Free Calorie Counter: What You Really Get Free
Many calorie counters call themselves free, then ask for a subscription when you try the photo scan. This page sorts out what is free and what is paid, using each app's own pages. Mealyno is our product, and we list exactly what it gives free so you can judge it the same way.
Updated 1 October 2026 · How Mealyno builds its plans
What free usually means
A free calorie counter can mean three different things. The diary is free and the extras are paid. The app is free to download and every useful action needs a subscription. Or a short trial is free and then you pay. Reading the store page before you install saves you the surprise.
Manual logging, where you search a food and type a weight, is the cheapest part for a company to give away. Photo recognition costs money to run on every picture, so it is the part most often put behind a plan. That is a general pattern, not a rule, and the apps below show it.
Free and paid across the apps we checked
Everything here comes from public pages opened on 1 October 2026. We only say what the page states.
- TrackAI: its FAQ answers the free question with no. It is a subscription, monthly or yearly, and every new user gets a 3-day free trial. App Store Ukraine lists a week at $2.99, a month at $6.90 and a year at $33.90.
- Cal AI: its US App Store page says food scanning analysis results require a subscription, and its site offers a 3-day free trial.
- fatsecret: its Ukrainian App Store description says it is free.
- Formo, Welmi, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer and YAZIO: we did not verify free limits for these, so we make no claim.
Reviews about free
Users report in App Store reviews of TrackAI that ads or the app presented it as free while photo scanning needs a paid subscription after the 3-day trial. In our read of the 60 most recent Ukrainian reviews, about ten of the low ratings mention this. The same set also has many five-star reviews that praise speed and ease, so treat it as one side of a mixed picture.
The practical lesson is the same for any app: open the purchase screen before you enter your meals, and note the trial end date in your calendar.
What Mealyno gives free
Mealyno runs in the browser. These parts need no payment, and the first group needs no account either.
- Without an account: the photo calorie tool, one scan a day with no signup.
- Without an account: the calorie, TDEE, macro, BMR and protein calculators, example 7-day meal plans with shopping lists, 39 Ukrainian dish pages and diet plans.
- With a free account: unlimited barcode lookups for packaged food, 3 photo scans per account in total, a manual food diary, 1 AI meal plan a month and 10 AI generations a month.
Free vs paid in Mealyno
When the free limits are not enough, there are two plans. The yearly price is 60% off twelve months at the monthly price. There is a 7-day trial of full Premium with no card, and nothing is charged automatically. You can cancel any time.
| Feature | Free | Essential | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photo scans | 1 a day in the no-signup tool; 3 per account, once | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Barcode lookups | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| AI meal plans | 1 a month | 10 a month | Unlimited |
| AI generations | 10 a month | 50 a month | Unlimited |
| Shopping lists | Only on the public example plans | 5 a month | Unlimited |
| Advanced analytics | No | No | Yes |
| Price, USD | $0 | $8.99 a month or $42.99 a year | $24.99 a month or $119.99 a year |
| Price, Ukraine (hryvnias) | 0 ₴ | 269 ₴ a month or 1 290 ₴ a year | 829 ₴ a month or 3 990 ₴ a year |
Ukraine prices are paid in hryvnias through Monobank and cards, on the web.
A day of counting for free
Here is how one day can work without paying, using only the free parts. The kcal numbers in the first step are example label values, only to show the arithmetic.
Breakfast, by barcode. You eat a 150 g pot of yogurt. Scan the code, and the lookup returns the product from the Open Food Facts database. If the label says 60 kcal per 100 g, the pot is 60 × 150 / 100 = 90 kcal. Barcode lookups are free and unlimited.
Lunch, by photo. Photograph the plate in the no-signup photo tool. You get a list of ingredients with grams and a confidence score. Check the grams against what you really served and edit the lines that look wrong. That uses your one scan for the day.
Dinner, from a dish page. For a Ukrainian home dish such as borshch, open its dish page, read the values for a standard portion, and adjust for your bowl. No scan is used.
Free cannot do everything. Counting every meal by photo needs the unlimited scans of a plan, and the free account limit is 3 scans in total.
Questions
Is there a completely free calorie counter?
fatsecret describes itself as free on its Ukrainian App Store page. In Mealyno, the diary, barcode lookups, calculators and dish pages are free, and photo scanning is limited without a plan. Check each store page for current terms.
Is photo calorie counting free anywhere?
In Mealyno you get one scan a day in the browser tool with no signup, and a free account adds 3 scans. TrackAI has no free version, and Cal AI says scan results require a subscription.
Do I need to sign up to try Mealyno?
No. The photo tool and the calculators work without an account. An account adds free barcode lookups, 3 photo scans and a food diary.
What happens after the 7-day trial?
The trial gives full Premium for 7 days with no card, and nothing is charged automatically. After it ends, you keep the free limits unless you choose a plan.
How much does Mealyno cost in hryvnias?
Essential is 269 ₴ a month or 1 290 ₴ a year. Premium is 829 ₴ a month or 3 990 ₴ a year. The dollar prices are $8.99, $42.99, $24.99 and $119.99.
Is there a Mealyno app in the App Store?
Not yet. Mealyno works in the browser on any phone or computer. Apple Health sync and a widget are not available today.
Sources
- trackai.app: home page and FAQ(1 October 2026)
- App Store (Ukraine): Calorie Counter: TrackAI(1 October 2026)
- App Store (Ukraine): TrackAI, 60 most recent customer reviews (RSS)(1 October 2026)
- App Store (US): Cal AI - Calorie Tracker(1 October 2026)
- calai.app: home page and FAQ(1 October 2026)
- App Store (Ukraine): Calorie Counter by fatsecret(1 October 2026)
Read next on Mealyno
Count one meal free
Start with the free photo tool and free barcode lookups, then try every paid feature for 7 days with no card.
General information, not medical advice. Ask your doctor or a registered dietitian what is right for you.