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Verified Free / Health

Is MyFitnessPal actually free?

Free-ish
How free46/100
Value5/10
How these scores work
Free Score (0–100) follows a fixed rubric: cards up front, auto-billing, hard time cutoffs, withheld core features, and paying with your data or attention all deduct points. 90–100 truly free · 70–89 free forever · 45–69 squeezed · 15–44 trial mechanics · under 15 fake or gone. Value (0–10) is editorial: real-world worth of the free offering measured against its paid equivalent. Full rubric on the methodology page.

Sort of, and less than it used to be. The free tier still logs food and counts calories against a database of millions of items — but barcode scanning, the single most-used feature for over a decade, moved behind Premium on 1 October 2022. Premium is $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year.

What it’s worth

Free calorie counters that kept barcode scanning exist, which is the comparison that matters here.

What you get free

  • Food logging against a very large database
  • Calorie and basic macro totals
  • Exercise logging and a weight log
  • Recipe import

In practice: a capable food log that removed the feature which made food logging bearable.

Drawbacks

  • No barcode scanning without paying
  • Ads in the free tier
  • The database is user-contributed, so entries vary in accuracy
  • Diet and weight data is sensitive and tied to an account

Also paywalled

  • Barcode scanning — free until 1 October 2022
  • An ad-free experience
  • Custom macro targets by gram or percentage
  • Meal planning, on the higher Premium+ tier

Free facts

VerdictFree-ish
Card requiredNo
Auto-bills—
AccountRequired
LimitsNo barcode scanner; ads throughout
The real costAn account, your diet data, and the feature the app was known for.

The catch

This is the clearest case on the site of a free tier being hollowed out rather than capped. Nothing was taken away from what the app can do; one feature was moved from the free side to the paid side, and it happened to be the one that made logging fast enough to sustain. Typing every item manually is the free experience, and the friction is the product strategy. The free tier also carries ads.

The smart play

  • If barcode scanning is why you wanted it, look at the free alternatives first — several kept it
  • Log the same meals as saved favourites; it is the fastest route without the scanner
  • Export your diary before cancelling anything, not after

Common questions

Does MyFitnessPal require a credit card?
No — MyFitnessPal does not ask for a card to use the free version. Auto-billing: —.
What are the limits of MyFitnessPal's free plan?
No barcode scanner; ads throughout. This is the clearest case on the site of a free tier being hollowed out rather than capped. Nothing was taken away from what the app can do; one feature was moved from the free side to the paid side, and it happened to be the one that made logging fast enough to sustain. Typing every item manually is the free experience, and the friction is the product strategy. The free tier also carries ads.
How do I use MyFitnessPal without paying?
If barcode scanning is why you wanted it, look at the free alternatives first — several kept it Log the same meals as saved favourites; it is the fastest route without the scanner Export your diary before cancelling anything, not after
What does MyFitnessPal really cost?
An account, your diet data, and the feature the app was known for.
Why is MyFitnessPal free?
An account, your diet data, and the feature the app was known for. Free calorie counters that kept barcode scanning exist, which is the comparison that matters here.
Is MyFitnessPal still free?
As of our October 2026 check, partly — and the free tier is squeezed. Sort of, and less than it used to be. The free tier still logs food and counts calories against a database of millions of items — but barcode scanning, the single most-used feature for over a decade, moved behind Premium on 1 October 2022. Premium is $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Free tiers change without notice, which is why every page here carries the date it was checked.

More info — tap to expand

What moved, and when
Barcode scanning was free from the app's early years until 1 October 2022, when it became a Premium feature. It is worth stating the date plainly: anyone describing the free tier from memory is describing the pre-2022 app, and that is most of the advice you will find written about it.
Why a food log is a privacy question
A complete record of what you eat, your weight over time and your exercise is among the more revealing datasets a person can create about themselves. That is true of every app in the category, and it is a reason to think about the account, not only the price.

Checked: October 2026 · Verdict: Free-ish — a free tier exists, but it's shaped to squeeze you toward paying.

🍁 Canada

Same tiers in Canada, priced in Canadian dollars.

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