Head to head · verified September 2026
Cronometer vs Noom
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 Noom?
Cronometer covers more of what we track: three things Noom either lacks or keeps behind its paywall, including barcode scanner and micronutrient tracking. Noom is still the better pick for people wanting coaching and accountability.
Is Cronometer or Noom cheaper?
Cronometer, at $59.99 a year against $209.00 - 3.5× the price. Cronometer has a free tier; Noom does not.
What is the difference between Cronometer and Noom?
On the features we verified for both, barcode scanner (included with Cronometer, behind the paywall on Noom); micronutrient tracking (Cronometer has it, Noom does not); intermittent fasting (Cronometer has it, Noom does not). Everything else on the list, they both do.
How do I get my food log out of Cronometer or Noom?
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 Noom?
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 $209.00 - 3.5× the price.
Cronometer has a free tier; Noom does not.
Where Cronometer wins
- Barcode scanner - included with Cronometer, behind the paywall on Noom
- Micronutrient tracking - Cronometer has it, Noom does not
- Intermittent fasting - Cronometer has it, Noom does not
Where Noom wins
- Meal planning - Noom 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 | Noom | Nutrify |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI photo logging | Gold only | No free tier | |
| Voice logging | Gold only | No free tier | |
| Barcode scanner | No free tier | ||
| Micronutrient tracking | 37, opt-in (BETA) | ||
| Intermittent fasting | |||
| Water tracking | |||
| Meal planning | |||
| Recipes | |||
| Exercise tracking | |||
| Progress analytics | |||
| Apple Health sync | |||
| No ads | Not verified | ||
| Price per year | $59.99 | $209.00 | $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.
Noom
What Noom says
- Psychology-based behaviour change rather than calorie counting
- A personal coach and a structured daily curriculum
- Built around why you eat, not just what
What users praise
- The curriculum is genuinely well built and changes how some people think about food
- Structured daily lessons create a habit where a bare log does not
What users complain about
- Billing and cancellation are the single most common complaint. Noom paid a $62M settlement over claims it pushed users from "risk-free" trials into hard-to-cancel renewals
- Coaching quality: users report generic, seemingly templated responses rather than the personal coach advertised
- The food database has gaps and inaccuracies
- No free tier, and plans run to roughly $209 a year
Where the pitch and the reports pull apart
The widest gap in the category. Noom markets human coaching and personal attention; the recurring user report is templated replies and a subscription that is easier to start than to stop.
Our read
If the behaviour-change curriculum is what you want, nothing here replaces it. Nutrify has no coach and no lessons. But if you are paying $209 a year mainly to log food, you are paying for a programme you are not using.
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
Noom
Psychology-Based Weight Loss Program
Strengths
- • Psychology-based coaching program
- • Personal coach support
- • Educational content and lessons
- • Color-coded food system (green, yellow, red)
Trade-offs
- • Very expensive subscription
- • No free tier at all - Scan Meal and Describe Meal need a subscription
- • Heavy focus on psychology over nutrition accuracy
- • Limited technical features
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 Noom
We have not written up Noom'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.