Comparison

FDL vs TrackingForGains

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

Head to head
About

FDL

Discover a vast collection of low-calorie, high-protein recipes with detailed macro and calorie information. Easily track your favorites, manage ingredient lists, and follow step-by-step video guides. Includes a macro calculator to help you meet your fitness goals.

Highlights
  • Searchable recipe database
  • Macro and calorie information
  • Favorites tab
  • Checkable ingredient lists
  • Step-by-step video instructions
  • Macro calculator
Features
Read full description

You know the moment. It's 6pm, you're starving, and nothing that sounds good fits your macros. So you make the same sad chicken and rice for the fourth time this week. Or you order the pizza and feel bad about it after. That's the whole reason this app exists. I'm Zach. I've spent 12 years turning the food people actually crave (pizza, burgers, tacos, cheesecake, orange chicken ramen, and more) into versions with more protein and fewer calories. Not "healthy" versions. Good ones. The kind you make again because you want to, not because you're supposed to. Open the app, type in whatever's in your fridge, and you get real meals with the macros already figured out. No tracking. No math. No standing there deciding. WHAT'S INSIDE - 823+ macro-friendly recipes, new ones added every week - Full macros and calories on every single recipe - Step-by-step video for each one, so it comes out right the first try - Search by ingredient, filter by calories, protein, or equipment - Meal planner and a grocery list that builds itself - Favorites, folders, and your own private notes on recipes you tweak - Mark what you've made and build your own rotation You don't have to cook separate meals for everyone else either. One dinner, the family's happy, and yours still fits. WHAT IT COSTS Free to download and look around. Full access is $19/month or $149/year, billed through your Apple account and cancelable anytime in Settings. Terms of use: https://recipes.macrofriendly.com/terms-and-conditions Privacy policy: https://recipes.macrofriendly.com/privacy-policy

About

TrackingForGains

This app helps users track their nutritional intake, plan meals using recipes from creators, and stay accountable with friends. It offers features for logging food, creating custom meals, and monitoring progress towards fitness goals.

Highlights
  • Pro-grade food tracking with database search, barcode scanning, and custom entries
  • Meal plans generated from creator recipes with automatic scaling
  • Creator feed for easily usable social media recipes
  • Accountability features with weekly check-ins and adherence scores
  • Community forums for training, food, and progress discussions
  • Fasting window tracking
  • In-app shopping for cookware and cookbooks
Features
Read full description

TrackingForGains is the all-in-one app for people who actually cook for their goals. Track your macros, plan your week, pull recipes straight from your favorite creators, and stay accountable to the people training alongside you. PRO-GRADE FOOD TRACKING Log food the way that fits your day. Search trusted, professional-grade nutrition databases, scan barcodes, or pull from thousands of major restaurant menus. Can't find it? Create a custom food or use Quick Add to enter macros directly. TrackingForGains calculates your TDEE and macro targets for you — and you can fine-tune every number yourself. MEAL PLANS BUILT AROUND REAL RECIPES Stop guessing what to eat. Browse a scrollable feed of meals from approved creators, choose how many servings you want, and TrackingForGains instantly scales the ingredient amounts and cooking directions for you. Love a meal? Add it straight to your meal plan or auto-log it for as many days as you want. A FEED THAT FEEDS YOU Our creator feed turns the recipes you already follow on social media into something you can actually use — complete ingredients, steps, and macros, ready to cook and log in a tap. STAY ACCOUNTABLE Set your plan, then keep yourself honest. Weekly check-ins track your progress, and your adherence score reflects how consistently you show up. Miss a check-in or skip your logging and your score reflects it — and the friends who follow you can see it too. At month's end, get a personalized recap of how you did. CONNECT WITH YOUR CREW Join group forums to talk training, food, and progress with people on the same path. Follow the creators and friends who keep you motivated. MORE WAYS TO DIAL IT IN Track fasting windows Adjust macros manually anytime Log solo, or follow a full meal plan — your call Shop curated cookware, cookbooks, and accessories in-app Whether you're cutting, bulking, or just trying to eat with intention, TrackingForGains brings tracking, planning, recipes, and community into one place. Download TrackingForGains and start cooking for gains. — Subscription: TrackingForGains offers a 7-day free trial. After the trial, a monthly or annual subscription is required to continue. Subscriptions are billed through your App Store account and renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings. Privacy Policy: https://trackingforgains.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://trackingforgains.com/terms TrackingForGains provides nutrition estimates and is not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice.

Screenshots

FDL4 screens
TrackingForGains4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: FDL at 4.8 against TrackingForGains's 2.9. FDL also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (72% vs 52%). On price, update cadence, 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. FDL sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.00 per month and TrackingForGains sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

FDL holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FDL has 656 ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of FDL's written reviews are positive against 52% of TrackingForGains's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FDL ships an update every 3 weeks, TrackingForGains monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
FDL versus TrackingForGains: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFDLTrackingForGains
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (656 ratings) — better2.9 (53 ratings)
Positive reviews72.4% of reviews — better52.0% of reviews
Number of ratings656 — better53
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size93 MB88 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperFlexible Dieting Lifestyle LLCcookingforgains LLC

Customer experience

FDL

All ratings633 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews105 reviews
Positive72.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative21.9%

TrackingForGains

All ratings38 ratings
Positive34.2%
Neutral5.3%
Negative60.5%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive52.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative48.0%

Bugs and requests

FDL

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • App fails to load or opens to white screen
  • Login authentication issues and password reset codes not working
  • Recipes missing ingredients or have duplicate instruction sections
  • Favorites tab displays only gray lines with zero recipes
  • App crashes when clicking on new recipes
Show 7 more
  • Back button inconsistency requiring app restart
  • Scrolling issues forcing users to scroll back down after selecting recipes
  • App freezes and shuts down unexpectedly
  • Search function not working properly
  • Incompatibility with older recipe book versions (4.0)
  • Inconsistent category filtering on main page
  • Long load times and performance lag

Requested features

12 requests
  • No-cook recipe filter option
  • Video tutorial links within recipes
  • Ability to input custom serving sizes with auto-adjusted ingredients
  • Better recipe categorization (meat category, etc.)
  • User-submitted recipe variations and substitutions
Show 7 more
  • Recipe completion tracking and feedback history
  • More active community forum or discussion board
  • Substitute ingredient suggestions for recipes
  • Direct product links (protein powder, cookie butter) within recipes
  • Table of contents for digital cookbooks
  • Dark mode option
  • Offline recipe access

TrackingForGains

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

FDL

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$19.001 Month
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$149.001 Year
2 purchases

TrackingForGains

Subscriptions2
  • TrackingForGains Pro3 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • TrackingForGains Pro7 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is FDL free?
FDL is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TrackingForGains free?
TrackingForGains is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, FDL or TrackingForGains?
FDL is rated higher. FDL averages 4.8 out of 5 from 656 ratings, while TrackingForGains averages 2.9 from 53 ratings.
Do FDL or TrackingForGains have ads?
Neither FDL nor TrackingForGains shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FDL or TrackingForGains?
FDL ships an update every 3 weeks, and TrackingForGains monthly. Most recently, FDL was updated on November 6, 2026 and TrackingForGains on November 5, 2026.

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