MyFitnessPal is the app most people think of first when it comes to calorie tracking — it's been around since 2005 and has built up a large food database over that time. Heart Tracker takes a different approach: cholesterol and nutrition together, with a lot of new functionality added in the latest version, and every feature completely free. Here's an honest look at how they compare.
Where Heart Tracker wins
- Cholesterol tracking. Log Total Cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and Triglycerides directly and see them connected to what you're eating. MyFitnessPal doesn't offer a dedicated lipid panel feature at all (here's exactly what it does and doesn't track).
- Everything is free — no premium paywall, ever. Voice logging, recipe tools, AI-powered insights, and all the latest features are free in Heart Tracker. In MyFitnessPal, most of these sit behind a roughly $20/month Premium subscription.
- No account required. Heart Tracker works without creating an account; your data stays on your device instead of being stored on a company's servers.
- Voice logging. Describe a meal out loud and it's logged instantly — no searching or typing required.
- Constantly improving. The latest version of Heart Tracker adds a wave of new features on top of an already strong foundation, all still under the same free-forever model.
- Barcode scanning, Apple Health sync, and macro tracking. All included free, with a clean, modern interface built specifically around Apple's ecosystem.
Where MyFitnessPal is worth knowing about
MyFitnessPal has been around for a long time and has a large, crowd-sourced food database along with community features like friends, groups, and challenges — useful if a social layer around fitness tracking is what you're after. It's a solid, well-established option in that respect.
Which one should you actually pick?
If cholesterol is part of what you're managing — not just weight or general nutrition — Heart Tracker's combined approach means you don't need two apps, and you get the latest features without ever hitting a paywall. If a large social community around fitness tracking is your main priority and a monthly subscription isn't a concern, MyFitnessPal can still fit that specific need.
Switching from MyFitnessPal
There's no direct data import between the two apps, but that's rarely a real loss — your historical log doesn't affect future progress. Starting fresh with Heart Tracker's faster, voice-driven logging tends to produce better long-term consistency than carrying over old data, and you'll have access to all the newest features from day one, at no cost.
Try the cholesterol-first approach
Free forever, no account required, and built specifically around the diet-cholesterol connection.
Download Heart Tracker Free