Why Is MyFitnessPal So Expensive Now? What Changed and Is It Worth It

You opened MyFitnessPal to scan your breakfast bar and got hit with a paywall asking for $19.99 a month. The barcode scanner you have used for years — gone from the free tier. The detailed nutrient breakdowns — locked behind premium. The meal plans — premium only. If you feel blindsided, you are not alone. MyFitnessPal's pricing changes have frustrated millions of loyal users who built years of food logs on a platform that used to give most of its features away for free.

Let us break down exactly what happened, what you are actually paying for at that price, whether it is worth it, and what your options are if the answer is no.

What MyFitnessPal Actually Charges in 2026

MyFitnessPal currently offers two tiers:

Free tier:

• Basic food diary with manual search
• Limited database access
• Banner and interstitial ads throughout the app
• Community forums
• Basic calorie goal setting

Premium tier — $19.99/month or $79.99/year ($6.67/month):

• Barcode scanning
• Detailed macro and micronutrient breakdowns
• Food analysis and nutrient summaries
• Meal plans and guided nutrition programs
• Ad-free experience
• Priority customer support
• CSV data export
• Custom macro goals by meal

If you pay monthly, that is $239.88 per year for a calorie tracking app. Even the annual plan at $79.99 is a significant ask for what used to be free functionality.

What Changed and When

MyFitnessPal was founded in 2005 and became the go-to free calorie tracker for over a decade. Under Armour acquired it in 2015 for $475 million. In 2020, Under Armour sold it to Francisco Partners, a private equity firm, for $345 million — a significant loss that signaled pressure to monetize.

The changes came in stages. Premium features were gradually introduced, but the most controversial shift happened when barcode scanning — the single most-used feature — was moved behind the paywall. For many users, barcode scanning was the entire reason they used MyFitnessPal. Removing it from the free tier felt like a bait-and-switch after years of loyalty.

The free tier also became increasingly ad-heavy. Full-screen interstitial ads between logging meals, banner ads on every screen, and video ads for unlocking certain views. For an app you open 3-5 times a day, the ad experience became genuinely disruptive.

What You Get for $19.99/Month

To be fair, MyFitnessPal Premium is not without value. Here is what the subscription actually includes:

The database is massive. MyFitnessPal claims over 14 million foods in its database. While this sounds impressive, a significant portion is user-submitted and unverified — meaning duplicate entries, outdated nutrition data, and wildly inaccurate calorie counts are common. You might find five different entries for "banana" with calorie counts ranging from 89 to 135 for the same size.

Barcode scanning works well. When you can use it, the barcode scanner is fast and recognizes most packaged products in North America and Europe. It has been a core feature since the app's early days and remains one of the smoothest implementations on the market.

Macro tracking is detailed. Premium unlocks per-meal macro goals, macro percentages, and nutrient breakdowns beyond the big three (protein, carbs, fat). You can customize targets and see trends over time.

Meal plans offer structure. If you want pre-built meal plans with calorie targets, Premium provides them. They are fairly generic but serve as a starting point for beginners.

What You Do NOT Get

Despite the premium price, there are notable gaps:

No AI-powered food logging. You cannot snap a photo of your plate and have the app identify the food. Every item must be searched manually or scanned via barcode. In 2026, when multiple competitors offer AI photo recognition, this feels like a significant missing feature at this price point.

No voice logging. You cannot say "I had two eggs and a slice of toast" and have the app log it. Every entry requires manual typing and searching.

No verified database. That 14-million-entry database is a double-edged sword. User-submitted data means you are trusting strangers to have entered accurate nutrition information. There is no verification layer, and duplicate or incorrect entries are a well-documented problem.

No smartwatch standalone app. While MyFitnessPal syncs with some wearables for step and calorie data, it does not offer a full standalone tracking experience on Apple Watch or Wear OS.

No recipe import from URLs. You cannot paste a recipe link and have MyFitnessPal automatically calculate the nutrition. You have to manually enter every ingredient.

Limited language support. The app is primarily English-focused, with limited localization for other languages.

Is MyFitnessPal Premium Actually Worth It?

This is where it gets nuanced. If all three of these are true, MyFitnessPal Premium might be worth it for you:

1. You have years of food log history in MyFitnessPal and do not want to lose it
2. You primarily track packaged foods with barcodes
3. You do not mind the manual search-and-log workflow

MyFitnessPal's biggest advantage is its long history and the familiarity factor. If you have been using it since 2015 and your entire food history is there, switching has a real cost in terms of data continuity.

However, if you are a new user evaluating calorie trackers in 2026, it is hard to justify $19.99/month — or even $6.67/month on the annual plan — when competitors offer more features for less money. The lack of AI photo logging, voice input, and a verified database are meaningful gaps at this price point.

