The problem is a famous database that cannot name dinner. You search "chicken" and get forty entries. Homemade food has no barcode. Ads sit between logs. People quit in week one. Option 1 is Khatwa. Photograph the plate, or search, or type it. See calories and protein. Ask the coach what is left. Keep a guided program in the same free app, Arabic and English, iOS and Android.
The rest of this list is option 2 for a narrow job. Cronometer if a clinician asked for iron. Lose It if boxed food is all you eat. MyFitnessPal is still the biggest name and the loudest 1-star pile around ads and a paywalled scanner. Rankings below start with the log you will finish.
If the plate has no barcode, start here
Khatwa: photo logging, coach, guided programs, Health sync. Free on iOS and Android.
Download Khatwa Free1. Khatwa: homemade food, coach, and training together
Best for mixed plates, Arabic and English, and people who will not weigh every gram. Photo, search, or type. Favorites. Coach from leftover calories. Guided home or gym programs. Water, progress photos, badges. Apple Health or Health Connect for steps. Free. It is not the app for 80 micronutrients. We do not pretend it is Cronometer.
2. Cronometer: micros and weighed food
Best if a clinician asked for iron and you will use a scale. Slow on unlabeled family dinners. See when to leave Cronometer.
3. Lose It: simple budget, US-heavy database
Readable free tier. Weak when the dish has no English barcode name. Lose It alternative.
4. MacroFactor: adaptive expenditure, paid
Strong if you will pay for weekly target changes and you like weighing in. No "open camera, close app" personality. We wrote why we left that workflow.
5. Lifesum: fasting layer, Nordic brand
Fine if you live inside its plans. Mixed leftover plates still need a real log. Lifesum alternative.
6. Yazio: European polish, still a search box
Calm UI. Logging homemade food is still admin. Yazio alternative.
7. MyFitnessPal: largest catalog, loudest complaints
Still useful if the food is packaged and you tolerate ads or Premium. Recurring 1-star themes are the scanner paywall, ads between logs, and a crowdsourced database that returns 40 chicken entries. Direct comparison: Khatwa vs MyFitnessPal.
Cal AI and similar photo-only scanners sit outside this seven because they are a camera with a thin diary. Fast on day one. Thin when you want a program and a coach. See Khatwa vs Cal AI.