Articles

Everything we've published in one place. How the app works, down to the arithmetic, and where Pensum stands against the tracker you might be leaving.

How Pensum works

The two features other apps keep behind a subscription, explained in full. We publish the method because a number is only worth trusting if you can see how it was produced.

How we measure your expenditure → The full adaptive-TDEE algorithm: every equation, every constant, and the research each one comes from. Can AI estimate food weight from a photo? → A running benchmark on real, scale-weighed plates. We publish every number. Can AI fill in missing micronutrients? → We deleted the micronutrients from 250 lab-tested foods and asked a model to put them back. It is good at minerals and rough at vitamins. The photo guide → How to get a closer calorie estimate from a meal photo: what to tell the app, and why it helps.

Honest comparisons

Side-by-side breakdowns for the app you're leaving, including where the other one is stronger.

vs MyFitnessPal → MyFitnessPal moved the barcode scanner behind Premium in 2022. In Pensum it is part of the free core, and there are no ads on any tier. vs Cronometer → Generic foods first, and never any ads. vs MacroFactor → Adaptive targets, free for early users. vs Yazio → Fast and clean, with no gamified upsell. vs Lose It → Gram-level targets without the Premium wall. vs Lifesum → Trends and targets stay free too. vs Cal AI → Cal AI reads calories off a photo, and so does Pensum. We weighed the plates on a kitchen scale to see how close that gets.

The whole tracker, free, no ads.