Nowadays, apps and wearable devices are making it easier than ever to track everything from blood sugar levels to sleep quality. And when it comes to weight loss, there are lots of health and nutrition apps that can also be useful for creating sustainable habits.
But there are lots of options out there, so if you’re looking to optimize your diet, how can you know which app is best for you and your goals? We'll give you the rundown of 11 of our favorite dieting apps that you might want to try using on your health or weight loss journey.
Why Using Dieting Apps May Benefit Your Weight Loss Journey
Dieting and health apps can be useful tools to track calories eaten, the water we drink, and the ways in which we move our bodies. Dieting apps often include features such as:
- Calorie counters
- Fitness trackers
- Food logging features with barcode scanners or food databases
- Goal setting to help you meet your health or fitness goals
- A point system to keep you motivated
Some apps allow you to explore different diets, connect with nutrition coaches, and make you feel like a part of a community. A few apps even give you real-time insights into what’s happening in your body to help you form and reach your health goals.
We’ll get into our app recommendations in a moment, but first, here are some things to keep in mind when getting started.
Tips For Using Dieting Apps To Your Advantage
Follow these tips to get the most from your dieting app, no matter which one you choose.
- Know your health goal: Say you’re starting a weight loss journey or trying a new diet. What matters to you? Make sure you have specific goals in mind.
- Be consistent: No matter what you’re tracking, you’ll likely get the most accurate insights into your health if you're doing it consistently.
- Celebrate progress: Focus on small, sustainable changes in behavior aligned to your goals, and recognize your progress toward those goals along the way!
Let’s go through some of the unique features and pricing of the best weight loss apps out there and help you decide which one might be right for you.
1) Nutrisense: For Tracking Blood Glucose + Guidance From A Dietitian
Nutrisense pairs insights from a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) with personalized dietitian support to help you reach your wellness goals. This powerful combination helps you to learn about your body with precision so you can understand how your unique body responds to your diet, exercise, and lifestyle habits.
Standout Features
- Provides access to CGM technology so you can view how your blood sugar levels fluctuate throughout the day
- Has one-on-one nutrition coaching from credentialed nutritionists available to help you personalize your diet to your unique needs
- Uses a data-driven approach to optimizing your workout routines, managing stress, and maximizing rest when you sleep
- Gives members access to the Nutrisense app for accountability and to view real-time data recorded by your CGM
Pricing and Platforms
Nutrisense CGM programs start at $399 for one month and go down to $225 per month for a one-year commitment. You can also choose a three or six month commitment for $299 per month or $250 per month, respectively.
All plans include complimentary check-ins from a credentialed dietitian or nutritionist during your first month to help you interpret your data and set achievable goals.
Who This App Is For
Nutrisense’s program is designed to help anyone to reach their wellness goals. You’ll discover insights about your blood sugar levels and understand how your dietary habits and activity level are affecting your overall health.
{{rich-text-cta-3="/style-guide"}}
2) Lose It!: For User-Friendly Meal Logging
Lose It! is a popular weight loss app that promotes a balanced approach to weight loss. Though it is primarily a calorie-counting app, it also does much more.
Standout Features
- Helps you to determine your daily calorie budget and schedule to set and reach realistic weight goals
- Allows you to choose from nutrition strategies including the Mediterranean diet, or high protein, low-carb, keto, plant-based, and heart-healthy diets
- Allows you to track foods, calories, macros, water, and physical activity
- Lets you sync health apps and devices
- Gives you access to an In-app community for advice and accountability
- Supports intermittent fasting
Pricing and Platforms
After a seven day free trial, Lose It! costs $39.99/year. Some features are only available on the Premium platform.
Who This App Is For
This app is designed to support your weight loss goals. If you’re looking to increase your awareness of the foods you’re putting in your body and how that translates to weight loss, Lose It! may be for you.
3) Cronometer: For Nutrient Tracking
Cronometer is another calorie-counting app that allows you to track your food intake and exercise and gives you detailed nutrition information on the foods you log.
Standout Features
- Allows you to track 84 micronutrients (vitamins and minerals, which are important for metabolic health
- Allows you to set weight, macro, and nutrient targets
- Gives you the option to see the nutritional content of complete meals, rather than individual ingredients
- Supports keto, vegan, and other diets
- Generates health reports on caloric balance and more as well as complete macronutrient and micronutrient summaries
Pricing and Platforms
The free version of Cronometer allows you to access basic features of the app. A premium version of the app is available to remove ads and allow syncing with apps and devices like Garmin, Fitbit, and Oura.
