Our verdictfitvee is the best barcode calorie counter if you want a plan with it
The granola bar went in four bites, and logging it is about to take longer than eating it. Point your phone at the wrapper and fitvee does the typing: calories, protein, carbs and fat drop into your day, and the number you have left falls with them.
Our picks at a glance
- Best for a scan inside a daily plan
fitvee
Packaged food, macros and a short session share one membership.
- Best free scanner
MyNetDiary
It scans for nothing and shows no ads.
- Best for logging depth
MacroFactor
It reads nutrition labels as well as barcodes.
- Best when vitamins matter too
Cronometer
Nutrient analysis sits behind every scan.
- Best for counting net carbs
Carb Manager
Its scanning is built around them.
Reading a barcode is the easy part. Plenty of apps manage it, three of them for nothing, and if a scanner is the whole job we’ll send you to them further down. fitvee tops this list for where the scan lands: in a day that already holds your calorie goal, a short session with one big button, and an AI coach that reads your log.
A scan brings the whole food.
Calories and macros arrive together, Not right? and Undo stay on screen in case the match is wrong, and Change portion fixes the amount the same day.
Dinner doesn’t need a barcode.
Type “2 eggs and toast” and you get two foods back, each with its portion. The yogurt you scanned on Monday waits under Usual at lunch.
A plan comes with the scanner.
One quiz sets your calorie goal and your movement plan: tai chi walking at 7 minutes, chair yoga at 10 to 20, or calisthenics at about 15. Memberships are sold per plan, so you choose one as you join and the diary comes with it.
How it scored
- Food tools
- 4/5
- Value
- 4/5
- Personalisation
- 5/5
- Progress and motivation
- 5/5
- Workouts
- 5/5
- Coaching
- 4/5
You pay $15.19 for the first 28 days, then $38.95 every 4 weeks. On the walking plan, 12 weeks is $25.99, then $66.65 every 12 weeks (fitvee pricing).
On this page
Our verdictOur picks at a glanceBarcode calorie counters comparedWhat fitvee is likeWhy you'll keep coming backThe other appsWhat fitvee costsOur recommendationQuestionsHow we compareSourcesBarcode calorie counters compared, feature by feature
Scores are out of 5, and each one names the features behind it. How we score.
Food tools: scanning, logging and macros
If the log is all you want, start here: MacroFactor, Cronometer and MyNetDiary all outscore fitvee on food.
| App | Score | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| fitvee | 4/5 | Scan, search, portions in grams or ounces and Undo, with no cap on foods and a goal from your quiz; macros on a scan, usual foods and meals you simply type out. The diary works one day at a time, with no chart across weeks and no micronutrients |
| MacroFactor | 5/5 | Reads barcodes and nutrition labels, takes a photo or a description, and holds 1.36 million verified foods with no ads |
| Cronometer | 5/5 | A scanner (Cronometer help) over macro and micronutrient analysis of 1M+ verified foods, with AI photo logging in Gold (Cronometer help) |
| MyNetDiary | 5/5 | A scanner and full nutrient detail, with Meal Scan, AI voice logging and AI menu scan in its paid tiers (MyNetDiary help) |
| MyFitnessPal Premium | 4/5 | Scanner, Meal Scan, voice logging and macros by gram (MyFitnessPal help). Meal plans sit a tier higher |
| Carb Manager | 4/5 | Scanning built around net carbs (App Store), with photo logging in Premium |
| Lose It | 4/5 | Premium brings scanning, photo and voice logging, over a Basic tier with a calorie budget and 50M+ foods (Lose It tiers) |
| Cal AI | 4/5 | A photo, a barcode or a typed description, each turned into calories and nutrients |
Value: a free scanner against a full membership
A $0 scanner is hard to argue with, and these scores respect it. fitvee earns its 4 on how much the price covers.
| App | Score | What it rests on | A month at renewal |
|---|---|---|---|
| fitvee | 4/5 | Scanner, diary, daily plan, Library, trackers and coach for one price. Premium Workouts and other add-ons sit apart, as separate subscriptions named in the terms. If food is all you want, the trackers here cost less | $24.07 to $42.20, by plan |
| MyNetDiary | 4/5 | A free tier with no ads. You pay for the photo and AI tools | $0; Premium $8.99, or $5.00 yearly |
| Cronometer | 4/5 | Basic sets custom macro targets at $0 with no time limit. Gold removes the ads (Cronometer help) | $0; Gold $10.99, or $5.00 yearly |
| Carb Manager | 4/5 | Free net carb tracking under the lowest paid tier in this table | $0; Premium $8.49, or $3.33 yearly |
| MacroFactor | 4/5 | Everything in one tier of a paid-only app, after a 7-day trial | $11.99; $6.00 yearly |
| MyFitnessPal Premium | 3/5 | The scanner is the catch: a free account doesn’t have it | $19.99; $6.67 yearly |
| Lose It | 3/5 | The same catch on its way, with the scanner heading for Premium | $6.67 yearly |
What comes with the scan
Food and price are where the trackers compete, so that’s where we mark them, though MacroFactor has a Workouts app on the same account, MyFitnessPal Premium adds workout routines, and MyNetDiary and Cronometer track exercise. Here’s what sits beside fitvee’s scanner.
