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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Calorie Counter vs Cal AI

Calorie Counter 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Calorie Counter
Cal AI 4.8★ · Free + IAP 45

Calorie Counter is the better choice for a more reliable and user-friendly experience, especially for those who want a functional free tier, while Cal AI struggles with accuracy, bugs, and aggressive monetization.

Full reviews: Calorie Counter · Cal AI

Calorie Counter offers a more established and generally reliable calorie tracking experience with a usable free version, despite some complaints about UI changes and premium upsells. Cal AI, while promising with its AI features, is plagued by accuracy issues, frequent bugs, and aggressive monetization tactics that often charge users unexpectedly.

Head to head

Features & Accuracy edge: Calorie CounterR5R9R12R15
Calorie Counter Calorie Counter users praise its vast food database, ability to create recipes, and quick logging of frequently eaten foods . Some users find the calorie calculations inaccurate or the food grading annoying R9R12, and the meal scan feature is behind a paywall . Integration with Apple Health sometimes fails .
Cal AI Cal AI's AI photo analysis is noted as 'shockingly accurate' by some R78, but many others report it as inaccurate, struggling with portion sizes, and often getting calorie counts wrong R76R79. The food database is frequently criticized for being weak, especially for restaurant items and non-US foods R78. Barcode scanning is also reported as inconsistent R102.
Ease of Use & UI edge: Calorie CounterR3R15R17R18
Calorie Counter Many Calorie Counter users find it easy to use, quick to learn, and intuitive R17. However, a significant number of users are frustrated by constant, unneeded UI updates that make the app more complicated R3. Some also find the initial setup lengthy with mandatory surveys and ads .
Cal AI Cal AI is praised for its aesthetic and ease of use for tracking R78. However, users report frequent freezing and crashing . Some find it difficult to log liquids due to fixed measurements . A major complaint is the inability to view food logs beyond 30 days .
Reliability & Support edge: Calorie CounterR1R4R7R25
Calorie Counter Calorie Counter has reports of glitches like deleted entries in the free version R1. Users also mention issues with sign-up flows being broken R4R25 and problems with Apple Health sync . Support is criticized for not listening to user feedback R7 and for not sending reminder notifications before charges .
Cal AI Cal AI suffers from significant reliability issues, including freezing and the scan food function stopping working . Syncing with Apple Health is unreliable . Customer service is widely criticized for not replying to inquiries, especially regarding billing issues R61.
Price & Value edge: Calorie CounterR1R10R16R18
Calorie Counter Calorie Counter offers a 'generous' and '100% usable' free plan R35, which is appreciated by many. However, the free version is 'riddled with upsells' and 'paywalls' R30R39R54. Premium features are often deemed not worth the cost R16R18, and some users report being charged more than the advertised price R10 or experiencing relentless pop-ups even after paying .
Cal AI Cal AI has a strong negative sentiment regarding its pricing, with many users feeling it's a 'money grab' or 'scam' R70R73. Users are frequently charged for subscriptions after signing up for a 'free trial' or being charged more than expected R61R70R73R85. Many users couldn't even try the app without paying .
Pick Calorie Counter if

You want a calorie tracker with a robust food database and a functional free tier, and you are willing to overlook occasional UI changes and some in-app upsells R35.

Pick Cal AI if

You are intrigued by AI-powered food scanning and are willing to pay for a premium experience, understanding that the AI accuracy and database may be inconsistent and the app may have bugs R78.

Evidence note: Cal AI's reviews are heavily skewed by negative experiences related to billing and the perceived lack of a truly free trial, which might inflate its negative sentiment compared to its lifetime rating. Calorie Counter also has complaints about monetization, but its free tier is generally seen as more usable.

