Comparison

Macros vs MacrosFirst

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Macros

Easily track your daily calorie and macronutrient intake to achieve your health goals. Whether you aim for weight loss, muscle gain, or a healthier lifestyle, this app provides personalized goals, a comprehensive food database, and activity tracking.

Highlights
  • Personalized calorie and macro goals
  • Extensive food database
  • Barcode scanner
  • Activity and water intake tracking
  • Meal planning
  • Net carbohydrate counter
Features
Read full description

Macros is a complete calorie and macro tracker. Keep it quick with calories and macros, or go as deep as you want with micronutrients, goals for each day of the week and monthly reports. Whether you're just starting out or you're an athlete dialing in every gram, Macros adapts to you. Tell Macros your goal, whether that's losing weight, maintaining or gaining, and it calculates your daily calories and macros from your profile. Or set your own targets. CALORIES & MACROS, YOUR WAY - Food diary with calories, carbs, protein and fat for every meal. - Search a large food database, or add your own foods and recipes. - Scan a barcode to log packaged foods in seconds. - Net carb counting for keto and low-carb diets. - Calories calculated from your macros, so they always add up. - Log your exercise and water. MACROS BUILT FOR YOUR GOAL - Personalized calorie and macro goals to lose, maintain or gain weight. - Use the calculated goals or set your own. SNAP A PHOTO, GET MACROS (Macros Plus) - Log meals faster: take a photo of your meal and AI estimates the foods, portions and macros for you. YOUR PROGRESS AT A GLANCE - See your calories and macros for the last 7 days next to your goal, with your daily average. - With Macros Plus, look back over the last 30 days or month by month. EVERY NUTRIENT, NOT JUST CALORIES - Detailed nutrition facts for your foods: fats, fiber, sugars, sodium, potassium and more. APPLE HEALTH (Macros Plus) - Sync your calories, macros, nutrients and water to Apple Health, and bring in your steps, active calories and workouts. MACROS PLUS Upgrade to Plus to take your tracking further: - Log meals with a photo, powered by AI. - Different goals for each day of the week, great for carb cycling or training and rest days. - Exact macro and micronutrient goals in grams. - Monthly reports, meal breakdowns and detailed nutrition stats. - Meal times and daily diary notes. - Export your diary to PDF or your history to CSV. - Connect Apple Health, Fitbit and Garmin. - Ad-free experience. Macros is free to download, and the essentials are free: food diary, food database, barcode scanner, recipes, exercise and water. Macros Plus is an optional subscription. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Terms of Service: https://macros.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://macros.app/privacy

About

MacrosFirst

This app intelligently tracks your metabolism to adjust calorie and macro targets weekly, helping you progress towards your goals. Log meals quickly with AI, barcode scanning, and a vast food database, while also monitoring over 50 nutrients.

Highlights
  • Adaptive calorie and macro targets
  • AI-powered meal logging
  • Barcode scanner for food entry
  • Track 57 nutrients
  • Sync with Apple Health
  • Apple Watch app and widgets
Features
Read full description

MacrosFirst is the macro tracker that learns your metabolism. It calculates how many calories you really burn from your food log and weight trend, then updates your calorie and macro targets every week so you keep making progress toward your goal. Log meals in seconds with AI, a barcode scanner, and 4+ million verified foods. [ TARGETS THAT ADAPT TO YOU ] • Autopilot: MacrosFirst sets your calories, protein, carbs, and fat, then updates them in weekly check-ins. • Copilot: MacrosFirst sets your weekly calorie budget and you set the macros for each day of the week. • Manual: set your own targets for each day of the week, great for carb cycling or training and rest days. • Your pace is a percentage of body weight per week, so targets stay realistic as your weight changes. Built on validated, peer-reviewed models with guidance from a metabolism scientist formerly at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). [ LOG FOODS & MEALS IN SECONDS ] • Search 4+ million verified foods or scan a barcode. • Scan a nutrition label to add a new food without typing. • Daily Meals: set up your meal schedule once, including recurring foods, and it appears in your Journal every day. • Copy meals or whole days, save meals and recipes, or quick-add calories and macros. • Auto-calculate serving sizes to hit an exact macro target. • Count alcohol as carbs, fat, or both so calories and macros always line up. [ AI FOOD SEARCH ] • Describe a meal by voice or text, paste a recipe, or snap a photo. AI finds each food, even the cooking oil you can't see, and matches it to our verified database. [ 57 NUTRIENTS, NOT JUST MACROS ] • 28,000+ lab-tested Core Foods from the USDA and research databases, with data for up to 57 nutrients. • Track vitamins, minerals, fiber, and more against automatic targets based on your calorie target, age, and sex. • See which foods drive each nutrient with Top Sources. [ SEE YOUR REAL PROGRESS ] • Trend weight smooths out daily swings to show where you're really heading. • Track steps and water alongside your nutrition. [ LOG FROM ANYWHERE ] • Apple Watch app, Home and Lock Screen widgets, and Siri Shortcuts for hands-free logging. • Sync food, water, weight, and steps with Apple Health. [ SHARE & STAY CONNECTED ] • Follow friends and family to see their logs, or let your coach follow you. Share foods, meals, and recipes in a tap. ▶ GET EVEN MORE WITH MACROSFIRST PLUS ◀ • Autopilot, Copilot, weekly check-ins, and Expenditure charts. • AI Food Search by voice, text, or photo. • Different Daily Meals for each weekday, plus recurring foods. • Custom nutrient targets, plus nutrient trends and reports for any date range. • Macro Math: calories that always match your macros, even when labels don't. • Import recipes from any website. • Export to Excel or sync daily totals to Google Sheets. • Personal API access to build your own apps and dashboards. • Meal and day notes, unlimited friends, and priority VIP support. ▶ SUBSCRIPTION PRICING & TERMS ◀ MacrosFirst is free to download and use. MacrosFirst Plus is an optional auto-renewing subscription you can cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy & Security Policy: https://www.macrosfirst.com/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.macrosfirst.com/terms.html

