Yazio vs MyFitnessPal (2026): Which Is Better?
Yazio and MyFitnessPal are two of the most downloaded calorie counters in the world, and they look similar at first: log what you eat, hit a calorie goal, watch your weight. The differences show up in the details that matter every day: what is free, how fast logging is, and what you pay once the free version runs out.
This comparison covers both apps as of September 29, 2026, using their App Store listings.
Quick answer
- Choose Yazio if you want an affordable, tidy calorie counter with a free barcode scanner, built-in intermittent fasting and lots of recipes.
- Choose MyFitnessPal if you want the largest food database, the most integrations and a huge community, and you do not mind paying for Premium.
- Choose neither if calorie counting is only half of your goal and you also want to see how your body changes: both are food diaries first.
Yazio vs MyFitnessPal at a glance
| Yazio | MyFitnessPal | |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating (US) | 4.7 (about 51,000 ratings) | 4.7 (about 2.4 million ratings) |
| Food database | 4 million+ foods | 20.5 million+ foods |
| Barcode scanner | Free | Premium only |
| Photo / voice logging | Yes (AI tools) | Premium only |
| Intermittent fasting | Built-in tracker | Premium |
| Recipes and meal plans | 2,900+ recipes; custom meal plans in Pro | Recipes; Meal Planner in Premium+ |
| Custom macro goals | Pro | Premium |
| Ads in free version | Yes | Yes |
| Apple Watch and Apple Health | Yes | Yes |
| Paid tier price (US App Store) | $47.90/year | $49.99–$79.99/year or $9.99–$19.99/month, depending on offer |
Free versions compared
This is where the two apps differ most.
Yazio free gives you the calorie counter, the food diary and the barcode scanner. For a lot of people that is the whole job: scan the package, log the meal, move on.
MyFitnessPal free still has the famous database and full calorie and macro logging, but barcode scanning, photo meal scan and voice logging have moved to Premium. You can search for foods by name for free, it is just slower.
If you are not going to pay anything, Yazio's free version is more complete for everyday logging.
Food database and logging speed
MyFitnessPal's database is roughly five times bigger: 20.5 million foods against Yazio's 4 million. That helps if you eat many regional or niche branded products.
A bigger database is not automatically better, though. MyFitnessPal's size comes partly from user-submitted entries, so the same food can appear many times with different numbers. Yazio's smaller database is more curated, and its coverage of common foods is strong.
Logging speed depends more on the tools than the database. Barcode scanning and photo logging are the fastest ways to log, and Yazio includes the barcode scanner for free.
Intermittent fasting, recipes and meal plans
Yazio started as a fasting-friendly app, and it shows: its intermittent fasting tracker with flexible plans is part of the core experience, and it comes with 2,900+ recipes. Pro adds custom meal plans.
MyFitnessPal has recipes and a recipe importer. Fasting tools and custom macro targets sit in Premium, and the Meal Planner is part of the more expensive Premium+ tier.
Prices: Yazio Pro vs MyFitnessPal Premium
As of September 2026, the US App Store lists:
- Yazio Pro: $47.90 for 12 months, $34.99 for 6 months, or $23.99 for 3 months.
- MyFitnessPal Premium: $9.99–$19.99 per month or $49.99–$79.99 per year, depending on the offer shown to you. Premium+ (with the Meal Planner) costs more.
Yazio Pro is the cheaper full upgrade. Prices vary by country and promotions change often, so check the paywall in each app before subscribing.
Apple Watch and integrations
Both apps work on the Apple Watch and sync with Apple Health, so your calories and weight can flow into the Health app. MyFitnessPal has the longer list of third-party integrations. Yazio Pro adds Fitbit and Garmin sync.
Which one should you choose?
Pick Yazio if:
- you want a free version you can actually live with, barcode scanner included
- you practice intermittent fasting
- you want a cheaper upgrade and like having recipes built in
Pick MyFitnessPal if:
- you eat many branded or regional foods that smaller databases miss
- you rely on specific app integrations
- you will pay for Premium anyway and value the community
How accurate are their food databases?
