fatsecret App Review: What the Free Tracker Covers
The free tracker covers a food diary, macro tracking, a barcode scanner and reports. Premium adds meal plans, photo scanning and a water tracker, and US annual rows run from $38.99 to $59.99.
Key takeaways
- The free tracker has a food diary, macro tracking, a barcode scanner, reports, a community and achievements and streaks.
- Premium lists Smart Food Scan for photos, a Smart Assistant for typed or spoken meals, a water tracker and dietitian meal plans.
- The US App Store lists annual rows from $38.99 to $59.99, and the UK rows run from £29.00 to £44.99.
- The store listing says a subscription can't be refunded or cancelled during the period, so set a reminder before renewal.
- The listing says the app is customized for US foods and brands, so test the barcode scanner on your own shopping.
The fatsecret app is free for a food diary, macro tracking, a barcode scanner and reports. Premium adds meal plans, photo scanning, a water tracker and extra meal slots, and the US App Store lists its annual rows from $38.99 to $59.99. I checked the app’s store pages in four countries for this fatsecret app review.
What does the fatsecret app cover for free?
Beyond that, the App Store listing adds an exercise diary, a weight tracker, goals and reminders, recipes and a community to that. It also names an Apple Watch app and Apple Health sync, which brings in calories burned and steps and writes your foods and weight back.
The Premium page lines up with that. Its free column has macro tracking, the barcode scanner, a supportive community, achievements and streaks, and reports. The weekly review is “Limited” for free users and “In Depth” in Premium.
Two lines in the listing are easy to miss. The app is “customized for US foods and brands”, which matters if you shop in the UK, Canada or Australia, so search for your own groceries before you trust the database. A health professional can also follow your diary through fatsecret Professional. For another tracker with a free plan to hold it against, the Cronometer review covers its free tier and Gold.
What does fatsecret Premium add?
The Premium page lists a Smart Assistant for dictated or typed meals and Smart Food Scan for photos. It adds a meal planner, dietitian-designed meal plans, a water tracker, a learning center, one-tap recipe logging, custom meals and copy food.
| Feature | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Food diary, exercise diary, weight tracker | Yes | Yes |
| Macro tracking and barcode scanner | Yes | Yes |
| Community, achievements and streaks | Yes | Yes |
| Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly review | Limited | In depth |
| Smart Food Scan (photo) | No | Yes |
| Smart Assistant (spoken or typed meal) | No | Yes |
| Water tracker | No | Yes |
| Meal planner and dietitian meal plans | No | Yes |
| Custom meal headings (six extra meal types) | No | Yes |
Photos have a catch. The App Store text lists “image recognition of foods” among the app’s features without naming a plan. The Premium page puts Smart Food Scan under Premium, and I’d read that page as the answer. Look at the paywall in the app before you pay for photo logging. How that photo step compares with a paid tracker that includes it in every plan is laid out in fatsecret vs Calsa.
The dietitian meal plans are offered only in some countries, and the Premium page lists the US, the UK, Canada and Australia among them. If guidance matters more to you than a log, Noom vs MyFitnessPal compares a paid program with a tracker.
How does the fatsecret barcode scanner work?
It’s free, and the steps are short. The help article on the scanner says to tap Add Food, then the camera icon, then the barcode icon, scan the pack and tap Add.
A scan returns only what the database holds for that code. I can’t give you a hit rate. Scan five packaged foods from your cupboard and compare each result with its label. How to choose a calorie counter app has the other checks worth running.
Reports can leave the app too. The export help page says you choose a period, a report type and a format, PDF or CSV. The Premium comparison lists reports as free, and the help page doesn’t say export is Premium-only.
How much does fatsecret Premium cost?
