Is there a free app that counts calories from a photo?
Only with limits. SnapCalorie is free for up to 3 AI logs per day, and ChatGPT gives a rough estimate from a photo, without a diary. Cal AI, Yazio, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer and Lose It! keep the photo scan in the paid tier. Kairo is not free either: barcode lookups are, and the yearly plan starts with a 3-day trial.
Last updated:
In short
- Free for good, with photos: SnapCalorie, up to 3 AI logs per day (per the SnapCalorie FAQ).
- Free and rough: ChatGPT estimates from a photo but keeps no diary and measures no portion.
- Photo scan only with a subscription: Cal AI, Yazio, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, Lose It!. Their free tiers are for typing food in.
- Kairo: barcode without a subscription, photo scan with one (weekly or yearly), the yearly plan starts with a 3-day free trial.
We build Kairo, and Kairo is a subscription app, so it is not the obvious answer to this question and this page says so. Facts about the other apps come from their own FAQ pages, App Store listings and reviews, linked below.
Photo apps and their free tiers at a glance
| App | Calories from a photo | Platform | Pricing model | Rating (DE App Store) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SnapCalorie | Yes: photo or voice note | iOS, English only | Free with in-app purchases | 4.56 (397) |
| KairoThis app | Yes, the core flow; in the subscription (3-day trial on the yearly plan) | iOS (iPhone, Apple Watch, widgets) | Subscription (weekly or yearly, 3-day trial on yearly only); unlimited barcode without a subscription; no ads | 4.49 (35) |
| Cal AI | Yes, premium-only | iOS + Android | Free tier (manual logging), photo scan in the subscription | 4.7 (10,312) |
| Yazio | Yes, PRO-gated in most markets per reviews | iOS, iPadOS, Android, web | Free with ads, PRO subscription | 4.62 (445,519) |
| MyFitnessPal | "Meal Scan", premium-only | iOS, Android, web | Free with ads, Premium and Premium+ | 4.52 (80,018) |
| Cronometer | "Photo Log", Gold-only | iOS, Android, web | Free with ads, Gold subscription | 4.67 (1,453) |
| Lose It! | "Snap It", premium-only | iOS + Android | Free with ads, Premium subscription | 4.58 (3,973) |
Ratings: German App Store, iTunes Lookup, as of October 12, 2026. Feature columns come from the App Store listings and the linked sources; we did not test the other apps' photo features ourselves.
Which app counts calories from a photo for free?
The only app in this overview that keeps the photo scan free for good is SnapCalorie: its FAQ says the app is free for up to 3 AI logs per day, with a premium subscription on top. That covers breakfast, lunch and dinner, not snacks. SnapCalorie is English-only according to its App Store listing.
The second free option is not a calorie tracker: ChatGPT recognises what is on a photo on its free plan too and names a rough number. There is no diary, no daily target and no macro totals, and every answer is a fresh guess. How well that works is covered in Can ChatGPT count calories from a photo?.
Where is the photo scan in Cal AI, Yazio and MyFitnessPal?
In the paid tier. Cal AI, Yazio, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer and Lose It! are free downloads, but according to their listings and reviews the photo scan sits in the subscription. The free tiers of Yazio, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer and Lose It! are built for manual logging: search the food, type the amount, and with Yazio and MyFitnessPal see ads in between. If you never want to pay and don't mind typing, that is a good fit. More in Calorie counter app without ads.
What does Kairo cost, and how do you try it without paying?
Kairo is a weekly or yearly subscription; the price for your country is on the pricing page. Without a subscription, barcode lookups are unlimited; every photo scan, description or menu scan needs one. To try it, the yearly plan starts with a 3-day free trial: cancel in your Apple subscription settings within those 3 days and nothing is charged. The weekly plan has no trial.
Plainly: if "free" means never paying anything, Kairo is the wrong app. The 3 days are there to find out whether the photo scan is worth a subscription to you.
Is a subscription for the photo scan worth it?
It is if you track every day for weeks and typing is what makes you quit. A photo takes seconds, a manual meal with three ingredients a lot longer. If you only want a rough idea of what is on the plate now and then, SnapCalorie with 3 logs a day or ChatGPT is enough.
Whichever app you use, every photo scan is an estimate, and the portion is the biggest source of error. That is why Kairo publishes an accuracy benchmark including the cases where it is off (apple 9.9%, banana 12.4% error per 100 g).
How did we check this?
SnapCalorie: its own FAQ page (snapcalorie.com/faq), fetched 12 October 2026, and its App Store listing. Photo scan in the paid tier at Cal AI, Yazio, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer and Lose It!: App Store listings, reviews and the sources on our comparison pages. ChatGPT: our own test, described on the linked answer page. Kairo: prices in App Store Connect as of 12 October 2026. We ran no other app on our test set; this page ranks nothing.
Related questions
- Calories from a photo
Is there an app that counts calories from a photo?
Yes, several. Kairo, Cal AI and SnapCalorie are built around the photo scan; MyFitnessPal, Yazio, Cronometer and Lose It! added it behind their paid tiers. What a photo can and cannot tell an app, with real error figures.
Read the answer - ChatGPT and calories
Can ChatGPT count calories from a photo?
ChatGPT will estimate calories from a photo, but without portion measurement, without a nutrition reference and without a diary. How good that is, where it breaks, and how to connect ChatGPT or Claude to Kairo as a real tracker.
Read the answer - No ads
Which calorie counter app has no ads?
No ads almost always means you pay. Kairo and Cal AI are subscription-funded and ad-free; MyFitnessPal, Yazio, Cronometer and Lose It! show ads on their free tiers and sell ad removal as a paid benefit. What that means day to day.
Read the answer - Cal AI alternative
What is a good alternative to Cal AI?
It depends on why you want to switch: price shown up front, EU hosting, an Apple Watch app, Android, a free tier or nutrient depth. What Kairo, SnapCalorie, Nutrola, Yazio, MyFitnessPal and Cronometer verifiably do differently, with prices, and the points where Cal AI stays stronger.
Read the answer
What people also ask
Is Kairo free?
No. The download and barcode lookups are free, the photo scan needs a weekly or yearly subscription. The yearly plan starts with a 3-day free trial; cancel within those 3 days and you pay nothing.
How many photos can I scan for free in SnapCalorie?
Up to 3 AI logs per day according to the SnapCalorie FAQ. Beyond that there is a premium subscription.
Can I use ChatGPT as a free calorie counter?
For a rough estimate, yes. For tracking it lacks a diary, a daily target, macro totals and a reference database; every answer is a new guess without portion measurement.
Try the photo scan free for 3 days on the yearly plan, then decide whether it is worth a subscription to you.
Download on the App Store