Lose It! vs macros.gg
By Austin Thiel, Founder of Macros.ggUpdated August 2026
One is the friendly beginner classic. The other turns logging into a game. One sells you the scanner separately; the other includes it.
Get startedQuick verdict
The short version.
- You want the most beginner-friendly setup flow
- You use an Apple Watch and want tight integration
- You want photo logging and don't mind paying for it
- You've started and abandoned trackers before
- You want the scanner and AI logging without an upsell in the way
- You don't want ads in your food diary
- You want to track with friends
Feature comparison
Both apps, feature by feature — August 2026.
Pricing
Full prices, August 2026.
Lose It!
- Shows ads
- Barcode scanner (legacy accounts only)
- Basic fasting timer
- Snap It photo logging
- Say It voice logging
- Advanced macros, no ads
Macros.gg
- The whole app, nothing held back
- No ads, ever
- Cancel in two clicks
- Unlimited AI logging
- Full trend history
- Quests, XP, and ranked seasons
Lose It's annual price rose to $79.99 for new subscribers in 2026, and barcode scanning moved behind Premium for new accounts (verified August 2026; older accounts keep it). Macros.gg is $80 a year (or $12 a month) with scanning and AI logging included — there's no Premium to move them into.
Pros & cons
Where each app is strong, and where it isn't.
Lose It!
- Genuinely beginner-friendly onboarding
- Legacy accounts keep the free barcode scanner
- Basic fasting timer on the free plan
- 56+ million claimed food entries
- Apple Watch support
- Ads in the free version
- Barcode scanning is Premium for new accounts (2026)
- Macro tracking details require Premium
- AI logging (Snap It / Say It) requires Premium
- Annual price doubled for new subscribers in 2026
- No groups or shared tracking
- First-time trackers who want hand-holding
- Apple Watch users
- People who mostly log packaged foods
Macros.gg
- One plan — every feature included, no upsells, no ads
- Log a meal by typing a sentence or snapping a photo
- Barcode scanner included
- XP, daily quests, and ranked seasons
- Parties and a Discord server
- Recurring meals — set up once, log in one tap
- Imports your Cronometer history
- No free tier — 3-day trial, then $12/mo or $80/yr
- No micronutrient tracking
- No adaptive coaching algorithm
- No health app sync yet (Apple Health, Garmin)
- No voice logging
- Newer app with a shorter track record
- People who've quit other trackers
- Anyone motivated by streaks, levels, and ranked seasons
- Friends tracking together
Where they differ
Getting started
The classic beginner pick: friendly onboarding and a clear daily budget. Easy to start — though new accounts now find the barcode scanner behind Premium, and the hard part, as with any tracker, is still showing up in week three.
One-click sign-in with Discord, and the first quests walk you through logging. The game layer exists precisely for week three.
AI logging
Snap It reads a photo of your plate and Say It logs meals from your voice — both Premium features, and photo accuracy gets mixed reviews.
Typed and photo AI logging are on the free plan, ten logs a week. No voice logging yet.
What the subscription buys
Premium is $79.99 a year for new subscribers — the same price as MyFitnessPal — and covers AI logging, advanced macros, and removing ads.
There's one plan at $80 a year (or $12 a month) and it has all of it: no ads, uncapped AI logging, full trend history, streak shields. Nothing is sold to you again once you're in.
Why people switch
AI logging, not an add-on
Lose It sells Snap It and Say It as part of a higher tier. Macros.gg has one tier, and AI logging is in it — uncapped.
No ads
Lose It's free version shows ads while you log. Macros.gg never does.
Built-in motivation
Streaks are where Lose It's game layer ends. Quests, XP, ranks, and parties are where Macros.gg's begins.
Track with friends
Parties let friends see each other's consistency. Lose It is a solo experience.
Sign in with Discord or Apple and log your first meal. Setup takes about a minute.
Get startedQuestions people actually ask
$12 a month, or $80 a year. There's one plan and everything is in it: food and weight tracking, the barcode scanner, AI logging, the nutrition assistant, full trend history, quests, XP, streaks, and the Discord. New accounts get a 3-day free trial — cancel before it ends and you're not charged.
It depends on your account's age. Accounts from before Lose It's 2026 change still scan free; new signups find Scan It behind Premium. On Macros.gg the scanner isn't a tier at all — it's in the one plan every account has. The full story →
No. There's a 3-day free trial, then it's a subscription. That's deliberate: free trackers pay for themselves with ads in your food diary, upsells at every tap, or by selling your data, and we won't do any of the three. One price, no ads, nothing else sold to you inside the app.
There's no automatic import from Lose It yet — Cronometer import shipped first, and more are on the way. Your old diary stays behind for now, but your targets carry over in your head, and the first levels and quests come quickly.