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Noms vs MyFitnessPal: a photo food diary or a calorie counter?

By Official AppDuo editorial team · Updated

Noms logoNoms6.5/10Freemium · $9.99/moMyFitnessPal logoMyFitnessPal6.8/10Freemium · $19.99/mo

Quick verdict

Noms turns meals into a photo diary with spending attached and costs less. MyFitnessPal tracks calories and macros in more depth, but fast logging is paid.

Noms reached the App Store in February 2026 and is on iPhone and Android. Each dish becomes a sticker on a calendar, AI estimates calories, carbs, protein and fat if you consent, and every meal can carry what you paid. The diary stays on the device, but the free version shows ads and the developer's documents disagree on who processes photos.

MyFitnessPal dates from 2005. The company cites more than 20.5 million foods and connections to over 40 trackers and health apps. Premium costs $19.99/month or $79.99/year on the US App Store. In 2018 Under Armour, then the owner, disclosed that about 150 million accounts were exposed.

Head-to-head

Noms leads on 4, MyFitnessPal on 4, 2 even

FeatureNomsMyFitnessPal
How a meal gets logged[2],[5],[8],[9],[11]Photograph the dish and the app cuts it out on the device as a sticker. Calorie figures come from an optional AI estimate that runs only with consent.The free version logs nutrition, weight and exercise. Barcode scanning, meal scanning and voice logging are Premium.
→ Noms is built around photos even when free; MyFitnessPal also scans meals from photos, but only on Premium.
Depth of calorie and macro tracking[3],[5],[8],[9],[11]Estimates calories, carbs, protein and fat from a photo. The terms call these approximate and not checked by a nutrition professional. Neither store mentions a food database or micronutrients.The company cites a database of 20.5M+ foods. Premium adds custom macro goals, Net Carbs Mode and intermittent fasting.
→ Anyone working to a diet target gets more tools in MyFitnessPal; Noms figures are a rough guide.
Food spending[5],[8],[9],[11]Logs what each meal cost inside the diary, in 10 currencies.The sources AppDuo read do not mention any spending log.
→ Of the two, only Noms lets you see what eating costs without a separate budgeting app.
Personal paid plan price[4],[5],[8],[9],[11]PRO (US App Store): $9.99/month, $29.99/year ($2.50/month) or $49.99 once.Premium (US App Store): $19.99/month or $79.99/year (about $6.67/month). The sources AppDuo read show no one-time purchase.
→ At the main listed prices Noms is cheaper monthly and yearly, but the plans unlock different things: Noms PRO mainly removes ads and adds skins and unlimited AI scans, while MyFitnessPal Premium unlocks fast logging and macro tools.
Free version and trial[2],[3],[5],[8],[9],[11]Free to download with ads; watching a video ad unlocks a PRO skin for 24 hours. The number of free AI scans is not published, and the sources AppDuo read list no trial period.The free version has ads and logs nutrition, weight and exercise. Users who have never upgraded get a 7-day Premium trial.
→ MyFitnessPal states what the free version does and lets you try Premium in full; Noms leaves its free limits unclear.
Where the diary is kept[2],[5],[8],[10]On the device: synced via the user's iCloud on iOS, local only on Android. The free version uses Google AdMob and Firebase Analytics.The company collects food and medication logs, body measurements and health conditions, and runs targeted ads and cross-device tracking.
→ Noms keeps less health data on servers, though its free version still carries ads and tracking identifiers.
Incidents and consistency of disclosures[2],[3],[8],[13],[14]The sources AppDuo read record no incidents. Still, the privacy policy names Google Gemini for AI photos while the terms name Groq, and Google Play calls the app "ad-free" while labelling it "Contains ads".In 2018 Under Armour disclosed about 150 million accounts exposed, with usernames, emails and hashed passwords; payment card numbers were not affected.
→ Different kinds of risk: MyFitnessPal has a disclosed breach on record, while Noms is new and its developer's own documents contradict each other.
Devices and connections[1],[5],[9],[11]iPhone (iOS 17.2 or later) and Android; no iPad or web version. Four home screen widget styles.iOS and Android, with Apple Watch and Wear OS apps; connects to Apple HealthKit, Health Connect and Samsung Health, 40+ devices and apps per the company.
→ If you want meals next to data from a watch or health app, MyFitnessPal does it; the sources AppDuo read list no such connection for Noms.
Interface languages[5],[6],[7],[11],[12]20 languages per the App Store, including English, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.10 languages: English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Indonesian.
→ Noms offers twice as many interface languages, 20 against 10.
Track record and rating volume[4],[5],[6],[11],[12],[13]Launched 2026-02-26. App Store Vietnam 4.7/5 (171 ratings), US 4.6/5 (18); no independent reviews yet.Launched in 2005. App Store US 4.7/5 from 2,391,260 ratings, Vietnam 4.8/5 from 6,599.
→ The scores are similar, but MyFitnessPal's rest on vastly more ratings.

