At $19.99/month or $79.99-99.99/year, is MyFitnessPal Premium worth it? Premium unlocks essential features like custom macro goals, barcode scanning, and ad-free experience—critical for serious trackers but overkill for casual users. Cheaper alternatives like Cronometer offer similar benefits for specific needs.
Whether MyFitnessPal Premium is worth the investment for macro tracking in 2025 depends largely on your specific nutrition goals and tracking habits. While the free version offers basic calorie counting functionality, Healthfit Publishing's analysis shows that serious macro-focused users face significant limitations without the Premium upgrade.
MyFitnessPal has steadily increased its Premium prices while simultaneously restricting free features, creating a more distinct divide between the tiers. The most notable change came in late 2022 when the company paywalled the previously free barcode scanner, forcing manual food entry for non-paying users.
In the United States, MyFitnessPal Premium is priced at $19.99 per month for the monthly subscription option. The annual plan offers savings at $79.99-$99.99 depending on current promotions and whether you're purchasing through the website or app stores.
The Premium+ tier, which includes additional features like personalized meal plans and automated grocery lists, commands a higher price point at $24.99 monthly or $99.99 annually.
A free trial period of one month is typically offered to new Premium subscribers, though this automatically converts to a paid subscription if not canceled before the trial ends.
MyFitnessPal employs regional pricing that creates significant disparities in Premium costs worldwide:
These variations reflect both market economics and MyFitnessPal's pricing strategy in different regions. In some cases, purchasing through the website rather than through app stores can yield significant savings.
Several strategies can help reduce the cost of MyFitnessPal Premium:
The free version of MyFitnessPal provides basic functionality for casual users:
However, free users must contend with frequent, intrusive advertisements and manual food entry since the barcode scanner is now Premium-only.
For serious macro tracking, Premium unlocks essential tools:
The higher-tier Premium+ subscription adds features focused on meal planning:
MyFitnessPal's 2025 Winter Release introduced several new features:
MyFitnessPal boasts over 18 million foods in its database, significantly more than most competitors. However, this massive collection comes with a major caveat: many entries are user-generated and unverified, leading to potential inaccuracies in nutritional data.
The app attempts to address this with "Verified" food entries marked with a checkmark, but these represent only a fraction of the database. Premium features like the barcode scanner and Meal Scan help direct users toward more reliable entries, but database accuracy remains an ongoing concern that even Premium can't fully resolve.
For serious macro tracking, the free version's percentage-based macro view is insufficient. Premium unlocks the ability to:
These capabilities are essential for bodybuilders, physique athletes, and anyone following precise nutrition protocols.
Premium's greatest value proposition is reducing the friction in daily food logging. The barcode scanner, Meal Scan, and Voice Log features can save 10-15 minutes daily for frequent loggers by eliminating manual searches and data entry.
The ad-free experience further streamlines the process by removing disruptive advertisements that plague the free version. For consistent daily users, these time-saving features alone may justify the subscription cost.
Cronometer stands out as the premier option for micronutrient tracking. Unlike MyFitnessPal's user-generated database, Cronometer relies on verified data sources, including the USDA database and lab-analyzed foods. This results in far more accurate nutrient information, especially for vitamins and minerals.
Key advantages over MyFitnessPal include:
However, Cronometer's database is smaller, and its interface can be more complex for beginners.
MacroFactor targets serious athletes and fitness enthusiasts with its data-driven approach. Its standout feature is an adaptive algorithm that adjusts calorie and macro recommendations based on your actual progress, not just your inputs.
Advantages over MyFitnessPal include:
MacroFactor is subscription-only ($11.99/month or $71.99/year) with no free tier, positioning it as a premium option.
Lose It! offers a compelling balance of features and affordability. Its free tier includes barcode scanning and a clean, ad-light interface, making it more generous than MyFitnessPal's free version.
Advantages over MyFitnessPal include:
Lose It! is less robust for detailed macro tracking but offers excellent value for casual calorie counters.
Research consistently shows that digital food tracking can be an effective tool for weight management, but with important caveats. Multiple studies indicate that consistent food logging is associated with greater weight loss success, but the technology itself is only as effective as the user's adherence to the practice.
