Best Nutrition Tracking Apps Under $5 a Month in 2026
Premium nutrition tracking now runs anywhere from $6.67 to $59 a month. But a handful of apps deliver full-featured tracking — AI logging included — for under $5. This guide compares every one of them on their real store pricing, and applies one test most of them quietly fail.
A note on how we priced this
App pricing pages and app store checkouts don't always agree. Several trackers advertise an "effective" monthly rate that only exists if you prepay 12 months; some use promotional or dynamic pricing that changes by season, region, or how long you've used the free tier. Everything below is the standard US App Store / Google Play listing price as of August 2026 — both the monthly plan and the annual plan, shown separately, so you can see what "under $5" actually requires at checkout.
The $5 test
Before the rankings, one table. "Under $5 a month" can mean two very different things: a monthly plan you can cancel anytime, or an annual prepayment divided by twelve. Here's every app in this guide against both readings:
| App | Monthly plan | Under $5 monthly? | Annual plan | Under $5 effective? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klenz | $4.99 | Yes | $29.99/yr ($2.50/mo) | Yes |
| Lose It! Premium | $9.99 | No | $39.99/yr ($3.33/mo) | Yes |
| Yazio Pro | Not offered in most markets | No | $47.90/yr ($3.99/mo) | Yes |
| Cronometer Gold | $10.99 | No | $49.99/yr ($4.17/mo) | Yes |
| Cal AI | ~$20.00 | No | $49.99/yr ($4.17/mo) | Yes |
Standard US listing prices, August 2026. Promotional pricing may be lower; several apps discount annual plans seasonally.
One app passes both tests. If you want sub-$5 tracking without committing a year upfront, Klenz at $4.99/month is currently the only option. If you're happy to prepay, the field opens up — and the rest of this guide compares what each app gives you for that money.
Every nutrition app under $5/month, ranked
1. Klenz
$4.99/mo · $29.99/yr ($2.50/mo)Klenz is a full nutrition platform rather than a calorie counter. Log a meal by photo, voice, or search and it breaks the food down into 31 nutrients — calories and macros, plus vitamins, minerals, fiber, added sugars, and omega-3s — built on USDA food data. Every meal gets a Klenz Score, a 0–100 quality rating, and your nutrients map to 7 health areas (heart, brain, bones, immunity, skin, energy & focus, eyes) so you can see where your diet is strong and where it's thin.
Two features are unique in this price bracket. Menu scanning: photograph any restaurant menu and Klenz picks the dishes that best fit your current nutrient gaps. And fitness tracker sync with AI insights: workouts, sleep, steps, and calories burned flow in from Apple Health or Health Connect (Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Oura, Whoop, and more), and Klenz's AI connects your training to your nutrition — not just displays the numbers side by side.
- Photo, voice & search logging — with natural-language backdating up to 30 days
- Barcode scanning with ingredient insights and additive markers
- Restaurant menu scanning with personalized dish picks
- Ask Klenz — an AI assistant that answers from your actual logged data
- AI meal plans & grocery lists built from your gaps, with Instacart checkout
- Alexa voice logging and browser-based logging with no app install
- Custom nutrient targets that adjust to your activity level
- Daily AI food tips and insight cards that surface patterns across your meals, nutrients, and training
Also included at the same price: flare tracking with a 72-hour food lookback, per-nutrient detail views with top food sources and trends, a customizable home screen with your choice of hero nutrient, and a searchable history of every log, food scan, and menu scan.
What's missing: no intermittent fasting timer, and no permanent free tier — the 7-day trial is full-featured, but after that it's paid only. Klenz is also newer than the legacy trackers below, so there's no large user community around it yet.
Best for: anyone who wants nutrition depth beyond calories — and the only choice if you want a sub-$5 price on monthly billing.
2. Lose It! Premium
$9.99/mo · $39.99/yr ($3.33/mo)Lose It! has tracked calories since 2008, and its annual plan remains one of the cheapest in the category. Premium adds photo logging (Snap It), meal planning, custom goals, and advanced reports on top of a familiar, well-worn logging flow.
Worth knowing: the free tier has narrowed over time — barcode scanning and macro tracking have moved behind the paywall for most new users, and the database mixes verified and user-submitted entries. No menu scanning, no AI assistant, and monthly billing is $9.99.
Best for: straightforward calorie and weight tracking at the lowest legacy-app annual price.
3. Yazio Pro
$47.90/yr ($3.99/mo) · frequent promosYazio pairs calorie and macro tracking with a built-in intermittent fasting timer and a large recipe and meal-plan library. The interface is one of the cleanest in the category, and it's especially strong on European foods.
Worth knowing: no AI photo or voice logging, a smaller food database than the bigger players, and pricing is heavily promotional — annual rates as low as $23.90 appear regularly, which also means the sticker price is a moving target. Sub-$5 requires the annual commitment.
Best for: people who want fasting and food tracking in one clean app.
4. Cronometer Gold
$10.99/mo · $49.99/yr ($4.17/mo)Cronometer is the micronutrient specialist: it tracks 84 nutrients against a curated, verified database, and its free tier is unusually generous — barcode scanning and full micronutrient tracking stay free, with ads. Gold removes the ads and adds fasting tracking, custom charts, and deeper analytics.
Worth knowing: logging is manual-entry-first and the data density creates a real learning curve. No AI photo logging, no menu scanning, no AI assistant. Monthly billing is $10.99, the highest of the traditional trackers here.
