Fasting App Comparison Chart 2026: 8 Apps for Intermittent Fasting Compared

Intermittent fasting apps have exploded in popularity, but most of them are just fancy timers. A countdown clock telling you when your eating window opens is useful for about the first week. After that, the real challenge of intermittent fasting is not knowing when to eat. It is knowing what and how much to eat during your window. The most successful intermittent fasters combine a fasting schedule with precise nutrition tracking during their eating hours.

This comparison chart takes a different approach from most fasting app reviews. We evaluate 8 apps across two dimensions: fasting features (timers, protocols, streaks) and nutrition tracking depth (because what you eat during your window matters as much as when you eat). Some of these apps are dedicated fasting apps. Others are nutrition trackers with fasting awareness. The right choice depends on which dimension matters more to you.

How We Evaluated These Apps

We used each app while following a 16:8 intermittent fasting protocol for three weeks. Our evaluation criteria:

Fasting timer checks whether the app has a built-in countdown timer for fasting and eating windows, with notifications when windows open and close.

Nutrition tracking depth measures how comprehensively the app tracks what you eat during eating windows: nutrients tracked, database quality, and logging methods.

IF protocols supported counts the number of distinct intermittent fasting protocols the app officially supports (16:8, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, 5:2, alternate-day, custom, etc.).

Streak tracking tests whether the app tracks consecutive fasting completions and provides motivation through streaks, badges, or progress visualization.

Community evaluates social features: forums, groups, challenges, and shared accountability.

Fasting education checks whether the app provides articles, tips, or scientific content about fasting benefits, safety, and best practices.

Price reflects the monthly cost as of March 2026.

The Big Comparison Chart

Feature	Nutrola	Zero	Simple	Lasta	Fastic	Life Fasting	MyFitnessPal	Yazio
Built-in Fasting Timer	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic	Yes
Timer Notifications	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Basic	Yes
IF Protocols Supported	N/A	8+	10+	8+	7+	6+	1 (basic)	5+
Custom Fasting Schedule	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Nutrients Tracked	100+	0 (no food tracking)	Basic (calories)	Basic (calories + macros)	Basic (calories)	0 (no food tracking)	19	17
Database Size	1.8M+ verified	None	Limited	Limited	Limited	None	14M+	4M+
AI Photo Logging	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
AI Voice Logging	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Barcode Scanner	Yes	No	Yes (basic)	Yes (basic)	Yes (basic)	No	Yes	Yes
Micronutrient Tracking	Yes (100+ nutrients)	No	No	No	No	No	Limited (19)	Limited (17)
Streak Tracking	Logging streaks	Yes (fasting streaks)	Yes (fasting streaks)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Logging streaks	Yes
Fasting Streaks	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Community	No	Yes (forums)	Yes (groups)	Yes	Yes (challenges)	Yes (groups)	Forums	Limited
Fasting Education	No	Yes (articles)	Yes (lessons)	Yes (coaching)	Yes (articles)	Yes (articles)	No	Limited
Weight Tracking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Apple Health Sync	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google Health Connect	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Apple Watch	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Wear OS	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Languages	9	5	15+	10+	8	5	20+	14
Price	€2.50/mo	$9.99/mo	$14.99/mo	$12.99/mo	$11.99/mo	$6.99/mo	$19.99/mo	$6.99/mo

The Fundamental Trade-Off: Timer vs. Tracker

This chart reveals a clear pattern: dedicated fasting apps are great at fasting features but terrible at nutrition tracking. Nutrition trackers are great at food logging but lack fasting-specific features.

Dedicated fasting apps (Zero, Simple, Lasta, Fastic, Life Fasting) all have polished fasting timers, multiple IF protocol support, streak tracking, and fasting education content. But Zero and Life Fasting offer zero food tracking. Simple, Lasta, and Fastic include basic calorie counting, but with limited databases and minimal nutrient data. None of them track micronutrients.

Nutrition trackers (Nutrola, MyFitnessPal, Yazio) excel at tracking what you eat but have limited or no fasting timer features. Yazio is the one exception with a built-in fasting timer and 5+ protocols, making it the most balanced single-app option for basic fasting with basic nutrition tracking.

Nutrola does not have a built-in fasting timer. We want to be straightforward about that. However, it offers the most comprehensive nutrition tracking of any app in this chart (100+ nutrients, AI photo and voice logging, 1.8M+ verified database), which addresses the part of intermittent fasting that most fasting apps completely ignore: the quality and quantity of what you eat during your eating window.

Why Nutrition Tracking Matters More Than the Timer

Here is an uncomfortable truth about intermittent fasting: the timer is the easy part. Setting a 16-hour fasting window and waiting for it to end requires patience, but it does not require a sophisticated app. Your phone's built-in clock app can do that.

