Pensum
Pensum vs MyFitnessPal
Pensum is a calm, fast calorie and macro tracker for Android. The free version is complete: no ads, no account, barcode scanning, a calorie target that adapts to your measured expenditure, 18 micronutrients against daily targets and an import for your MyFitnessPal history. Pensum scans barcodes for free. MyFitnessPal has kept its scanner behind Premium since October 2022, and its free plan carries ads.
Android on Google Play, no account needed. iPhone waitlist on the home page.
Pensum gives you for free the basics MyFitnessPal charges for. In MyFitnessPal, barcode scanning, an ad-free diary, macro goals in grams and data export all need Premium, at $79.99 a year in the US. In Pensum they are part of the free version, along with a calorie target that adapts to your measured expenditure, micronutrients against daily targets and an import that brings your MyFitnessPal diary and weigh-ins with you. Pensum runs on Android today, with an iPhone waitlist.
What MyFitnessPal locks behind Premium
MyFitnessPal's help center sums up its free plan in four words: "Free gets you logging." You can type in food and exercise, create foods, meals and recipes, track your weight and set goals as percentages. That free core "stays that way because ads help pay for it", so it carries banner ads in the app and on the website, sponsored posts, and ads in the forums and blog.
The barcode scanner has been Premium only since 1 October 2022. On the free plan every packaged food is a text search. Also behind the paywall: Meal Scan (English only), Voice Log, multi-day logging, quick-add macros, macro goals in grams, different goals by day, calorie goals by meal, food analysis, data export and the ad-free experience. The AI Coach from June 2026 is Premium only as well, and runs only on iOS, in English, in six countries.
| Pensum | MyFitnessPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Barcode scanner | Free | Premium only, since October 2022 |
| Ad-free diary | Free, no ads on any tier | Premium only; ads return when it ends |
| Photo logging | Free | Premium only (Meal Scan, English only) |
| Voice logging | Free | Premium only |
| Macro goals in grams | Free | Premium only |
| Micronutrient detail | Free, 18 against daily targets | Premium only (nutrient dashboard, food analysis) |
| Data export | Free | Premium only |
| AI assistant | Free (Ask Pensum) | Premium only; iOS, English, six countries |
In the US, Premium costs $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month. Premium+ costs $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month, adds the Meal Planner with grocery lists and is sold only in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
| MyFitnessPal plan | Per year (US) | Per month (US) |
|---|---|---|
| Free, with ads | $0 | $0 |
| Premium | $79.99 | $19.99 |
| Premium+ (six countries only) | $99.99 | $24.99 |
First-time subscribers get a 7-day free trial that takes a payment method and renews automatically unless you cancel. Outside the US prices differ by country and store.
In Pensum, all of this is free. Barcode scanning, photo and voice logging, label scans, recipe import, macro targets in grams, 18 micronutrients, adaptive calorie targets, Ask Pensum, CSV export, manual backups and imports all come with the free version. There are no ads on any tier and no account to create. Pensum Plus is optional. It pays for what costs money to run: unlimited AI, micronutrients that fill in on their own as you log, and a daily cloud backup. Nothing you need to track sits behind it. Google Play shows the Plus price in your currency.
Pensum vs MyFitnessPal: full comparison
MyFitnessPal details from its help center, pricing page and App Store listing, checked September 25, 2026.
| Pensum | MyFitnessPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Price and access | ||
| Price | Free; optional Plus subscription | Free with ads; Premium $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month; Premium+ $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month (US) |
| Trial | None needed, the free version is complete | 7-day Premium trial for first-time subscribers, renews automatically |
| Ads | None, on any tier | Banner ads and sponsored posts on the free plan; Premium only to remove |
| Account | None needed | Required |
| Logging | ||
| Barcode scanner | Free, via Open Food Facts | Premium only since October 2022 |
| Missing product | Photograph the label; Pensum reads the values and adds the product to Open Food Facts; free | Free users search by name |
| Photo logging | Free; up to five photos of one meal plus your notes; editable ingredient list with grams, incl. hidden oil and sugar | Meal Scan suggests foods from the database; Premium only, English only |
| Voice | Voice log, free | Voice Log, Premium only |
| Repeat logging | Log again, last portion remembered, multi-add, copy to any day, all free | Multi-day logging Premium only |
| Recipes and saved meals | Free | Free |
| Food data | ||
| Database | Hand-curated catalogue from USDA FoodData Central, plus the German and Swiss national databases, plus millions of branded products via Open Food Facts | Built by its community; some entries marked verified |
| Search results | Basics ranked above branded products; every value marked verified, partial or estimated | Community and verified entries mixed |
| Targets and expenditure | ||
| Calorie target | Adapts to expenditure measured from your intake and weight trend; free; method published | Set from profile and activity level; connected trackers add a daily calorie adjustment |
| Macro goals | Pin protein, fat or carbs in grams or g/kg, free | Percentages only on the free plan; grams, goals by day and goals by meal Premium only |
| Nutrients | ||
| Micronutrients | Free: 18 micronutrients plus fiber, sugar and saturated fat against daily targets; each value flagged verified, partial or estimated | Nutrient dashboard views and food analysis Premium only |
| AI features | ||
| AI features | Free; unlimited with Plus | Premium only; none on the free plan |
| AI assistant | Ask Pensum, free: answers from your meals, micros, weight and targets; drafts changes you apply yourself; photos allowed | Coach: Premium only, iOS only, English, six countries; cannot log food or change goals |
| Privacy and data | ||
| Where the diary lives | On your phone; optional encrypted cloud backup with Plus | In your MyFitnessPal account |
| Data export | CSV export and manual backups, free | Premium only; free accounts get a printable web report |
Prices are US list prices and vary by region and store. MyFitnessPal features marked Premium are also in Premium+.
