Best Nutrition Tracking Apps For Nutrition Coaches (MyFitnessPal Alternatives)
...Nutrition Coaches Look At These Now
Written by: Dr. Marc Morris CSCS
Recently, MyFitnessPal, the biggest and most popular food tracking app in the space. Put one of their popular features, the barcode scanner behind a paywall.
AND People Were. Not. HAPPY
Comment after comment erupted.
Negative comments blasting MyFitnessPal.
Loyal users voicing their concerns, and quite honestly, outrage over the update.
And I don’t blame them.
It didn’t take long for news to spread.
Leading MANY long-time users to abandon it completely and looking for a better alternative.
That’s why I’m going to give you my expert opinion as a Ph.D. in Nutrition and long-term nutrition coach, about the best MyFitnessPal alternatives.
So, here’s the deal if you’re a nutrition coach using a food-tracking app with your clients, great.
But there have been some big changes to this space recently that you and your clients need to know about.
And in case you missed it, last week I detailed these big changes to MyFitnessPal.
This has completely shaken up the food tracking space, with nutrition coaches and clients, seeking the BEST food tracking alternatives.
So today we’ll dive into the best nutrition tracking apps, both free and paid, so you can make the best decision for your clients and your nutrition coaching business.
Make you read till the end, (or scroll down) where I’ll give you my expert opinion on what tracking app you should switch too.
Here’s the deal…
If you are a nutrition coach that helps your clients lose weight or gain muscle, which is basically all of us, you are going to have your clients tracking their nutrition.
This is the best way to manage, calories and macronutrients, which helps clients get results.
MyFitnessPal Controversy
One thing that makes food tracking easier is a barcode scanner.
And for many coaches and clients, so when MyFitnessPal removed the barcode feature in the free version it was A BIG DEAL.
This seems to be the final straw for many users AND many nutrition coaches who have long recommended to clients MFP as a way to track their nutrition, have started to reconsider and find alternatives.
I’ve coached 2,000+ clients and always recommended clients use MyFitnessPal…
And always talked them out of the premium version.
In most cases, they didn’t need it.
But now, I’ve reconsidered other alternatives. I wanted to do the heavy lifting for you here and put together a resource discussing all of the strengths and weaknesses and what to think about for you and your clients.
But before we discuss the alternatives, I want to briefly talk about MFP before we move on because, in a lot of ways, this is the app we are comparing everything else to:
Strengths:
- Large database of food items, including restaurant menus
- Custom recipes and log entire previous meals
- Ability to be friends with other users to review and copy food logs
- The Barcode scanner, is no longer free
Weaknesses:
- The database is large, but since users upload foods the information may be inaccurate
- Multiple entries of the same product.
And now the contentious part, the cost of the app.
Cost
- Free version
- Premium: $19.99 per month or $79.99 per year.
Now, despite all of the negative press MFP has gotten about this move, it may be more emotional than anything.
If you use the app and like it, and feel some features you would pay for, do it.
Because as we’ll discuss today, some of the alternatives aren’t free either. And that may not be a bad thing.
At the end of this blog, I’m going to tell you what tracking app you should switch too.
1. Cronometer
When polling my audience, it didn’t take long for Cronometer to come up.
And before getting into the strengths and weaknesses, this seems to be the consensus #1 alternative.
Let’s talk about why.
Strengths:
- Complete Nutrient Summary, including micronutrients
- Custom Macronutrient Targets
- THIS ONE IS BIG. If you’ve been tracking for a while you’ll know you used to be able to do this on MFP. You’d have to add some code to the browser version but it would work. It was an extra step, but adding the code made you feel like a computer hacker. You can’t do this anymore, which is another strike against MyFitnessPal and a big check for Cronometer.
- Sync data from health devices to the app and other information like body weight, body fat percentage, sleep data, and activities
I suggest that you do not track your activity or exercise within any app, since it will recalculate your macros and calories, and increase your overall calories for the day.
Chronometer is great for specific diets and use in nutrition research to help manage specialized diets.
Weaknesses:
There are some drawbacks, however—both on the client and coaching side.
- Can only add recipes on the browser version, not the app
- Isn’t a social community of users, which may make adding clients to review food logs difficult.
- Defaults to measuring net carbs over total carbs. An issue when consuming fibre.
Chronometer is great for specific diets, and use in nutrition research to help manage specialized diets.
Cost
- Free version
- Premium: $19.99 per month or $79.99 per year
2. My Macro+
Very comparably we have My Macros+
Although not as popular as Cronometer, My Macros Plus is a tracking app that does come highly recommended.
One appealing feature is macros listed for individual meals, as well as daily totals.
Since this app was designed by a professional bodybuilder, it seems to check a lot of boxes that someone training and focused on results would want.
Strengths
- As many meals as you want, but they still have individual breakdowns for individual meals, food and days
- Specific targets
- Varying days of the week
- Information is stored locally, no need for an internet connection
- Less discrepancy between macros and calories (better database?)
