Pensum
Pensum vs Lifesum
Lifesum is the prettiest app in the category, and it leans lifestyle: guided diet plans, recipes, a health score. The tracking underneath is mostly Premium. Macro breakdowns, food ratings and detailed nutrition need the subscription, so the free tier is thin for anyone tracking macros seriously. Pensum puts the substance in the free part: gram-level targets, honest micronutrients and trends free forever, with no ads and no account, and adaptive expenditure free today and free for early users.
Android only.
Side by side
Prices as of 2026; check the store for current numbers.
| Pensum | Lifesum | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Full-featured core, free | Basic calorie logging; most features need Premium |
| Cost to keep using | Free now. Everyday tracking free forever; early users keep adaptive expenditure and AI free | Premium subscription (around 50 USD per year) |
| Macro tracking | Yes, gram-level targets, free | Premium only |
| Behind the paywall | Diary, macros, micronutrients, trends and recipes: free forever. Adaptive expenditure: free today and for early users | Premium gates macros, diet plans, recipes, food ratings, Life Score and detailed nutrition |
| Diet plans and scores | None, by design; no gamification | Guided diet plans and the Life Score (Premium) |
| Adaptive expenditure / TDEE | Yes, free today and free for early users, with weekly check-in | Goal-based calorie targets |
| Micronutrients | Yes, flagged verified, partial or estimated | Detailed nutrition is Premium |
| Food database | USDA plus German and Swiss national databases, generic foods first | Large global database |
| Ads | None, on any tier | None |
| Privacy | Local-first, no account | Cloud account |
| Platforms | Android (early); Health Connect sync | iOS, Android |
Where Lifesum is stronger: guided diet plans and a polished, lifestyle-focused experience that looks great doing it. The trade is that the tracking substance, macros included, mostly lives behind Premium.
What actually differs
The free tier is thin for macros
Lifesum's free version is close to basic calorie logging. Reviewers report that macro breakdowns for carbs, protein and fat, the diet plans, most recipes, food ratings and detailed nutrition all require Premium, at around 50 dollars a year. Anyone tracking macros seriously reaches that paywall in the first week. Pensum puts macros in the free core: gram-level targets, per-meal and per-day, with no subscription in front of them.
The substance is the free part
Lifesum sells a lifestyle. The diet plans, the recipes and the Life Score are its polish, and much of the underlying tracking rides along in Premium. In Pensum the free part is micronutrients flagged verified, partial or estimated, trends over time, data export, and adaptive expenditure that infers your real energy burn from your weight and intake. Adaptive expenditure is free right now, and early users keep it free when it becomes an optional Pro tier.
Who should switch
Lifesum charges around 50 dollars a year for macro tracking. If the guided diet plans and the Life Score are what you are paying for, that is a fair trade and Lifesum does them well. If you are paying it to see carbs, protein and fat, Pensum shows them free.
Questions
Is Pensum a good Lifesum alternative?
If you like how Lifesum looks but do not want to pay Premium just to track macros, Pensum is a strong alternative: gram-level targets, honest micronutrients and trends are free forever, and adaptive expenditure is free today and free for early users, with no ads and no account. Lifesum is the more polished, lifestyle-focused product, with guided diet plans and a health score, so if that experience is what you want and Premium's price is fine, it does that job well.
What does Lifesum paywall behind Premium?
A lot of the tracking substance. Reviewers report that macro tracking for carbs, protein and fat, the diet plans, most recipes, food ratings, the Life Score and detailed nutrition beyond calories all sit behind Premium, which runs around 50 USD per year. The free tier is close to basic calorie logging. Pensum keeps macros, micronutrients and trends free forever, and adaptive expenditure free today and free for early users.
Does Lifesum have a good free version?
Lifesum's free tier is one of the more limited in the category. You can create an account, set a calorie goal and log food, but macro breakdowns, diet plans, recipes and food ratings need Premium, so anyone tracking macros seriously hits the paywall quickly. Pensum's free tier is the full tracker, macros and micronutrients included.
Does Pensum have diet plans or a health score like Lifesum?
No, and that is deliberate. Lifesum builds guided diet plans and the Life Score into its experience, and some people want that structure. Pensum has no diet plans, no scores and no gamification; it gives you gram-level targets and honest numbers and lets you steer. If guided plans are the point for you, Lifesum offers more of them.
Is Pensum free?
Right now everything is free, with no ads on any tier: the full diary, the food catalogue, saved meals, recipes, trends, targets, weigh-ins, Health Connect sync, adaptive expenditure and AI meal-photo scanning. Everyday tracking is free forever. Adaptive expenditure and the AI scans are free right now, and early users keep them free when they become an optional Pro tier.
Which has better food data, Pensum or Lifesum?
Lifesum has a large global database, though its detailed nutrition sits behind Premium. Pensum bundles USDA data plus the German and Swiss national food databases, ranks generic whole foods above branded products, and flags every value as verified, partial or estimated. For European generics Pensum has coverage most global apps lack, and all of it is free.
Gram-level targets and honest micronutrients, free forever. Adaptive expenditure, free today, and free for good if you start now.