A calorie counter is only as good as the numbers behind each food. The biggest risk in large databases is user-added entries: duplicates, typos and portions that are simply wrong.
MyFitnessPal is the one with independent research behind it. In a 2020 validation study, 50 people logged four-day food diaries in MyFitnessPal, and researchers compared the results with a national food composition database (Evenepoel et al., 2020):
| Nutrient | Agreement with the reference database |
|---|---|
| Calories | Strong (r = 0.96) |
| Carbs, fat and protein | Strong (r = 0.90 each) |
| Fiber and sugar | Good (r = 0.80 and 0.79) |
| Sodium and cholesterol | Weak (about 0.5) |
The catch: those results came after removing about 3% of entries that were clearly wrong, such as a single portion listed at more than 1,500 kcal. Left in, a few bad entries can distort a whole day.
Yazio relies more on its own curated food data and barcodes, but we could not find an independent validation study of its database.
Whichever app you pick, a few habits make your log far more accurate:
- Prefer verified entries (MyFitnessPal marks them with a check) or scan the barcode.
- Weigh foods for a week or two. It calibrates your eye for portions, which is where most logging errors come from.
- Double-check anything that looks too good. A 150 kcal restaurant pasta is almost certainly wrong.
- Do not trust sodium numbers in either app for medical purposes.
What both apps leave out
Yazio and MyFitnessPal are food diaries with a weight log attached. If your goal is fat loss or body recomposition, calories are only the input. The result shows up in your weight trend, your waist and hip measurements, and progress photos, and neither app puts those at the center.
That is the gap Bodly fills. It logs meals with AI photo scanning, text or barcode, and puts them next to your weight trend, tape measurements and side-by-side progress photos. With an Apple Watch it also scores your recovery, sleep and activity every day, so you can see how training and sleep affect your progress. It is free to download.
Bottom line
For most people, Yazio is the better value: its free version includes the barcode scanner, fasting is built in, and Pro is cheaper. MyFitnessPal still wins on database size, integrations and community, but its best logging tools now require Premium.
Whichever you pick, track more than calories. Your weight trend, measurements and photos are what tell you whether the numbers are working.
Keep reading
- Lose It vs MyFitnessPal vs Cronometer compares three more calorie counters.
- Best free MyFitnessPal alternatives covers the wider field.
- Calorie deficit but gaining weight explains why the scale can disagree with your food log.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Is MyFitnessPal accurate?
For calories and macros, mostly yes. In a 2020 validation study, MyFitnessPal agreed strongly with a national food database for calories (r = 0.96) and carbs, fat and protein (r = 0.90), but only after removing about 3% of clearly wrong user entries. It was much less reliable for sodium and cholesterol. Choosing verified entries and scanning barcodes improves accuracy.
Is Yazio better than MyFitnessPal?
For most people who want a simple, affordable calorie counter with a free barcode scanner and intermittent fasting, Yazio is the better value. MyFitnessPal is better if you want the largest food database, the most app integrations and a big community, and are willing to pay for Premium to get barcode scanning.
Is Yazio free?
Yazio has a free version with a calorie counter, food diary and barcode scanner. Yazio Pro adds custom meal plans, advanced tracking tools, mood and symptom tracking, Fitbit and Garmin sync and removes ads. As of September 2026 the US App Store lists Pro at $47.90 a year, $34.99 for six months or $23.99 for three months.
Is the MyFitnessPal barcode scanner free?
No. MyFitnessPal moved barcode scanning to its paid Premium tiers. Free users can still search and log foods from its 20-million-plus database, but barcode scanning, photo meal scanning and voice logging need Premium.
Which has the bigger food database, Yazio or MyFitnessPal?
MyFitnessPal. Its App Store listing cites more than 20.5 million foods, while Yazio lists more than 4 million. A larger database finds more branded products, but it also contains more duplicate and user-entered entries, so a smaller curated database can be just as practical.
Do Yazio and MyFitnessPal work with Apple Watch?
Yes, both have Apple Watch support and sync with Apple Health.
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