5 Free Weight Loss Apps to Log Calories, Exercise and More

Losing weight is challenging. Shelling out money for an expensive weight loss app makes the experience even more difficult. Your journey to a healthier you shouldn’t be littered with companies demanding that you hand over your debit or credit card.

To help you, we’ve researched and selected the best weight loss apps you can download at no cost. Some of the apps we’ve chosen are well known, such as MyFitnessPal, but there are others you may not have associated with weight loss.

Take a breath in, finding the will and determination within yourself. You bring the fortitude, and we’ll bring the best free weight loss apps to download for your journey.

MyFitnessPal is an app so popular that it needs little introduction, but we’ll give you a recap of the king topping our guide anyway.

Launched in 2005, MyFitnessPal offers an all-in-one tool to those looking to lose weight, get in shape or keep an eye on their caloric intake. The app combines a food diary with a database of 14 million foods and fitness plans to help you burn extra calories and reach your goals.

We love MyFitnessPal because it delivers a complete experience, has proved itself over the years and has an immense ecosystem of supported products.

You can connect over 50 apps and devices, including Gamin, Fitbit, Samsung Health, Apple Health and MapMyRun, so your entire fitness world stays together.

You can upgrade your MyFitnessPal membership to premium ($80 a year or $20 a month) for additional healthy habit guides and custom nutrition tracking.

Still, we believe most users will find plenty of value in the app’s free base tier. Your first month of premium is free if you want to give it a try, though.

Lose It! hasn’t received the full recognition it deserves, but it is certainly one of the best weight loss apps.

A bright and straightforward interface makes tracking meals easy. Lose It! allows you to track what you eat via a food database just as well as any other app and breaks down the calories you log into easily digestible labels and graphs.

In addition to food, you can also log other pertinent information, such as your water intake and exercise.

Lose It! has fewer supported services than some weight loss apps, but you can still connect many of your favorite apps and devices, including Fitbit, Garmin, Strava and Apple Health.

You can also gain insights into your eating patterns and learn how some foods affect your daily progress.

Lose It! is a free app to use. If you wish to upgrade to the premium subscription for $40 a year or $190 for life, you will gain access to a personalized weight loss plan as well as exercise and meal planning.

Here’s a surprise! The Fitbit app isn’t just for people who own a Fitbit. Even without a dedicated Fitbit device, you can still use the Fitbit app to monitor your activity.

Using your smartphone’s sensors, Fitbit can track your daily steps, miles walked and calories burned — although a bit less accurate than a dedicated Fitbit.

If you purchase a Fitbit in the future, you can keep your existing data without starting over from scratch.

Like all good weight loss apps, Fitbit goes beyond fitness and into the world of nutrition. You can log your meals and snacks in Fitbit to keep track of the calories you’ve consumed. The food database isn’t as strong as other apps, though.

Another bonus feature — if you decide to grab a Fitbit wearable device — is the ability to track your sleep. You may gain better insights into your routine and, ideally, achieve a more restful night of sleep, which may affect weight loss, according to researchers.

The cheapest Fitbit trackers cost $60 for the Fitbit Ace 3 for kids and $70 for the Fitbit Inspire 2 for adults.

The Lifesum health app is another excellent option for individuals who want to control their weight. Lifesum begins by helping you find a diet that works best for your life and preferences; choices include clean eating and high-protein diets.

Once you’ve selected a diet that works for your life, you can follow a simplified meal plan that offers four pre-planned recipes per day. Dietary options are available for those who want to focus on keto eating or prefer a diet devoid of meat.

Lifesum also lets you track your food using a search tool or a barcode scanner. If you’ve been having trouble getting on the right dieting path, Lifesum may be able to point you in the right direction.

MyNetDiary may seem like just another calorie-counting app, but it offers a complete weight loss solution for those needing assistance. MyNetDiary can match you with an appropriate diet and help you stick to it through logging and dieting tips.

In addition to tracking your calories, you can keep an eye on a detailed breakdown of macronutrients, including carbs, proteins and fats. Type in a food product to log it within the app or scan it using the built-in barcode scanner.

Choose from low-carb, keto, high-protein, low-fat and vegetarian diets. If you’re feeling low on inspiration, MyNetDiary offers up a selection of recipes for you to cook up. You can even link your smartwatch or fitness device to monitor your steps and workouts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Michael Archambault is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder specializing in technology.