Best Carb Tracker Apps in 2026

You want to track your carbs, but you do not feel like weighing every broccoli floret on a kitchen scale and logging it by hand. Fair. There are plenty of apps that make it easier, but which one actually fits your routine? I put five popular carb tracker apps side by side.

Why use a carb tracker?

Whether you are doing keto, eating low-carb or just paying more attention to what you eat, tracking carbs works. Not because counting is magical, but because it surfaces patterns you would otherwise miss.

That yoghurt you eat every morning? 18 grams of carbs. The so-called healthy crackers at lunch? Another 24 grams. Without tracking, almost everyone underestimates intake. Studies consistently show people underestimate carb intake by 30 to 50 percent.

A good carb tracker solves three things:

1. Fast logging. Scan a barcode, snap a photo or search a database. No mental arithmetic.
2. Overview. How much have you had today, how much budget is left, how do you trend across the week.
3. Awareness. After two weeks of tracking you know exactly which foods derail you and which are safe.

The difference between apps is how they handle those three jobs. Some are built for keto and low-carb, others are general calorie counters where you have to manually surface carbs.

The five apps compared

I compare on six points: ease of use, accuracy of the food database, carb-specific features, photo logging, price and extras. For each app I list the strong and weak points honestly.

1. Ketomi

Ketomi is built for people eating low-carb or keto. The app revolves around Avo, an AI coach that answers questions, analyses photos of your meals and creates weekly meal plans matched to your goals.

Strong points:

• AI photo analysis: snap a photo of your plate and Avo estimates the carbs and other macros. No manual database search.
• Personal coaching: ask about products, recipes or your progress and get an instant answer.
• Tailored weekly meal plans with shopping list.
• Built-in fasting timer for people combining intermittent fasting.
• Net carbs tracked by default.

Weaker points:

• Smaller food database than MyFitnessPal or Carb Manager.
• No barcode scanner (photo analysis is the alternative).
• Relatively new, so the community is still small.

Price: about $13 per month or $50 per year. 7-day free trial.

2. MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is the best-known nutrition tracker in the world, with a database of more than 14 million entries. It is not carb-specific but a general calorie counter where you set your own macro targets.

Strong points:

• By far the biggest food database, including many international and supermarket products.
• Barcode scanner that recognises almost every packaged product.
• Integrates with hundreds of apps and wearables (Garmin, Apple Health, Strava).

Weaker points:

• Not carb-specific. No net carbs by default, no keto features, no carb-specific advice.
• Database includes user-submitted entries, so errors happen. You have to sanity-check values.
• Premium is expensive: about $19.99 per month.
• The free version has been steadily restricted.
• No coaching or personal advice.

Price: Free (limited). Premium around $19.99 per month or $79.99 per year.

3. Carb Manager

Carb Manager is the biggest keto-specific app and tracks net carbs by default. The food database is large and the barcode scanner works well. The app is built squarely for people eating low-carb.

Strong points:

• Net carbs front and center, not calories.
• Large keto food database with over a million products.
• Excellent barcode scanner.
• Meal plans and recipes that are genuinely low-carb.
• Free tier available (with ads).

Weaker points:

• No AI coaching or personal advice.
• Premium needed for most useful features.
• Interface can feel cluttered if you only want the basics.
• Database is heavily US-skewed: international products are less well covered.

Price: Free with ads. Premium around $8.49 per month or $49.99 per year.

4. Lifesum

Lifesum is a polished, well-designed health app with multiple diet plans including a keto option. It is not a carb specialist but an all-rounder that looks great.

Strong points:

• Clean, modern design. Pleasant to use.
• Multiple diet plans in one app: keto, paleo, clean eating, high-protein.
• Barcode scanner with decent product coverage.

Weaker points:

• Carb tracking is shallow. No net carbs, no carb-specific advice.
• No AI coaching or personal guidance.
• Recipe library is limited and not always genuinely low-carb.
• Keto plan and most advanced features locked behind Premium.

Price: Around $9 per month. Free version heavily limited.

