Awards › Head to head › PlateLens vs MyFitnessPal
Head to head
PlateLens vs MyFitnessPal (2027): Which Food Tracker Should You Use?
Our call: PlateLens
PlateLens wins this match-up. It gives you photo, voice, barcode and typed logging on a verified database of 1.2M+ foods, with unlimited barcode scans and AI photo logging on its free plan, for a Premium price of $34.99 a year against MyFitnessPal's $79.99. MyFitnessPal keeps the widest crowd-sourced catalogue of chain restaurants and packaged foods.
Round by round
| Round | PlateLens | MyFitnessPal | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ways to log | Photo, voice, barcode, typed search and saved meals | Typed search on free; Meal Scan, voice and barcode listed as Premium | PlateLens |
| Food data | 1.2M+ verified foods, 820K+ branded with barcode data, 45K+ restaurant items | Largest crowd-sourced catalogue, with duplicate entries | Split: verified vs breadth |
| Free plan | Never expires; unlimited typed and barcode logging, 3 AI photo scans a day, web app, fasting timer | Food diary on the crowd-sourced database | PlateLens |
| Premium price | $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month | $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month | PlateLens |
| Nutrients | 82+ per entry, automatic net carbs | — | PlateLens |
| Restaurant and packaged breadth | 45K+ verified restaurant items | Widest coverage of chains and regional brands | MyFitnessPal |
| Extras | Adaptive TDEE, fasting timer, glucose logging, meal planner, 3D Body Scan | Meal planning, recipes, community, large integration ecosystem | PlateLens |
Official sites: PlateLens · MyFitnessPal
The short answer
PlateLens is the better food tracker for most people, and it takes five of the seven rounds below. MyFitnessPal wins on the sheer breadth of its catalogue, which still matters if you eat at the same chain restaurants every week. For everyone else, PlateLens offers more ways to log, cleaner data, a more generous free plan and a Premium price less than half of MyFitnessPal’s.
Logging
This is the biggest difference. PlateLens’s free plan covers the fast routes most people use every day: barcode scans and typed search are unlimited, and 3 AI photo scans a day handle the mixed plates. Voice entries are matched against the same verified foods. MyFitnessPal’s free plan is a typed-search diary; Meal Scan, voice logging and, according to its Premium page, barcode scanning are among its Premium benefits.
The food data
MyFitnessPal’s catalogue is the biggest in the category because users have been adding foods for years. The cost is duplication: a popular food can appear many times with different numbers. PlateLens’s database is verified, with 1.2M+ foods, 820K+ branded products with barcode data and 45K+ restaurant items, so you get one clear entry instead of a choice of six. If your priority is finding an exact item from a small regional chain, MyFitnessPal is more likely to have it. If your priority is trusting the number you log, PlateLens is ahead.
Price
PlateLens Premium is $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month. MyFitnessPal Premium is $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month. Because PlateLens’s free plan already covers barcode logging, the web app and the fasting timer, many people never need to upgrade at all.
Beyond the diary
PlateLens adds an adaptive TDEE, a free fasting timer, blood glucose logging, alcohol tracking, a meal planner with grocery lists and a 3D Body Scan, all in the same app, plus JSON export and two-way Apple Health and Health Connect sync. MyFitnessPal’s strengths here are its meal planning and recipes, its long-running community and a large ecosystem of device and app integrations.
Who should choose which
- Choose PlateLens if you are starting fresh, want photo, voice and barcode logging without paying, care about verified numbers or want the lower Premium price.
- Choose MyFitnessPal if years of your history live there, you depend on a particular integration, or your diet is built around chain restaurants it lists and others do not.
See both scorecards: PlateLens · MyFitnessPal.
Questions readers ask
Is PlateLens better than MyFitnessPal?
For most people, yes. PlateLens has a verified database instead of a crowd-sourced one, includes AI photo scans and unlimited barcode logging on its free plan, tracks 82+ nutrients per entry and costs $34.99 a year for Premium against MyFitnessPal's $79.99. MyFitnessPal is still the better choice if you rely on its very wide chain-restaurant catalogue.
Can I switch from MyFitnessPal to PlateLens?
Yes. The simplest way is to start fresh: save your regular meals in the first week and log as normal. Most people find their routine is rebuilt within about two weeks.
Which is cheaper, PlateLens or MyFitnessPal?
PlateLens. Premium is $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month; MyFitnessPal Premium is $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month.