Comparison

Open Vital vs MacroChef

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

Head to head
About

Open Vital

Features
Read full description

Open Vital turns your Garmin and Apple watch data into actionable health insights. Track recovery, sleep quality, heart rate variability, and daily strain โ€” all in one dashboard designed for athletes and health-conscious users. RECOVERY & STRAIN See your daily recovery score based on HRV, resting heart rate, and sleep quality. Track strain throughout the day to know when to push harder or rest. SLEEP ANALYSIS Deep dive into your sleep stages โ€” deep, light, REM, and awake time. Get a sleep performance score, consistency tracking, and personalized sleep recommendations. GARMIN CONNECT SYNC Seamlessly sync your data from Garmin Connect. Supports heart rate, HRV, sleep, steps, calories, body battery, stress, VO2 max. COMMUNITY & TEAMS Create teams with friends, family, or training partners. Share invite codes, compete on daily strain and recovery leaderboards, and stay motivated together. AI HEALTH COACH Get personalized daily insights powered by AI. The coach analyzes your trends and provides actionable recommendations for recovery, sleep, and training. HEALTH DASHBOARD Customize your dashboard with 22+ metrics including: - Heart Rate Variability (HRV) - Resting Heart Rate - Sleep Duration & Stages - Steps & Calories - Body Battery - Respiratory Rate - VO2 Max - Stress Levels - And more WORKS WITH - Garmin Connect - Apple Watch

About

MacroChef

Features
Read full description

Meal prep made ridiculously simple. Build your meals or pick the recipes you want for the week. Tell MacroChef how many portions to prepare. We adjust every ingredient quantity so that each meal hits your personal calorie and macro targets โ€” no calculator, no manual conversions, no compromises on the recipes you actually want to cook. โ€” BUILT FOR REAL MEAL PREP โ€” Most nutrition apps make you track what you ate yesterday. MacroChef plans what you'll cook tomorrow. The output is a shopping list and exact ingredient weights, not another diary to fill in. โ€” SMART BUILDER โ€” Auto mode balances proteins, carbs, fats and produce to match your daily targets. Custom mode lets you set the calorie goal yourself. Either way, MacroChef respects your recipes โ€” no swapping chicken for tofu without asking. โ€” CHEF TIPS, NOT A REPORT CARD โ€” Instead of grading your meal A to E, MacroChef coaches you. Missing a food group, low variety, an ingredient pinned too low โ€” each tip comes with a clear action you can take in one tap. โ€” FINE-TUNE WITHOUT MATH โ€” Adjust any ingredient with a tap. Turn on Magnet mode to keep your daily macros aligned automatically as you edit. Switch any cooked ingredient to its raw weight (and back) with a single toggle โ€” the macros stay correct in both directions. โ€” WHAT'S INSIDE โ€” - Auto-balanced and custom meal preps - Barcode scanner for new ingredients (Open Food Facts) - Apple Health sync for weight and height - Auto-generated shopping lists - English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish - Apple Health sync for weight and height - Light and dark mode - Sign in with Apple, Google or email Cook once. Eat well all week. Privacy Policy: https://macro-chef.app/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Open Vital4 screens
MacroChef3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Vital at none against MacroChef's 3. MacroChef's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. MacroChef sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Open Vital asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Open Vital ships an update every 2 months, MacroChef every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Open Vital versus MacroChef: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpen VitalMacroChef
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better15.1
Further details โ€” not scored
Size61 MB65 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperCodelioCodzilla

In-app purchases

None

Open Vital

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

MacroChef

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Annually$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Open Vital free?
Open Vital is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MacroChef free?
MacroChef is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Open Vital or MacroChef have ads?
Neither Open Vital nor MacroChef shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Open Vital or MacroChef?
Open Vital ships an update every 2 months, and MacroChef every 4 days. Most recently, Open Vital was updated on September 30, 2026 and MacroChef on October 2, 2026.

Other comparisons