For users who mostly scan barcodes on packaged foods and want the simplest possible workflow, the annual plan at $79.99 is defensible. For everyone else, the value proposition has weakened significantly.

What to Use Instead

If you have decided MyFitnessPal's pricing no longer works for you, here are four alternatives worth considering:

Nutrola — €2.50/month

Nutrola is a full-featured nutrition tracker built for 2026 expectations at a fraction of the price. At €2.50/month, it costs roughly 87% less than MyFitnessPal Premium's monthly rate.

What stands out: AI photo recognition lets you snap a picture of your plate and log the entire meal in seconds. AI voice logging means you can dictate what you ate naturally. Barcode scanning is included — not paywalled. The database covers 1.8 million or more verified foods across 100 or more tracked nutrients, and every entry is verified rather than user-submitted. It runs on Apple Watch and Wear OS as a standalone app, supports recipe import from URLs, and is available in 9 languages. There are zero ads on any tier.

Cronometer — Free with $8.49/month Gold tier

Cronometer is known for its micronutrient tracking depth. The free tier is more generous than MyFitnessPal's, and Gold unlocks custom nutrition targets, fasting timers, and an ad-free experience. The database is smaller but curated. It lacks AI photo or voice logging.

Samsung Health — Free

If you use a Samsung phone, Samsung Health offers basic calorie tracking with barcode scanning at no cost. It is more limited in database depth and features, but the price is right for casual trackers who just want a simple food diary.

FatSecret — Free with $6.99/month Premium

FatSecret has maintained a more generous free tier than MyFitnessPal, including barcode scanning. The interface is dated and it lacks AI features, but the food diary, meal planning, and community features are solid for a free app. Premium removes ads and adds meal and exercise planning.

Comparison Table

Feature	MyFitnessPal Premium	Nutrola	Cronometer Gold	FatSecret Premium
Monthly price	$19.99	€2.50	$8.49	$6.99
Annual price	$79.99/yr	€29.99/yr	$54.99/yr	$41.99/yr
Barcode scanning	Premium only	Included	Included	Free tier
AI photo logging	No	Yes	No	No
AI voice logging	No	Yes	No	No
Database size	14M+ (unverified)	1.8M+ (verified)	400K+ (curated)	5M+ (mixed)
Nutrients tracked	20+	100+	80+	10+
Ads on free tier	Heavy	None	Minimal	Moderate
Apple Watch app	Sync only	Standalone	No	No
Wear OS app	No	Standalone	No	No
Recipe URL import	No	Yes	No	No
Languages	Limited	9	3	10+

Frequently Asked Questions

Did MyFitnessPal remove barcode scanning from the free version?

Yes. Barcode scanning, which was free for over a decade, was moved to the Premium tier. Free users must now search for foods manually using text search. This was one of the most controversial changes and remains a top complaint among long-term users.

Can I still use MyFitnessPal for free?

You can, but the free experience is significantly limited compared to what it was a few years ago. You get basic food diary functionality with manual text search, but you lose barcode scanning, detailed nutrient breakdowns, ad-free usage, custom macro goals, and meal plans. The ad experience on the free tier is aggressive.

Is the MyFitnessPal annual plan a better deal?

The annual plan at $79.99 ($6.67/month) is substantially cheaper than paying $19.99/month. If you are committed to using MyFitnessPal, the annual plan is the only pricing that makes any financial sense. However, it requires committing for a full year upfront.

Why did MyFitnessPal raise its prices?

After being sold by Under Armour to private equity firm Francisco Partners in 2020, MyFitnessPal has been under pressure to increase revenue. The shift to a premium-heavy model reflects the new ownership's focus on monetization. The massive user base that was built on free features is now the revenue source.

Is there a way to get MyFitnessPal Premium cheaper?

MyFitnessPal occasionally offers discounted annual plans, especially around New Year's and summer. Some users have reported being offered retention discounts when attempting to cancel. Beyond that, the pricing is fixed.

How does Nutrola compare to MyFitnessPal for everyday tracking?

Nutrola covers all the core tracking functionality — food diary, macros, micronutrients, barcode scanning — at a fraction of the price. The main additions are AI photo and voice logging, which eliminate the manual search process that makes calorie tracking tedious. The verified database means you spend less time second-guessing whether the entry you selected is accurate. The tradeoff is that Nutrola's community features are newer and smaller than MyFitnessPal's established forums.

Can I export my data from MyFitnessPal?

Premium subscribers can export their food diary data as CSV files. Free users cannot export their data, which creates a lock-in effect that makes switching more difficult. If you are considering leaving, you may want to subscribe for one month just to export your history.