MacroFactor review: what it costs and who it's built for

MacroFactor is a calorie and macro tracker with one big idea. It works out how many calories you actually burn from your food log and weight trend, then adjusts your targets every week.

As for MacroFactor’s cost: as of November 7, 2026, it’s $11.99 a month, $47.99 every six months, or $71.99 a year in the US, after a 7-day free trial. There’s no free version, and the company says there never will be.

It suits people who like data and will log every meal in full. It suits people less well if they often leave meals out of the log or want a free plan.

Key takeaways

• MacroFactor estimates your energy expenditure from what you log and how your weight trend moves, then updates your calorie and macro targets at a weekly check-in.
• As of November 7, 2026, MacroFactor costs $11.99 a month, $47.99 a half year or $71.99 a year in the US, after a 7-day free trial. There’s no free tier.
• A year on the monthly plan costs about twice the yearly plan, and cancellations go through Apple or Google.
• Its weak spot, in its own words, is partial logging: one day with a meal missing can skew the estimate for about three weeks.
• It’s worth it if you’ll log complete days. If logging is the part you keep dropping, the method works against you.

MacroFactor pros and cons

How this review was put together

This MacroFactor review is built from the company’s own pages and published research. We didn’t sign up or test the app, so there are no “we tried it” claims here.

We read MacroFactor’s nutrition app page, with its pricing and FAQ. We also read its US App Store listing, its Google Play listing, its terms of service and nine articles in its help center, all on November 7, 2026. Studies were read through NCBI’s PubMed database. Prices outside the US differ, so check the screen you’re shown before you pay.

What is MacroFactor, and how does it set your targets?

MacroFactor is a food and weight tracker with a coaching algorithm on top. You set a goal and a rate, log meals and weigh in. Each week, per its App Store listing, it “compares your calorie and macro intake with your weight trend” and adjusts your targets for the week ahead.

The site’s own example: if you’ve eaten about 3,000 calories a day and your weight trend shows a surplus of about 200, your burn is about 2,800.

Two more details. The updates are “adherence neutral”: they follow what you ate, not how closely you hit last week’s target. And you can switch to Collaborative or Manual mode and set your own macros. We compare this approach with a formula-based target in MacroFactor vs MyFitnessPal.

The trade-off: the algorithm is only as good as your log. More on that below, because it decides whether MacroFactor is worth paying for.

How much does MacroFactor cost?

MacroFactor’s cost depends on how long you pay for at once. These are the US prices on its app page and App Store listing, as of November 7, 2026:

The yearly plan is half the price of paying month to month, a sensible bet once the trial shows you’ll keep logging. Every plan gets the same app: the app page promises “full access to all features”.

MacroFactor’s separate workouts app is extra. Its subscriptions article prices both apps together at $89.99 a year for people who started on or after January 1, 2026. There’s no lifetime option.

Is MacroFactor free?

No. The App Store listing says MacroFactor “has a free trial, but does not offer a free subscription tier”. Its FAQ says there “isn’t (and will never be) a free version”.

The trial is 7 days. The FAQ’s reason: no free users means no ads and no selling user data. If you want a tracker with a free plan, our MyFitnessPal alternatives roundup lists some.

Can you cancel MacroFactor and get a refund?

You cancel through your phone’s app store, not inside MacroFactor, per its subscription article. Plans renew unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends.

For refunds, its refund article says Apple users ask Apple, since MacroFactor can’t refund App Store purchases. On Google Play, Google refunds a purchase if you ask within 48 hours. MacroFactor says it can also refund you if you email support.

So set a reminder for day six of the trial. If it isn’t sticking by then, cancel before the first charge.

How do you log food in MacroFactor?

Fast logging is the other half of MacroFactor’s pitch. Per its app page and store listings, as of November 7, 2026, every plan includes:

• AI photo logging, which its help article says fills your plate with “editable food entries” and estimated servings.
• Describe: type or say what you ate, and it finds the foods.
• Barcode and nutrition label scanners, and a verified database of “more than 1.36 million” entries.
• A recipe importer that takes a link or a photo of a cookbook page.

Describe has one limit worth knowing. The Describe article says it searches “a database of common foods, not the full database of branded foods”. Ask for an Applebee’s cheeseburger and you get a generic one.

Any photo log is an estimate, too; oils and sauces are the usual blind spot, as our guide to how AI calorie counters work explains.

What it doesn’t do

• No web or desktop version. “Not right now,” says its FAQ.
• No calorie burn from watches. The FAQ says activity trackers “don’t seem to do a particularly good job” of estimating expenditure. It does connect to Apple Health and Health Connect, for things like weight from a smart scale.

Why partial logging matters so much

Read this before you pay. MacroFactor’s help center calls partial logging its “Achilles heel”: you log breakfast and lunch, but not dinner.

The app can’t tell a forgotten dinner from a light day. Its partial logging article says the algorithm uses “the last 21 days” of your nutrition data. So one partly logged day can skew the estimate “for about three weeks afterwards”.

