Head to head · verified September 2026
Cronometer vs MacroFactor
Which one is better, where they differ, what each costs, and whether a third app beats both. Every answer below comes from feature and pricing data we checked in September 2026.
Which is better, Cronometer or MacroFactor?
It depends on how you log. Cronometer is ahead on intermittent fasting, water tracking, recipes; MacroFactor is ahead on AI photo logging, voice logging, no ads.
Is Cronometer or MacroFactor cheaper?
Cronometer, at $59.99 a year against $71.99. Cronometer has a free tier; MacroFactor does not.
What is the difference between Cronometer and MacroFactor?
On the features we verified for both, AI photo logging (included with MacroFactor, behind the paywall on Cronometer); voice logging (included with MacroFactor, behind the paywall on Cronometer); intermittent fasting (Cronometer has it, MacroFactor does not). Everything else on the list, they both do.
How do I get my food log out of Cronometer or MacroFactor?
Both let you export to CSV, though some gate it behind their paid tier. What moves to another app is narrower than people expect: weight and workouts carry over through Apple Health or Health Connect, but the food diary does not. No tracker in this category can import another's, Nutrify included. You can still read your own export: our export viewer parses it in your browser, with nothing uploaded, and shows your logging consistency, macro split and most-logged foods.
Open the export viewerIs there a better alternative to Cronometer and MacroFactor?
Depends what is missing for you. Nutrify logs six ways (photo, barcode, nutrition label, voice, text, or in the aisle) and keeps fasting, water, supplements and measurements on one timeline, for $34.99 a year on a single tier. It is also younger than both, with far fewer reviews behind it.
Try the third option free
The short version
Cronometer is the cheaper of the two at $59.99 a year against $71.99.
Cronometer has a free tier; MacroFactor does not.
Where Cronometer wins
- Intermittent fasting - Cronometer has it, MacroFactor does not
- Water tracking - Cronometer has it, MacroFactor does not
- Recipes - Cronometer has it, MacroFactor does not
Where MacroFactor wins
- AI photo logging - included with MacroFactor, behind the paywall on Cronometer
- Voice logging - included with MacroFactor, behind the paywall on Cronometer
- No ads - MacroFactor has it, Cronometer does not
Feature by feature
Nutrify is in the third column because this is our site and it would be odd to pretend otherwise. Judge it on the same rows.
| Feature | Cronometer | MacroFactor | Nutrify |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI photo logging | Gold only | No free tier | |
| Voice logging | Gold only | ||
| Barcode scanner | |||
| Micronutrient tracking | 37, opt-in (BETA) | ||
| Intermittent fasting | |||
| Water tracking | |||
| Meal planning | |||
| Recipes | |||
| Exercise tracking | |||
| Progress analytics | |||
| Apple Health sync | |||
| No ads | |||
| Price per year | $59.99 | $71.99 | $34.99 |
A dash means we have not verified that cell for that app rather than that the feature is missing. Checked September 2026.
The pitch and the reports
What each one claims, and what people say after living with it.
Cronometer
What Cronometer says
- Research-grade data from USDA and NCC rather than crowd-sourced entries
- Up to 80-odd nutrients per entry, more than any mainstream tracker
- Built for people who want precision over speed
What users praise
- The database quality is the single most cited reason people stay
- Micronutrient depth nothing else in the category matches
- Barcode scanner is reliable and auto-fills label data
What users complain about
- Slow app startup and sync problems
- No offline mode
- Photo Log and Voice Log both require Gold
What independent research found
The same study that found poor validity in MyFitnessPal found good reliability and validity in Cronometer across every nutrient except fibre, vitamin A and vitamin D. Agreement between two people entering the same records reached 0.966 for energy and 0.977 for carbohydrates. It is one study on 43 Canadian endurance athletes, so it does not settle the question, but it is the closest thing to independent measurement this category has.
Morello et al., Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, October 2025Our read
Cronometer tracks far more nutrients than we do, against better-sourced data. If micronutrient precision is why you track at all, it is the right tool. Where it struggles is speed. It is built for someone weighing an ingredient at home, not someone photographing a plate in a restaurant.
Vendor claims from their own marketing; user themes from store reviews and community discussion, weighted to 2025–2026. Verified September 2026.
MacroFactor
What MacroFactor says
- An adaptive expenditure algorithm that recalculates your targets weekly from your own intake and weight trend
- Built by research reviewers Greg Nuckols and Eric Trexler
- No ads, ever, and no free tier, the product is the subscription
What users praise
- The expenditure algorithm is the most consistently praised feature in the category, described as doing weekly what a coach would
- It does not shame you for missing a day, the algorithm absorbs the gap rather than breaking a streak, which users repeatedly cite as why they stayed after abandoning other apps
- Genuinely ad-free
What users complain about
- No free tier and $71.99 a year
- Assumes comfort with technical nutrition concepts, which is a lot of overhead for casual tracking
Our read
The expenditure model is more rigorous than our SMART Goals and is the main reason to choose MacroFactor. Its no-streak-shaming stance is also a better idea than most of the gamification in this category, ours included. We are cheaper, log six ways rather than two, and cover fasting, water and supplements it does not touch.
Vendor claims from their own marketing; user themes from store reviews and community discussion, weighted to 2025–2026. Verified September 2026.
What each is actually like
Cronometer
Track Your Nutrition with Scientific Precision
Strengths
- • Most comprehensive micronutrient tracking
- • Highly accurate, verified nutrition data
- • Excellent for specific diets (keto, paleo, vegan)
- • Detailed biometric tracking
Trade-offs
- • Photo Log and Voice Log require Gold
- • Steep learning curve
- • Interface feels technical/clinical
- • Manual entry required
MacroFactor
Smart Nutrition Coach for Serious Athletes
Strengths
- • Science-based adaptive nutrition coaching
- • Excellent for athletes and bodybuilders
- • Dynamic TDEE calculation
- • No ads, very clean interface
Trade-offs
- • No free version
- • Steep learning curve
- • Overkill for casual users
- • Manual food entry
Leaving either one
How do you actually get your data out?
The question that keeps people on an app they have stopped liking is what happens to their history. Short version: your weight and workouts move with you through Apple Health or Health Connect, your food diary does not, and no tracker in this category can import another's. Nutrify included. You can still read your own export, though, and that is worth doing either way.
Leaving Cronometer
Use servings.csv. The richest export in the category: one row per food you logged, with the amount, the meal group, and up to eighty-odd nutrient columns per entry. Almost all of our 37-nutrient catalog maps straight across.
Leaving MacroFactor
We have not written up MacroFactor's export flow yet. The switching guide covers what carries over regardless of which app you are leaving.
What transfers and what you give upThe export viewer runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed. It shows your logging consistency, macro split, weekday-versus-weekend pattern and most-logged foods, which is more than either app shows you about your own data.
A third option
If neither one is quite it
Nutrify logs a meal six ways (photo, barcode, nutrition label, voice, text, or Shop Mode in the aisle) and keeps fasting, water, supplements, a photo journal and body measurements on the same timeline. One subscription at $34.99 a year covers all of it, with nothing gated feature by feature. It is newer than both of these and has far fewer reviews, which is the honest trade.