Carby vs Carb Manager: count net carbs, or plan dinners?
Carb Manager is the carb counter. Carby is the dinner planner. If you asked for the best app to count carbs, that is Carb Manager, not Carby. Use Carby when the job is a grocery budget, not net carbs.
Side by side
| Criterion | Carby | Carb Manager |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Weekly dinners built around a named US grocery store and a budget you type first, with estimated ingredient costs and one aisle-grouped list. | A keto and low-carb tracker with free net-carb logging and unlimited barcode scan. Premium adds meal plans, shopping lists, Premium recipes, carb cycling, fasting, and glucose, ketone and insulin tracking. |
| Starter price | $39.99/year after a 3-day trial on web yearly checkout | Free Basic at $0.00. Premium listed at $3.33 a month billed annually on the Premium page. |
| Cost if you stay a year | $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial | Premium listed at $3.33 a month billed annually. $0 on Basic. Grocery is extra. |
| 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. | Basic is free with no trial. Premium checkout is in the app; the public Premium page does not name a trial length. |
| Refunds | 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. | App Store listing: payment is charged at purchase confirmation and the subscription auto-renews unless auto-renew is turned off. Follow Apple or Google Play to cancel. |
| Grocery list | One shopping list for the week, grouped by aisle. You shop it yourself. | Premium: generate personalized meal plans and shopping lists. Basic does not include the smart meal planner or shopping list generator. |
| Store cost estimates | Yes | No |
| Food diary / calorie log | No. Carby does not log calories, carbs or photos of food you already ate. | A keto and low-carb tracker with free net-carb logging and unlimited barcode scan. Premium adds meal plans, shopping lists, Premium recipes, carb cycling, fasting, and glucose, ketone and insulin tracking. |
| App Store rating | 4.0 from 29 ratings (small sample) | 4.8 from 736,126 ratings |
Cost if you actually stay
Carby: $39.99 if you stay on the web yearly plan after the 3-day trial
Carb Manager: Premium listed at $3.33 a month billed annually. $0 on Basic. Grocery is extra.
Carb Manager facts are from its public site and US iTunes Lookup, checked October 20, 2026. Missing dollar amounts were omitted, not guessed. Carby web yearly is $39.99 after a 3-day trial, with a 30-day web refund. Grocery purchases are extra on both sides. Carby does not replace a food diary.
Where they win
- Free net-carb tracking and unlimited barcode scan on Basic.
- Premium meal plans, shopping lists, keto recipes, and glucose, ketone and insulin tracking.
- A listed diabetes carb counter on Premium. Carby is not a medical carb counter.
Where we win
- Family dinners under a typed grocery cap at a named US store.
- Catalog cost estimates on the plan.
- You do not have to live keto for the app to be useful.
Choose us if / pick them if
Choose Carby if: Choose Carby if you feed a household from a grocery store and carbs are not the constraint.
Pick Carb Manager if: Pick Carb Manager if net carbs, keto, or a diabetes carb log is the job. Talk to your clinician about medical carb counting. Carby is not that tool.
Best app to count carbsFrequently asked questions
What is the best app to count carbs, Carby or Carb Manager?
Carb Manager. It tracks net carbs for free and lists a diabetes carb counter on Premium. Carby does not count carbs.
Does Carb Manager make a grocery list?
Premium includes a shopping list generator and meal plans. Basic does not. Those lists follow keto macros, not a Walmart dinner budget with estimated costs.
How much is Carb Manager vs Carby?
Carb Manager Basic is $0. Premium is listed at $3.33 a month billed annually. Carby web yearly is $39.99 after a 3-day trial. Grocery is extra on both.
Sources checked October 20, 2026: App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 6779585429 · Carby billing policy · Carby refund help · Carb Manager homepage · Carb Manager Premium · App Store listing · iTunes Lookup id 410089731. Competitor facts come from those public pages and US iTunes Lookup. Missing cells were omitted, not guessed.