What actually differs
Scan barcodes without a subscription
MyFitnessPal moved its barcode scanner behind Premium on 1 October 2022, and its help center still says so in September 2026. On the free plan every yogurt and every cereal is a text search. In Pensum you point the camera at the barcode on the free plan. Product data comes from Open Food Facts, which an active community of contributors keeps adding to every day. If a barcode is not there yet, photograph the nutrition label: Pensum reads the values and adds the product to Open Food Facts for everyone. There are also no ads to pay your way out of. In MyFitnessPal, ads go away only with Premium and come back when the subscription ends. Macro targets in grams and data export, both Premium in MyFitnessPal, are free in Pensum too.
One good entry beats forty guesses
MyFitnessPal's help center calls its database "built by our community". Anyone can add to it, so a search for a plain food can return a long list of near-duplicates with different numbers.
Pensum starts with a hand-curated catalogue for the basics, built on USDA FoodData Central, with the German BLS and the Swiss Food Composition Database on top. Millions of branded products come from Open Food Facts for barcodes and packaged foods. Basics rank above branded products, and every nutrient value is flagged verified, partial or estimated, so you know what you are logging.
A calorie target that learns from your scale
MyFitnessPal sets your calorie goal from your profile and activity level. If you connect a fitness tracker, it adds a daily "calorie adjustment" based on the device's burn estimate. We found no feature that estimates your expenditure from what you actually eat and how your weight moves.
Pensum does exactly that, for free. Once you have logged and weighed in for long enough, it measures your expenditure from intake against the weight trend and moves your target with it. Every equation and constant is published on how expenditure works, and the TDEE calculator gives the starting estimate. Imported MyFitnessPal history counts toward it, so you do not start from zero.
AI you can use without a subscription
Every AI feature MyFitnessPal offers is Premium only: Meal Scan suggests database foods from a photo (English only), Voice Log turns a spoken meal into entries, and the new Coach answers questions about your diary on iOS in six English-speaking countries. In Pensum these features are free. Photo logging takes up to five photos of one meal plus notes like rough weights, the oil you used or the bowl size, and returns an editable ingredient list with grams, including hidden oil and sugar. Our published research found that telling the model the plate's total weight cut the average gram error roughly in half. Ask Pensum answers from your own meals, micronutrients, weight and targets, can draft targets, recipes and meals, and changes nothing until you tap Apply. Its answers can be wrong, and conversations stay on your phone.
Your diary stays on your phone
MyFitnessPal needs an account, and your diary lives on its servers. Pensum needs no account: the diary is stored on your phone, and nothing is sold. If you want an off-phone copy, manual backups and CSV export are free, and Pensum Plus adds a daily cloud backup, encrypted in transit and at rest, on servers in the EU. Health Connect sync reads your weight and writes meals and manual weigh-ins back.
Pensum is for you if
- You want to scan barcodes without paying for it
- You are done with ads in your food diary
- You want a calorie target that adapts to your measured expenditure
- You care about micronutrients and want to see how reliable each value is
- You want your MyFitnessPal history to come with you
- You would rather not create an account to count calories
Switching from MyFitnessPal to Pensum
Your diary totals and weigh-ins come with you. MyFitnessPal's own export is a Premium feature; if you have never subscribed, the 7-day trial includes it.
- Request the export. In the MyFitnessPal app, open the Nutrition or Progress page (on Android via the More menu; on iOS via More or your profile icon) and tap Export, or on the website go to Reports and click Export. Choose the full date range.
- Wait for the email. MyFitnessPal emails a ZIP with three CSV files: meal-level nutrition, progress (weight and measurements) and exercise. Exports in German and other languages work too.
- Import it into Pensum. Install Pensum, open the import sheet and pick the ZIP as it arrived, no need to unzip. A preview shows what will be written before anything is saved. How the import works.