Choose Noms if…

  • You want to look back on meals as pictures, not tables of numbers
  • You want to know how much you spend on food each month
  • You would rather pay once than renew every year

Choose MyFitnessPal if…

  • You are working to a specific calorie or macro target
  • You eat a lot of packaged food and will pay for Premium to scan barcodes
  • You wear an Apple Watch or Wear OS watch, or use Samsung Health

A diary to look back on, or a ledger to count with

The two apps answer different questions. Noms suits you if you want to know what you ate and what it cost: each dish is a sticker on a calendar, with recap cards to share. Its calorie figure is only a photo estimate, and the terms say it is not medical advice and should be reviewed before saving. MyFitnessPal is built around targets: weight and exercise tracking, custom macros, intermittent fasting. It is moving towards photo logging too: meal scanning is part of Premium, and according to Wikipedia MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI, an AI calorie-counting app, in March 2026. The sources AppDuo read contain no independent check of either app's accuracy.

What a year costs

With Noms, paying $9.99 a month costs about four times the $29.99 yearly plan over a year. Two yearly payments come to $59.98, so the $49.99 lifetime purchase pays off once you use the app beyond its first year. MyFitnessPal Premium is $79.99 a year, and the sources AppDuo read show no one-time option. Its US App Store in-app list also shows $9.99 monthly and $49.99 yearly items without saying when they apply, and the price of Premium+ (meal planning plus 1,500+ recipes) could not be verified. Noms subscriptions renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends; MyFitnessPal bills as soon as the 7-day trial ends unless you cancel. Noms has no refund clause of its own, so refunds follow Apple's or Google's policy; the MyFitnessPal pages AppDuo read state no refund terms either, and App Store purchases are handled by Apple.

Where your health data goes

Noms keeps food and spending logs on the device. Apart from entries you share through Peek, photos leave the phone only when you turn on AI estimates, and here Noms' documents diverge: the privacy policy (updated 2026-04-15) names Google Gemini, the terms (updated 2026-03-29) name Groq Inc. Entries shared through Peek sit on Supabase and Cloudflare R2 and disappear after 2 days (7 with PRO). The self-declared App Store label lists identifiers used for tracking, and Google Play says the app may share location and device IDs with third parties. MyFitnessPal, per its policy effective 2025-03-18, collects account details, food and medication logs, body measurements and health conditions, which can include sensitive health information. Under Armour's Form 8-K filed with the SEC on 2018-03-29 disclosed the breach of about 150 million accounts; government IDs and card numbers were not part of it. For Noms, the sources AppDuo read record no incidents or controversies, but the app is less than a year old.

Who is behind each app

The App Store lists Dat Pham as Noms' seller, while Google Play names LockWaves Limited as developer, and the website and documents name no company. The only contact is a Gmail address, with no help centre. The app updates quickly, reaching version 3.0.5 in about six months, but AppDuo found no press coverage or independent reviews of it. MyFitnessPal has changed hands twice: Under Armour bought it in 2015 for $475 million and sold it to Francisco Partners in 2020 for $345 million. MyFitnessPal's help centre could not be opened when AppDuo compiled its profile, so support quality is unverified on both sides.

Frequently asked questions

Which app handles Vietnamese dishes better?

The sources AppDuo read do not say how many Vietnamese dishes MyFitnessPal's database holds, and nothing checks how well Noms estimates Vietnamese food from photos. If you mostly eat Vietnamese food, compare a few familiar dishes before relying on the numbers.

Does the Noms diary move with me to a new phone?

On iPhone it syncs through your own iCloud. On Android the policy says data is stored only on the device, and the sources AppDuo read do not explain how to move it to a new phone.

I take a GLP-1 medication. Which app fits?

MyFitnessPal added GLP-1 tools in 2024, including dose logging and reminders, but they are currently US only. Noms' store descriptions do not mention anything similar.

Does MyFitnessPal sell my data?

The policy says it does not expressly "sell" data, but acknowledges some cookie-based uses may count as "sales" or "sharing" under certain laws. Data from Apple HealthKit, Health Connect and Samsung Health is not used for advertising. Deletion requests go through the Privacy Request Center.

Sources

Numbers in the table refer to these sources, read on the dates shown.

  1. 1.Noms official website · Vendor-provided · Nov 13, 2026
  2. 2.Noms privacy policy (updated 2026-04-15) · Vendor-provided · Nov 13, 2026
  3. 3.Noms terms of use (updated 2026-03-29) · Vendor-provided · Nov 13, 2026
  4. 4.App Store listing (Vietnam) · store · Nov 13, 2026
  5. 5.App Store listing (US) · store · Nov 13, 2026
  6. 6.iTunes lookup API (Vietnam) · store · Nov 13, 2026
  7. 7.iTunes lookup API (US) · store · Nov 13, 2026
  8. 8.Google Play listing · store · Nov 13, 2026
  9. 9.MyFitnessPal Premium page · Vendor-provided · Nov 10, 2026
  10. 10.MyFitnessPal privacy policy (effective 2025-03-18) · Vendor-provided · Nov 10, 2026
  11. 11.App Store listing (US) · store · Nov 10, 2026
  12. 12.App Store listing (Vietnam, via iTunes lookup) · store · Nov 10, 2026
  13. 13.Wikipedia: MyFitnessPal · Community-reported · Nov 10, 2026
  14. 14.Under Armour Form 8-K (2018-03-29) · Vendor-provided · Nov 10, 2026

Prepared by the AppDuo Editorial Team from the sources cited in this article. AI assists with organising and cross-checking data; editorial responsibility remains with AppDuo.

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