The hard part, and the part that determines whether intermittent fasting actually leads to results, is what happens during the 8-hour eating window. Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that intermittent fasting only leads to weight loss when it creates a calorie deficit. If you eat the same number of calories during a shorter window, you will not lose weight. Some people actually overeat during their window to compensate for the fast, ending up in a surplus.

This is where nutrition tracking becomes essential. Without tracking, you have no way to know whether your eating window meals are creating the deficit you need. And without micronutrient tracking, you have no way to know whether condensing your meals into a shorter window is creating nutritional gaps. Eating fewer meals means fewer opportunities to get adequate vitamins and minerals.

Dedicated Fasting Apps: Deep Dive

Zero is the most established dedicated fasting app with a clean, focused interface. Its fasting timer is excellent with smooth animations and clear countdown displays. It supports 8+ IF protocols including custom schedules. The community forums are active with discussions about fasting science, tips, and experiences. Zero also publishes educational articles about fasting research. However, it has absolutely no food tracking. You cannot log a single calorie. At $9.99 per month for the premium features (timer history, insights, advanced stats), it is a premium price for what is fundamentally a timer with extras.

Simple positions itself as a comprehensive fasting companion with 10+ protocols, daily fasting scores, personalized insights, and structured educational content. Its food tracking exists but is extremely basic, limited to rough calorie estimates. Available in 15+ languages, it has the broadest international reach among fasting apps. At $14.99 per month, it is the most expensive dedicated fasting app.

Lasta combines fasting with basic calorie and macro tracking, plus a coaching element with personalized meal suggestions. It covers 8+ protocols and provides educational content. The food tracking is a step above Zero and Life Fasting but still far behind dedicated nutrition trackers. $12.99 per month.

Fastic focuses on community engagement with challenges, badges, and social features alongside its fasting timer. Basic calorie tracking is included. 7+ protocols supported. The community aspect is genuinely motivating for users who thrive on social accountability. $11.99 per month.

Life Fasting is a simpler, more affordable option at $6.99 per month. It supports 6+ protocols with a clean timer interface and active community groups. Like Zero, it has no food tracking at all. Best for users who only want a fasting timer with social features.

Nutrition Trackers for Fasters: Deep Dive

Nutrola offers the deepest nutrition tracking available: 100+ nutrients, 1.8M+ verified database, AI photo logging, AI voice logging, barcode scanning, and recipe import. For intermittent fasters, its value is in ensuring that eating window meals are both calorie-appropriate and nutritionally complete. The AI voice logging is particularly useful for quickly logging meals during a compressed eating window when you do not want to spend time on manual food search. At €2.50 per month, pairing it with a free fasting timer app costs less than any single dedicated fasting app.

MyFitnessPal has a basic fasting feature but it is not the app's strength. It tracks 19 nutrients with a 14M+ user-submitted database. At $19.99 per month, it is the most expensive option in this chart and does not offer anything fasting-specific that justifies the price.

Yazio is the most balanced single-app option with both a fasting timer (5+ protocols) and decent nutrition tracking (17 nutrients, 4M+ database). If you want one app for both fasting and food tracking and do not need deep micronutrient data, Yazio is the practical choice at $6.99 per month.

The Two-App Strategy

For the best of both worlds, many serious intermittent fasters use two apps: a free or low-cost fasting timer and a comprehensive nutrition tracker. This approach gives you better tools for both dimensions than any single app provides.

The most cost-effective combination:

Free fasting timer (Zero's free tier, or your phone's built-in timer/alarm) + Nutrola (€2.50 per month) = total cost of €2.50 per month.

This gives you a perfectly functional fasting countdown plus the most comprehensive nutrition tracking available (100+ nutrients, AI logging, verified database). It costs less than Zero's premium tier alone ($9.99 per month), less than Simple ($14.99 per month), and far less than MyFitnessPal ($19.99 per month).

Compare this to using only a dedicated fasting app:

• Zero Premium: $9.99 per month for a timer with no food tracking
• Simple Premium: $14.99 per month for a timer with basic calorie logging
• Lasta Premium: $12.99 per month for a timer with basic food tracking

The two-app strategy costs less and delivers more. The only downside is managing two apps, but since you open the fasting timer 1-2 times per day (start and stop fasting) and the nutrition tracker 4-6 times per day (logging meals), the overlap is minimal.

App-by-App Quick Summary

Nutrola — No fasting timer, but the best nutrition tracking available for eating window optimization. 100+ nutrients, AI voice and photo logging, verified 1.8M+ database, recipe import. Pair with a free fasting timer for the most comprehensive and affordable IF setup. €2.50 per month, zero ads.

