Cal AI alternatives: another photo logger, or plan dinners instead
Stay with Cal AI if snapping plates is how you will actually log. MyFitnessPal Meal Scan, Lose It! Snap It, Cronometer Gold photo log and MyNetDiary Meal Scan are other photo tools, mostly paid. Carby is the alternative if you wanted dinners planned before anyone cooks.
Pricing comparison
Cal AI scanning requires a subscription; App Store Unlimited prices include $9.99, $19.99, $29.99 and a $59.99 family plan. MyFitnessPal Meal Scan is Premium. Lose It! Snap It is Premium. Cronometer photo log is Gold. MyNetDiary Meal Scan is Premium. Carby $39.99 a year after a 3-day trial.
| App | Starter price | If you stay a year | Trial | Refunds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal AI | Free to download. Scanning requires a paid plan. US App Store in-app items include Unlimited prices such as $2.99, $5.99, $9.99, $19.99, $29.99 and a $59.99 family plan. Read the paywall you see. | Depends on the Unlimited plan Apple shows you. The public site does not publish one yearly rate. Grocery is extra. | FAQ describes a free-trial page on family invites. Trial length is shown in the App Store paywall, not as a single public number on calai.app. | App Store and Google Play refunds go through those stores. Direct CalAI purchases: email support. Deleting the app does not cancel. Cancel in iPhone Settings → Subscriptions → CalAI. |
| Carby | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | 3-day trial on the web yearly offer visitors actually see. Monthly ($9.99) and weekly ($4.99) plans also exist. Read the checkout. | Web Stripe charges: email within 30 days of the charge for a refund. App Store charges go through Apple. Cancel during the trial and you are not charged. |
| MyFitnessPal | Free food diary. Premium $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month. Premium+ $99.99 a year or $24.99 a month, on MyFitnessPal’s Premium+ page. | $79.99 on Premium yearly. $99.99 on Premium+ yearly. $0 if you stay on the free diary. Grocery is extra. | 7-day Premium or Premium+ trial if you have never upgraded or redeemed a trial. First charge is after the trial unless you cancel. Auto-renews. | Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal to avoid the next charge. Premium features stay until the paid period ends. App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores. |
| Lose It! | Free to download, with an optional Premium subscription. Lose It! does not publish a dollar price on the public Premium page; read the in-app checkout. | Free if you stay on Basic. Premium yearly cost is shown in the app, not on loseit.com/premium. Grocery is extra. | Free Basic needs no trial. Premium trial, if offered, is shown in the App Store or Google Play checkout you see. | App Store or Google Play purchases follow those stores. Deleting the app does not cancel a store subscription. |
| MyNetDiary | Free. Premium $8.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Premium Plus $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, on MyNetDiary’s about and AI scanner pages. | $0 on Free. $59.99 on Premium yearly. $99.99 on Premium Plus yearly. A $179.99 lifetime option is listed on the free-tracker page. | Free tier needs no trial. Premium trial on iOS is documented in MyNetDiary’s FAQ index; length is shown in the store checkout. | Premium can be bought on MyNetDiary.com (Paddle) or as an in-app purchase. App Store and Google Play refunds follow those stores. |
| Cronometer | Free Basic. Gold $4.99 a month billed annually at $59.99, or $10.99 a month billed monthly, on cronometer.com/gold. | $59.99 on Gold yearly. $131.88 if you stay on Gold monthly at $10.99. $0 on Basic. Grocery is extra. | Basic is free with no time limit. Gold checkout is on the Gold page and in the apps. | Web Gold: set Do Not Auto-Renew in Account Settings and access continues to the end of the term. App Store or Google Play Gold follows those stores. |
Grocery purchases are extra on every row. Read the checkout you actually see.
What each tool is best for
- Family dinners under a grocery budget, not a food diary: Carby
- Carby does not count calories or carbs. It plans five dinners and one aisle list around a store and a spending limit. Use it when the next job is shopping, not logging last night’s plate. Compare
- Photo logging plus a huge typed database: MyFitnessPal
- Meal Scan is Premium. You can also search 20.5 million foods, per their homepage. Compare
- Snap It on a calorie-budget app: Lose It!
- Photo logging is Premium. Daily calorie budget is the product. Compare
- Photo logging on a verified database: MyNetDiary
- Meal Scan is Premium. Free barcode remains on the free tier. Compare
- Photo log plus micronutrients: Cronometer
- Photo log is a Gold feature. Accuracy positioning is lab-analyzed foods, not AI volume. Compare
Verdict
Keep Cal AI if you will pay to snap every meal. Use MyFitnessPal, Lose It!, MyNetDiary or Cronometer if you want photo logging attached to a classic diary. Use Carby if the photo you needed was never of a plate, it was of a shopping list.
Carby vs Cal AI in one tableFrequently asked questions
What is the best Cal AI alternative?
Another photo diary: MyFitnessPal Premium, Lose It! Premium, MyNetDiary Premium or Cronometer Gold. A dinner planner: Carby, which does not scan food.
How accurate is Cal AI?
Their FAQ says about 80% accurate and that no food tracking app is perfect. That is their number, not a Carby test.
Does Carby estimate calories from photos?
No.
Sources checked October 20, 2026: Cal AI homepage · Cal AI FAQ · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6480417616 · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · MyFitnessPal homepage · MyFitnessPal Premium · MyFitnessPal Premium+ · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 341232718 · Lose It! homepage · Lose It! Premium · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 297368629 · MyNetDiary homepage · MyNetDiary about · MyNetDiary free tracker page · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 287529757 · Cronometer homepage · Cronometer Gold · Cronometer subscription types · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 1145935738. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.