Best for: data-focused users who want maximum micronutrient depth and don't mind slower logging.
5. Cal AI
~$20/mo · $49.99/yr ($4.17/mo)Cal AI popularized one-tap photo logging: point your camera at a plate, get a calorie estimate. If photo speed is the only feature you care about, its annual plan lands in this bracket.
Worth knowing: the experience is photo-first and calorie-centric — micronutrient tracking is thin, and independent testing has flagged accuracy problems with homemade and non-Western dishes. Pricing isn't shown until you finish an onboarding quiz, and the monthly plan (~$20) is the most expensive in this comparison.
Best for: minimalists who want photo calorie estimates and nothing else — on the annual plan only.
Feature comparison: what $5 actually buys
| Feature | Klenz | Lose It! | Yazio | Cronometer | Cal AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan under $5 | $4.99 | No ($9.99) | No monthly | No ($10.99) | No (~$20) |
| Annual plan | $29.99 | $39.99 | $47.90 | $49.99 | $49.99 |
| AI photo logging | Yes | Premium (Snap It) | No | No | Yes |
| Voice logging | Yes + Alexa | Limited | No | No | No |
| Nutrients tracked | 31 | Macros + basics | Macros + some micros | 84 | Calories + macros |
| Meal quality score | Klenz Score (0–100) | No | No | No | No |
| Health area tracking | 7 areas | No | No | No | No |
| AI insights from your logs | Daily tips + pattern insights | Reports (Premium) | No | Charts & reports | No |
| Barcode scanning | Yes + additive markers | Premium | Yes | Yes (free tier) | Yes |
| Restaurant menu scanning | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Fitness tracker sync | Yes + AI insights | Premium | Yes | Yes | Basic |
| AI assistant on your data | Ask Klenz | No | No | Oracle (search) | No |
| Meal plans & grocery lists | Yes + Instacart | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Fasting timer | No | No | Yes | Gold | No |
| Log without the app | Browser + Alexa | No | No | Web app | No |
Feature availability from official store listings and published app documentation, August 2026. "Premium" means included in the paid tier compared here.
What about the apps above $5?
For context on what the sub-$5 bracket saves you: MyFitnessPal Premium runs $19.99/month or $79.99/year ($6.67/mo) — its advantage is the largest food database in the category, though a large share of entries are unverified user submissions. MacroFactor is $71.99/year with no free tier, built around adaptive macro targets for lifters. Noom starts around $17/month on annual plans and is a behavioral coaching program more than a tracker. Unless you specifically need one of those things — the biggest database, adaptive coaching for a cut, or a psychology curriculum — the sub-$5 apps now cover the day-to-day tracking feature set, AI logging included. For a full breakdown of MFP's tiers and what replaces them, see our guide to cheaper MyFitnessPal alternatives in 2026.
How to choose
- You don't want an annual commitment: Klenz — the only monthly plan under $5.
- You want the most complete feature set per dollar: Klenz — the only app here with menu scanning, a meal quality score, health-area tracking, and fitness-tracker AI insights, at the lowest annual price.
- You want maximum micronutrient data and don't mind manual logging: Cronometer Gold.
- You want a fasting timer built in: Yazio Pro.
- You want the most familiar legacy tracker: Lose It! Premium.
- You only want photo calorie estimates: Cal AI, annual plan only.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best nutrition tracking app under $5 a month?
Klenz. At $4.99/month (or $29.99/year, about $2.50/month) it's the only app whose monthly plan is under $5, and it includes AI photo, voice, and search logging, 31-nutrient tracking, a 0–100 meal score, barcode and menu scanning, fitness tracker sync with AI insights, and an AI assistant grounded in your own data.
Which nutrition apps are under $5 without paying for a year upfront?
As of August 2026, only Klenz ($4.99/month). Lose It! bills $9.99/month, Cronometer Gold $10.99/month, Cal AI around $20/month, and Yazio doesn't offer a true monthly plan in most markets — every other app reaches sub-$5 only through annual prepayment.
What's the cheapest app with AI photo logging?
On annual billing, Klenz at $29.99/year (~$2.50/month) is the least expensive option with AI photo logging — and it includes voice logging, menu scanning, and fitness tracker sync at the same price. On monthly billing, Klenz at $4.99 is roughly a quarter of Cal AI's monthly price.
Is a paid tracker worth it over a free one?
Free tiers have narrowed across the category — Lose It! now gates barcode scanning and macro tracking, and Cronometer's free tier carries ads. If you log daily, a sub-$5 subscription works out to under 20 cents a day for ad-free, faster logging. If you only want occasional rough calorie counts, a free tier may be enough.
Do these prices change?
Yes — several apps here use promotional or dynamic pricing, and annual plans are frequently discounted. The figures above are standard US store listing prices as of August 2026. Klenz's pricing is the same for everyone: $4.99/month or $29.99/year, no quiz, no negotiation.
How much does Klenz cost, exactly?
$4.99/month, or $29.99/year (about $2.50/month — 50% less than paying monthly). Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial and includes all features. Available on iOS and Android, with browser logging at klenz.app/log.
Try the only one under $5 on monthly billing
7-day free trial, every feature included. $4.99/month, or $29.99/year — cancel anytime in the App Store or Google Play.
iOS & Android · 7-day free trial · Prices in USD