Who This App Is For
This app offers a balance between calorie counting and nutrition science for deeper insights into the kinds and quantities of micronutrients you’re eating. If you want to learn more about healthy eating habits, this app may be a great place to start.
4) Carb Manager: For Keto Diets
Carb Manager is a macro tracking app that helps you maintain a healthy and sustainable low-carb diet and lifestyle.
Standout Features
- Allows you to track ketones, blood glucose from a glucometer reading, insulin, glycemic load, glucose ketone index (GKI), and more
- Uses photo recognition technology to track macros and micros
- Provides general meal plans and grocery lists, plus a database of Keto recipes
- Gives you access to a social media community for connection and support
- Integrates with Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Watch and other apps and devices via Apple Health and Google Fit
Pricing and Platforms
While the app itself is free, the majority of the features are available only on the premium plan, which costs $39.99/year. With Premium, users have access to nutrient tracking, recipes, health reports, device integrations, video courses about the Keto diet, and more.
Who This App Is For
Primarily for those following a keto diet, this app helps users explore ways to optimize a Keto diet.
5) Fitbit: For Exercise-Focused Weight Loss
Fitbit is a popular fitness tracking platform owned by Google and its main use is to help people move their bodies and live a healthy lifestyle. It works through a smartwatch which you can connect to an app on your phone.
Standout Features
- Has several smartwatches and activity trackers available to choose from
- Offers a quiz and product comparison help you to choose the device that’s right for you
- Has a community and blog drive competition among users around the world
- Helps users to stay active at home, eat healthy, sleep better, and manage stress
- Gives you access to guided programs, workouts, and challenges
Pricing and Platforms
The Fitbit app is free for anyone to use and features stats, guidance, community, and good-natured competition. You’ll just need to choose from one of Fitbit’s many smartwatch models to be able to track your own data.
Fitbit also has a premium option which offers deeper insights, personalized recommendations for video workouts, mindfulness sessions, a wellness report, sleep score details, and more.
Who This App Is For
With so many styles to choose from (if you’re planning to invest in a watch or tracker), Fitbit allows you to show your personality and get excited about fitness. If you’re just using the app, you still have access to track calories, water intake, exercise, weight, and mindfulness tracking.
6) Paleo.io: For Paleo Diets
Created by the people behind Ultimate Paleo Guide, Paleo.io serves as a quick reference to help users distinguish between foods that are paleo-friendly and ones that might not be. Simply search for the food you’re curious about.
Standout Features
- Makes it easy to view foods that can be included in a paleo diet
- Has 3,000 searchable specific food items
- Serves as a guide while grocery shopping or on the go
- Includes content highlighting compounds in a given food and what makes it paleo (or not)
Pricing and Platforms
This app costs $0.99, and gives you access to their entire database of information.
Who This App Is For
This app was created for people who want to adhere to a paleo diet and find themselves wondering all too often, “Is this food paleo?” However, it’s good to consider that debates among anthropologists about what counts as a “paleo” diet are still ongoing.
7) Noom: For Virtual Health Coaching
Noom takes a behavioral psychology-based approach to weight loss, helping users to lose weight and keep it off.
After completing an in-depth behavior profile quiz and answering questions about your activity and nutrition levels, you’ll receive a personalized weight loss plan to create long-term results through habit and behavior change.
Standout Features
- Has a focus on creating long-lasting change to break the cycle of dieting
- Provides tools for tracking food, exercise, and more
- Has one-on-one lifestyle coaching and support groups for motivation
- Includes lessons rooted in psychological principles help users to build resilience and manage stress, which can lead to weight gain
- Teaches users to be mindful of habits and build new ones
Pricing and Platforms
You can choose your price for a seven day trial (Noom recommends $10). After that, subscription plans are billed according to how many months Noom estimates you’ll need to reach your goal weight.
Most users start with a four month subscription for $169, which comes out to $42.25 per month.
Who This App Is For
Noom is designed for people looking for structure and support to lose weight and reach their wellness and weight loss goals.
8) My Macros+: For Macro Counting
Founded by a professional bodybuilder and powerlifter, My Macros+ is an app that allows you to count calories and it’s designed to help users track their weight, eating habits, and macros.
