Pensum
A serious macro tracker. Free to use.
Two-tap logging, real food data and targets that follow your measured expenditure. The diary stays free, with no ads and no account.
On Google Play for Android. iPhone? Get notified when the iOS version ships.
Search the real database.
The app's actual catalogue: 16,358 hand-curated foods, generic first, with millions of branded products from Open Food Facts behind it.
Live from the app's bundled data: USDA, the German BLS and the Swiss Food Composition Database. When the local list runs short, it asks Open Food Facts live, just like the app.
The tracker stays free.
Your diary, adaptive targets, barcode scanning and manual backups stay free. No ads, no account required.
- Full food diary
- Hand-curated food catalogue plus millions via Open Food Facts
- Saved meals and recipes
- Micronutrients
- Trends and weigh-ins
- Targets that follow measured expenditure
- Manual backups and imports
- Health Connect sync
- Free export
AI is unlimited for your first 30 days, then includes 30 actions in each rolling 28-day period.
Built for people who weigh their food.
Logged in two taps
Weigh, search, done. No streaks, no badges, no twenty-screen onboarding between you and a logged meal.
Food data that's actually right
Generic whole foods rank above branded products: search chicken or oats and the plain food sits at the top, with the packaged versions below it. Built on USDA FoodData Central plus the German and Swiss national databases, so US and European foods are covered equally well.
Honest micronutrients
Calories, macros and key vitamins and minerals against your targets, each flagged as verified, partial or estimated. No false precision.
Private by default
Local-first and no account. Your diary stays on your phone. No selling your data.
Adaptive targets. Free.
Pensum measures your energy expenditure from your own weigh-ins and intake, then adjusts your target as your body changes. Pin protein, fat or carbs to the number you choose, and the rest keeps adjusting.
See exactly how it works - the full algorithm, every constant, and the research behind it.
Three screens you'll use every day.
What early users say.
“The UI of this app is honestly perfect. It feels super smooth and intuitive. I'm definitely switching and giving Pensum a proper run.”
“I'm an old hand in the fitness game and I've never had an app this clean. You're honestly doing a public service. May I recommend the app to my clients?”
A lean alternative to the bloated ones.
For the meals that are messier than a barcode.
Snap it, then tell it what you know
Photograph the plate and add what you already know: rough weights, the oil, the vessel size. Pensum takes your notes as given and returns an editable ingredient breakdown, including the invisible extras like cooking oil and added sugar. You correct it and stay in control. Read the photo guide.
Meals and recipes in a tap
Save a meal you eat often and re-log it in one tap. Build a recipe once, then log a single serving. Import a recipe by pasting text or a screenshot from anywhere, and Pensum reads the ingredients for you.
We test the photo engine on real plates with scale-verified weights and publish every number. In the latest run, telling the model the plate's total weight cut the average gram error roughly in half. Read the research.
iOS is next.
Leave your email and we'll send one message when the iPhone version ships. Nothing else, ever.
Good to know.
Is Pensum really free? What's the catch?
The core tracker stays free: the diary, manual tracking, barcode scanning, recipes, trends, targets, manual backups and imports. There are no ads, and no account is required. AI actions are unlimited for your first 30 days, then include 30 actions in each rolling 28-day period. Pensum Plus adds unlimited AI, automatic micronutrient filling and optional cloud backup.
Which food databases does Pensum use?
Pensum is built on verified generic-food data: USDA FoodData Central, the German Bundeslebensmittelschlüssel (BLS) and the Swiss Food Composition Database, plus Open Food Facts for barcodes.
Is Pensum a good Cronometer or MacroFactor alternative?
If your friction with Cronometer is buried generic foods, slow logging, or ads, Pensum fixes exactly that: generic foods ranked first, two-tap entry, no ads. Its targets follow your measured expenditure, and you can pin any macro in grams. It is a leaner alternative on real national food data, with European coverage most apps lack.
Does Pensum work for German, Swiss and Austrian foods?
Yes. Searching Brötchen or Quark returns the actual food at the top, with the forty packaged products ranked below it, because Pensum puts clean generic foods above branded noise.
Can Pensum estimate a meal from a photo?
Yes, and you lead. Add up to five photos of the same meal and tell Pensum what you already know (rough weights, the oil, the vessel size). Pensum takes those as given and returns an editable ingredient breakdown that you correct.
Is Pensum on Google Play?
Yes, Pensum is live on Google Play. That is the recommended way to install it.
No Google services on your phone?
Download the direct Android APK. Android will ask permission to install from the browser, and the APK does not auto-update: re-download it here to get new versions. On an older 32-bit phone, take the 32-bit Android APK instead. Pensum Plus is a Google Play subscription and does not carry over to the sideloaded build; cancel it in Play before you switch.
Do I need an account?
No. Pensum is local-first; your diary stays on your device.
The whole tracker, free, with no ads.