Best Free Macro Tracker Apps in 2026: The Ones That Actually Let You Set Your Macros
Short answer
Cronometer, Carb Manager, MacrosFirst and FatSecret each state that setting your own macro targets is part of their free tier. MyFitnessPal limits free accounts to percentage splits in five-percent increments. Lifesum, Lose It! and SlimAI put custom macro goals behind their paid tiers, and MacroFactor has no free tier at all.
Almost every app in this category is “free” in the sense that downloading it costs nothing. That is not the question you are asking. The question is whether you can tell the app “180 grams of protein, 200 grams of carbs, 60 grams of fat” and have it hold you to those numbers without paying — and on that question the category splits four ways.
This page sorts ten trackers by that one test, using each vendor's own pricing page, support article or App Store listing as the source, read on 3 September 2026. Where a vendor does not say, the entry says so rather than guessing.
SlimAI makes one of the apps on this list. Custom macro goals are part of SlimAI Pro, not the free tier, so SlimAI is not one of the four that pass the test — that is stated in the table and in the section about our own app. What SlimAI does give away is a different thing, and the last section is the honest case for it.
Free macro targets, compared
Four apps pass outright. If your only requirement is setting gram targets without paying, install Cronometer, Carb Manager, MacrosFirst or FatSecret and stop reading — the rest of this page is about the trade-offs each one carries.
| App | Set your own macro targets free? | What the vendor says |
|---|---|---|
| Cronometer | Yes | “Custom macro and micronutrient targets” is checked in the Basic ($0) column of its own Gold comparison table. |
| Carb Manager | Yes | Its Macros Tracker page says setting keto macro goals and tracking net carbs is “always free”; Smart Macros and carb cycling are Premium. |
| MacrosFirst | Yes | Its “What is MacrosFirst Premium?” help article puts “setting your daily macro goal in grams” and meal-level macro goals in the free tier. |
| FatSecret | Yes | “Macro Tracking” is checked in the Free column of its own Compare Free to Premium table. |
| MyFitnessPal | Percentages only | Free accounts set macro goals “as percentages in 5% increments”; “Macros by Gram” is listed under Premium in its Free/Premium/Premium+ table. |
| MyNetDiary | Track yes, set no | The App Store listing puts “full macro and protein tracking” under what you get free; its FAQ puts customising targets under Premium. |
| SlimAI | No — Pro | Free accounts get targets SlimAI calculates from goal, body data and activity, and every meal scored against them in grams. Typing your own numbers is Custom Calorie & Macro Goals, part of SlimAI Pro. |
| Lifesum | No | Its help centre states plainly: “Editing your macro distribution is a Premium feature.” |
| Lose It! | No | Its help centre states “Tracking custom nutrient goals is a Premium feature”; the App Store listing puts macro tracking under Premium Plan Features. |
| MacroFactor | No free tier | Its own FAQ: “Is there a free version? No, there isn’t (and will never be) a free version.” There is a trial. |
Every cell above comes from the named vendor's own pricing page, support article or App Store listing, read 3 September 2026 and re-checked against the same source. Tiers and prices in this category change without notice — verify on the listing before you subscribe. SlimAI is our own app and is placed by the same test as the rest.
The four that let you set macros free, and what each costs you elsewhere
One caution that applies to all four: a free tier is a commercial decision, not a promise. Every app on this page has moved features between tiers before — MyFitnessPal moved its barcode scanner behind Premium in 2022 — and the page you are reading is a snapshot of what each vendor published on the date at the bottom.
Cronometer — the most complete free tier in the category
Custom macro and micronutrient targets are in the free Basic plan, alongside verified food entries and tracking across dozens of micronutrients. The trade is logging speed: entries are curated rather than crowd-sourced, so coverage of restaurant and packaged food is thinner, and photo and voice logging are Gold-only. Choose it if precision is why you track.
Carb Manager — best if carbs are the number that matters
Keto macro goals and net-carb tracking are “always free” per its own Macros Tracker page. Built around low-carb eating, so the whole interface leads with net carbs. Smart Macros and carb cycling sit in Premium. Choose it if you are keto or low-carb rather than tracking macros generally.
