Comparison

macalo vs PiyoHug

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

Head to head
About

macalo

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
Read full description

Log your meals and their calories become energy to craft sweets. macalo is a calorie tracking app that turns "eating" into "creating." ◆ Just snap a photo — AI estimates your calories Simply take a photo of your meal and AI automatically estimates calories and macros (protein, fat, carbs). Text input and barcode scanning are also supported. ◆ Your calories power the sweet-making process The calories you log become energy that drives the sweet-crafting process. With each step completed, your sweet gets closer to being finished. ◆ Sweets Collection Completed sweets are added to your collection. Collect all kinds of sweets! Limited-edition sweets may appear from time to time. ◆ Visualize your daily nutrition Review your daily calorie intake on the calendar. Check your macro balance at a glance. ◆ Widget support Track your sweet-crafting progress anytime with a home screen widget.

About

PiyoHug

This app helps you reduce screen time by gamifying digital detox. As you spend less time on your phone, a virtual chick grows and evolves through multiple stages and breeds. It also features a stamp rally to track your travel across Japan and a collection album for your grown chickens.

Highlights
  • Virtual chick growth based on screen time reduction
  • Unlock 24 chicken breeds and 6 growth stages
  • 47 Prefectures Stamp Rally for travel tracking
  • Chicken Album to record raised chickens
  • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets
  • AI background generation (Premium)
Features
Read full description

Raise a little chick in the moments you spend away from your screen. Choose an egg, lock your screen, and return to see how your companion has grown. Your chick grows through six stages, from egg to chicken. When your chicken lays an egg, a new generation begins. Collect companions at your own pace and see who you meet next. • The base game is free and includes 24 standard breeds. • The collection expansion adds 35 breeds, for 59 in total. It is a separate one-time purchase. • Premium is an auto-renewing subscription, separate from the expansion. While subscribed, it includes 1.5× growth, better rare-breed chances, appearance and background customization, and seasonal breeds currently available. • Premium does not include ownership of the expansion; members can purchase it separately at member pricing. Screen-locked time contributes to growth. During Chick Time, growth counts whether the app is open or closed. Growth speed can vary with raising mode, settings, and device state. Individual eggs are separate purchases. Check the in-app shop and your store's purchase confirmation for current prices, plans, and purchase conditions. Terms of use: https://piyohugweb.vercel.app/terms Privacy policy: https://piyohugweb.vercel.app/privacy

Screenshots

macalo4 screens
PiyoHug3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: macalo at none against PiyoHug's shown. macalo also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%). PiyoHug's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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. macalo sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and PiyoHug sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

macalo ships an update fortnightly, PiyoHug every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
macalo versus PiyoHug: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametermacaloPiyoHug
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRaizo Kawaguchijin mizoi

Customer experience

macalo

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

PiyoHug

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

macalo

Subscriptions2
  • macalo Premium (Monthly)3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • macalo Premium (Yearly)3 Days trial$54.991 Year
One-time3
  • 1 Sugar Gem$0.99
  • 5 Sugar Gems$2.99
  • 10 Sugar Gems$5.99
6 purchases

PiyoHug

Subscriptions2
  • 月額プラン$5.991 Month
  • 3ヶ月プラン$11.993 Months
One-time4
  • レアたまご$1.99
  • 金のたまご$2.99
  • Season 2 Pack (Subscriber)$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Season 2 Collection Pack$19.99

Questions

Is macalo free?
macalo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PiyoHug free?
PiyoHug is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do macalo or PiyoHug have ads?
PiyoHug shows ads; macalo does not.
Which is updated more often, macalo or PiyoHug?
macalo ships an update fortnightly, and PiyoHug every 4 days. Most recently, macalo was updated on October 24, 2026 and PiyoHug on October 24, 2026.

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