Comparison

GluBuddy vs Palmful

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

Head to head
About

GluBuddy

Features
Read full description

GluBuddy helps you instantly understand how your meals impact your glucose. Built to be fast and intuitive, GluBuddy fits seamlessly into your daily routine. Designed for people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and anyone who wants to better understand their glucose, GluBuddy makes it easy to track meals, estimate carbohydrates, and discover patterns in your glucose response over time. Whether you’re logging a quick meal or exploring trends, GluBuddy turns your daily data into meaningful insights. KEY FEATURES • Log meals in seconds • Track glucose follow-ups after meals • Estimate carbohydrates with CarbCoach AI • Discover how food affects your glucose patterns • Recognize recurring meals with Meal Memory • Access your data instantly with home screen widgets • Share your progress and insights easily • Clean, distraction-free experience CARBCOACH AI Describe what you ate and get an instant carbohydrate estimate — no calculations needed. Built to support everyday awareness, CarbCoach AI gives you quick estimates to better understand how meals may influence your glucose. PERSONAL INSIGHTS GluBuddy connects your meals with your glucose follow-ups, helping you uncover patterns over time. With Meal Memory, similar meals are recognized automatically, giving you faster and smarter insights into your habits. SIMPLE & PRIVATE Your data stays on your device. No accounts. No cloud. Full control. IMPORTANT GluBuddy is a wellness and lifestyle app designed for personal tracking and awareness. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice.

About

Palmful

This app helps you track your daily nutrition using a hand-portion method, eliminating the need for calorie counting or barcode scanning. It visualizes your intake at a glance and adjusts targets for different activity levels, all while keeping your data private on your device.

Highlights
  • Hand-portion nutrition tracking
  • No calorie counting
  • Visual daily intake summary
  • Adjustable targets for activity days
  • Weekly eating pattern overview
  • Private local data storage
  • No streaks or nagging reminders
Read full description

You are already carrying a better instrument. Palmful is a daily nutrition journal built on the hand-portion method — no calorie counting, no barcode scanning, no hand-entering every ingredient in the meal you just cooked. Your hand is the ruler: • Palm = a serving of protein (about 4 oz, or 2 eggs) • Cupped hand = a measure of carbs (about ½ cup of rice, or a slice of bread) • Fist = a portion of vegetables (about a cooked cupful) • Thumb = a thumb of fat (a tablespoon of oil, or an ounce of cheese) The ruler scales with you. Bigger hands, bigger portions — the measure is the body itself. WHY THE NUMBERS FAIL Log a home-cooked meal in a calorie app and you're typing in every ingredient by hand. The more you vary what you eat, the more tedious it gets — so the app quietly nudges you back toward the same safe, packaged meals. But you cook. And the precision was never real anyway; the labels are estimates. Palmful drops the false precision and keeps the part that works: a simple, repeatable portion you can eyeball anywhere, with any meal, in any kitchen. TODAY, AT A GLANCE Open Palmful and see what you've still got room for — two palms of protein short, a fist of veg to go. It answers the only question you actually have at six in the evening: what should I eat next? A few taps to log, then get on with your day. TARGETS THAT MOVE WITH YOUR DAY Training days aren't all the same, so your targets aren't either. Palmful shifts your protein, carb, veg, and fat goals for Hard, Easy, and Rest days — more fuel when you're working, less when you're recovering. And if you already know your numbers, set them yourself: any portion, on any day type. Anything you don't touch keeps following your profile. THE WEEK, AS ONE PAGE Each day is a row; the week is a page you can read at a glance. See the shape of how you've been eating without digging through a feed. QUIET ON PURPOSE No streaks. No "good job!" No red numbers shaming you at midnight. Palmful is the tool a good coach hands you so you can stop obsessing — log a few taps, then put it down. Miss a week and nothing breaks. Nothing resets, nothing nags. Come back when you want to. SETUP IS OPTIONAL Open the app and start logging. Sex, activity level, weight, and goals can all be left blank — tap Skip for now to jump straight in with general targets, and personalize anytime in Settings if you want targets tuned to you. YOUR FOOD LOG STAYS ON YOUR PHONE Everything you log — every portion, every day — stays on your device, in a local database on your iPhone. No account, no sign-up. No server ever sees your food. To make Palmful better, the app sends anonymous, aggregate usage analytics — which screens you open and a few basic actions, nothing more. It never includes your journal entries and is never tied to your identity. If you choose to send feedback from Settings, your message — and a reply address, if you add one — goes to us so we can write back. Nothing else you enter ever leaves the phone. See our privacy policy for exactly what is and isn't collected. Made for iPhone. — Palmful is a tracking journal, not medical advice. Portion estimates are general guidance. Talk to a qualified professional about your own nutrition and health needs. Questions, bugs, or feedback: support@nsquaredlabs.com

Screenshots

GluBuddy4 screens
Palmful4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Palmful at none against GluBuddy's 3. GluBuddy's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). On price, ads, device support 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. GluBuddy sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Palmful asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GluBuddy ships an update weekly, Palmful every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
GluBuddy versus Palmful: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGluBuddyPalmful
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGianmarco ColagrossiNishal Narechania

In-app purchases

3 purchases

GluBuddy

Subscriptions2
  • GluBuddy Premium$3.991 Month
  • GluBuddy Premium$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • GluBuddy Premium$69.99
None

Palmful

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GluBuddy free?
GluBuddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Palmful free?
Palmful is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do GluBuddy or Palmful have ads?
Neither GluBuddy nor Palmful shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GluBuddy or Palmful?
GluBuddy ships an update weekly, and Palmful every 3 weeks. Most recently, GluBuddy was updated on November 9, 2026 and Palmful on November 10, 2026.

Other comparisons