Zero — The gold standard for dedicated fasting timers. Clean interface, 8+ protocols, active community, fasting education. No food tracking at all. $9.99 per month for premium.

Simple — The most feature-rich fasting app with 10+ protocols, daily scores, and educational content. Basic calorie logging. Broadest language support (15+). $14.99 per month.

Lasta — Fasting timer with basic calorie and macro tracking plus coaching. A reasonable single-app option for basic fasting and basic nutrition. $12.99 per month.

Fastic — Community-focused fasting app with challenges and social features. Basic calorie tracking. Best for users motivated by social accountability. $11.99 per month.

Life Fasting — Simple, affordable fasting timer with community groups. No food tracking. Best as a no-frills timer. $6.99 per month.

MyFitnessPal — Basic fasting support with decent (but expensive) nutrition tracking. Not optimized for either fasting or deep nutrition. $19.99 per month.

Yazio — The best single-app option combining a fasting timer (5+ protocols) with nutrition tracking (17 nutrients). The most balanced choice for users who refuse to use two apps. $6.99 per month.

Key Takeaways

Dedicated fasting apps are overpriced timers. Zero, Simple, Lasta, Fastic, and Life Fasting range from $6.99 to $14.99 per month. Their core feature (a countdown timer) is something your phone can do for free. The premium value is in streak tracking, community, and education, not the timer itself.

Nutrition tracking is the missing piece in most fasting routines. What you eat during your eating window determines whether intermittent fasting works for you. Most fasting apps completely ignore this.

The two-app strategy is the best value. A free fasting timer plus Nutrola (€2.50 per month) gives you a premium fasting timer experience and the best nutrition tracking available for less than any single dedicated fasting app costs.

If you must use one app, Yazio is the best compromise. It is the only app in our comparison with both a solid fasting timer and reasonable nutrition tracking. It is not the best at either, but it is adequate at both for $6.99 per month.

Micronutrient tracking becomes more important with fasting. Fewer meals means fewer chances to get adequate vitamins and minerals. Only Nutrola (100+ nutrients) and Cronometer (not in this chart, 82+ nutrients) track enough micronutrients to ensure your compressed eating window still meets your nutritional needs.

Our Pick

For the best intermittent fasting experience, we recommend the two-app strategy: a free fasting timer + Nutrola (€2.50 per month). This combination costs less than any single premium fasting app while delivering superior tools for both dimensions of intermittent fasting: timing and nutrition.

Nutrola's AI voice and photo logging are particularly valuable for fasters because eating window meals tend to be larger and more complex (compensating for skipped meals), and quick logging keeps the tracking burden low. The 100+ nutrient tracking ensures your condensed meals are nutritionally complete.

If you strongly prefer a single app, Yazio ($6.99 per month) provides the best balance of fasting timer and nutrition tracking in one package.

If you only care about the fasting timer and community, and do not want to track food at all, Zero ($9.99 per month for premium, free tier available) is the most polished dedicated fasting app.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Nutrola have a fasting timer?

No, Nutrola does not include a built-in fasting timer. It focuses on comprehensive nutrition tracking (100+ nutrients, AI logging, verified database). For intermittent fasting, we recommend pairing Nutrola with a free fasting timer app like Zero (free tier) or using your phone's built-in timer.

What is the best free fasting app?

Zero offers a solid free tier with a basic fasting timer and limited history. Life Fasting's free tier provides a simple timer. For nutrition tracking to complement a free fasting timer, Nutrola at €2.50 per month provides far more value than upgrading any fasting app to premium.

Do I need to track calories while intermittent fasting?

Yes, if your goal is weight loss. Research shows intermittent fasting only leads to weight loss when it creates a calorie deficit. Without tracking, you may unknowingly eat at maintenance or surplus during your eating window. Nutrition tracking during eating windows helps ensure your fast is actually effective.

Which fasting app tracks the most nutrients?

Among apps with any fasting features, Yazio tracks 17 nutrients and MyFitnessPal tracks 19. However, Nutrola (which can be paired with a fasting timer) tracks 100+ nutrients, more than five times what any fasting-aware app offers.

Is a fasting app worth paying for?

The core fasting timer feature is available for free in multiple apps and even in your phone's clock app. Premium fasting apps ($7-15 per month) add streak tracking, community, education, and insights. Whether that is worth paying for depends on how much you value those extras. For most people, a free timer plus a nutrition tracker (Nutrola at €2.50 per month) provides more practical value.

Can intermittent fasting cause nutrient deficiencies?

It can, if your eating window meals are not nutritionally balanced. Eating fewer meals means fewer opportunities to consume adequate vitamins and minerals. This risk is mitigated by tracking micronutrients during your eating window using an app like Nutrola (100+ nutrients) or Cronometer (82+ nutrients).