Foodnoms vs MacroFactor: A MacroFactor Alternative with a Free Tier

Last updated: September 2026

Foodnoms is a MacroFactor alternative for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Food logging, barcode scanning, and weight tracking are free in Foodnoms. MacroFactor has no free version and costs $71.99 a year after a 7-day free trial. Foodnoms+ costs $39.99 a year and adds Calibrated Energy, an adaptive calorie target. A family plan covers up to six people for $69.99 a year. Here's how the two compare, including where MacroFactor is the better choice.

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How much does MacroFactor cost in 2026?

MacroFactor is subscription-only. It costs $11.99 a month, $47.99 every six months, or $71.99 a year (US prices). New users get a 7-day free trial. A bundle with MacroFactor Workouts, the company's separate lifting app, costs $89.99 a year. MacroFactor does not list a family plan on its website or its App Store listing.

Is there a free version of MacroFactor?

No. MacroFactor's own FAQ says there is no free version and there never will be. After the 7-day trial, you need a subscription to keep using the app. Every feature is included in that subscription. MacroFactor shows no ads.

Foodnoms takes a different approach. The free version includes:

• Unlimited food logging

• Barcode scanning

• Nutrition label scanning

• Weight tracking, with trend charts

• Calorie and macro goals, including an automatic calorie goal from your goal weight and weekly rate

• The Apple Watch app

Foodnoms shows no ads, on the free version or on Foodnoms+.

Quick Comparison: Foodnoms vs MacroFactor

Adaptive Calorie Targets: How Each App Works

Both apps estimate how many calories you burn from two things you record: what you eat and what you weigh. This is often called adaptive TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). It replaces the one-time formula estimate that most apps use.

The math is the same idea in both apps. Calories in, minus the energy change implied by your weight trend, equals calories out. If you eat 2,400 calories a day and your weight holds steady, you burn about 2,400 a day.

MacroFactor's expenditure algorithm

The expenditure calculation is the center of MacroFactor. According to MacroFactor's help center:

• It calculates your expenditure from your logged calories and the trend in your body weight.

• It updates the estimate every day.

• It adjusts your calorie and macro targets at a weekly check-in.

• It works best when you log food every day, and it needs at least four logged days a week to keep updating.

• It needs at least one weigh-in a week.

• It is "adherence-neutral": next week's targets depend on what you actually ate, not on whether you hit this week's targets.

MacroFactor also sets your macros for you. It offers Coached, Collaborative, and Manual program modes, diet styles like low-carb and keto, and a goal ETA. MacroFactor publishes its own analysis of the algorithm's accuracy on its website.

Foodnoms Calibrated Energy

Calibrated Energy is adaptive TDEE that shows its work. It's part of Foodnoms+.

• It averages your calories across fully logged days in the last 28 days.

• Days that look only partly logged are set aside, and the calibration tells you how many.

• It smooths your weigh-ins over 7 days and fits a trend line to find your rate of change.

• It checks the 28-day estimate against 35-day and 42-day windows to catch water-weight swings.

• Your first calibration unlocks after you log food on 14 of the last 28 days and weigh in across at least a week.

• After that, a new calibration opens every 7 days.

• You review each calibration and apply it with one tap. Nothing changes on its own.

• Large changes ease in about halfway, and one calibration never moves your number by more than 400 calories.

• Your automatic calorie goal stays in sync with the calibrated value.

• It works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

The full method, including when the estimate can be off, is on the Calibrated Energy help page.

What's the difference?

The core loop is the same in both apps. You set a goal weight and a weekly rate. The app estimates what you burn, subtracts or adds the rate, and updates your calorie target each week. In Foodnoms, macro goals set as percentages follow the new calorie target automatically.

The differences are in who decides:

• Macros. MacroFactor builds your macro targets from a questionnaire in its Coached mode. In Foodnoms you choose the rule: percentages, grams, or grams per pound of body weight.

• Weekly changes. MacroFactor proposes new targets at a weekly check-in, with short coaching notes for common problems. Foodnoms offers a new calibration every 7 days, and you review and apply it.

• Where the estimate comes from. MacroFactor always estimates expenditure from your logs and weight trend. Foodnoms can do that with Calibrated Energy (Foodnoms+), or build it from your body profile and Apple Health activity.

When MacroFactor Is the Better Pick

• You use Android. MacroFactor is on Android and iPhone. Foodnoms is only on Apple devices.

• You want the app to pick your macros. MacroFactor's Coached mode sets your macro targets from a questionnaire and adds coaching notes at each weekly check-in. Foodnoms updates your calorie target weekly, but you choose your macro rule.