In its example, someone eating 3,000 calories a day logs only 1,500 one day, and their estimated burn drops by about 71 calories a day.

Its advice, there and in a related FAQ, is practical:

1. Estimate the missing meal. Within about 30% of the truth is fine.
2. Or delete the whole day. A blank day is skipped, which does less harm than half a day.
3. Skip the tiny stuff if you like. Leaving out small, low-calorie items isn’t partial logging.

MacroFactor forgives a missed day, not a half-logged one. If you know you’ll leave gaps, that’s the habit to fix first, in this app or any other.

Does MacroFactor work? What research found

We found no study in PubMed that tested MacroFactor’s expenditure algorithm. A PubMed search for “MacroFactor” on November 7, 2026 returned seven results, none of them about the app. So the method rests on energy-balance math and the company’s own explanation, not on a trial.

One study does include the app, in its full text. A 2024 paper in Nutrients (PMID 39125452) logged set 3-day menus in 16 food-logging apps from Australia’s app stores, MacroFactor version 2.6.8 among them. On average across the apps, energy came out too high for a Western menu (by 1,040 kJ, about 250 calories). It came out too low for an Asian menu (by 1,520 kJ, about 360 calories) and for a menu based on Australia’s dietary guidelines (by 944 kJ, about 225 calories).

MacroFactor wasn’t among the seven apps the study tested for photo recognition, and the reference data were Australian. So read it as a caution about database apps in general, not a verdict on this one.

What research does show is that self-monitoring “declines quickly”, in the words of a 12-week trial in 2019 in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (PMID 30816851). There, 105 adults used MyFitnessPal for weight loss. The app-only group logged its diet on a median of 2.9 days a week, against 5.3 for a group that also got weekly lessons and feedback.

A 2021 review of 39 trials in Obesity (PMID 33624440) found few programs kept people self-monitoring on 75% or more of days.

That’s MacroFactor’s real test: the method is built around complete days, and most people’s logging fades. Our post on food diary apps covers why.

Is MacroFactor worth it?

MacroFactor is worth it if you’ll log complete days and want a target that follows your real results. On the yearly plan it’s $71.99, and nothing is held back for a higher tier.

It’s a good fit if:

• You’ve followed a calorie target before and wondered why your weight didn’t move as predicted.
• You like charts, trends and seeing your own expenditure estimate.
• You want photo, voice and barcode logging without a higher tier to pay for.

It’s a weaker fit if:

• You often log half a day. That’s the habit the algorithm handles worst.
• You want to start free. The trial is a week, then it’s paid.
• You’re new to macros. Our guide to tracking macros without weighing everything is a gentler start.

If you’re weighing a micronutrient tracker too, see Cronometer vs MacroFactor and Cronometer vs MyFitnessPal.

MacroFactor isn’t right for everyone

Its terms of service say you must be at least 18, or the age of majority where you live, to use it.

Tracking food isn’t right for everyone either. If counting brings on stress or restriction, or you have a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian before you start any tracker.

Where does Getfiit fit?

We make Getfiit, so weigh this section with that in mind. It’s an AI nutrition and fitness coach that lives in WhatsApp, so there’s no new app to install. You send a photo, a voice note or a sentence, and it replies with calories, protein, carbs and fat.

It’s built for someone who cares about the numbers but keeps dropping the logging. It sets daily calorie and macro targets from your goal and profile, and checks in at a time you pick. Here’s an illustration of a log, not a measured result:

dinner12:38

Seared salmon with sweet potato wedges and green beans. Were the wedges roasted in oil?12:39

yes, about a tablespoon12:40

Logged with a tablespoon of oil. Your calories, protein, carbs and fat for today are updated.12:41

It doesn’t scan barcodes, and it doesn’t estimate your expenditure from a weight trend the way MacroFactor does. If you want that, MacroFactor is built for it.

As of November 7, 2026, Getfiit costs $19.99 a month after a 3-day free trial, and you can cancel anytime. See how it works.

Frequently asked questions

How much does MacroFactor cost per month?

As of November 7, 2026, it’s $11.99 a month on the monthly plan in the US. The half-year plan ($47.99) works out to $7.99 a month and the yearly plan ($71.99) to $5.99 a month, as MacroFactor shows them.

Is MacroFactor free?

No. There’s a 7-day free trial, then a paid plan. The company says there “will never be” a free version, and it shows no ads on any plan.

Is MacroFactor better than MyFitnessPal?

It depends on how you log. MacroFactor suits complete loggers who want adaptive targets, and it has no free plan. Our MacroFactor vs MyFitnessPal comparison covers MyFitnessPal’s side.

What happens if I miss a day in MacroFactor?

A fully blank day is skipped, which does far less harm than a half-logged one. A half-logged day is the problem: MacroFactor recommends estimating the missing food, within about 30%, or deleting the day.

Your next step

If MacroFactor appeals, start the 7-day trial on an ordinary week and log every meal, even roughly. On day six, count the complete days. If most were complete, the yearly plan is good value; if not, look at what made logging hard before you pay. Browse our other tracker comparisons.