MacrosFirst — the purest free macro tracker
Daily macro goals in grams and meal-level macro goals are both in the free tier, which is more granular than most paid tiers offer. It is also the narrowest app here: macros and little else, with no fasting, water, body composition or AI logging. Choose it if you want a macro spreadsheet with a good interface.
FatSecret — a large database with macro tracking free
Macro tracking is checked in the free column of its own comparison table, alongside a long-established food database and a community. Its own free-versus-Premium boundary is less clearly documented than the other three, so check the current table before relying on any single feature.
Where the “free” label gets misleading
MyFitnessPal is the app most people mean when they say free macro tracker, and its free tier is genuinely useful — the diary, the database and viewing each food’s carbs, fat and protein in grams all cost nothing. What you cannot do free is set your targets in grams. MyFitnessPal distributes macro calories as percentages in five-percent increments on the free tier, and lists “Macros by Gram” under Premium. If your plan is “180 grams of protein,” a five-percent increment cannot express it.
MyNetDiary draws the line in a similar but different place: tracking macro grams you have eaten is explicitly free, while customising the targets you are eating toward is Premium. Reading a roundup that says only “free macro tracking” would leave you to discover that at setup.
Lifesum and Lose It! both state in their own help centres that custom macro goals are a paid feature. MacroFactor does not pretend otherwise — its FAQ says there will never be a free version — which makes it the most honest entry on this page even though it scores worst on this page’s test.
Where SlimAI actually sits
SlimAI does not pass this page’s test. Custom Calorie & Macro Goals — typing your own calorie number and your own protein, carb and fat grams — is part of SlimAI Pro. If setting your own gram targets without paying is your requirement, four apps above do that and SlimAI is not one of them.
What a free SlimAI account does include, per SlimAI’s own App Store listing: one AI photo scan a day with no time limit, unlimited text entry and food database search, macros shown in grams on every logged meal against targets SlimAI calculates from your goal, body data and activity, a fasting timer, water, workouts and steps, adaptive calorie goals that move with your logging, home and lock screen widgets, Apple Health, and a written AI Coach report every Monday. The targets recalculate on their own when you log a weigh-in or change your goal.
That is a different bet from the four apps above. They give you control of the numbers and leave the logging to you; SlimAI gives you the logging and calculates the numbers, and asks $29.99 a year — under $3 a month — if you want to override them. Which is better depends entirely on whether your problem is that you know your macros and cannot be bothered typing meals, or that you are willing to type meals and want your own numbers.
If your macros come from a coach or a prescribed plan, take one of the four. If you have abandoned tracking before because logging each meal took too long, the logging is the part worth solving first.
How to choose in under a minute
You have specific gram targets and no budget
MacrosFirst for macros alone, Cronometer if you also want micronutrients, Carb Manager if the binding number is carbs.
You want the biggest food database free
FatSecret or MyFitnessPal — but on MyFitnessPal your targets will be percentages until you pay.
You keep quitting because logging is slow
The free tier that matters to you is the one with AI logging in it. SlimAI includes one photo scan a day permanently; Cal AI’s listing states that scanning results require a subscription.
You want the app to adapt the targets for you
MacroFactor is built entirely around adaptive targets and has no free tier. SlimAI’s adaptive calorie goals are free and its custom overrides are not.
Sources
Cronometer Gold comparison table (cronometer.com/gold), Carb Manager Macros Tracker page and Macros Calculator help article, MacrosFirst “What is MacrosFirst Premium?” help article and homepage tier table, FatSecret Compare Free to Premium table (fatsecret.com/premium), MyFitnessPal support articles “What is included in the free version?”, “Customize your nutritional goals” and “The difference between Free, Premium, and Premium +”, MyNetDiary App Store listing and Premium FAQ, Lifesum help centre “How can I adjust the split of my Macronutrients?”, Lose It! help centre on custom nutrient goals, MacroFactor FAQ at macrofactor.com.