• You want a lifting app from the same company. MacroFactor Workouts is bundled with the nutrition app for $89.99 a year.

When Foodnoms Is the Better Pick

You want to track for free

Foodnoms is free for food logging, barcode scanning, nutrition label scanning, weight tracking, and calorie and macro goals. MacroFactor has no free version.

You want an adaptive calorie target for less

Foodnoms+ is $39.99 a year. MacroFactor is $71.99 a year. That's $32 less per year. Monthly, Foodnoms+ is $5.99 and MacroFactor is $11.99.

You track as a household

Foodnoms+ Family is $69.99 a year for up to six people through Apple Family Sharing. Everyone keeps a private log. Two MacroFactor annual subscriptions cost $143.98. Details on the family plan page.

You use a Mac

Foodnoms has a native Mac app, rebuilt in 2026, that can do everything the iPhone app can. MacroFactor has no desktop or web app. On Macs with Apple silicon, MacroFactor runs as its iPad app. Its App Store listing marks it "not verified for macOS."

You want your data on your device

Foodnoms is local-first. Your log is stored on your device and syncs through iCloud or a Foodnoms Cloud account. You can start logging without an account. Signing in, with Apple or an email, adds community foods and Foodnoms AI.

You want to ask an AI assistant about your food log

Foodnoms has an MCP server. It lets Claude, ChatGPT (in developer mode), and other assistants that support remote MCP servers read your food log, answer questions about your nutrition, and log food for you. It's in beta and requires Foodnoms+ and a Foodnoms Cloud account. Setup steps are on the MCP help page.

Is Foodnoms a Free MacroFactor Alternative?

For tracking, yes. For the adaptive calorie target, no.

• Free: food logging, barcode scanning, nutrition label scanning, weight tracking, and calorie and macro goals, including an automatic calorie goal from your goal weight and weekly rate.

• Foodnoms+: Calibrated Energy, vitamins, minerals and other detailed nutrients, Foodnoms AI photo logging, recipe import from a URL, monthly and yearly charts, favorites, and Apple Health import.

Foodnoms+ annual plans start with a 7-day free trial.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MacroFactor free?

No. MacroFactor offers a 7-day free trial and no free version. After the trial, it costs $11.99 a month, $47.99 every six months, or $71.99 a year.

How much does MacroFactor cost compared to Foodnoms?

MacroFactor is $71.99 a year. Foodnoms+ is $39.99 a year, or $69.99 a year for a family of up to six. Foodnoms also has a free version. MacroFactor does not.

Is there a free app like MacroFactor?

Foodnoms is free for food logging, barcode scanning, and weight tracking. Its adaptive calorie target, Calibrated Energy, requires Foodnoms+ at $39.99 a year.

Does Foodnoms have adaptive TDEE like MacroFactor?

Yes. Calibrated Energy (Foodnoms+) estimates your energy expenditure from your food logs and weigh-ins, then suggests an adjusted value you review before it applies. A new calibration opens every 7 days, and your calorie goal follows it. Unlike MacroFactor's Coached mode, Foodnoms doesn't pick your macros for you.

Is Calibrated Energy as accurate as MacroFactor's algorithm?

Both use the same energy-balance approach: your logged intake compared against your weight trend. MacroFactor publishes an analysis of its own algorithm's accuracy. Foodnoms documents Calibrated Energy's method, guardrails, and known limits on its help page. Both are estimates, not lab measurements.

Does MacroFactor have a Mac app?

Not a native one. On Macs with Apple silicon, MacroFactor runs its iPad app, which the App Store marks "not verified for macOS." MacroFactor has no web app. Foodnoms has a native Mac app.

Does MacroFactor have an Apple Watch app?

Yes. MacroFactor's Watch app can log food. Foodnoms also has an Apple Watch app for logging food and checking your progress.

Does MacroFactor have a family plan?

MacroFactor does not list a family plan. Each person needs their own subscription. Foodnoms+ Family is $69.99 a year for up to six people through Apple Family Sharing.

Is Foodnoms on Android?

No. Foodnoms is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. If you need Android, MacroFactor supports it.

How does MacroFactor compare to Cronometer?

MacroFactor adjusts your calorie target from your logged intake and weight trend. Cronometer sets your calorie target from a formula. Cronometer has a free version with ads. MacroFactor has no free version. Foodnoms has a free version with no ads, and adds an adaptive target with Foodnoms+. See Foodnoms vs Cronometer.

Ready to Switch?

Download Foodnoms free. Start with the free version, or begin a 7-day free trial of Foodnoms+ to try Calibrated Energy.

Download on the App Store