Guthly vs MyFitnessPal: Nutrition Tracking & Beyond
MyFitnessPal is the king of calorie counting. But Guthly adds habits, workouts, and wellness. Which gives you more value?
Guthly Team
Product Team
When it comes to tracking what you eat, MyFitnessPal is the name most people know. With over 14 million foods in its database and a barcode scanner that works on almost everything, it has dominated calorie counting for over a decade.
But Guthly takes a different approach. Instead of focusing solely on nutrition, it integrates calorie and macro tracking into a broader personal development platform — combining habits, workouts, wellness, and AI-powered insights in one place.
In this comparison, we dig into pricing, features, and overall value to help you decide which app fits your lifestyle best.
Quick Verdict
Choose Guthly if...
- You want nutrition tracking combined with habits, workouts, and wellness
- You hate ads and want a clean, distraction-free experience
- You want AI-powered insights that connect nutrition to your other goals
- You want premium features without paying $19.99/mo
Choose MyFitnessPal if...
- You need the largest possible food database (14M+ items)
- You rely heavily on recipe importing from websites
- You only need calorie and macro tracking, nothing else
- You want a large community of existing users for social features
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | Guthly | MyFitnessPal |
|---|---|---|
| Calorie Tracking | ||
| Macro Tracking | ||
| Food Database Size | ||
| Barcode Scanner | ||
| Recipe Importer | ||
| Habit Tracking | ||
| Workout Tracking | ||
| Exercise Library | ||
| 1RM Calculator | ||
| Mindfulness & Wellness | ||
| AI-Powered Insights | ||
| Advanced Analytics | ||
| Cross-Platform (Web + Mobile) | ||
| Dark Mode | ||
| No Ads on Free Tier |
Detailed Breakdown
Nutrition Tracking
MyFitnessPal is the undisputed king of food databases. With over 14 million foods, a barcode scanner, and a recipe importer that pulls ingredients from URLs, logging meals is fast and comprehensive. It's been the go-to calorie counter for years.
Guthly offers solid calorie and macro tracking with a barcode scanner and a growing food database. While the database isn't as massive as MFP's, it covers the essentials well and continues to expand. The real advantage is that your nutrition data connects directly to your habits, workouts, and AI insights — giving you a holistic view of your health.
All-in-One Tracking & Analytics
Guthly is designed as a complete personal development platform. Beyond nutrition, you get habit tracking, workout tracking (exercise library, sets/reps, 1RM calculator, muscle group analysis), wellness and mindfulness features, and advanced analytics powered by AI. Everything lives in one app with real-time sync across all your devices.
MyFitnessPal has basic exercise logging but it's an afterthought — there's no proper exercise library, no set/rep tracking, no 1RM calculator, and no habit or wellness features. If you want those, you need additional apps, which means juggling multiple subscriptions and fragmented data.
Workout Tracking
Guthly includes a full workout tracker with an exercise library, custom programs, sets and reps logging, a 1RM calculator, and muscle group analysis. Whether you're doing strength training, cardio, or a mix, Guthly handles it natively.
MyFitnessPal lets you log exercises for calorie burn estimates, but it's extremely basic. There's no set/rep tracking, no exercise library worth mentioning, and no progressive overload features. Most serious lifters pair MFP with a separate workout app.
User Experience & Ads
Guthly provides a clean, modern interface with dark mode, smooth animations, and zero ads on any plan. The experience is distraction-free, letting you focus entirely on your goals.
MyFitnessPal's free tier is packed with banner ads, interstitial ads, and upsell prompts. It's one of the most complained-about aspects of the app. Removing ads requires the Premium plan at $19.99/mo — one of the most expensive subscriptions in the fitness app space.
Pricing
| Plan | Guthly | MyFitnessPal |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | Yes — habits + 1 year history, no ads | Yes — calorie tracking with heavy ads |
| Premium | From $4.99/mo | $19.99/mo |
| Premium Includes | Unlimited history, advanced analytics, AI insights, all tracking | No ads, macro goals by meal, food timestamps, nutrient dashboard |
Final Verdict
MyFitnessPal and Guthly solve different problems. MFP is a dedicated calorie counter with the biggest food database on the market. Guthly is a complete personal development platform that happens to include nutrition tracking.
If your only goal is counting calories and you need to find every obscure food item, MyFitnessPal's database is hard to beat. But you'll pay for it — either with constant ads or a $19.99/mo subscription.
For everyone else, Guthly is the smarter choice. You get nutrition tracking plus habit tracking, workout tracking, wellness features, and AI insights — all for a fraction of MyFitnessPal's premium price. Instead of juggling multiple apps, Guthly puts everything in one place and connects the dots between your diet, exercise, and daily habits.
The question isn't just "which calorie counter is better?" It's "do you want a calorie counter or a complete platform for becoming your best self?"
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Guthly better than MyFitnessPal for calorie counting?
MyFitnessPal has a larger food database (14M+ foods) and a recipe importer, making it slightly better for pure calorie counting. However, Guthly offers solid nutrition tracking combined with habits, workouts, and AI insights — all without ads and at a much lower price.
Why is MyFitnessPal Premium so expensive?
MyFitnessPal Premium costs $19.99/mo primarily to remove ads and unlock features like macro goals by meal and a nutrient dashboard. Many users feel this is overpriced compared to alternatives like Guthly that offer more features at $4.99/mo with no ads even on the free plan.
Does Guthly have a food database and barcode scanner?
Yes, Guthly includes calorie and macro tracking with a barcode scanner and a growing food database. While not as large as MyFitnessPal's 14M+ database, it covers common foods well and is continuously expanding.
Can I track workouts in MyFitnessPal?
MyFitnessPal has basic exercise logging for estimating calorie burn, but it lacks proper workout tracking features like set/rep logging, exercise libraries, or 1RM calculators. Guthly includes full workout tracking built in.
Does MyFitnessPal have habit tracking or mindfulness features?
No. MyFitnessPal is focused exclusively on nutrition and basic exercise logging. For habit tracking, mindfulness, wellness features, and AI-powered insights, you would need separate apps — or you could use Guthly, which includes all of these in one platform.