Key findings from the research literature include:
Studies specifically examining MyFitnessPal show mixed results. A notable study of primary care patients found that while users reported increased awareness of their eating habits, simply encouraging MyFitnessPal use did not lead to significant weight loss compared to control groups.
Another study on college-aged women showed variable psychological impacts, with some users experiencing positive accountability while others reported increased anxiety and negative body image effects.
These findings suggest that MyFitnessPal can be a useful tool but is not a magic solution – success depends heavily on user psychology and consistency.
The research highlights a crucial insight: the most sophisticated features are worthless if users don't consistently log their food. This explains MyFitnessPal's strategic focus on friction-reducing Premium features like barcode scanning, voice logging, and the ad-free experience.
For many users, the primary value of Premium lies not in advanced nutrition analysis but in making the daily logging habit sustainable over time. Features that save time and reduce frustration directly address the number one reason people abandon food tracking apps.
If you're primarily interested in basic calorie counting and aren't concerned with precise macro ratios, MyFitnessPal's free version or a competitor like Lose It! will likely meet your needs. The Premium features, while convenient, aren't essential for simple weight management goals.
Recommendation: Use the free version or try Lose It! for a more generous free tier with barcode scanning included.
For those with specific body composition goals requiring precise macro tracking, MyFitnessPal Premium offers substantial value. The ability to set custom macro targets by gram, track by meal, and analyze food quality justifies the subscription cost.
Recommendation: Premium is worth it, but also consider MacroFactor for its adaptive algorithm if you're serious about performance nutrition.
Individuals managing medical conditions through diet (diabetes, kidney disease, etc.) have unique needs. Premium's detailed tracking and export features can be valuable for sharing data with healthcare providers.
Recommendation: Consider Premium for the export features and detailed logging, but also evaluate Cronometer for its superior micronutrient tracking if your condition requires monitoring specific nutrients.
If cost is a primary concern, several alternatives offer better value than MyFitnessPal Premium:
Recommendations:
MyFitnessPal collects extensive personal data, including:
MyFitnessPal's privacy policy states they don't "expressly sell" user information, but notes that certain practices may be considered "sales" or "sharing" under some privacy laws. The company shares data with:
The free version's ad-supported model fundamentally requires more extensive data sharing than the Premium version, though both tiers operate under the same privacy policy.
MyFitnessPal's data practices are more extensive than some competitors. MacroFactor has the strongest privacy stance, explicitly stating it does not sell user data or use cross-platform behavioral advertising. Cronometer also emphasizes privacy, pledging not to sell personal data to third parties.
Users particularly concerned with health data privacy may find these alternatives more aligned with their values.
A significant friction point is MyFitnessPal's platform-specific subscription management. Users must cancel through the same platform where they subscribed (website, Apple App Store, or Google Play Store). This often creates confusion and accidental double-billing when users attempt to manage subscriptions through the wrong channel.
Tip: Make note of where you subscribe and set a calendar reminder before auto-renewal to cancel through the correct platform if needed.
MyFitnessPal has a restrictive refund policy. The company can only process refunds for subscriptions purchased directly through their website, not through app stores. Even for direct purchases, refunds are granted on a case-by-case basis rather than as an automatic right.
Tip: Always test with the free trial before committing to a paid subscription, and be aware that refunds are unlikely once charged.
Customer support is a common pain point, with users reporting difficulties reaching human representatives, slow response times, and an overreliance on automated systems. Common complaints include being caught in "AI loops" when trying to resolve account or billing issues.
Tip: Document all subscription activities, take screenshots of errors or issues, and be prepared to escalate through multiple channels if support problems arise.
MyFitnessPal Premium makes the most sense for three specific user groups:
For everyone else – casual calorie counters, budget-conscious users, and those primarily focused on micronutrients – alternatives like Lose It! and Cronometer offer better value at lower prices.
The free version of MyFitnessPal remains functional but deliberately friction-filled, pushing users toward Premium. Whether that push is worth resisting depends entirely on your specific nutrition goals and how frequently you track your meals.
For comprehensive nutrition tracking guides and personalized dietary recommendations, check out Healthfit Publishing's extensive resources at https://amzn.to/45eIJLF.