| Job | Score | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| Workouts | 5/5 | Three follow-along plans, the Library and 141 move cards, each with an easier and a harder version |
| Personalisation | 5/5 | A quiz that sets your level and calorie goal, then a check-in that sets each next session |
| Progress and motivation | 5/5 | A plant fed by your sessions, a weekly streak that forgives, four badges and before-and-after numbers |
| Coaching | 4/5 | Vee and Vin, included, can change today and read your food log. Your calorie goal is out of their reach: that stays with the quiz or your own number |
What fitvee is like: from the wrapper to the log
Point the phone
The Calories page is built around a single figure: what’s left today. Under it sits Scan food. The camera reads the EAN and UPC codes printed on packaged food, and offers the flashlight for a dim kitchen where your phone has one.
A match goes straight into your Today list with its calories and macros, under the meal your clock points to. A bar scanned at 8 a.m. is Breakfast, the same bar at 4 p.m. is a Snack, and you can move it if the clock guessed wrong.
When it’s wrong, or doesn’t know
A bar slides up with Not right? and Undo, so a wrong match is quick to clear. A code it can’t place gets a straight answer: “We don’t know this one yet,” with Find and Type the number as the ways forward.
“I logged breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week. Typing was quick, and scanning a cereal box found it first try. A store-brand yogurt did not scan, so I typed it. I looked at the calorie goal each morning and the kcal left each evening.”
The label’s serving isn’t yours
Nobody eats exactly one serving, and that’s where a scan earns its keep. Change portion offers the package’s own sizes, such as “1 container”, in half steps, or By weight in grams and ounces. Eat half a bar, log half a bar. If you pass your goal the number reads “kcal over” and leaves it at that.
Scan the same yogurt twice and the diary notices. Usual at lunch puts your top three for that hour on the page at your last portion, and a starred food leads your next search.
That speed matters more than it sounds. In 39 trials of adults in weight-loss programs, digital logging went with weight loss in 74% of the results, yet few programs got people logging on three days out of four. The less a log asks of you, the longer you’re likely to keep it.
What a barcode can’t do
A scan is only as good as the entry it finds. Much of fitvee’s packaged food data comes from Open Food Facts, a free, volunteer-run database (Open Food Facts), so a store brand can be missing.
The label itself can drift too. In a 2010 study of 29 restaurant foods and 10 frozen meals sold as reduced-energy, measured calories ran 18% and 8% above the stated figures on average, though the sample was small and the gap wasn’t statistically significant. Use your number as a strong guide, not a lab result.
Then there’s everything with no code at all: home cooking, fresh fruit and restaurant plates, in any app here. In fitvee the box under the scan button asks “What did you eat?” Answer “2 eggs and toast” and you get Eggs, “2 large eggs (100 g)”, at 143 and Toast, “1 slice (30 g)”, at 79, macros underneath, and a button reading Log 222 kcal. Higher up, a line shows where that leaves you: “1,378 kcal left after this.”
Around the scan
So why does a calorie counter come with a workout? Because a number tells you where the day stands and leaves the next move to you. In fitvee the next move is already made. Today opens on one session: Clouds, say, seven calm minutes of your arms and weight drifting side to side, with a counter in reach. A plan runs 28 days a round: 25 follow-along sessions and 3 rest-and-stretch days. Each move has How and Easier tabs, and the chair plan adds Seated.
Scan your lunch, ask “What should I eat tonight?” and Vee begins with the day you’ve logged. On a walking day, tell it you’re short on time and it can drop the end stretch, then show you what changed.
Your calorie goal isn’t a stock number. The quiz works it out from your weight, height, age and goal weight, allowing for light activity, and won’t calculate below 1,200. Prefer your own figure? Set anything from 1,000 to 5,000. Log a food and the app offers a food row for Today, which is how your scan and your session come to share a screen.
Why you’ll keep coming back
A food log on its own is a chore. fitvee gives you a better reason to open the app: every reward counts sessions, never meals, so no badge will praise you for eating less.
A plant that counts sessions.
