Comparison

SimplyMacros. vs Basal

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

Head to head
About

SimplyMacros.

Track calories, protein, carbs, fat, and water without any distractions. This app offers a clean interface, manual day resets, and the ability to edit or delete entries anytime. It's completely free, ad-free, and requires no account.

Highlights
  • Track calories, protein, carbs, fat, water
  • Toggle unwanted macros
  • Manual day reset
  • Edit/delete entries
  • Distraction-free interface
  • No account required
Read full description

No nonsense. Just macros. SimplyMacros is nutrition tracking without the nonsense, no diet plans you didn't ask for, no subscription fees, no ads, and zero account required. What we do: Track calories, protein, carbs, fat, water, and much more! Toggle off the macros you don't care about Manual day reset (because not everyone's day ends at midnight) Edit or delete entries anytime Clean, distraction-free interface What we don't do: Charge you money (it's free, forever) Show you ads (never) Require an account (seriously, we don't even have a login) Push diets or meal plans (track what YOU want) Built for real life: Work night shift? Your day doesn't have to reset at midnight. Reset whenever YOUR day ends. Forgot to log breakfast? Edit entries anytime, we're not here to judge. Early Access Notice: SimplyMacros is run by a small team. You might encounter bugs. We're squashing them as fast as we can. Have feedback or suggestions? Email us at: ed@phantomteq.com We actually read them.

About

Basal

Read full description

Basal runs your thought through ten real therapeutic frameworks - CBT, Stoicism, IFS, ACT, DBT, Psychodynamic, Existential, Narrative, Somatic, and Self-Compassion — and shows you how each one interprets what you said. No other journaling app does this. When you want a clearer signal for what's changing over time, layer in 37 validated self-report assessments and longitudinal trends. The same instruments clinicians use, scored automatically, on your terms. HOW IT WORKS Write or speak a thought. Tag the feeling underneath using the Yale RULER emotion model. Read ten perspectives that each see something different in what you shared. A cognitive therapist finds the distortion. A Stoic finds what's in your control. An IFS therapist asks which part of you is speaking. They don't agree — and that's what makes it useful. VALIDATED ASSESSMENTS PHQ-9, GAD-7, DASS-21, PCL-5, WHO-5, K6, CES-D, SWLS, the DSM-5 Severity Measures, and 28 more. Self-paced cadences. Severity bands. Subscale charts. Only freely usable self-report scales — no clinician-rated content because those aren't designed for self-administration. TRENDS, HISTORY, AND CALENDAR Watch your scores and feelings move across 7-day, 30-day, or all-time windows. Drill into any specific day with the calendar view. The History tab keeps every thought and assessment in chronological order — swipe to delete what you don't want to keep. WHAT THIS IS NOT Basal is not a chatbot trying to be your therapist. It doesn't diagnose, treat, or give advice. It's a structured tool for examining your own thinking and tracking what changes — a lab, not a couch. PRIVATE BY ARCHITECTURE No account required. Thoughts, feelings, assessments, and saved perspectives stay on your device. Text sent for AI analysis is encrypted in transit, never stored on our servers, and never used to train models. ENCRYPTED BACKUP & RESTORE When you switch phones, take an encrypted backup file (AES-256-GCM with a passphrase only you know) and restore on the new device. No accounts, no servers — just a file you control. CAPTURE FROM ANYWHERE Voice input with on-device speech recognition on iPhone. Dictation from Apple Watch. One tap from the home screen widget. Free tier includes daily credits and 7-day history. Basal Pro removes all limits for $6.99/month or $59.99/year.

Screenshots

SimplyMacros.4 screens
Basal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SimplyMacros. at none against Basal's 2. Basal's advantage is device support (4 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement 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. Basal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. SimplyMacros. asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
SimplyMacros. versus Basal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplyMacros.Basal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (22 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings22 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerphantomteq LLCLab 1908 LLC

In-app purchases

None

SimplyMacros.

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Basal

Subscriptions2
  • Basal - Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Basal - Annual Plan$49.991 Year

Questions

Is SimplyMacros. free?
SimplyMacros. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Basal free?
Basal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SimplyMacros. or Basal have ads?
Neither SimplyMacros. nor Basal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SimplyMacros. or Basal?
SimplyMacros. ships an update every 2 months, and Basal every 2 months. Most recently, SimplyMacros. was updated on September 22, 2026 and Basal on June 11, 2026.

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