5. FatSecret

FatSecret is a veteran among nutrition apps. Free, no frills, just a solid tracker. The app has a reasonable food database and works smoothly.

Strong points:

• Fully free, including premium-style features that other apps put behind paywalls.
• Decent product coverage internationally.
• Barcode scanner included.
• Simple and clear: no feature bloat.

Weaker points:

• Interface feels dated compared with newer apps.
• No net carbs, no keto-specific features.
• No AI features, no photo analysis, no coaching.
• Meal plans are basic and not carb-specific.
• Ads in the free version.

Price: Free. Premium around $6 per month for ad-free and extra reports.

Comparison table

What to look for when picking

Not every carb tracker fits every situation. Three things make the real difference.

Net carbs vs total carbs

If you eat low-carb or keto, you want net carbs. That is total carbs minus fibre. Fibre does not raise blood sugar, so it does not count against your daily limit.

It sounds like a detail but it changes the picture. An avocado has 9 grams of total carbs but only 2 grams net. If your app only tracks totals, the avocado looks much worse than it actually is.

Of the five apps, Ketomi and Carb Manager track net carbs by default. With MyFitnessPal, Lifesum and FatSecret you do the maths yourself.

Speed of logging

The best carb tracker is the one you actually keep using. If logging a meal takes more than 30 seconds, you will quit within a week.

Barcode scanning is fast when the product is in the database. Photo analysis (like Ketomi) is fast when you cannot be bothered to search. Manual entry is always slowest. Pick the method that fits your routine.

Database quality, not just size

MyFitnessPal has 14 million entries, but a chunk of them are user-submitted and wrong. Carb Manager has cleaner data but fewer international products. Ketomi has fewer entries overall, but the photo analysis makes the database size less important: the AI estimates whatever is on your plate.

Tip: try the app for the first three days with foods you eat regularly. If half of them are missing or wildly off, you have your answer.

Which app fits you?

No app is best for everyone. It depends on your situation.

Choose Ketomi if:

• You would rather snap a photo than search a database.
• You eat low-carb or keto and want coaching, not just a counter.
• You want weekly meal plans and shopping lists tailored to you.
• You are just starting and want someone to guide you through the first few weeks.

Choose MyFitnessPal if:

• You want the biggest food database possible.
• Integration with your smartwatch or fitness tracker matters.
• You track carbs as part of overall nutrition, not as the only goal.
• You do not mind calculating net carbs yourself.

Choose Carb Manager if:

• You want a keto-specific app with net carbs by default.
• A barcode scanner and large database are your priorities.
• You already have experience and mainly want to track, not be coached.

Choose Lifesum if:

• Design and user experience are your top priority.
• You switch between different diet plans.
• You want to track carbs but not in fine detail.

Choose FatSecret if:

• You want a free app without a subscription.
• Simple and functional is enough, no bells and whistles needed.
• You do not need AI features.

The catch with "free"

FatSecret and the free tiers of MyFitnessPal and Carb Manager are attractive because they cost nothing. But free has its price. Ads, limited reports, no exports, features behind paywalls the moment you actually want to use them.

More importantly: free apps almost always lack coaching. You get a counter, not an explanation. Over your daily limit? The app tells you, but not what to do about it. That is the difference between a calculator and a coach.

Paid apps cost $4 to $13 per month depending on which you pick and whether you pay monthly or yearly. On an annual basis Ketomi works out to $4.17 per month. Compare that to a single dietitian session ($50 to $100) and the maths is short.

Conclusion

If you want a carb tracker that does more than print numbers, Ketomi is the most rounded option. AI coaching, photo analysis and tailored meal plans make the difference, especially when you are just starting.

Want the biggest database? MyFitnessPal is strong, though you will compute net carbs yourself. Want keto-specific tracking with a top scanner? Carb Manager. Budget zero? FatSecret nails the basics.

The good news: almost every app has a free trial or a free tier. Try two side by side for a week and keep the one you actually open on day seven.

Try Ketomi free for 7 days →