Comparison

dtect vs Calonic

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

Head to head
About

dtect

Scan products to instantly understand their nutritional content, identify unhealthy ingredients, and check for allergens. Easily import lists of ingredients you react to, ensuring you can safely consume products without reading lengthy labels.

Highlights
  • Scan products for instant analysis
  • Identify unhealthy ingredients
  • Check for intolerances and allergies
  • Import custom ingredient lists
  • View product nutrition overview
  • Determine food safety
Read full description

Photograph an ingredient list and dtect shows which of your allergens it contains. Direct matches, such as milk, appear in red. Trace warnings such as "may contain hazelnuts" appear in amber. dtect reads the printed label itself, so it requires no barcode and no product database. This helps with imported goods, small brands and labels in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch or Spanish. Text recognition can misread words. dtect supports you in reading a label but does not determine whether a product is safe, so always check the packaging. - 14 EU allergens built in, each of which can be switched off - Your own allergens, rated High or Warning - Direct match in red, "may contain" trace in amber - Nutrition table per 100 g, 100 ml or serving, with your thresholds for fat, saturates, sugar and salt - Gluten, lactose and fructose check - Country of origin with flag - History of your last 100 scans, with optional product name - Report an incorrect result directly from the result screen All processing takes place on your phone. dtect needs no account, collects no analytics and makes no network connections. The only permission it requires is camera access. Requires iOS 16 or later on iPhone.

About

Calonic

Features
Read full description

Calorie tracking as easy as texting a friend. Type what you ate, the way you would say it: "a cappuccino and a croissant" or "half a pizza margherita". Or take a photo of your plate, a nutrition label or a recipe. Calonic estimates calories and nutrients in seconds. No searching through food databases, no weighing every gram. WHY CALONIC Tracking every meal already takes discipline. So logging itself should take as little time as possible. Calonic is built around that idea: one message, one estimate, done. A rough estimate is still better than no estimate at all. YOUR DAY AT A GLANCE • Your calories and the nutrients that matter to you, with a clear goal for each • See instantly how much is left for today, or whether you are already within your goal • Save favorites and log your usual meals with one tap YOUR PERSONAL GOAL • Calonic calculates your daily target from your body data, activity and goal: lose weight, keep it, gain weight or build muscle • Choose your priorities, for example protein first, and set your own values if you prefer • Vegetarian or vegan? Set your diet and Calonic estimates dishes to match YOUR MOVEMENT COUNTS Turn it on, and Calonic adds the active calories from Apple Health to your daily goal. Your goal grows with every walk and every workout. STAY ON TRACK • Your streak shows how many days in a row you have logged • A calendar marks every day you were within your goal • The report shows your calorie mix of carbohydrates, fat and protein, your nutrients over time and your weight MORE • Syncs your meals to Apple Health • Intermittent fasting with reminders for your fasting and eating windows • Optional sarcastic mode, if you like your meals with a comment • In English and German, metric and imperial units PRIVACY Calonic shows no ads, does no tracking and does not sell your data. CALONIC PREMIUM Premium saves your meals in your diary and unlocks the report, Apple Health sync and your personal goals. Try it free for one week, then monthly or yearly. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel it in your App Store account settings. Calonic gives estimates and is not medical advice. Terms of Use: https://calonic.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://calonic.com/data-privacy

Screenshots

dtect4 screens
Calonic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: dtect at none against Calonic's 2. Calonic's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Calonic sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. dtect asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

dtect ships an update every 5 weeks, Calonic every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 6 level
dtect versus Calonic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterdtectCalonic
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB45 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperPhilip GurrCertyfact UG (haftungsbeschrankt)

In-app purchases

None

dtect

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Calonic

Subscriptions2
  • Classic monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Classic Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is dtect free?
dtect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Calonic free?
Calonic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do dtect or Calonic have ads?
Neither dtect nor Calonic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, dtect or Calonic?
dtect ships an update every 5 weeks, and Calonic every 8 days. Most recently, dtect was updated on October 25, 2026 and Calonic on October 30, 2026.

Other comparisons