Comparison

MacroBar vs Simple Calorie Tracker

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

Head to head
About

MacroBar

Effortlessly track your nutrition with AI-powered logging. Simply take a photo of your meal, type in plain English, or scan a barcode to instantly get accurate calorie and macro breakdowns. Focus on your health goals without the hassle of manual data entry.

Highlights
  • AI Photo Scanner for meals
  • Natural Language food logging
  • Barcode scanning
  • Recipe macro calculation
  • AI Workout Logger
  • Offline tracking
Features
Read full description

Tired of typing every bite? Meet MacroBar — the AI macro tracker that ends manual logging forever. Snap a photo of your meal, type in plain English, scan a barcode, or photograph a recipe — our advanced AI instantly recognizes food, estimates accurate portions, and logs exact calories + macros in seconds. No searching databases. No guessing. Just real results. Whether you’re building muscle, losing fat, or simply eating healthier, MacroBar makes tracking effortless so you can focus on your goals instead of your keyboard. Why MacroBar is the smartest way to hit your macros: • AI Photo Scanner — Point your camera at any plate (restaurant, home-cooked, or takeout) and get instant calorie & macro breakdown. • Natural Language Logging — Simply type what you ate in plain English (“grilled chicken breast with rice and broccoli, about two cups”) — AI understands the description and logs it perfectly. • Barcode Scanner — Scan packaged foods for precise nutrition in one tap. • Recipe Scanner — Photograph any recipe from a cookbook, website, or screen — AI calculates per-serving macros automatically. • AI Workout Logger — Describe your session and let AI estimate calories burned and log it to your day. • Works Offline — Track anywhere, even on a plane or in the gym with no signal. Built for real life: MacroBar adapts to your goals with smart insights, custom macro targets, and progress tracking. Start with the free plan (3 AI logs daily) and upgrade to Pro for unlimited logging, advanced breakdowns, priority AI improvements, and deeper insights. Real users are already seeing life-changing results. Ready to make nutrition tracking actually enjoyable? Download MacroBar now and try your first 3 AI logs in under 5 minutes. You’ll never go back to old-school tracking again. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Simple Calorie Tracker

This app uses AI to help you track your calorie and macro intake. It offers features like barcode scanning, food search, and weight tracking. It also syncs with health platforms and provides personalized insights based on your data.

Highlights
  • AI meal photo scan
  • Barcode scanning
  • Food database search
  • Manual macro logging
  • Weight tracking with trend line
  • Apple Health & Google Health sync
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
Features
Read full description

Calvin is a simple calorie, macro, fitness, and health tracker that keeps the basics free. Track food, calories, macros, weight, workouts, steps, sleep, recovery, and health trends in one place — without ads or requiring an account. Barcode scanning and food search are free. Most calorie trackers moved them behind a subscription. Calvin does not. FREE, AND STAYING FREE • Barcode scanning for packaged foods • Food search with USDA Branded and Open Food Facts • Calorie, macro, protein, carb, fat, fiber, sugar, and sodium tracking • Fast manual logging, common foods, recents, usuals, one-tap repeat logging, and copy yesterday's log • Custom recipes • Weight tracking with a smoothed trend line and adaptive maintenance calories based on your real weight trend • Fitness tracking for workouts, steps, distance, and active time • Apple Health integration and automatic compatible smart-scale weigh-ins • Body fat and lean mass trends when available • Google Health connection • Sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, personal baselines, and a daily recovery score • Weekly and monthly recaps, plus year in review • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • Apple Watch app and complication • Siri, Shortcuts, and CSV export FAST FOOD LOGGING Start typing a food and Calvin surfaces foods you've logged before. One tap logs it again. The built-in pantry makes everyday staples like eggs, apples, rice, and chicken quick to add. CALORIES & MACROS, YOUR WAY Calories stay front and center while macros and nutrients are there when you want them. Choose which metrics appear throughout the app. Turn calorie numbers off for a simpler on-track-or-over view. FITNESS, WEIGHT & MAINTENANCE CALORIES Keep workouts and daily activity alongside nutrition. Track weight with a smoothed trend line, and let Calvin adapt your maintenance-calorie estimate over time based on your real weight trend. HEALTH & RECOVERY Bring together sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, breathing rate, activity, and other available health signals. Calvin compares supported metrics with your recent baseline. Your daily recovery score summarizes how you're doing and highlights the signals that changed. APPLE HEALTH & SMART SCALES Connect Apple Health to bring supported fitness and health data into Calvin. Compatible smart-scale weigh-ins can appear automatically, including body fat and lean mass when your scale provides them. Connections are optional. APPLE WATCH Check calories remaining, your chosen macros, and recovery from the Calvin Apple Watch app and complication. NO ACCOUNT NEEDED. NO ADS. Use Calvin without creating an account. Your food log lives on your device, not on a Calvin server. Connecting Apple or Google is optional and does not upload or restore your food log. WEEKLY, MONTHLY & YEARLY TRENDS See patterns across nutrition and health data with weekly and monthly recaps and a year in review. CALVIN PLUS — AI MEAL SCANNER Calvin Plus adds AI-powered meal photo scanning and deeper insights. Take a photo and Calvin identifies foods on your plate and estimates their nutrition. It can account for things a photo may miss, like cooking oil, and asks before keeping uncertain additions. Adjust portions, add a missing item, or make a correction without starting over. Monthly and annual plans are available in your local App Store currency with a 3-day free trial. Barcode scanning, food search, calorie and macro tracking, fitness, weight, health features, and the other core features above remain free. SIMPLE BY DESIGN Calvin helps you understand nutrition, fitness, weight, and health without turning every meal into homework. Track what matters. Ignore what doesn't. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://calvinhealth.com/privacy

Screenshots

MacroBar4 screens
Simple Calorie Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Simple Calorie Tracker at every 2 days against MacroBar's every 2 months. MacroBar's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. MacroBar sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Simple Calorie Tracker sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for MacroBar against 5.0 for Simple Calorie Tracker. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MacroBar ships an update every 2 months, Simple Calorie Tracker every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
MacroBar versus Simple Calorie Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMacroBarSimple Calorie Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB18 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAlexander MackKevin Miguel Estrada Garcia

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MacroBar

Subscriptions3
  • Superwall Macrobar Weekly Pro$7.991 Month
  • MacroBar Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Pro$49.991 Year
2 purchases

Simple Calorie Tracker

Subscriptions2
  • Calvin Plus3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Calvin Plus Annual3 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is MacroBar free?
MacroBar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Calorie Tracker free?
Simple Calorie Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MacroBar or Simple Calorie Tracker?
MacroBar and Simple Calorie Tracker are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do MacroBar or Simple Calorie Tracker have ads?
Neither MacroBar nor Simple Calorie Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MacroBar or Simple Calorie Tracker?
MacroBar ships an update every 2 months, and Simple Calorie Tracker every 2 days. Most recently, MacroBar was updated on October 7, 2026 and Simple Calorie Tracker on October 24, 2026.

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