Screenshots

Macros4 screens
MacrosFirst4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: MacrosFirst at every 5 days against Macros's monthly. MacrosFirst also leads on ratings volume (24K vs 1.2K) and chart position (#89 vs unranked). Macros's advantage is review sentiment (83% vs 73%). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Macros sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and MacrosFirst sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MacrosFirst holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MacrosFirst has 24K ratings behind it against 1.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Macros's written reviews are positive against 73% of MacrosFirst's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Macros ships an update monthly, MacrosFirst every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Macros versus MacrosFirst: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMacrosMacrosFirst
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.2K ratings)4.9 (24K ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better73.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.2K24K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#89 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size93 MB222 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperJosmanTekMacrosFirst, Inc.

Customer experience

Macros

All ratings1,163 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews246 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral6.9%
Negative9.8%

MacrosFirst

All ratings23,810 ratings
Positive97.2%
Neutral1.5%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews532 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative20.3%

User reviews

Macros

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Straightforward interface
  • 🔓 No subscription required
  • 💰 Affordable premium version
  • 📊 Customizable macro settings

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate food data
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 🔍 Limited ability to adjust serving sizes
  • 🔍 Lack of weight tracking feature
  • 🔍 Ads in premium version

MacrosFirst

From 24K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 💯 Accurate macro tracking
  • 🔍 Extensive food database
  • 🔓 Free features without paywall

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 📚 Limited food database for some users
  • 🔢 Difficulty adjusting serving sizes
  • 🔍 Inaccurate nutrition info for some items
  • 🔧 Lacking certain customization options

Bugs and requests

Macros

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Barcode scanner not working
  • Saved data being deleted or changed
  • Constant freezing and loading issues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to share recipes with friends
  • Integration with fitness trackers
  • Weekly/monthly progress tracking
  • Easier way to add nutrition data manually
  • Calorie cycling feature

MacrosFirst

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Search function not working properly
  • Time zone issues causing date discrepancies
  • Scanning feature recording incorrect nutrition info

Requested features

5 requests
  • Integration with Apple Health
  • Ability to share meals/recipes with friends
  • Customizable macro goals (e.g., carb cycling)
  • Improved reporting and progress tracking
  • Option to submit food data corrections

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Macros

Subscriptions5
  • Macros Plus$3.991 Month
  • Macros Plus$8.993 Months
  • Macros Plus$12.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Macros Plus$17.991 Year
  • Macros Plus$24.991 Year
One-time5
  • Plus 1 month$3.99
  • Plus 3 months$8.99
  • Plus 6 months$12.99
Show 2 more
  • Plus 1 year$17.99
  • Plus version$99.99
7 purchases

MacrosFirst

Subscriptions7
  • MacrosFirst Premium7 Days trial2 variants$11.991 Month
  • MacrosFirst Premium14 Days trial2 variants$11.991 Month
  • MacrosFirst Premium7 Days trial$41.991 Year
Show 4 more
  • MacrosFirst Premium7 Days trial$71.991 Year
  • MacrosFirst Premium14 Days trial$71.991 Year
  • MacrosFirst Premium7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • MacrosFirst Premium14 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is Macros free?
Macros is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MacrosFirst free?
MacrosFirst is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Macros or MacrosFirst?
MacrosFirst is rated higher. Macros averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while MacrosFirst averages 4.9 from 24K ratings.
Do Macros or MacrosFirst have ads?
Both Macros and MacrosFirst show ads.
Which is updated more often, Macros or MacrosFirst?
Macros ships an update monthly, and MacrosFirst every 5 days. Most recently, Macros was updated on November 13, 2026 and MacrosFirst on November 14, 2026.

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