MacroDiet and MyFitnessPal are both macro trackers, and they are different sizes of thing: MyFitnessPal is one of the largest food-logging platforms in the world, on iOS, Android and the web; MacroDiet is a small web app built around one idea — that the target you are given should be reproducible from a formula you can read. Zyra builds MacroDiet, so this is not a neutral third party writing. What we can do is put every fact in a table, source every MyFitnessPal cell to MyFitnessPal's own pages, and say plainly where MacroDiet is the smaller tool.
The one-line summary
MyFitnessPal is a broad, mature logging platform whose most useful conveniences sit behind a subscription; MacroDiet is a narrow web tool whose targets are documented math and whose barcode scanner and macro goals cost nothing today.
Side by side
Every MyFitnessPal cell was taken from myfitnesspal.com on the date at the top of the page; the reference numbers link to the exact page.
| MacroDiet (ours) | MyFitnessPal | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Web app for calorie and macro targets and daily logging | Calorie counter and food tracker, "one of the world's largest food databases"1 |
| Food database | Search, barcode via OpenFoodFacts import, custom foods, recipes; no headline count published | "over 18 million global foods"1 |
| Barcode scanning | Included | "Barcode scan and meal scan" — Premium and Premium+2 |
| Photo / voice logging | Not available | "Log meals with a photo", "Voice logging" — paid tiers2 |
| Macro targets | Set by the v2 formula: protein 1.2–2.4 g/kg by tier, fat floor max(0.6 g/kg, 20% kcal), calorie floors 1,500 / 1,200 kcal, deficit cap 35% of TDEE | "Custom macros and goals" — paid tiers2 |
| Expenditure | Formula estimate today; the update-from-logs loop is in development | Formula-based goal, edited by the user |
| Platforms | Web; public calculators in EN, DE, ES, FR, IT, NL | iOS, Android, web account1 |
| Ads | None | Free tier carries ads; "Ad-free logging experience" is a paid feature2 |
| Price | No payment taken today; paid tier planned | Free; Premium $24.99/mo or $79.99/yr; Premium+ $99.99/yr2 |
Where MyFitnessPal is stronger
The database. Eighteen million entries1 means that almost any packaged product, restaurant meal or regional food already exists. MacroDiet's search is smaller and leans on OpenFoodFacts for barcodes, so the gap is widest exactly where crowd-sourcing helps: restaurant chains and niche brands.
Native apps. MyFitnessPal is on your phone and your wrist. MacroDiet is a website. For logging at the table or in a gym bag, a native app with a camera button on the home screen is simply faster to reach.
AI logging. Photo and voice logging2 are paid conveniences that MacroDiet does not have at all.
Maturity. Years of integrations, recipes, community and support material. MacroDiet is new and says so.
Where MacroDiet is different
The target is arithmetic you can check. MacroDiet's calorie and macro targets come from the v2 formula — Mifflin-St Jeor for BMR, an activity multiplier from 1.2 to 1.725 with a small NEAT adjustment, a rate expressed as a percentage of body weight per week, and then guardrails: calorie floors of 1,500 kcal for a male profile and 1,200 kcal for a female profile, a deficit or surplus cap at 35% of TDEE, a fat floor of max(0.6 g/kg, 20% of calories). Every one of those numbers is on the public macro calculator and the methodology page. If the app hands you 1,973 kcal, you can reproduce it.
The conveniences are not gated. Barcode scanning and gram-level macro targets are included; on MyFitnessPal both are Premium features2.
Public calculators, six languages, no account. The macro, calorie and calorie deficit calculators run without sign-up on macrodiet.fit in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch.
Floors are part of the formula. A deficit request that would push the target under the floor is clamped, and the app says so. That is a design choice about who the tool is for.
In plain terms: MyFitnessPal wins on breadth and on being in your pocket; MacroDiet is narrower, on the web, and built so that nothing about your target is a mystery.
The short version
MyFitnessPal is a very large, native, mature food-logging platform whose barcode scanner, photo logging and custom macro goals sit in paid tiers2. MacroDiet is a small web app whose targets come from a documented formula with floors and a 35% cap, with barcode scanning and macro goals included and no payment taken today. Which suits you depends on whether you value breadth and a native app more than reproducible math and a free web tool. Zyra builds MacroDiet; check every cell against the linked pages. Educational overview of nutrition tracking tools only — not medical advice.