Mavr Sports Nutrition Team
Updated October 2, 2026. 13 min read.
People leave MyFitnessPal for three different reasons, and the right replacement is different in each case. Some leave because features they used moved behind the paywall: barcode scanning, photo logging, and voice logging are now Premium features, and Premium is $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year on the US App Store. Some leave because the crowd-sourced database gave them the wrong numbers once too often. And some leave because they started training seriously and discovered that an app built for weight loss is a poor fit for someone running 60 kilometres a week.
This guide sorts the options by the job they are built for. We build one of them, so read the Mavr section with that in mind; the rest is written to be useful even if you pick a competitor.
It is worth being fair about this. MyFitnessPal has the largest food database in the category, with more than 20 million foods, a Premium barcode scanner that finds almost anything, a new AI coach, and near-universal recognition, which matters when you are looking up a restaurant meal. For general calorie awareness it is genuinely good, and its scale is hard to replicate.
Its limitations are structural rather than accidental. The database is crowd-sourced, so accuracy varies by entry. And the underlying model is a deficit calculator: it gives you a daily calorie budget, then adds calories back when you exercise. For a runner, that model is backwards in two ways. It treats a long run as permission to eat more rather than as a fuelling demand with specific timing, and it makes your daily target dependent on a wearable calorie estimate that independent testing has shown can be off by 27 percent or more.
Cronometer
Built forNutritional accuracy
Strongest at1.1 million+ verified foods, 95+ micronutrients, free barcode scanning
Weakest atNo training-driven targets
MacroFactor
Built forAdaptive dieting
Strongest atAdjusts your calorie target from weight trend and intake data rather than a formula
Weakest atNot endurance-specific; treats training as an energy line item
Lose It
Built forSimple weight loss
Strongest atFast logging, friendly interface, low friction
Weakest atLimited depth; same exercise-calories model as MyFitnessPal
Nutritionix Track
Built forFast natural-language logging
Strongest atType "two eggs and toast" and it parses it
Weakest atThin on planning and athlete features
Hexis
Built forCarbohydrate periodization
Strongest atSets carbohydrate by session type from a connected training plan
Weakest atPremium pricing; heavily periodization-focused
Fuelin
Built forAdaptive endurance nutrition
Strongest atDaily macros from synced training; optional human coach on its Copilot plan
Weakest atNo free trial; from $29 a month, $99 with a coach
Mavr
Built forTraining-driven daily fuelling
Strongest atPer-meal carb, protein and fat targets rebuilt from your actual sessions, with in-run fuelling plans
Weakest atAimed at endurance athletes; less suited to pure calorie counting
| App | Built for | Strongest at | Weakest at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cronometer | Nutritional accuracy | 1.1 million+ verified foods, 95+ micronutrients, free barcode scanning | No training-driven targets |
| MacroFactor | Adaptive dieting | Adjusts your calorie target from weight trend and intake data rather than a formula | Not endurance-specific; treats training as an energy line item |
| Lose It | Simple weight loss | Fast logging, friendly interface, low friction | Limited depth; same exercise-calories model as MyFitnessPal |
| Nutritionix Track | Fast natural-language logging | Type "two eggs and toast" and it parses it | Thin on planning and athlete features |
| Hexis | Carbohydrate periodization | Sets carbohydrate by session type from a connected training plan | Premium pricing; heavily periodization-focused |
| Fuelin | Adaptive endurance nutrition | Daily macros from synced training; optional human coach on its Copilot plan | No free trial; from $29 a month, $99 with a coach |
| Mavr | Training-driven daily fuelling | Per-meal carb, protein and fat targets rebuilt from your actual sessions, with in-run fuelling plans | Aimed at endurance athletes; less suited to pure calorie counting |
The fastest way to choose is to name the specific thing you opened MyFitnessPal to do.
Count calories to lose weight
The natural replacementMacroFactor or Lose It
WhyBoth do this job better; MacroFactor adapts your target instead of recalculating from a formula
Check micronutrients, iron, vitamin D
The natural replacementCronometer
WhyThe most complete and most carefully sourced nutrient data in a consumer app
Scan barcodes quickly
The natural replacementCronometer or Nutritionix
WhyBoth have strong scanners; Cronometer trades some breadth for accuracy
Hit protein targets
The natural replacementAny of them
WhyThis is a solved problem; pick on logging speed
Work out what to eat around training
The natural replacementMavr, Hexis or Fuelin
WhyGeneric trackers do not model fuelling; they model budgets
Stop bonking on long runs
The natural replacementMavr or Hexis
WhyYou need carbohydrate per hour and meal timing, not a daily calorie number
Track food while marathon training
The natural replacementMavr
WhyTargets rebuild from the session on the day, including rest and taper days
| If you used MyFitnessPal to... | The natural replacement | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Count calories to lose weight | MacroFactor or Lose It | Both do this job better; MacroFactor adapts your target instead of recalculating from a formula |
| Check micronutrients, iron, vitamin D | Cronometer | The most complete and most carefully sourced nutrient data in a consumer app |
| Scan barcodes quickly | Cronometer or Nutritionix | Both have strong scanners; Cronometer trades some breadth for accuracy |
| Hit protein targets | Any of them | This is a solved problem; pick on logging speed |
| Work out what to eat around training | Mavr, Hexis or Fuelin | Generic trackers do not model fuelling; they model budgets |
| Stop bonking on long runs | Mavr or Hexis | You need carbohydrate per hour and meal timing, not a daily calorie number |
| Track food while marathon training | Mavr | Targets rebuild from the session on the day, including rest and taper days |
This is the part most alternative round-ups skip, and it is the reason many runners switch twice before landing somewhere.
