Freemium
Freemium — A pricing model in which an app is free to use indefinitely, with a paid tier that unlocks extra features or raises usage limits.
Free, plus something
The word joins “free” and “premium”. A freemium app has a version you can use for as long as you like without paying, and a paid tier on top. Most mainstream calorie trackers work this way. What varies, enormously, is where the line between the two sits.
The four shapes it takes
- Feature-gated. Certain tools exist only in the paid tier. The free app works, but specific functions, such as a barcode scanner, photo logging or data export, show a lock.
- Allowance-based. Everything is available on the free plan, but some things come in a daily quantity, and paying raises or removes the limit.
- Ad-supported. The free version shows advertising; paying removes it. Often combined with one of the above. The MyFitnessPal free tier showed about 11 ad impressions per logging session in our test.
- Trial-only. Strictly speaking this is not freemium at all. You get full access for a few days, after which you pay or lose the app. A trial with no lasting free plan is a paid product with a delay.
When you read “free” on an app listing, it is worth working out which of these it is. The listing’s “In-App Purchases” section and the app’s own pricing page usually make it clear.
How to judge a free plan
Five questions settle most cases:
- Does the free plan have an end date?
- Does it need a card to start?
- Which features are locked, if any?
- Are there daily limits, and on what?
- Are there ads, and where do they appear?
The best free plans answer “no, no, none, only on the most expensive operations, and no”.
Worked example: what “free” saves over two years
Paid tiers in this category cost from about $35 to $80 a year at the US list prices published on this site. Over two years, staying free instead of subscribing saves:
| Paid tier | Annual price | Two years |
|---|---|---|
| PlateLens Premium | $34.99 | $69.98 |
| Lose It! Premium | $39.99 | $79.98 |
| Cronometer Gold | $59.99 | $119.98 |
| MacroFactor (no free plan) | $71.99 | $143.98 |
| MyFitnessPal Premium | $79.99 | $159.98 |
Saving the money only makes sense if the free plan does the job, which is why the shape of the plan matters more than the price of the upgrade. ## Freemium in practice
The apps above illustrate the different shapes. MacroFactor is trial-only: one week of access, then a subscription. Cronometer is ad-supported and feature-gated, with barcode scanning free and photo and voice logging in Gold. On October 1, 2026, the store pages for MyFitnessPal and Lose It! both showed the barcode scanner as a Premium tool.
PlateLens is the clearest example of the allowance-based shape. Nothing is held back from free users: camera, voice, scanner and keyboard logging, the browser app, the AI coach, 3D body scanning, a glucose logbook, a fasting clock and a calorie goal that adapts to you all come with an account that never lapses and needs no card. Paying ($34.99 a year) adds no features; it turns the daily allowance of three photo estimates and five coach replies into an unlimited one. That is why we rate it the strongest free offer among calorie trackers.
For what a locked feature looks like from the inside, see paywalled feature. Our six-app ranking compares the plans side by side: What’s the Best Calorie Tracker in 2026?.