" means the app does not mention it on its listing or site.
How logging feels day to day
MyFitnessPal works best when you search for each food, pick the right entry and set the amount. Its database is the biggest there is, which helps with branded snacks and chain restaurants. The cost is time: a home cooked plate with five ingredients means five searches.
EXO starts from a photo. It names each food on the plate, estimates the portion and fills in calories, macros, vitamins and minerals in a few seconds. If something is off, change the portion or tell EXO what was different. Barcode scans, nutrition label scans and database search are there for the times a photo is not the right tool.
What is free on MyFitnessPal now
MyFitnessPal's free plan covers database search logging, weight and exercise. Barcode scanning moved to Premium in October 2022, and Meal Scan, Voice Log, custom macro goals, ad-free logging and intermittent fasting are Premium too.
EXO has no free plan. Everything, including photo, barcode and label scans, comes with the subscription, and the yearly plan starts with a free trial.
Accuracy
Any tracker is only as good as its data. A 2018 study in Public Health Nutrition compared five popular apps with research grade software and found MyFitnessPal's values came out significantly lower for protein, fat, sodium and cholesterol. The authors suggest missing values in user added foods as one possible cause. Photo logging has its own limits: a preliminary NIH study in 2026 found photo logging in MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, Cal AI and Appediet underestimated weighed meals by about 250 to 345 calories on average.
Whichever app you use: check portions, and add oils, butter and sauces you can see.
Price
| EXO | MyFitnessPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No | Yes, search logging |
| Free trial | On yearly plans | 7 days of Premium |
| Yearly | $79.99, with a $39.99 offer for some new users | $79.99 Premium |
| Monthly or shorter | Weekly $6.99, 3 months $29.99 | $19.99 a month |
US prices from the App Store in-app purchase lists, read October 26, 2026. Prices change and vary by country.
Who should stay with MyFitnessPal
- You want a free plan and do not mind searching for foods.
- You use Android, the web, Garmin, Fitbit or Wear OS.
- You eat a lot of branded and chain restaurant food and want exact entries.
- You have years of history in MyFitnessPal you want to keep in one place.
Who should switch to EXO
- Logging every ingredient is why you quit before.
- You cook at home and want a whole plate counted from one photo.
- You take supplements and want them added to your vitamin and mineral totals.
- You want sleep, heart and activity from Apple Health next to your meals.
- You want a meal plan or a strength plan in the same app.
The verdict
MyFitnessPal is still the most complete free calorie counter, and the safest pick if you need Android or a giant branded food database. EXO is the better MyFitnessPal alternative on iPhone if speed is what you are missing: one photo per meal, with vitamins, minerals and supplements counted for you. At $79.99 a year both cost the same, so the real question is how you like to log.
Sources
- Apple App Store US listings and in-app purchase lists: MyFitnessPal and EXO, read October 26, 2026.
- MyFitnessPal. Free vs Premium, read October 26, 2026.
- Digital Trends. MyFitnessPal barcode scanning moves to Premium, 2022.
- Griffiths C, Harnack L, Pereira MA. Assessment of the accuracy of nutrient calculations of five popular nutrition tracking applications. Public Health Nutrition, 2018;21(8):1495-1502. doi:10.1017/S1368980018000393
- American Society for Nutrition. Photo-based calorie-tracking apps may underestimate energy in meals, NUTRITION 2026 abstract from NIH NIDDK researchers, July 25, 2026. Preliminary, not peer reviewed.
- TechCrunch. MyFitnessPal has acquired Cal AI, March 2, 2026.
EXO makes this comparison. We are not affiliated with MyFitnessPal and were not paid by anyone for it. Tell us at [email protected] if something here is out of date.