Weaknesses
- No online backup or component, which might be a concern for some
- Zero community
Cost
- Free version
- MyMacros+ Pro: $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year.
Want to Learn More?
Watch the full review of the BEST MyFitnessPal Alternatives in this video.
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3. MacroFactor
Moving onto a slightly different type of nutrition tracking app.
And spoiler alert, this one isn’t free. And that’s okay because we need to talk about it.
MacroFactor is in a group of nutrition-tracking apps we’re going to start calling “Smart Nutrition Apps”,
This is because they are a little different and more advanced than your run-of-the-mill tracking apps.
Brought to you by nutrition and training experts, Greg Nuckols and Eric Trexler and the team, what is setting apart an app like MacroFactor, is it’s making calculations and adjustments based on what happened on a weekly basis, not what you were planning on doing.
They call this an adherence-neutral approach and based on the feedback I’ve gotten from people that have tracked for a while, myself included, this is a good blend of tracking meets mindful eating practices.
Unlike other diet coach apps which we’re going to touch on next, you don’t have to perfectly adhere to your targets to get weekly adjustments to your plan.
With that being said, you may be thinking “That sounds a lot like a computerized nutrition coach. If I suggest this to clients will they even need me?”
And you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking this…
BUT!
The human-to-human connection.
Expert guidance and support.
And in the trenches, an experience that an app or computer can’t replace.
So, I wouldn’t worry so much about an app like this replacing your nutrition coaching.
And honestly, it may be best for a different demographic altogether, rather than the people you coach.
But let’s talk about some features of MacroFactor
Strengths
- Barcode scanner
- Verified database by Registered Dietitians
- Micronutrients
- Coached, Collaborative, Manual settings
- Dynamic Weekly Adjustments (like being coached)
- Timeline-style food log (some clients will need more structure).
Weaknesses
- No Free Version
- This may be best suited for people with nutrition-tracking experience
Cost
- Premium: $11.99 per month or $71.99 per year.
If you’re watching this and thinking about making the switch, this is a very intriguing option, but I’ll save my overall thoughts and recommendations for the end.
4. Carbon Diet Coach
Continuing on with the trend of “smart” nutrition apps we have the Carbon Diet Coach.
Brought to you by Dr. Layne Norton and the team, this is another tracking app with a science-based coaching algorithm.
Based on my research, the Carbon Diet Coach seems to put a bigger emphasis on body composition changes, which makes sense since most people use tracking to control for the things that change their body comp.
Users that have used both MacroFactor and Carbon Diet Coach express that the latter is more dependent on adherence and planning, it made the process too rigid and the effort felt like a waste.
Depending on who you ask, this can be a strength or a weakness.
Tracking your nutrition can be a very powerful educational tool, BUT most people do it to achieve a specific result and hold themselves to a level of compliance that allows them to make progress.
Therefore, the Carbon Diet Coach app may be best suited for someone who is ready to track on their own, without the accountability of a human coach, but still appreciates some rigidity.
Other strengths include:
Strengths
- Barcode scanner
- Logging food is easy and straightforward
- Timeline-style food log
- Results focused
Weaknesses
- Less grace around non-compliance, nothing changes without adherence (which depending on who you ask could actually be a strength).
- No Free Version
Cost
- Free version
- Premium: $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year.
5. Lose It!
Back to other more basic tracking based we have Lose It!
Strengths
- Barcode scanner
- Tracking food with photos
- Large food database with verified entries from app experts
- Challenges
Weaknesses
- Tough to enter homemade food and access nutritional information
- No micronutrients
Cost
- Free Basic version
- Premium: $39.99 per year.
6. FatSecret
First off the name is awful. Not only do I understand it, but it may be shaming some people.
I’m not sure.
But, if you’re looking for a completely free app, with some good features.
This may be one to look into it.
Strengths
- Barcode scanner
- Meal Breakdown
- User Food Entries are highlighted in the database (for verification)
- Only 1 version, not trying to push you to premium
Weaknesses
- Terrible name (Seriously)
Cost
- FREE
So if you’re looking for an app that’s fully free to use with some decent features and a terrible name, this may be the right fit for you.
And those are the most popular alternatives.
If you’re considering switching yourself or your clients from MFP, here is my suggestion:
In a very strange scenario where this is a gun to my head and I need to decide to switch my food tracking app, here’s what I would do:
If I'm a coach I’m getting my clients to switch over to Cronometer.
If I’m an athlete/user and don’t mind paying, it’s MacroFactor.
Those are my thoughts, would love to hear yours by adding to the discussion in the comments below.
As great as all these tips are, if you’re really serious about starting a nutrition coaching business then the next thing you’re going to want to do is to check out the link right below.
Now that you know the best MyFitnessPal alternatives, check out why this barcode scanner thing is so important.
So make sure to check it out now and I’ll see you in the next time.
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