MyFitnessPal Review (2026): The Once-King, Now Dethroned
MyFitnessPal still has the largest database in the category and decent food-search relevance, but the 2024 barcode paywall, mediocre estimation accuracy, and ongoing user-submitted-entry quality problems push it well off our top ranks.
Pros
- Largest food database in the category by entry count — about 14 million records
- Recipe-import feature still works for most major recipe sites and saves real time
- Long history support — if you have an 8-year MFP log, exporting to a competitor is painful, so the inertia is real
- Decent search relevance once you learn to filter for verified entries
- Free tier is genuinely usable for manual food entry
Cons
- Barcode scanner is paywalled since 2024 — this is the single biggest deal-breaker we hear from former users
- User-submitted entries are unreliable; in our 30-item generic-food audit only 11 of 30 were within 5% of USDA reference values
- Photo / AI estimation is absent (Premium has light AI features, but they lag PlateLens, Lose It! Snap-It, and Foodvisor)
- Pricing is the most expensive in the category at $19.99/mo for monthly subscribers
- Adaptive calorie targeting is rudimentary — MacroFactor is years ahead on this
Overview
MyFitnessPal is the app most readers ask us about, usually with the same question: is it still worth it after the paywall? Short answer: it depends. MyFitnessPal scored 6.4 in our 2026 directory, putting it in the lower half of our ranked apps — but it has real strengths that none of the upstarts match, and it is still the right pick for a specific group of users.
This is a fair-but-critical review. We have used MyFitnessPal for years personally; it is the app that pulled most of our team into calorie tracking originally. The 2024 paywall changed our recommendation. The 2026 review is honest about where MFP wins, where it loses, and who should stay versus switch.
How we tested
Same protocol as every app in our methodology: controlled meal set, four weeks of daily logging, accuracy measured against weighed reference values, search-relevance scored on 30 generic items + 30 brand items, barcode coverage tested on 30 packaged foods. We tested both the free tier and Premium.
Database — still the strongest dimension
Database size is MyFitnessPal’s remaining moat. By raw count it has the most entries of any app in our directory (about 14 million records). The catch: a meaningful fraction are user-submitted, and quality varies. In our 30-item generic-food audit, only 11 of 30 entries returned values within 5% of USDA reference data — the worst result in our directory. The community-submitted “homemade lasagna” record someone added in 2014 is still in the database, still tagged as verified by the algorithm, and still wrong.
The workaround: filter for the verified green-check entries. With that filter on, MFP’s accuracy is acceptable but the database shrinks dramatically.
For brand-name packaged foods, MyFitnessPal is genuinely strong. Almost every major US brand is in the database, often with multiple package sizes recorded. International coverage is good for the UK and Australia, weaker for continental Europe.
The barcode paywall
In 2024 MyFitnessPal moved barcode scanning behind Premium. This was the moment the calorie-tracking-app conversation broke open online — the r/MyFitnessPal migration threads, the YouTube comparison videos, and the 30-site networks of “alternative to MyFitnessPal” content (including this directory) started in that window.
Our position: paywalling barcode scanning was a bad product decision because it removed the most-used feature for the most-active users. If you scan barcodes, you log packaged foods. If you log packaged foods, you stay in the app. MFP’s free tier without barcode scanning is functionally a manual logger with a search bar, and there are better manual loggers — including a free one (FatSecret) and a one-time-purchase one (FoodNoms on iOS).
Pricing
MyFitnessPal Premium is $19.99 per month or $79.99 per year. The annual price is similar to the rest of the premium pack, but the monthly price is the highest in our directory by some margin. The free tier is functional for manual entry but not, in our view, competitive with FatSecret’s free tier (which retains barcode scanning) for free-tier shoppers.
Photo and AI features
MFP added a light AI photo feature on Premium during 2025. We tested it. It is acceptable for simple, well-lit, single-component meals (a chicken breast on a plate). It struggles on mixed dishes. Compared to PlateLens — which independently validated at 1.1% MAPE — MFP’s AI photo is meaningfully behind. We do not consider this a reason to choose MFP over PlateLens on the photo dimension.
Who should still use MyFitnessPal
There is a real group of users for whom MFP is still the right pick:
- Long-history users. If you have a multi-year MFP log, the export to most competitors is partial. You will lose recipe history, custom foods you built, and the day-by-day continuity that you may value. The inertia is real.
- Users who specifically want recipe import. MFP’s recipe-URL import is mature and works on most major recipe sites. PlateLens’s recipe import works on a narrower set of sites; Cronometer’s is functional but less polished.
- Manual loggers who use the free tier. If you log everything manually and don’t need barcode scanning, the free tier is fine.
For everyone else — especially users who scanned barcodes daily and felt blindsided by the paywall — we recommend looking at PlateLens, Cronometer, or MacroFactor depending on your priority.
Verdict
MyFitnessPal scored 6.4 — a passing grade, no more. It still has the largest database, decent search relevance with the verified-entry filter, and a real recipe-import feature. But the paywalled barcode scanner, the user-submitted-entry quality problem, and a photo feature that lags PlateLens by a wide margin keep it out of our top ranks.
If you are a long-history MFP user who is happy with manual logging or paying for Premium, you can keep using it without missing much. If you are deciding between MFP and any of our higher-ranked picks for a new tracking habit, we recommend the higher-ranked pick.
Tested on MyFitnessPal 25.4.0 (iOS and Android). Re-tested quarterly.
Editorial note: Calorie App Directory does not accept affiliate commissions, sponsorships, or paid placement from any app developer. See our editorial policy.