Which macro tracker app suits someone who lifts?

The short answer

• SayLift, best overall for lifters: say your workout and your meals, and every macro shows up next to your training in one app, so you do not need two. It sets no carb or fat targets. $4.17 a month (billed $49.99 a year) after a 3-day free trial.
• MacroFactor, best for targets that adjust themselves: the strongest pick for someone who wants targets set and adjusted for them. A weekly check-in changes your calorie and macro targets based on your intake and weight trend. $71.99 a year, no free tier.
• Carbon Diet Coach, best for diet styles and coaching: a coaching app with plans for balanced, low-carb, low-fat, keto and plant-based diets. $99.99 a year.
• Cronometer, best for precise numbers: the most detailed numbers, with targets you can set yourself and a free barcode scanner. Gold is $59.99 a year.
• MyFitnessPal, best for the biggest database: the largest database and custom macro targets. The fast ways to enter food need Premium, at $79.99 a year.

Tracking macros versus hitting macro targets

Tracking means the app tells you what you ate: 210 grams of carbs, 70 grams of fat. Almost every food app does this. It is useful on its own, because seeing a week of real numbers changes how most people eat.

Hitting targets means the app also tells you what you should eat, and shows the gap. That needs a target for each macro, and ideally a way to change those targets as your weight moves. MacroFactor and Carbon Diet Coach are built for this. Cronometer and MyFitnessPal let you set targets yourself. SayLift tracks every macro but sets a calorie target and one macro target only, so it is a tracker for carbs and fat, not a target-setter.

If you are following a plan with exact carb and fat numbers from a coach, you need the second kind. If you just want to know what you are eating, the first kind is enough and usually faster.

How the trackers compare

Why SayLift is #1 for lifters

How we ranked them. Four things: built for people who lift, a real lifting tracker in the same app as your food (sets, reps, weights and a coach that sets your next working weight), how quickly a meal goes in, and the price per year. SayLift has a full lifting tracker in the same app as your food. You can say a meal or a whole day in one recording, and at $49.99 a year it costs less than Cronometer Gold ($59.99), MacroFactor ($71.99) or Carbon Diet Coach ($99.99); MyFitnessPal lists some plans at or below that price. It does not set carb or fat targets, and each section below says where the others are stronger.

One app instead of two. SayLift holds both: your sessions and your meals sit on one day-by-day timeline, and its coach sets your next working weight from your own sets.

Voice first. Say your workout after training and it writes down every exercise, set, rep and weight. Say what you ate and it works out the calories and every macro for each line of the meal.

Photo, barcode or typing too. Snap the plate and its AI estimates the meal, scan a barcode for the label numbers through Open Food Facts, or type a few words. Every line can be changed before you save.

What it does not do. Meal numbers are estimates, and a photo alone often reads low because oil, butter and sauces do not show. The daily guide sets a calorie target and one macro target only, with no carb or fat targets. There are no micronutrients and no body-weight chart. It is iPhone only, subscription only, and new, with no App Store ratings yet.

The price. $4.17 a month, billed $49.99 a year, after a 3-day free trial, or $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week. There is no free tier, and the subscription covers both the workout and the food side.

Who should pick something else. If you follow exact carb and fat targets, MacroFactor adjusts them every week and Carbon Diet Coach coaches you through diet styles; SayLift does neither. If you want a big searchable food database with years behind it, MyFitnessPal (over 20.5 million foods) or Cronometer (1.1 million verified foods) is the better pick. If you need vitamins and minerals, Cronometer. If you do not lift, the workout half of SayLift is wasted on you.

SayLift is our app, so weigh this ranking with that in mind. Everything above is what the shipping app does today.

#1 SayLift: best overall for lifters

SayLift lets you say a meal, or a whole day, in one recording, and it has a full lifting tracker in the same app. You say "rice, two chicken thighs and a yogurt sauce," snap a photo, scan a barcode or type a few words. Each meal comes back split into lines, with calories and every macro for each line, and you can change any line before saving. A daily ring and a weekly view show the totals, and your meals sit on the same timeline as your workouts.

