MyFitnessPal Alternatives in 2026: What Changed and What to Switch To

On April 22, 2026, MyFitnessPal forced a new "Today tab" as the home view across iOS and Android. There's no opt-out. The Diary you've been using for years now sits behind a "View All" button. Meals render as oversized cards that take up half the screen. The under-eating warning that helped users catch when they were too aggressive on a deficit was quietly removed.

Direct quotes from the MyFitnessPal support forum since the rollout: *"500 steps backwards."* *"Gigantic, space-consuming cards."* *"This update is so tedious I absolutely hate it."* *"It is like you took 500 steps backwards."*

The week before that, Apple briefly pulled Cal AI — an AI nutrition-logging app MyFitnessPal recently acquired — from the App Store. Reason: deceptive billing, bypassing Apple's in-app purchase system via Stripe, and a manipulative double-prompt subscription flow. TechCrunch and 9to5Mac both covered it.

Two events. One week. UX meltdown plus trust meltdown. The cancellation threads on Reddit and the MFP community are full of users finally pulling the plug.

If you're one of them, here's an honest look at what actually changed and the alternatives worth considering.

What changed at MyFitnessPal

The new Today tab redesign:

• Today tab is now the home screen, replacing the Diary view as the default landing surface
• The Diary, where you actually log meals, is now an extra tap away behind "View All"
• Per-meal macro breakdowns are harder to find in the new card layout
• Meal logs render as oversized cards that consume more screen space and require more scrolling
• The "complete logging" / under-eating warning was removed
• New features added: streaks, meal-plan shortcuts, a Premium-tier AI coach
• MyFitnessPal's official position: this is "the path forward," with no opt-out planned

The Cal AI controversy:

Cal AI, an AI-first nutrition logging app that MyFitnessPal acquired, was pulled from the App Store on April 21, 2026 for App Store guideline violations. Apple specifically cited deceptive billing display and bypassing IAP via Stripe. The app was reinstated shortly after, but it's a black eye for MyFitnessPal's parent strategy of consolidating AI features through acquisition.

Pricing context (not a fresh hike, but high salience after a 2024 tier split): Premium is $79.99/yr; Premium+ is $99.99/yr. The free tier increasingly limits features that used to be standard, including the barcode scanner.

The combined effect: an interface most users dislike, paywalls that have crept up over the last two years, and a parent company that just got publicly slapped by Apple.

Why people are actually switching

Look at the active complaint threads and the pattern is consistent. People aren't leaving over one thing — they're leaving because three forces converged:

1. The redesign feels worse. Logging a meal takes more taps, the visual density dropped, and beloved features quietly disappeared.
2. The pricing crept up. $80-100/yr for a tracker is a lot when there are alternatives at $0-60.
3. Trust eroded. The Cal AI App Store removal made it harder to defend MFP as a careful, user-respecting product.

That's the kind of moment when people who've been mildly unhappy for months actually do the work to switch.

The alternatives

Honest list. Each has different strengths.

### Cronometer

Best for: people who actually care about micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids).

Tracks 80+ nutrients, not just calories and macros. Verified food database curated by paid staff. Free tier is genuinely useful. Strong fit for people with specific health conditions (kidney, liver, thyroid) or restrictive diets where micronutrient gaps matter. $9.99/mo Gold tier.

### MacroFactor

Best for: self-directed lifters who want the gold-standard adaptive TDEE algorithm.

Built by the Stronger By Science team. Recalibrates your calorie target weekly based on real weight and intake data, which solves the "the calculator got my TDEE wrong" problem. Curated food database, no junk entries. $12/mo or $72/yr.

### Lose It!

Best for: people who want a clean, simple, cheap calorie tracker.

Less cluttered than MyFitnessPal. Solid barcode scanning. $40/yr Premium. No coaching layer. If you liked the basic MFP experience and just want it lighter and cheaper, this is the natural switch.

### Carbon Diet Coach

Best for: serious lifters who want algorithmic macro coaching with evidence-based credibility.

Built by Dr. Layne Norton. Adaptive macro algorithm with formal refeed and diet break protocols. Strong fit for cutting and bulking phases where your targets need to shift weekly. $11.99/mo or $99.99/yr.

### Cronometer (also worth listing twice if you care about micronutrients)

Already covered above. The point: it's the strongest free tier of any of these.

### Threwline

Best for: people who are done managing another app.

This is what we built. Threwline lives in your text messages — SMS or Telegram. You text your AI coach what you ate ("had a chicken wrap and rice"), it logs the macros, tracks your day, and replies in seconds. There's no app to download. There's no screen to bury features behind. There's no redesign that can break your workflow next quarter.

You also get a coach that proactively reaches out when you go quiet, remembers what you ate three weeks ago, and adjusts your targets as you go. It tracks training alongside nutrition under the same coach.

$9/mo founder pricing locked at $12/mo for life (first 100 users). $19/mo Starter, $39/mo Pro. 30 days free, no card required to start.

### Honorable mentions

• Welling AI — chat-style AI nutrition tracker, app-based.
• Alma — iOS-only AI nutrition tracker from ex-Whoop founders, deep micronutrients.
• Foodnoms — Apple-only, polished UX for iOS power users.

How to choose

The fastest way to pick the right one is to be honest about why MyFitnessPal stopped working for you.

• Hated the new Today tab specifically? Lose It! is the closest like-for-like swap with a cleaner UI. MacroFactor is the upgrade if you want adaptive coaching on top.
• Tired of the price creep? Cronometer's free tier is genuinely useful. MacroFactor's $72/yr is a tier below MFP Premium+.
• Wanted coaching, not just tracking? Threwline or Carbon Diet Coach. Threwline if you want it conversational over text; Carbon if you want algorithmic adjustments inside an app.
• Done with apps entirely? Threwline. Logging via text is the most material UX shift in this category in years.

Practical migration tips

Whichever you pick:

1. Export your MyFitnessPal data first. Premium users can export Diary data as a CSV. Free users have to scroll through and screenshot, which is annoying — but worth it for at least the past month so you have a baseline.
2. Pick one with a free trial and commit to two weeks. Switching costs are mostly emotional. The first 3-5 days of a new tracker feel weird because you're rebuilding your muscle memory. Day 10 onward you'll know whether the new one is sticky.
3. Don't try to maintain two trackers in parallel. People do this thinking they'll compare. They almost always quit both within a week. Pick one and go.
4. If you're switching to Threwline specifically: text START to +1 (512) 737-7110. There's no signup form, no app to install, and no migration. Your coach asks five questions to set up your targets and you start logging via text the same day.

The bigger picture

The MyFitnessPal redesign is a useful reminder that any tool you depend on inside an app can be changed by a UX team you'll never meet. Some apps redesign well. Most don't. And when you've spent years building a logging habit around a specific layout, the redesign is the thing that breaks the habit, not the goal change or the willpower failure.

That's why we built Threwline as text-first. A text message looks the same in 2026 as it did in 2010. Your coach lives in a thread you already use. There's no UI to update, no paywall to push, no AI feature to bolt on awkwardly. You just text what you ate and your coach handles the rest.

If that sounds like the right fit, start your free trial or text START to +1 (512) 737-7110. 30 days free, no card required.