Kairo vs Yazio
We make Kairo. This page is published by Centaurio UG, the company behind the app. Read it as our pitch, not an independent review. Every fact about another app is verified from that app's App Store listing or official site.
An honest, side-by-side look at how Kairo and Yazio compare, verified from real App Store listings and reviews (August 2026). Here's where Kairo comes out ahead.
Published accuracy
Reproducible benchmark vs USDA + Open Food Facts at /accuracy
Never ads, never upsold
One subscription. No second "Premium" tier. Everything included.
Photo-AI + Body Map
AI photo scan is the core; food mapped to six body systems
EU/GDPR, German-built
EU-hosted, Centaurio UG, data cross-referenced with DGE + USDA
If the photo is meant to be your main flow, the difference is structural: in Kairo the photo-AI is the core of the app, while Yazio added it in late 2025 and independent reviews put it behind PRO in most markets. Yazio is the better fit if you want intermittent fasting, the recipe library, or Android and a web app.
Kairo is the AI calorie tracker that publishes how accurate it is: a reproducible benchmark against USDA and Open Food Facts at kairocalories.com/accuracy. You check the method, not just the result. Then there is a moody cat that reacts to your week, a Body Map showing how your food feeds six body systems, and a metabolism that learns your real maintenance from your own weight trend. The photo scan is the core of the app, not the paid extra: no ads, no second tier, everything in one subscription. → Accuracy
Side by side
| Feature | KairoThis app | Yazio |
|---|---|---|
| Published accuracy benchmark | Yes: a reproducible benchmark on the full production photo path at kairocalories.com/accuracy: 16/16 test meals inside a ±20% per-100g gate, ~96% weighted-macro accuracy, scored against USDA + Open Food Facts (a fabricated source can't pass the scorer). | No published accuracy test; Yazio's own help center frames its photo results as an approximate estimate, not a guaranteed figure. |
| Third-party ads in the app | Yes: none, ever; the same clean experience from the first day, no ad-free upsell. | Ad-supported free tier: reviewers report ads after logging meals and frequent upgrade prompts; an ad-free experience is sold as a PRO benefit. |
| Photo-AI as the core flow | Yes: photo-AI is the core of the app, built into the single subscription from day one, not an add-on. | Has a photo AI, added in late 2025; independent 2026 reviews report it is PRO-gated in most markets, layered onto a manual logger. |
| Everything in one subscription, no second tier | Yes: one plan includes photo-AI, the barcode scanner, full macros, the Body Map and groups; there is no higher Premium tier to upgrade to. | Tiered: PRO gates photo logging, intermittent fasting, recipes, detailed nutrient breakdowns and an ad-free experience above the free tier. |
| Detailed nutrient breakdown for every meal | Yes: full calories and macros are shown for every analyzed meal, included in the subscription. | Detailed nutrient breakdowns (fiber, sugars, vitamins) are reported as blurred behind a PRO badge for free users. |
| EU/GDPR + German company & data | Yes: EU/GDPR-hosted, German company (Centaurio UG, Hofheim am Taunus), data cross-referenced with German DGE references + USDA, native German (du-form). | Also a German EU/GDPR company (YAZIO GmbH, Erfurt), majority-owned by France's Groupe SEB since 2023, so EU operation isn't a Kairo-only point. |
| Body Map (nutrition → 6 body systems) | Yes: maps your nutrition onto 6 plain-language body systems (brain, heart, muscles, bones, digestion, immune). | No body-system view. |
| Metabolism that learns your real maintenance | Yes: adapts your target from your actual weight trend plus intake, not just a one-time formula. | No maintenance estimate that learns from your weight trend. |
| Free tier / cost to start | Subscription-only: Kairo asks you to subscribe up front; the full-price annual plan includes a 3-day free trial, and the price is shown before you buy. | Has a genuinely free, ad-supported tier you can keep using for manual logging, plus a 7-day PRO trial: a lower-cost way to start than Kairo. |
| Food database, fasting & recipes | Photo-AI estimates the meal directly plus a barcode scanner; DGE/USDA-cross-referenced numbers rather than a large catalog. No fasting tracker or recipe library. | Large food database with strong European-brand coverage, built-in intermittent fasting, and 2,900+ recipes with meal plans. |
| Platforms & languages | iOS-only by design (iPhone, Apple Watch, widgets), native English + German. | iOS, iPadOS, Android and a web app, in 20 languages. |
Published accuracy benchmark
Kairo
Yazio
Third-party ads in the app
Kairo
Yazio
Photo-AI as the core flow
Kairo
Yazio
Everything in one subscription, no second tier
Kairo
Yazio
Detailed nutrient breakdown for every meal
Kairo
Yazio
EU/GDPR + German company & data
Kairo
Yazio
Body Map (nutrition → 6 body systems)
Kairo
Yazio
Metabolism that learns your real maintenance
Kairo
Yazio
Free tier / cost to start
Kairo
Yazio
Food database, fasting & recipes
Kairo
Yazio
Platforms & languages
Kairo
Yazio
Feature details verified from each app's App Store listing & official site (August 2026).
Why some switch to Kairo
Frequently reported Yazio gripes, stated neutrally and each with a source.
Several 2026 third-party reviews describe once-free functionality (notably the AI photo scan, and at times the barcode scanner) as moved behind the PRO paywall, with the free tier described as feeling like a limited trial. [source]
Free-tier users report frequent ads after logging meals and repeated upgrade prompts, including time-limited-discount urgency, and an ad-free experience is itself sold as a PRO benefit. [source]
Some reviewers say the daily streak and post-meal healthy-tip prompts feel judgy and report not finding a way to disable them, which they describe as unhelpful for users with an eating-disorder history. [source]
A method you can verify beats a number you're told to trust. Kairo is newer and has fewer ratings than the established players, but the accuracy benchmark, the EU/GDPR hosting and the German company behind it (Centaurio UG, Hofheim am Taunus) are all checkable today, and the German App Store rating is 4.6 from real users. Built clean in 2026: no ads, no second Premium tier, no crowd-edited database drift. The review count comes with time; the proof is already public.
Get Kairo on iPhone: photo-AI tracking, the Body Map and an accuracy method we publish in full.
Download on the App Store