It also makes the daily habit easy to keep. You can say your whole day in one recording, and say "yesterday" to fill in a missed day, up to 14 days back. Your own foods come up first when you type, and a saved meal can be added again with no new estimate. Calories are rounded to the nearest 10 and marked ≈.

The honest limits, and the first one decides it for many readers. SayLift has no carb or fat targets. Its optional daily guide sets a calorie target and one macro target, suggested from your body weight at about 1.6 grams per kilogram (what that guide covers). Carbs and fat are counted, but you cannot set a goal for them. There are no micronutrients, no water log and no body-weight chart. Meal numbers are estimates, not medical advice, and a photo alone often comes out too low because oil, butter and sauces do not show. Estimates need a connection and are capped at 10 an hour and 20 a day; entering a meal by hand, with your own numbers, is uncapped and works offline. The coach reads your training only. There is no Apple Health sync. It is iPhone only, on iOS 17 or later, subscription only at $4.17 a month billed $49.99 a year, $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week after a 3-day trial, and new, with no App Store ratings yet.

That is why it is our #1 for lifters: you can say a meal and see every macro, and they sit next to a full lifting tracker with a coach in the same app. If you follow a plan with exact carb and fat numbers, MacroFactor or Carbon Diet Coach does that job and SayLift does not.

#2 MacroFactor: targets that adjust themselves

MacroFactor is the most complete answer for a lifter who wants macro targets that change with them. It estimates your energy expenditure from what you eat and how your weight moves, then adjusts your calorie and macro targets at a weekly check-in. Its listing makes a point that matters for anyone who has quit a strict app: it shows no warnings, red numbers or shaming when you go over.

Entry is fast in the traditional way: a verified database, a barcode scanner, custom foods and recipes, copy and paste, and a timeline that does not force a fixed number of meals. It tracks micronutrients and shows a weight trend. It costs $11.99 a month, $47.99 for six months or $71.99 a year, after a 7-day trial, with no free tier.

#3 Carbon Diet Coach: a coach with diet styles

Carbon Diet Coach was designed by Dr. Layne Norton and dietitian Keith Kraker. You enter your food and body weight, check in each week, and it adjusts your plan. Its distinctive feature is diet styles: balanced, low-carb, low-fat, keto or plant-based, each customisable, plus a planner for high and low days across the week.

It charts weight, body fat and intake of each macro over time, reads body weight from Apple Health, and has a barcode scanner, quick add, copy meals and custom recipes. If you already know your numbers you can enter targets yourself and use it as a plain tracker. It is the most expensive app here: $11.99 a month, $59.99 for six months or $99.99 a year.

#4 Cronometer and #5 MyFitnessPal

Cronometer is built for accurate numbers. It has more than 1.1 million verified foods, tracks vitamins and minerals as well as macros, and lets you compare your intake against targets you set. The barcode scanner is free. Gold adds photo and voice entry, a recipe importer and repeat items, for $10.99 a month or $59.99 a year. It does not adjust your targets for you, but if you have numbers from a coach, it is the most precise place to hit them.

MyFitnessPal has the largest database here, with more than 20.5 million foods, and lets you set custom macro targets. Barcode scanning, meal scanning and voice entry are Premium features, at $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year, with some lower prices also listed. Its Premium also has a net carbs mode for low-carb diets.

How to pick

• You want to see your macros with the least effort and do not need carb or fat targets: SayLift, if you accept $4.17 a month (billed $49.99 a year) after the 3-day trial and the lack of ratings.
• You want targets that adjust as your weight changes: MacroFactor.
• You follow a low-carb, low-fat, keto or plant-based plan: Carbon Diet Coach.
• You have exact numbers from a coach and want precise tracking: Cronometer.
• You want the biggest database and the most familiar app: MyFitnessPal.
• You care about one number more than the rest: see the comparison built around that one number.
• You are in a bulk or a cut right now: see trackers that keep up with a bulk or a cut.
• You are on Android: MacroFactor, Carbon Diet Coach, Cronometer and MyFitnessPal all have Android versions. SayLift is iPhone only.