Walking and chair yoga open Progress on a flower: “A petal for every session,” and a bloom every week. A big dinner can’t cost you a petal. Calisthenics gets the count, the rings and a dark look of its own.
A week off the scanner is survivable.
A rest week sits in reserve from the start, and a lapsed streak comes back free within 7 days. After 3 or more days away, Today opens on “Welcome back” with your next day ready to start. Your place stays safe, though the membership keeps billing. Logging can be forgiving too: among 2,113 people in one app program, at least 3 logged days a week, most weeks, went with meaningful weight loss, in a look back and not a trial.
The other apps, one by one
MacroFactor
- Suits
- Logging is the main event and you’ll pay for depth.
- Main strength
- 4.84 stars from 23,836 US App Store ratings, the highest on this page.
- Drawback
- Logging here and training there means two apps, and the plan covering both is yearly only.
Cronometer
- Suits
- Vitamins and minerals matter to you as much as calories.
- Main strength
- The nutrient analysis, on the web as well as iOS and Android.
MyNetDiary
- Suits
- You want to scan for $0 and see no ads.
- Main strength
- 171,507 US App Store ratings at 4.81 stars, and 2M+ staff-verified foods by its own count.
Carb Manager
- Suits
- You count net carbs.
- Main strength
- It’s made for that reader, and 736,702 US App Store ratings put it at 4.82 stars.
MyFitnessPal Premium
- Suits
- You already log there and don’t want to start over.
- Main strength
- The biggest crowd here: 4.71 stars from 2,389,253 US App Store ratings.
Is it worth it: MyFitnessPal Premium. Head to head: fitvee vs MyFitnessPal.
Lose It
- Suits
- You like a plain daily calorie budget.
- Main strength
- 783,514 US App Store ratings at 4.77 stars.
Cal AI
- Suits
- You want the camera first, and a barcode when there is one.
- Main strength
- One simple job, liked by many: 4.80 stars from 374,164 US App Store ratings.
- Drawback
- Your phone has to be on iOS 18 or later, or Android 10 (Cal AI FAQ).
What fitvee costs, and who charges for the scanner
| Plan | First payment | Then | A month at renewal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 weeks, walking | $25.99 for 84 days | $66.65 every 12 weeks | $24.07 |
That’s the lowest of fitvee’s plans, all on one public page. It renews until you cancel online, and payments are final (cancel, refunds).
Now the scanner itself. Three apps give it away, and two charge for it or are about to.
| App | The scanner | What you'd pay |
|---|---|---|
| fitvee | In every membership, and never sold alone | The plan above |
| MyNetDiary | Free | Premium is $59.99 a year (MyNetDiary help) |
| Cronometer | Free | Gold is $59.99 a year (Cronometer pricing) |
| Carb Manager | Free, with no limit on scans (Carb Manager help) | Premium is $39.99 a year |
| MyFitnessPal | Premium only, since October 1, 2022 (MyFitnessPal help) | Premium is $79.99 a year (App Store) |
| Lose It | Moving to Premium: some free members keep it during the move and others don’t (Lose It help) | Premium is $79.99 a year |
| MacroFactor | Inside a paid-only app | $71.99 a year (App Store), or $89.99 with Workouts (MacroFactor help) |
| Cal AI | In the app, with a 3-day free trial | Unlimited items listed at $2.99 to $29.99 (App Store) |
A scanner alone isn’t worth $24 a month, and we wouldn’t pay it. A scanner, a plan and a coach in one place is a different purchase.
Our recommendation
If you want a scan to be the start of something, take fitvee. It reads the package, carries the macros and files your food under a session that changes with you. It costs more than a scanner because it does more than scan.
Against MacroFactor, the strongest paid logger here, you get your food and your session on one screen, a plan that moves after every check-in, and a coach that reads both.
If the scan really is the whole job, take MyNetDiary for $0 with no ads, Cronometer for nutrient detail or Carb Manager for net carbs. More on our pick: fitvee review. Tracking by photo instead? See the best AI calorie counters.
See the scan in fitveeCounting protein too? See the macro tracker
“I scanned a week of groceries. Most things came up straight away. A few did not, so I added them by hand.”
Questions
What is the best calorie tracker with a barcode scanner?
For a scan inside a daily plan, fitvee. For logging depth, MacroFactor. For $0, MyNetDiary or Cronometer.
Which calorie counters scan barcodes for free?
MyNetDiary, Cronometer and Carb Manager.
Does a barcode scan give you macros as well as calories?
In fitvee, yes. Our macro tracking guide covers the rest.
Are barcode scans accurate?
A scan is as accurate as the entry it finds and the label behind that. Treat it as a close estimate.
What does a barcode scan miss?
Anything without a code, like a home-cooked dinner or loose fruit, and any package nobody has entered yet.