- Know what arrives. One total per meal per day, because MyFitnessPal's export has no food-by-food breakdown, plus your weigh-ins in kilograms or pounds. Days you already logged in Pensum are skipped.
- Rebuild your regulars. Scan the barcodes of the packaged foods you eat often and star them as favorites. After the first log, Log again and your last portion make repeats fast.
Questions
Is MyFitnessPal free?
Only partly. The free plan lets you type in food and exercise, create foods, meals and recipes and set goals by percentage, and it shows banner ads and sponsored posts. The barcode scanner, Meal Scan, Voice Log, macro goals in grams, data export and the AI Coach are Premium only. Pensum scans barcodes, logs by photo and voice, sets macro targets in grams and exports your data on its free plan, with no ads.
How much is MyFitnessPal Premium in 2026?
In the US, Premium is $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month, and Premium+ is $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month. Premium+ adds the Meal Planner and is sold only in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. First-time subscribers get a 7-day free trial that renews automatically unless cancelled. Prices vary by country and store. Pensum is free, with no trial to cancel.
Is the MyFitnessPal barcode scanner free?
No. Since 1 October 2022 the MyFitnessPal barcode scanner has been available only with a Premium subscription, and its help center still says so in September 2026. On the free plan you search for packaged foods by name. Pensum scans barcodes on its free plan, using the Open Food Facts product database. If a product is missing, you photograph the nutrition label and Pensum adds it.
Does MyFitnessPal have ads?
Yes. MyFitnessPal says its free core is paid for by ads: banner ads in the app and on the website, sponsored posts, and ads in the community forums and blog. Premium removes them for as long as the subscription is active, and they return if it ends. Pensum has no ads on any tier.
Can I export my MyFitnessPal data?
Only with Premium or Premium+. The export emails you a ZIP with three CSV files: meal-level nutrition, progress (weight and measurements) and exercise. Free accounts can only print a report from the website or share their diary. If you have never had Premium, the 7-day free trial includes the export, and Pensum imports that ZIP as it arrives. In Pensum, CSV export and backups are free.
What is a good free MyFitnessPal alternative without ads?
Pensum is a free MyFitnessPal alternative for Android, with no ads, no account and no subscription needed. It scans barcodes for free, adapts your calorie target to your measured expenditure, tracks 18 micronutrients against daily targets, sells no data and imports your MyFitnessPal history, so your past diary and weigh-ins come with you.
Is MyFitnessPal Premium worth it?
In the US you pay $79.99 a year for the barcode scanner, an ad-free diary, Voice Log, Meal Scan in English, macro goals in grams, data export and the AI Coach, which runs only on iOS in six countries. Pensum's free plan covers the core of that: barcode scanning, no ads, photo and voice logging, macro targets in grams, data export and Ask Pensum, its AI assistant.
Who owns MyFitnessPal?
MyFitnessPal is owned by the private equity firm Francisco Partners, which bought it from Under Armour in December 2020 in a deal valued at up to $345 million. In March 2026 MyFitnessPal announced that it had acquired Cal AI, the photo calorie app, which it runs as a separate product.
Is Pensum available on iPhone?
Not yet. Pensum is on Google Play for Android, with a direct APK download for phones without Google services. There is an iPhone waitlist on the home page, and no release date is promised.
Is Pensum free?
Yes. The diary, barcode scanning, search, photo logging, label scans, recipes, micronutrients, trends, adaptive targets, Ask Pensum, CSV export, backups and imports are free, with no ads and no account. Pensum Plus is optional and pays for what costs money to run: unlimited AI, micronutrients that fill in on their own as you log, and a daily cloud backup. Nothing you need to track sits behind it.
How we compared
We used MyFitnessPal's current help center articles, its Premium pricing page, its official blog and its App Store listing, plus public reporting on its ownership, all checked on September 25, 2026. Prices vary by region and store and change over time. If something here is out of date, tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- MyFitnessPal Help: the difference between Free, Premium and Premium+
- MyFitnessPal Help: Premium features
- MyFitnessPal Help: Premium+
- MyFitnessPal Help: how to use the barcode scanner
- MyFitnessPal Help: how to use Meal Scan
- MyFitnessPal Help: the ad-free experience with Premium
- MyFitnessPal Help: export your nutrition, progress and exercise data
- MyFitnessPal Help: export or share your data (free accounts)
- MyFitnessPal Help: introducing Nutrition Coach
- MyFitnessPal Help: understanding your calorie adjustment
- MyFitnessPal Premium page
- MyFitnessPal blog: membership pricing tiers
- MyFitnessPal on the US App Store
- Under Armour: sale of MyFitnessPal to Francisco Partners completed (2020)
- TechCrunch: MyFitnessPal has acquired Cal AI (March 2026)
The basics MyFitnessPal keeps behind Premium, the barcode scanner included, are free in Pensum.