Calorie Tape vs MacroFactor
MacroFactor is a paid diet coach. It estimates how much energy you burn from what you log and weigh, and adjusts your calorie and macro targets every week, for $71.99 a year after a 7‑day trial. Calorie Tape is a free food and nutrient log: you set the targets, there’s no account, and nothing leaves your iPhone.
Where Calorie Tape leads
- FreeEvery feature. MacroFactor is $71.99 a year, with no free plan.
- No accountNothing to sign up for.
- Works offlineMacroFactor needs a connection to search its full database.
- Stays on your iPhoneNo account in the cloud, and no sync.
Which one fits you
Choose Calorie Tape if
- You’d rather set your own targets and just log.
- You don’t want a subscription. Every feature is free.
- You don’t want an account, or your log in the cloud.
- You want the whole app to work offline.
Choose MacroFactor if
- You want targets that adapt to your metabolism every week.
- You weigh yourself and want a smoothed weight trend and an energy estimate.
- You want recipes, copying meals and days, and AI photo logging.
- You use Android, or want your log on more than one device.
At a glance
| Calorie Tape | MacroFactor | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Calorie TapeCalorie Tape leads: Free. Every feature. | MacroFactor$11.99 a month, $47.99 every six months or $71.99 a year, after a 7‑day trial. No free plan. |
| Ads | Calorie TapeNone | MacroFactorNone |
| Account | Calorie TapeCalorie Tape leads: None | MacroFactorRequired |
| Where your log is kept | Calorie TapeCalorie Tape leads: Only on your iPhone | MacroFactorIn your account, in Google’s Firebase cloud |
| Data used to track you | Calorie TapeNone. The app collects no data. | MacroFactorNone listed on its App Privacy label |
| Works offline | Calorie TapeCalorie Tape leads: Search, scanning, label reading and logging all work offline | MacroFactorSearching its full database needs a connection; foods from your history and cached results work offline |
| Targets | Calorie TapeYou set energy, macros and fiber; vitamins and minerals use FDA Daily Values | MacroFactorMacroFactor leads: Coached, collaborative or manual; coached targets adjust every week |
| Nutrients | Calorie TapeEvery nutrient a food reports, and which foods each one came from | MacroFactorFull micronutrient tracking, with top contributors for any nutrient |
| Foods | Calorie TapeMore than a million, from USDA and Open Food Facts, stored on your iPhone | MacroFactorMore than 1.36 million verified entries, including Open Food Facts data |
| Barcode and label scanning | Calorie TapeBoth, and both work offline | MacroFactorBoth |
| Recipes | Calorie TapeNo | MacroFactorMacroFactor leads: Yes, including import from a link |
| Weight | Calorie TapeNo | MacroFactorMacroFactor leads: Yes, with a smoothed weight trend |
| Devices | Calorie TapeiPhone, with iOS 27 or later | MacroFactorMacroFactor leads: iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android |
| Export | Calorie TapeFrom the app: chosen days as text to copy or share, or a spreadsheet (CSV) | MacroFactorYour data, any time |
MacroFactor’s details are from its App Store listing (US), website, help center and privacy policy, checked September 29, 2026.
A coach, or a log
MacroFactor’s core is its coaching algorithm. You log food and weight; it estimates your energy expenditure and adjusts your targets each week, in coached, collaborative or manual modes. It’s built for cutting, bulking and maintaining, and it won’t shame you with red numbers when you go over.
Calorie Tape has no algorithm and no weigh-ins. Set your targets once and change them when you choose. Going over shows as more tape on the meter, with no alarm.
Privacy: two careful apps, one without an account
MacroFactor is careful with your data. It shows no ads, says it will never use ad networks to track you or sell your data, and its App Privacy label lists no data used to track you. Your log still lives in an account, stored in Google’s Firebase, which is how it reaches your other devices.
Calorie Tape has no account and no server, and it makes no network calls of its own. It syncs nothing, so your log never leaves the phone, and it can’t follow you to a second device.
Nutrients and foods
Both apps track micronutrients and show which foods a nutrient came from. MacroFactor’s database has more than 1.36 million verified entries and, like Calorie Tape’s, includes Open Food Facts data. Both can scan a barcode or read a nutrition label.
Calorie Tape’s catalog is USDA’s generic and branded foods plus Open Food Facts, stored whole on your iPhone, so search and scanning work offline. MacroFactor’s help center says searching its full database needs a connection; offline, it can still find foods from your history and results it has cached. Calorie Tape shows “—” when a food doesn’t report a nutrient, and counts how many foods a total covers.
Price
MacroFactor has no free plan. After a 7‑day trial it costs $11.99 a month, $47.99 every six months or $71.99 a year in the US.
Every Calorie Tape feature is free.
What MacroFactor has that Calorie Tape doesn’t
- Weekly target changes from an energy expenditure estimate.
- A weight trend, body measurements, progress photos, and habit and period tracking.
- Recipes, recipe import from a link, and copying foods, meals or whole days.
- AI photo logging and speech-to-text logging.
- Google Fit and an Android app.
- A companion training app, MacroFactor Workouts.
Switching from MacroFactor
Calorie Tape can’t import a MacroFactor export, so you’d start a fresh log. If you like the targets MacroFactor gave you, copy its current calories and macros into Calorie Tape’s daily targets. From then on they stay put; nothing adjusts them for you.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to MacroFactor?
Calorie Tape is free and logs food and nutrients, with barcode and label scanning, but it has no coaching: targets stay where you set them, and it doesn’t track weight. If adaptive targets are why you use MacroFactor, Calorie Tape won’t replace them.
Does MacroFactor have a free version?
No. MacroFactor has a 7‑day free trial but no free plan. In the US it costs $11.99 a month, $47.99 every six months or $71.99 a year.
Which is better for privacy, Calorie Tape or MacroFactor?
Both avoid ads and tracking. MacroFactor’s App Privacy label lists no data used to track you, but your log lives in a MacroFactor account in the cloud. Calorie Tape has no account and makes no network calls of its own, so your log never leaves your iPhone.
Get Calorie Tape
For iPhone, in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
More comparisons
- MacroFactor alternativesFree and cheaper options
- MyFitnessPal vs MacroFactorFree with ads, or a paid coach
- Cronometer vs MacroFactorDeep nutrients, or weekly coaching
- Calorie Tape vs CronometerUp to 95 nutrients with an account, or a private log
- Calorie Tape vs MyFitnessPalA huge database and Premium tools, or a free scanner and no account
- Calorie Tape vs Lose It!A weight-loss plan, or a nutrient log
- Calorie Tape vs fatsecretTwo free barcode scanners, one with an account
- All comparisonsSix apps side by side
Sources
All checked September 29, 2026. Prices are US prices. Apps change; if something here is out of date, email hellochillcreatures@gmail.com and we’ll fix it.
- MacroFactor – Macro Tracker, App Store (US): prices, free trial, no free tier, App Privacy label, Open Food Facts notice, devices.
- MacroFactor app: features, food count, no ads, data export, pricing.
- MacroFactor Privacy Policy: accounts, storage in Google Firebase, not selling data.
- MacroFactor Help, Does MacroFactor have an Offline Mode?: searching the full database needs a connection; history foods and cached results work offline.
- MacroFactor on Google Play: the Android app.
- Calorie Tape Privacy Policy and Food Data.
MacroFactor is a trademark of its owner, used here only to name the app. Calorie Tape and Chill Creatures aren’t affiliated with or endorsed by Stronger By Science Technologies LLC.