# PainWise vs macalo

The clearest difference is update cadence: PainWise at every 5 days against macalo's fortnightly. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PainWise sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and macalo sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

PainWise ships an update every 5 days, macalo fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | PainWise | macalo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | — | Freemium |
| Size | 6 MB | 50 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [hiroki kaneko](https://appshunter.io/developer/1868685586) | [Raizo Kawaguchi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1804052163) |

## What reviewers say

### PainWise

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/painwise/id6758503559)

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Premium Yearly | $39.99 | per year |


### macalo

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/macalo/id6760333082)

Log your meals with AI-powered calorie and macro estimation. Earn energy from your logged calories to craft and collect virtual sweets. Visualize your daily nutrition and track progress with widgets.

**Highlights:** AI-powered calorie and macro estimation from meal photos, Calorie energy for virtual sweet crafting, Sweets collection with limited editions, Daily nutrition visualization on calendar, Home screen widget for progress tracking, Barcode scanning for food logging

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| macalo Premium (Monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| macalo Premium (Yearly) | $54.99 | per year |
| 1 Sugar Gem | $0.99 | one-time |
| 5 Sugar Gems | $2.99 | one-time |
| 10 Sugar Gems | $5.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is PainWise free?

PainWise is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is macalo free?

macalo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do PainWise or macalo have ads?

Neither PainWise nor macalo shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, PainWise or macalo?

PainWise ships an update every 5 days, and macalo fortnightly. Most recently, PainWise was updated on October 31, 2026 and macalo on October 31, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*