A calorie tracker answers one question: did I eat more or less than my budget? For an endurance athlete, that question is not the important one. The important ones are: how much carbohydrate does tomorrow’s session require, when should it arrive relative to that session, how much should I take during the run itself, and what changes on the day after a hard effort. None of those are answerable from a daily calorie total, because they are questions about distribution and timing.
This is the specific gap Mavr was built for. It reads sessions from Strava, Garmin, TrainingPeaks, Runna, Intervals.icu, or Apple Health, then builds each day’s carbohydrate, protein, and fat targets and splits them across meals placed around your actual session times, along with an in-run fuelling plan for anything long enough to need one. If your training moves, the day rebuilds.
A common reason for leaving MyFitnessPal is discovering that a food entry was wrong. It is worth understanding the trade-off rather than assuming a competitor has solved it.
Crowd-sourced, very large
ExampleMyFitnessPal
Trade-offFinds almost anything; individual entries vary in accuracy
Curated and verified
ExampleCronometer
Trade-offHigh confidence in what is there; occasionally missing regional or restaurant items
Open product data plus verification
ExampleMost modern apps, including Mavr
Trade-offGood barcode coverage from open food data, with fixes applied where entries are wrong
Natural-language parsing
ExampleNutritionix
Trade-offVery fast for typed meals; less precise for packaged goods
| Database approach | Example | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Crowd-sourced, very large | MyFitnessPal | Finds almost anything; individual entries vary in accuracy |
| Curated and verified | Cronometer | High confidence in what is there; occasionally missing regional or restaurant items |
| Open product data plus verification | Most modern apps, including Mavr | Good barcode coverage from open food data, with fixes applied where entries are wrong |
| Natural-language parsing | Nutritionix | Very fast for typed meals; less precise for packaged goods |
A practical note that applies to every app: for the foods you eat most often, verify the entry once against the packet and then save it as a favourite or a recipe. Ninety percent of your logging is a small number of repeated items, so ten minutes of one-time verification fixes most database complaints regardless of which app you use.
If you want the most accurate nutrient data available in a consumer app, use Cronometer. If your goal is body composition and you want a target that adapts to reality rather than to a formula, use MacroFactor. If you want the simplest possible calorie tracker, Lose It does that well. And if you are a runner, cyclist, or triathlete whose real question is what to eat around training rather than how much you ate yesterday, pick a tool built for that, whether that is Mavr, Hexis, or Fuelin, which also offers a plan with a human coach.
The failure mode to avoid is switching to a slightly different calorie tracker and expecting a different outcome. If MyFitnessPal was not working for you as an athlete, the problem was the model, not the interface.
It depends on the job. Cronometer for nutrient accuracy, MacroFactor for adaptive weight-management targets, Lose It for simplicity, and Mavr, Hexis or Fuelin if you are an endurance athlete who needs fuelling around training rather than a daily calorie budget.
Cronometer and Lose It both offer free tiers with paid upgrades, and Cronometer includes barcode scanning for free. Many endurance-focused apps offer a trial, though Fuelin does not. Free tiers generally cover logging; planning, integrations, and advanced analysis are where paid tiers sit across the whole category.
Its model adds exercise calories back to a daily budget, which treats training as something to compensate for rather than something to fuel. It also inherits the error in wearable calorie estimates, which independent testing has found can exceed 27 percent, and it does not model carbohydrate timing around sessions.
For data quality, generally yes: Cronometer uses a curated database of more than 1.1 million verified foods and tracks 95+ vitamins and minerals. For raw breadth and restaurant items, MyFitnessPal still has the larger database. Neither sets targets from your training.
No. Many endurance athletes use a target-first approach: know the carbohydrate and protein the day requires, hit the key meals around training, and log selectively. Logging everything is a tool, not the goal.
Endurance-focused apps generally do, including Mavr, Hexis and Fuelin. Mavr also connects to Garmin, Runna, Intervals.icu and Apple Health. Generic calorie trackers typically import only a calorie figure rather than session detail.
General guidance for healthy adults, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or registered dietitian if you have a health condition, take medicines or have special dietary needs.
Mavr is the alternative for people who want the app to answer "what should I eat today, given the session I just did" rather than only "what did I eat".
Ask Kai, the coach in the app