Frequently asked

Does Calorie Counter have a free version?
Yes, Calorie Counter offers a free version that many users find 'generous' and '100% usable' for tracking calories and macros, constructing a plan without payment R35. However, the free version does include numerous upsells and paywalls for advanced features R30R39.
Is Cal AI's food scanning accurate?
Cal AI's AI food scanning receives mixed reviews; some users find it 'shockingly accurate' R78, but many others report it as inaccurate, struggling with portion sizes, and often getting calorie counts wrong, sometimes by 40-50 calories R76R79. The barcode scanner is also noted to be inconsistent R102.
Are there billing issues with Cal AI?
Yes, many users report significant billing issues with Cal AI, including being charged $30 monthly after signing up for a 'free trial' or after cancelling a subscription, and being charged more than the advertised price R61R70R73R85. Customer service is frequently criticized for not responding to these refund requests R61.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Calorie Counter 5/5 · US Best Manager: This tool is a great way to track and manage your nutrition! So many options. Give it some time and check out all the features. Once you become comfortable with it, it’s a great educational tool to understand what’s going in your body.
  2. [R9] Calorie Counter 3/5 · US Not accurate: There are many calories based on weight that are just not accurate, way overstating actual calories, while estimates based on pictures are consistently lower than actual, double checked through restaurant publications and google searches.
  3. [R12] Calorie Counter 3/5 · US It’s an okay app: Honestly, I would rate this app higher if it weren’t for the slightly off calories for certain items and the food grade (yes I know I can turn it off. It’s just annoying)
  4. [R15] Calorie Counter 3/5 · US My review: Not that easy to use. Foods & exercise not very diversified.
  5. [R3] Calorie Counter 3/5 · US Great app but one issue: Only getting 3 stars because they constantly update the ui when it’s not needed. They make the ui more complicated and change it constantly. Whenever I get used to it they change the ui again and make it worse.
  6. [R17] Calorie Counter 5/5 · US Easy to use: Quick to learn and easy to use
  7. [R18] Calorie Counter 3/5 · US ET: Easy to use still needs a few twicks like entering servings old way was better. Paid for max not sure it's worth it for me. Update: I tried the premium option. I found it was too expensive. Did have some good features.
  8. [R1] Calorie Counter 2/5 · US Free version is glitchy: Every time I open the app it has deleted my previous entries. I’ve added today’s meals 3 times. Why would I pay for premium if I have to keep re-adding what I’ve already logged?
  9. [R4] Calorie Counter 1/5 · US Sign-up is Broken: It does not instill much confidence when your sign-up flow is broken. I got all the way to the end where you highlight reviews and the continue button doesn’t work.
  10. [R7] Calorie Counter 1/5 · US They still do not listen to users: Update 7/6/26 Still zero change to make it better. Update 22-29-25 Zero change for the better. This app has the potential to be really good. Unfortunately they don’t listen to feedback. UPDATE 8/31/25 I was emailed with an explanation. My response is while “addressing “ the food logging side of the app please “address “ the social side of the app. As far as emai
  11. [R25] Calorie Counter 1/5 · US Bad app: I tried to signup on this app but it keeps getting stuck while telling me how easy it is to “just snap a picture of my food” and it won’t go past that. I guess I’ll never know if it’s an app that would be helpful although right now I’d have to say no…🫤
  12. [R10] Calorie Counter 1/5 · US Cost: It said it cost 39.99. I was charged $53.18. Seems like a huge difference
  13. [R16] Calorie Counter 1/5 · US Not impressed: I paid to try it because I thought the extra features would be worth paying for but they aren’t. The pictures of my food often don’t get it right. They do not offer partial refunds. So now I have a years service for something I used for a week.
  14. [R30] Calorie Counter 3/5 · US Good ig: It’s really good but there are a lot of annoying paywalls
  15. [R35] Calorie Counter 5/5 · US Generous!: This tracker is the kind of app I never thought existed; it provides generous amounts of helpful and useful features even to those who don’t pay. The free plan is 100% usable. I appreciate that the app constructs a whole plan for me without me having to pay a dime!!
  16. [R39] Calorie Counter 3/5 · GB Free version riddled with upsells: Decent app, but sadly ruined by upsells and freemium features as far as the eye can see. Would leave a bad taste to pay for an app so desperately clutching for my wallet 🫣
  17. [R54] Calorie Counter 4/5 · US Overall pretty good: The charge for premium in this app is a little much but the free version gives you just enough to get by. Good app!
  18. [R76] Cal AI 1/5 · US Not accurate: Did my own calculations and compared it with another food app and with Cal AI. Not accurate and no conversions
  19. [R78] Cal AI 3/5 · US Great App - But Needs Improvement: First of all, the aesthetic of this app is fantastic. The AI is also shockingly accurate. HOWEVER, the food database needs a drastic improvement. If you travel and you have to eat out a lot, easy things like a McDonald’s Burger with no bun are not in this system. There’s an only a few fast food items and they all seem to have odd names associated with them. Im gi
  20. [R79] Cal AI 2/5 · US Everything it does myfitnesspal does better: Cal AI really struggles with identifying portion sizes, which is what I hoped it would be better at doing than MFP. It struggles to count clearly visible food items, like cherry tomatoes. It will routinely get the number of things wrong. It also can’t read the nutrition information on a label that you scan, so you have to manually change everything an
  21. [R102] Cal AI 3/5 · GB My fitness pals younger brother: I accidentally purchased the premium version so thought Id give it a go since ive already paid the money. And i think ill just be going back to using the free My fitness pal. The suggestions are rubbish and the lists are small. The barcode scanner doesnt always work. And often find im having to correct macros. Shame really cus it looks the part but i just dont dins
  22. [R61] Cal AI 1/5 · US Misleading Trial offer!: When I clicked 3 day trial it charged me 29.99. I tried to reach out to customer service and they didn’t reply.
  23. [R70] Cal AI 1/5 · US Seems good at first: If you get those ads about the about eyeball in your calories so AI do it and it seems good to start off like to kind of keep track your calories a quick easy way but this app is so stupid because you’re just letting an AI judge what you eat off a 2D picture and then on top of that you’re paying 30 bucks a month and my issue with that is that they’re trying to charge me $120 e
  24. [R73] Cal AI 1/5 · US Scam: Such a bad app I have been getting money taken out of my account monthly when I only choose the $30 per year choice but every month it’s been charging me $30 and there is no way for me to get a refund and I have all the evidence through pictures to
  25. [R85] Cal AI 1/5 · US inaccurate and dishonest: they charged me for a subscription even though i had cancelled basically immediately after signing up for a free trial. they ai tool is also very wrong-you would probably be best just guessing the amount of calories in a meal.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store