Does fitvee scan for free?
No. The scanner comes with the membership, which starts at $6.93 for the first 7 days, then $38.95 every 4 weeks. A full session is free to try with no sign-up.
Is there a calorie counter app with a barcode scanner for iPhone?
Every rival here is on the App Store. fitvee has no store listing: it runs in your phone’s browser, and from your home screen it opens full screen, like any app.
Do I have to do the workouts?
You pick a movement plan to join, and how often you press Start is up to you. It’s sold in the United States (terms). Health condition? Check with your doctor first.
How we compare
On 6 November 2026 we went through every app’s pricing page, help centre and store listing. The fitvee screens come from a preview build, with a test member and sample history. The method in full: How we compare.
What the scores mean. We mark six jobs out of 5, and one rule covers every app. Five means the job is done in full and something stands out. Four covers the main job. Three has a real catch, usually a key part costing extra. Two is part of the job, and one is little or nothing. An app gets a row only where its own pages give us something to score, and we don’t add the jobs into one total.
Who wrote and checked this page:
Priya Raman
Nutrition writer
Writes about food logging, macros and barcode scanning. Cooks most nights and counts protein, not points.
Sources
- fitveepricing, how it works, about, terms, refunds. Help: easier moves, cancel.
- What we useda test member on a preview of fitvee, 6 November 2026.
- MacroFactorApp Store listing, product pages and help on subscriptions.
- CronometerGold page, product page, App Store listing and help on scanning, photo logging and tiers.
- MyNetDiaryproduct page, App Store listing and help on tiers and cost.
- Carb ManagerApp Store listing and scanning help.
- MyFitnessPalApp Store listing and help on tiers, Premium features and the barcode scanner.
- Lose Ittiers page, App Store listing and scanner help.
- Cal AIproduct page, FAQ and App Store listing.
- Food dataOpen Food Facts, who we are.
- Food and habit researchPatel et al., 2021; Urban et al., 2010; Painter et al., 2017.
38 sources, numbered as they appear on this page
fitvee
- 1A test member on a preview of fitveeread 6 November 2026
- 2fitvee pricing pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 10fitvee help: termsfitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 11fitvee pricing pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 12fitvee pricing pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 23fitvee pricing pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 24fitvee product pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 27fitvee product pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 28fitvee help: easier movesfitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 34fitvee help: cancelfitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 35fitvee help: refundsfitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
- 37fitvee pricing pagefitvee.com, read 6 November 2026
MyNetDiary
- 3MyNetDiary product pagemynetdiary.com, read 6 November 2026
- 13MyNetDiary help: how much does mynetdiary costmynetdiary.com, read 6 November 2026
- 31MyNetDiary App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
MacroFactor
- 4MacroFactor product pagemacrofactor.com, read 6 November 2026
- 16MacroFactor App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
- 21MacroFactor product pagemacrofactor.com, read 6 November 2026
- 30MacroFactor help: how macrofactor subscriptions and bundles workhelp.macrofactorapp.com, read 6 November 2026
Cronometer
- 5Cronometer product pagecronometer.com, read 6 November 2026
- 14Cronometer pricing pagecronometer.com, read 6 November 2026
- 15Cronometer help: subscription typessupport.cronometer.com, read 6 November 2026
- 38Cronometer App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
Carb Manager
- 6Carb Manager App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
- 8Carb Manager help: log foods by scanning barcodes and snapping picturescarbmanager.document360.io, read 6 November 2026
MyFitnessPal
- 7MyFitnessPal help: myfitnesspal premium featuressupport.myfitnesspal.com, read 6 November 2026
- 17MyFitnessPal help: how to use the barcode scannersupport.myfitnesspal.com, read 6 November 2026
- 18MyFitnessPal App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
- 22MyFitnessPal help: the difference between free premium and premiumsupport.myfitnesspal.com, read 6 November 2026
Cal AI
- 9Cal AI product pagecalai.app, read 6 November 2026
- 33Cal AI App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
- 36Cal AI App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
Lose It!
- 19Lose It! help: unlocking the barcode scanner scan itloseit.zendesk.com, read 6 November 2026
- 20Lose It! pricing pageloseit.zendesk.com, read 6 November 2026
- 32Lose It! App Store listingapps.apple.com, read 6 November 2026
Patel et al., Obesity
- 25Patel et al., Obesity research reviewdoi.org, read 6 November 2026
Urban et al., J Am Diet Assoc
- 26Urban et al., J Am Diet Assoc research paperdoi.org, read 6 November 2026
Painter et al., J Med Internet Res
- 29Painter et al., J Med Internet Res research paperdoi.org, read 6 November 2026