YAZIO is the calorie counter that grew up in Europe and arrived in the US market already fully formed: diary, fasting timer, recipe library and meal plans in one app, with a free tier that most rivals would charge for. It has been on the App Store since January 2015 and, as of this review, sits at 4.7 stars from just over 50,000 US ratings.
This review is written from sources you can open — YAZIO's own App Store and Google Play listings, and published research on the category it belongs to. No first-hand testing is claimed, because none was done; inventing a testing narrative would be less useful to you than a sourced one. SlimAI makes a competing app and appears in the alternatives section near the end.
What YAZIO is
YAZIO, published by YAZIO GmbH, describes itself on its App Store listing as "the most effective AI calorie tracker, intermittent fasting app and food tracker for losing weight without dieting." Strip the marketing and the product has three parts the listing itself numbers:
- A calorie counter — a food diary with customizable calorie goals, macro and nutrient analysis, a database the listing puts at "4 million+ searchable items" and "95% of all food items", a barcode scanner, food ratings to nudge healthier choices, custom meals, integrated step, workout and symptom tracking, and a water tracker with reminders.
- Healthy habits and intermittent fasting — an optional fasting tracker with flexible plans including 16:8 and 5:2, meal-timing reminders, and guidance on ketosis and autophagy.
- Recipes and meal planning — "2,900+" recipes updated weekly, filters for low-carb, vegetarian and vegan, a grocery list, and a step-by-step cooking mode.
That third part is what distinguishes it. Most trackers record what you ate. YAZIO also tries to decide what you will eat, which is a different product with a different kind of user.
The app is available in 20 languages per its App Store metadata, with version 26.35.0 released on 31 August 2026. Google Play shows 4.4 stars and a 50M+ install badge.
What it does well
The free tier is real. This is the most important thing to know. Where MyFitnessPal moved barcode scanning behind Premium in 2022 and Cal AI's listing states that scanning results require a subscription, YAZIO's listing describes barcode scanning, the full diary, macro analysis and the fasting tracker as part of the free calorie counter. For someone who wants to count calories and fast without paying, it is one of the most complete free options in the category.
Fasting and eating live in one place. The fasting timer is not a bolt-on. Plans, meal-timing reminders and the diary sit together, so a 16:8 window and the meals inside it are visible on the same screen. Dedicated fasting apps do the timer better; almost none of them do the food.
Recipes are a first-class feature. 2,900+ recipes with dietary filters, a grocery list and a cooking mode is a bigger library than most trackers bother with. If your consistency comes from having a plan to follow rather than a number to hit, this is the part of YAZIO that earns the subscription.
Food ratings. Each logged item carries a simple quality rating alongside its calories. It is a small thing that changes what people choose at the margin, and it costs nothing in logging time.
Where it gets harder
Logging is still search-driven
The listing now leads with "AI calorie tracker", but the mechanics it actually describes — search a database, scan a barcode, save a custom meal — are the same search-and-select model every mainstream tracker has used for a decade. It works well for packaged food with a barcode and for the European grocery items the database was built on. It works less well for a home-cooked plate of anything, where you are estimating portions of several ingredients and picking the closest database match for each.
The listing does not say whether the AI features it references are free or Pro, and it does not describe photo logging as a free-tier capability. Treat any assumption about AI logging as something to verify in the app before you rely on it.
Pro is analysis, not capability
Read the Pro feature list on the listing carefully: advanced tools, custom meal plans, in-depth food analysis, Fitbit and Garmin sync, mood and symptom tracking, long-term trend insights, no ads. Apart from custom meal plans, that is a list of things Pro tells you about your data, not things Pro lets you do. If you already log consistently on the free tier, Pro may change less than the price implies.
Pricing is a spread, not a number
As of 3 September 2026 the US App Store in-app purchase list for YAZIO shows 12 months at $47.90, 3 months at $23.99 and a semi-annual option at $34.99 — and, beside them, discounted entries at $23.90 for 12 months and "YAZIO PRO" at $32.99, $29.99 and $11.90. That spread means the price you see depends on which offer the app serves you. It is not unusual in this category, but it makes "how much does YAZIO cost" a question only your own screen can answer.
There is no body composition measurement
YAZIO measures weight and, with Pro, body metrics you type in. Nothing in either tier estimates body fat percentage or lean mass, which is what most people are actually asking when they ask whether a plan is working. A flat scale on a fasting protocol can mean nothing happened, or it can mean fat went down while lean mass held. YAZIO cannot tell you which.
Who should use YAZIO
- You want to be told what to eat. Plans, recipes, a grocery list and a cooking mode are the product. If a scripted week is what keeps you on track, nothing else in the category does this as completely.
- You fast and track together. One app, one screen, fasting plans that sit beside the diary.
- You want a free calorie counter that is not a demo. Diary, macros, barcode and fasting in the free tier is a genuine offer.
- You eat European groceries. The database was built there and its coverage reflects it.
Who might want something else
- Logging time is what defeats you. YAZIO's logging is database search. If the reason you stop tracking is the thirty seconds each meal takes, the plans will not save you.
- You eat mostly home-cooked or regional food. Search-and-select is at its weakest when the dish is not in the database.
- You want to measure body composition, not just weight.
- You want targets rather than a plan. A meal plan works until real life intervenes. Some people want a calorie and macro budget and the freedom to spend it.
Alternatives worth considering
MyFitnessPal — for coverage. The largest database in the category and the widest integrations, which is exactly where YAZIO is narrower. Barcode scanning and meal scan are behind Premium, so the free-tier comparison favours YAZIO; the side-by-side is here.
Lifesum — the closest philosophical match. Diet-led plans and recipes with a quality rating on every food, for people who liked YAZIO's model and want a second opinion.
Cronometer — for verified nutrient data. Slower to log and with no meal plans at all, but the most accurate entries in the category. Choose it if precision, not planning, is why you track.
SlimAI Calorie Tracker — for the logging problem and the measurement problem, with a stated limitation. SlimAI does not script your week and has a smaller recipe library than YAZIO, and does not claim otherwise. What it changes is the logging moment — photo, voice, free text or search, with one AI photo scan a day free with no time limit, and every estimate opening as an editable ingredient list before it saves — plus six intermittent fasting plans and AI Body Assessment, a body fat estimate from two photos using published formulas. If a plan is what keeps you consistent, stay on YAZIO. If the logging is what keeps failing, or the scale is not telling you what you need to know, this is the other trade. Current pricing here.
Sources and References
- YAZIO App Store listing ("AI Calorie Tracker by Yazio", YAZIO GmbH) — feature description including the free calorie counter, fasting and recipe sections, the Pro feature list, the in-app purchase price list, rating (4.7), rating count (50,285), version 26.35.0 and release date, read 3 September 2026 — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yazio-calorie-counter-diet/id946099227
- YAZIO Google Play listing — rating (4.4) and install badge (50M+), read 3 September 2026 — https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yazio.android
- Zhang L, Misir A, Boshuizen H, Ocké M (2021). A systematic review and meta-analysis of validation studies performed on dietary record apps. Advances in Nutrition 12(6):2321–2332. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab058 — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8634532/
- Payne JE, Turk MT, Kalarchian MA, Pellegrini CA (2022). Adherence to mobile-app-based dietary self-monitoring — impact on weight loss in adults. Obesity Science & Practice 8(3):279–288. doi:10.1002/osp4.566 — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9159560/
Related reading: best YAZIO alternatives, SlimAI vs YAZIO, why two calorie trackers disagree on the same meal, and the free body fat calculator.
