Cal AI vs MyFitnessPal: Photo Logging or Search Logging

Cal AI vs MyFitnessPal is photo logging against search logging. The photo app shows scan results only with a subscription. MyFitnessPal logs by search on a free plan and adds photo scanning in Premium. One more fact changes the choice: MyFitnessPal announced in March 2026 that it had bought Cal AI.

I read both companies’ pages. Then I worked out one plate from database records to see what a photo can miss. Prices are US dollars. Each fact about the apps links to its page.

Cal AI vs MyFitnessPal: does the ownership matter?

Not much, for the choice itself. MyFitnessPal’s announcement says Cal AI will continue to operate as a standalone product. It calls MyFitnessPal the platform for members focused on health and weight management, and Cal AI a fully AI-native experience with an approachable entry point. Both now come from one company, and each is pitched at a different habit.

The release is silent on what happens to either app’s user data, so read the privacy policy of whichever one you pick.

What a photo can and can’t see

A photo captures only the top layer of a meal. Cal AI’s site says your phone’s depth sensor calculates food volume and its AI then works out calories, protein, carbs and fat. MyFitnessPal’s Meal Scan identifies food with the camera and suggests entries from its food database. In both cases, the oil cooked into the rice or soaked into the chicken doesn’t show.

I worked through one plate to see how much that could be. Chicken breast, rice, broccoli and a tablespoon of olive oil, with every figure from a USDA FoodData Central record.

Item	Grams	kcal per 100 g	kcal
Chicken breast, braised (Foundation, FDC ID 331960)	150	166	249
Rice, white, long-grain, cooked (SR Legacy, FDC ID 168878)	158 (1 cup)	130	205
Broccoli, boiled, no salt (SR Legacy, FDC ID 169967)	78 (half a cup)	35	27
Olive oil (SR Legacy, FDC ID 171413)	13.5 (1 tbsp)	884	119
Total			600

The plate comes to about 600 kcal, and the oil is 119 of them, close to 20%. Leave the oil out and you log 481 kcal. A photo estimate that misses the oil is short by that much, and an app that suggests grams for you can’t see it either.

Cal AI’s own FAQ says the app is about 80% accurate and advises good lighting and a clear frame. I haven’t tested that figure. An independent test of its photo estimates is in the Cal AI reviews piece. My advice is simpler: weigh the oil, or log it on its own line, in whichever app you use. On the plate above that is 13.5 g and 119 kcal, and it takes seconds to weigh.

Foodvisor, another photo app, also keeps photo analysis for Premium. How it splits free and paid is in is Foodvisor free.

How do the prices compare?

On the US App Store, Cal AI shows as free with in-app purchases, and the listing says scan results require a subscription. Its purchases are named “Unlimited”, priced from $2.99 to $29.99 on the list I read, with no period shown for any of them. The site and FAQ I read give no price list. Check the paywall before you start a trial. The trial, the price and how to cancel are in is Cal AI free.

MyFitnessPal’s membership page lists Premium at $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month, and Premium+ at $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month. Its comparison table puts the barcode scanner, Meal Scan and voice logging in Premium and basic food logging on Free.

What you pay for	Cal AI	MyFitnessPal
Basic search logging	its FAQ lists manual search as a way to log; I did not find what you can log before the paywall	Free
Photo scanning	the core of the app	Premium (“Meal Scan”)
Price shown	“Unlimited” from $2.99 to $29.99, no period	$79.99 a year or $19.99 a month for Premium

What happens when you leave?

Both apps cancel through your phone’s store, and deleting the app cancels neither. Per its FAQ, you can’t cancel Cal AI inside the app. On iPhone: Settings, your name, Subscriptions. It doesn’t carry from iPhone to Android either. On the MyFitnessPal cancel page, Premium stays until the paid period ends.

Moving data is the bigger snag. Cal AI says it can’t import food history from MyFitnessPal yet. MyFitnessPal’s export is a Premium feature in any case, so a switch means a blank diary. Ask about the way out before you pay, the same way you’d check anything else on the list in how to choose a calorie counter app.

Where does Calsa fit next to these two?

How we compare: 15 calorie trackers sold in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, checked against their websites, help centers and App Store pages. Paid screens stayed unopened.

	In the category (of 15 apps, checked 8 Oct 2026)	Calsa
Source of each number	0 of 15 show the database source of every number; 9 show a check badge or a “checked by nutritionists” claim without it	every number shows its source and database release; an unconfirmed amount is marked “estimate”
Price	0 of 15 show the price before the first question; 7 of 15 use timers, discount wheels or a second offer	price, trial and how to cancel before any question; no timers
Tracking	2 of 15 declare no tracking; 13 of 15 declare tracking	no tracking; health data is used only to run the service

If the photo is the only way you will log, Cal AI fits. If you want search, barcodes and a $0 plan to start on, MyFitnessPal fits. Whichever you pick, log your oil on its own line for a week and see how far the photo estimates sit from your scale.

Where Calsa is weaker. It has a smaller food database, no manual workout logging, no Apple Watch app or widget, and no meal plans or fasting. The trial ends and then every plan is paid.

Choose something else if a plan that never bills is the requirement, or you need a watch app or a manual workout log.

Calsa names the foods in a photo and suggests grams for you to confirm, and it gives oil and dressing a line of their own.