All read on 3 September 2026. SlimAI's own free-tier list is taken from its App Store listing on the same date, and its Pro boundary from the product's feature specification.
What the research says
Independent findings, not ours
Two things are worth knowing before picking any app on this page. Neither study tested SlimAI; both describe the category.
Across 90 adults tracking food in an app for eight weeks, the people who completed the study logged on 70.2% of days and lost 2.19% of body weight, against 1.54% for the sample as a whole, which logged on about half of days. Frequency of logging explained 6.8% of the variance in weight change.
Thirty dietary recalls were entered into MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, Lose It!, MyPlate and Lifesum and compared with the NDSR research database. Energy and macronutrient correlations ran 0.73–0.96, but individual nutrients were underestimated by 7–41% depending on the app — MyFitnessPal for protein, total fat, sodium and cholesterol; Lose It! across six nutrients.
FAQ
Still Wondering About SlimAI
What is the best free macro tracker app?
What is the best free macro tracker app?For setting your own gram targets without paying, Cronometer, Carb Manager, MacrosFirst and FatSecret each state that custom macro goals are part of their free tier. MacrosFirst is the most focused on macros alone, Cronometer adds micronutrients and verified food data, Carb Manager is built around net carbs, and FatSecret has the largest database of the four.
Is MyFitnessPal free for macros?
Is MyFitnessPal free for macros?Partly. Free accounts can log food and see each item’s carbs, fat and protein in grams, and can set macro goals as percentages in five-percent increments. Setting macro goals in grams — what MyFitnessPal calls “Macros by Gram” — is a Premium feature, per its own Free/Premium/Premium+ comparison. Quick-add macros and per-day macro goals are also Premium.
Can I set my macros in grams for free?
Can I set my macros in grams for free?In Cronometer, Carb Manager, MacrosFirst and FatSecret, yes, per each vendor’s own pricing page or support article. In MyFitnessPal you get percentages only. In Lifesum, Lose It! and SlimAI, setting your own macro targets is part of the paid tier. MacroFactor has no free tier at all.
Is SlimAI a free macro tracker?
Is SlimAI a free macro tracker?SlimAI’s free tier shows macros in grams on every logged meal and tracks them against targets it calculates from your goal, body data and activity, which recalculate when you log a weigh-in or change your goal. Setting your own gram targets is Custom Calorie & Macro Goals, part of SlimAI Pro. So SlimAI is free to track macros in, and paid to set your own macro numbers in — if the second is what you need, the four apps listed above do it free.
What is the catch with free macro tracker apps?
What is the catch with free macro tracker apps?Usually one of three: the targets are percentages rather than grams, the fast logging methods are paid, or the free tier is a trial rather than a tier. Check which of the three applies before you commit a month of logging to an app. Tiers also move — MyFitnessPal put its barcode scanner behind Premium in 2022 — so a comparison like this one is a snapshot, not a guarantee.
Do free macro trackers include barcode scanning or photo logging?
Do free macro trackers include barcode scanning or photo logging?It varies and it is the most commonly paywalled part. Cronometer keeps barcode scanning free and puts photo and voice logging in Gold. MyFitnessPal moved barcode scanning to Premium in 2022. Cal AI’s App Store listing states that food scanning results require a subscription. SlimAI includes one AI photo scan a day on its free tier with no time limit.
How accurate are macro numbers in any of these apps?
How accurate are macro numbers in any of these apps?Less accurate than the decimal places suggest, in every app here. A meta-analysis of fourteen validation studies across twelve dietary-record apps found that all of them underestimated energy intake, pooled at about 202 kcal a day, and that the gap narrowed to roughly 57 kcal a day when the app and the reference used the same food database. Consistency in how you log matters more than which app you pick.
Start logging smarter with AI Meal Logging.
Log any meal, any way. Get instant calories and macros. Build the habit that sticks.
Free 3-day trial, then $7.99/month or $29.99/year. Cancel anytime.
- 50K+ food items in the food database
- 10K+ downloads on iOS and Android
- 7 languages
- 4.5★ App Store · 4.8★ Google Play (as of September 3, 2026)
