Comparison

Calorie Stepdown vs The Deficit

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

Head to head
About

Calorie Stepdown

This app helps you manage your daily calorie intake to reach your goals. Set a daily limit and log your food to stay within your target. Once you hit zero, you've successfully met your goal for the day.

Highlights
  • Set daily calorie goals
  • Log food items
  • Track remaining calories
  • Reach zero to complete day
Features
Read full description

Calorie Stepdown is a daily calorie tracker to help you meet your daily calorie goals. Set your maximum allowed calories for the day and then add food items accordingly. When you reach zero, you're done!

About

The Deficit

Features
Read full description

Understand your calorie balance. Log food your way. The Deficit brings your calorie intake, energy expenditure and progress together in a clear daily overview, using Apple Health data from the apps and devices you already use. SEE THE BIG PICTURE • Follow your calorie balance across days and custom date ranges. • See intake, macros, resting and active energy, and exercise. • Set a goal and compare your estimated progress. Days with incomplete intake can be excluded from the balance calculation. AGENTIC FOOD TRACKING — OPTIONAL, EFFORTLESS Tell the AI agent what you eat and how much, and it logs the meal for you. Dictate foods and gram amounts, or photograph a nutrition label and say or type “Log 200 g of this food.” The agent reads the label, calculates the portion and adds it to your diary. If something is unclear, it asks a follow-up question. • Log meals by typing, dictating or taking a photo on iPhone or iPad. • Ask follow-up questions in chat or start a live voice conversation. • Review and edit portions and nutrition values. • Reuse familiar foods from your food memory. • Keep your diary and conversation in sync across iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. KEEP YOUR EXISTING TRACKER Prefer another food app? Turn off food tracking and continue using The Deficit as your Apple Health calorie-balance overview. YOUR CHOICES Sign in with Apple keeps your account connected across devices. AI processing requires a separate permission. Apple Health access and optional cloud Health summaries remain under your control. You can delete your account in the app. AI uses credits. New accounts receive welcome credits; additional packs are available as one-time in-app purchases. Purchased credits do not expire while your account exists. At zero credit, AI pauses; your existing data and manual features remain available. Internet access is required for AI and cloud synchronization. Nutrition values and projected weight changes are estimates. Check suggested foods and portions before relying on them. The Deficit is not a medical device and does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment.

Screenshots

Calorie Stepdown4 screens
The Deficit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Calorie Stepdown at every 2 days against The Deficit's every 17 months. The Deficit's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calorie Stepdown ships an update every 2 days, The Deficit every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Calorie Stepdown versus The Deficit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalorie StepdownThe Deficit
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 17 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.2 — better17.5
Further details — not scored
Size0 MB22 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperGreg Cheong5 LADISLAV HRBACEK

In-app purchases

None

Calorie Stepdown

No in-app purchases

None

The Deficit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calorie Stepdown free?
Calorie Stepdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Deficit free?
The Deficit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Calorie Stepdown or The Deficit have ads?
Neither Calorie Stepdown nor The Deficit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calorie Stepdown or The Deficit?
Calorie Stepdown ships an update every 2 days, and The Deficit every 17 months. Most recently, Calorie Stepdown was updated on September 29, 2026 and The Deficit on September 30, 2026.

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