It depends on which row you tap. fatsecret sells monthly, quarterly and annual subscriptions, and each storefront lists several rows under the same names. These are the ranges I read.
| Storefront | “Monthly Subscription” | “Quarterly Subscription” | “Annual Subscription” |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $10.49 to $14.99 | $19.99 to $28.99 | $38.99 to $59.99 |
| United Kingdom | £7.69 to £10.99 | £15.00 to £21.99 | £29.00 to £44.99 |
| Canada | $13.99 to $19.99 | $27.49 to $39.49 | $52.99 to $81.90 |
| Australia | $15.49 to $21.99 | $29.49 to $41.99 | $57.00 to $87.90 |
The store page doesn’t say why a plan has more than one price. Apple shows ten rows per page, so some rows may be hidden. The same annual name covers $21.00 in the US ($38.99 to $59.99), $28.91 in Canada and $30.90 in Australia.
Per month, a US year at $38.99 is $3.25, and at $59.99 it’s $5.00. Monthly rows cost 12 × $10.49 = $125.88 to 12 × $14.99 = $179.88 over a year. Paying quarterly at $19.99 for a year is 4 × $19.99 = $79.96, which is $19.97 more than the top annual row.
Cancellation comes with a catch, so read the terms before you subscribe. The listing says payment is charged through your Apple ID at purchase and renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends. It also says it isn’t possible to refund or cancel a subscription during the period. Manage it in your Apple ID settings, and set a reminder for the day before. I found no trial length on the store page. Yazio reviews covers another app that keeps recipes and weekly analysis behind a paid tier, with its own price spread.
Where does Calsa differ from fatsecret, and who should pick fatsecret?
Everything above about fatsecret comes from its App Store pages, Premium page and help center, all read, and I never opened its paid screens. Calsa publishes this blog. Treat my side-by-side as an interested party’s and check it against those pages.
| fatsecret | Calsa | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | A tier at no cost | Paid from the start, with price, trial length and cancel path shown before any question |
| Photo logging | Premium (Smart Food Scan) | In every plan: names the foods, suggests grams, and you confirm the portion |
| Water | Premium | In every plan, with the fluid in everything you log |
| Community | Yes | None: no public profiles and no messages between users |
| Streaks | Achievements and streaks | No streaks or badges, so a break costs nothing |
| Source behind a number | Not shown on the pages I read | Each entry shows where its calories come from and the math, per-100-gram value × grams |
| Export | A diary report as PDF or CSV | Everything, in any plan |
Where Calsa is weaker: fatsecret’s diary, scanner and community cost nothing, while Calsa asks for a subscription and has no community. It also has no meal plans, no manual workout entry, no watch app and a smaller food database.
Choose something else if you want your diary at no cost, a community to log with, a watch app or ready-made meal plans.
Calsa includes UK and Australian products in its barcode scans on every plan.
Questions and answers
Is the fatsecret app free?
Yes, for the core tracker. The App Store listing says the app is free, and the free tier covers a food diary, macro tracking, a barcode scanner, reports and a community. Premium is a paid subscription for meal plans, photo scanning, a water tracker and more.
What does the fatsecret barcode scanner cost?
Nothing. The Premium comparison lists the barcode scanner in the free column. To use it, tap Add Food, then the camera icon and the barcode icon, scan the pack and tap Add.
How much is fatsecret Premium?
On the US App Store the annual rows run from $38.99 to $59.99, the quarterly rows from $19.99 to $28.99 and the monthly rows from $10.49 to $14.99. The UK, Canada and Australia show their own ranges, and each storefront lists several prices under the same name.
Can I cancel fatsecret Premium and get a refund?
The App Store listing says it isn't possible to refund or cancel a subscription during the period. You manage renewal in your Apple ID subscription settings. Refund rules for App Store purchases are set by Apple.
Does fatsecret have photo logging?
Yes, as Smart Food Scan. The Premium page lists it as a Premium feature, while the App Store text mentions image recognition without naming a plan. Check the paywall in the app before you subscribe.
Sources
- Calorie Counter by fatsecret, US App Store listing, Apple App Store
- fatsecret Premium to Reach Your Weight Loss Goals Sooner, fatsecret
- Log food with the barcode scanner, fatsecret app help, fatsecret
- Use the export or print function, fatsecret app help, fatsecret
- Calorie Counter by fatsecret, UK App Store listing, Apple App Store
- Calorie Counter by fatsecret, Canada App Store listing, Apple App Store
- Calorie Counter by fatsecret, Australia App Store listing, Apple App Store
