Yazio vs MyFitnessPal: Which Calorie Counter Wins in 2026?
Published: 13 August 2026 · Furkan Mert Fındıklı · 8 min read
Short answer: MyFitnessPal has the larger food database and better odds of finding a branded product by barcode — but barcode scanning now sits behind Premium. Yazio has stronger recipes and diet plans, a cleaner interface, and a free tier that stays usable for longer. If you log packaged supermarket food, pick MyFitnessPal; if you cook and want meal ideas that fit your macros, pick Yazio.
MyFitnessPal and Yazio are the two apps most people end up choosing between when they decide to start counting calories seriously. MyFitnessPal is the incumbent with the deepest data; Yazio is the cleaner European challenger that leans on recipes and plans.
The decision usually comes down to one question that people don't ask themselves early enough: is your problem recording what you ate, or deciding what to eat? Those pull in opposite directions.
MyFitnessPal vs Yazio
| Feature | MyFitnessPal | Yazio |
|---|---|---|
| Food database size | ✓ Largest in category | Large |
| Odds of finding a branded product | ✓ Highest | Good |
| Barcode scanner on free plan | ✗ Moved to Premium | ✓ |
| Calorie and macro logging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Photo food recognition | ✓ | ✓ |
| Recipe library | ✓ | ✓ Stronger |
| Structured diet plans | Limited | ✓ Extensive |
| Interface / clutter | Busier, more ads | ✓ Cleaner |
| Free tier usability | More limited since barcode moved | ✓ More usable |
| Community / recipe imports | ✓ Huge user base | Smaller |
| Fasting tracker | Partial | ✓ |
| Exercise tracking in-app | Basic | Basic |
| Hydration modelling (per beverage) | Simple counter | Simple counter |
| Workout updates hydration goal | ✗ | ✗ |
| Apple Health / Health Connect sync | ✓ | ✓ |
MyFitnessPal wins on data — with one large asterisk
No app comes close to MyFitnessPal's food database. Two decades of user-submitted entries mean that whatever obscure branded snack you are holding, someone has probably already logged it. If most of what you eat comes out of a packet, this is a genuine and hard-to-replicate advantage.
The asterisk is that barcode scanning moved to Premium. That was the feature many people downloaded the app for, and its removal from the free tier is the single biggest reason users have been migrating away. You still get the database on the free plan — you just have to search by name instead of scanning.
The interface is also the busier of the two, with more upsell prompts than Yazio.
Yazio wins on everything around the log
Yazio's recipe library and structured diet plans are the deeper of the two. If your actual bottleneck is "I don't know what to cook that fits my macros", Yazio answers that; MyFitnessPal mostly assumes you already decided.
Its free tier is also more usable. You can track calories and macros seriously for months, with barcode scanning included, before the paywall becomes a real constraint.
Where it gives ground is raw coverage. For a niche local brand, MyFitnessPal is more likely to have an entry — though Yazio's database is more than adequate for whole foods and mainstream products.
Quick rule of thumb: packaged food and barcode-heavy shopping → MyFitnessPal. Cooking, meal planning, and a free tier that lasts → Yazio.
Should you switch from MyFitnessPal to Yazio?
Two things make switching costly, and both are worth weighing honestly.
First, your history. Years of logged data and saved meals do not move across easily. If you have been tracking in MyFitnessPal for a long time and value the trend lines, staying has real value.
Second, your saved recipes and frequent foods. Rebuilding those in a new app takes a few weeks of friction, and that friction is exactly when people abandon tracking.
Switching makes sense if the barcode paywall is what pushed you, if you cook most of your meals, or if the interface clutter has started to annoy you enough that you log less often. Otherwise the incumbent advantage is real.
What both leave on the table
MyFitnessPal and Yazio are nutrition apps first. Water and exercise were added alongside, and it shows in how shallow both are.
Hydration is a tally, not a model. Both count glasses. Neither distinguishes what you drank — 250 ml of coffee and 250 ml of water are treated the same for fluid balance, which is not how the body works. Neither raises your target on a hot day.
Exercise does not feed anything meaningful. You can log a workout and the calories may offset your allowance, but the fluid lost through sweat is not accounted for anywhere. On a hard training day, the number that changes most is the one neither app tracks.
Disclosure: where our own app fits
We publish this comparison and we also make a competing app, so treat this section as advertising — the MyFitnessPal vs Yazio verdict above stands without it.
Suu is built around the gap described above: water, calories and exercise as one connected system rather than three parallel logs. A run you record raises the daily water goal from estimated sweat loss; a photographed meal is analysed for calories and macros, and its protein and sodium content adds digestion water on top; each of 91 beverages contributes its real hydration value rather than counting as a generic glass.
Where Suu is behind both apps here: its food database is smaller than MyFitnessPal's or Yazio's, it has no barcode scanner, and no recipe library. If database breadth or recipes are your priority, the two apps compared above remain the better choice — we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.
Verdict
Pick MyFitnessPal if you eat a lot of packaged food and want the highest chance of finding an exact product — accepting that barcode scanning now requires Premium.
Pick Yazio if you cook, want recipes and diet plans, prefer a cleaner interface, or want a free tier that stays usable longer. For most people starting fresh in 2026, this is the more practical pick.
Neither handles hydration or exercise as more than an afterthought. If you want your workout to change your water target and your meal to be part of the same calculation, both fall short by design.
Cheapest way to decide: run Yazio's free tier for two weeks. If you keep hitting missing products, MyFitnessPal's database is worth the switch.
Want calories, exercise and hydration in one connected app?
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Frequently asked questions
Is Yazio better than MyFitnessPal?
For most people starting in 2026, yes — Yazio has a cleaner interface, stronger recipes and diet plans, and a free tier that includes barcode scanning, which MyFitnessPal moved to Premium. MyFitnessPal remains better if you rely on finding obscure branded products, because its food database is the largest in the category.
Is MyFitnessPal still free?
MyFitnessPal is free to download and calorie plus macro logging remains on the free plan, but barcode scanning was moved to Premium. You can still search the full database by name without paying.
Which has the bigger food database, MyFitnessPal or Yazio?
MyFitnessPal, by a wide margin. Two decades of user-submitted entries mean niche and regional branded products are far more likely to be found there. Yazio's database is smaller but sufficient for whole foods and mainstream products.
Should I switch from MyFitnessPal to Yazio?
Switch if the barcode paywall pushed you, if you cook most meals and want recipes, or if interface clutter is making you log less often. Stay if you have years of history you value or frequently log obscure branded products. The main cost of switching is rebuilding your saved meals and frequent foods.
Is there an app that tracks calories, exercise and water together?
Neither MyFitnessPal nor Yazio models hydration beyond a glass counter, and logged exercise does not affect anything except your calorie allowance. Suu connects the three: the workout you record raises your water goal from estimated sweat loss and the meal you log adds the digestion water its protein and sodium require. Its food database is smaller and it has no barcode scanner or recipe library.
Which is cheaper, Yazio or MyFitnessPal?
Both use similar annual subscription models and run frequent promotions, so the headline price varies by region and season. The more meaningful difference is what you get without paying: Yazio's free tier includes barcode scanning, MyFitnessPal's no longer does.
References
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Suu is not intended for medical diagnosis or treatment. Consult a healthcare professional for health-related decisions.