Standout Features
- Allows you to set macro goals by gram
- Integrates with Apple Health to provide a complete picture of your health data
- Allows you to track the exact foods you eat in its database of five million items
- Has a daily nutrition report and graphs so you can track your progress over time
- Allows you to add friends for food inspiration and social support
Pricing and Platforms
The app costs $2.99, and you can choose to add Macro Coach AI-driven coaching. You can also buy a MM+ Pro membership to unlock a diet summary, detailed analysis, note-taking feature, and more.
Who This App Is For
This app is used by professional athletes and makes it easy to track your daily macros, see the macronutrient breakdown of each meal, and adhere to macronutrient targets.
9) Weight Watchers: For Social And Community Support
Weight Watchers is a program that helps users to lose weight while eating their favorite foods. It works by assigning points to foods based on their nutritional content and giving users a points budget that they can track inside the app.
Standout Features
- Puts emphasis on food tracking to encourage mindful eating and planning ahead
- Includes a recipe database and recipe builder for calculating points in a meal
- Has a supportive members-only social network in the app
- Has a diabetes-tailored plan based on guidelines from the American Diabetes Association and the International Diabetes Federation
Pricing and Platforms
A Core membership at WW starts at $15.00 per month and includes tracking tools, recipes, and coach support. Their premium membership starts at $30.00 per month and includes premium features like unlimited access to workshops.
Who This App Is For
Weight Watchers works best for users who don’t like the idea of restrictive dieting and who want to simplify nutrition and stick to a plan.
10) Lifesum: For Quick Weight Loss
Lifesum is a nutrition platform that offers personalized nutrition, food education, and inspiration to help global users live healthier lives. It aims to help people make conscious decisions that support a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Standout Features
- Includes calorie, macro, and water tracking
- Gives you access to three week weight loss, sugar detox, and other types of meal plans
- Provides generalized guidance for losing weight, maintaining weight, and gaining weight, including multiple keto and intermittent fasting diets
- Has a library of recipes
- Gives you a personalized health score based on responses to questions about your nutrition and exercise habits
- Integrates with health and fitness apps including Apple Health and Fitbit
Pricing and Platforms
Lifesum’s standard plan only includes access to tracking features. You can browse meal plans and recipes, but to access those, you’ll need to sign up for a Premium plan, which runs $14.99 for 3 months to $49.99 for one year.
Who This App Is For
More than 50 million people use Lifesum globally for nutrition insights and guidance for living a healthy lifestyle. This app is also integrated with Google Assistant.
11) Platejoy: For Meal Planning
Making a shopping list and deciding what to cook in any given week can take time. PlateJoy creates personalized recipes and grocery lists to help people find new recipes, make nutritious food choices, and manage weight.
Standout Features
- Includes customizable meal plans designed around clean eating, whole and nutrient-dense foods
- Has plans for low carb, Mediterranean, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and other diets
- Creates smart grocery lists that account for what you already have in your kitchen
- Includes an optional grocery delivery through Instacart and Amazon Fresh
- Accounts for users’ food preferences and available kitchen appliances
Pricing and Platforms
PlateJoy is available as 1-month ($12.99), 6-month ($69), or 12-month ($99) subscriptions. The six and 12-month subscriptions come out to $11.50 per month and $8.25 per month, respectively.
Who This App Is For
PlateJoy makes healthy eating realistic for busy people. If you find yourself needing inspiration for healthy weeknight dinners, this app is great to try out!
Engage with Your Blood Glucose Levels with Nutrisense
Your blood sugar levels can significantly impact how your body feels and functions. That’s why stable blood glucose levels can be an important factor in supporting overall wellbeing.
With Nutrisense, you’ll be able to track your blood glucose levels over time using a CGM, so you can make lifestyle choices that support healthy living.
When you join the Nutrisense CGM program, our team of credentialed dietitians and nutritionists are available for additional support and guidance to help you reach your goals.
Ready to take the first step? Start with our quiz to see how Nutrisense can support your health.
Find the right Nutrisense programto help you discover and reach your health potential.
Heather is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN, LDN), subject matter expert, and technical writer, with a master's degree in nutrition science from Bastyr University. She has a specialty in neuroendocrinology and has been working in the field of nutrition—including nutrition research, education, medical writing, and clinical integrative and functional nutrition—for over 15 years.
