Best MyFitnessPal alternatives for people who lift

If you lift and you're leaving MyFitnessPal (MFP), start with MacroFactor for calorie targets that adjust each week to your weight trend ($71.99/yr, trial only). Stay on MyFitnessPal Free or Premium if you want a large food database, a real free version, or Premium tools like barcode scanning, Meal Scan (photo logging) and custom macro goals (MFP pricing blog). Pick Cronometer if tracking vitamins and minerals is the main reason you're shopping (Cronometer Basic, Gold). Pick Arrow if you want workouts and macros in one iPhone app, with calories, protein, carbs and fats that update on their own when your training or progress stalls. This page is for lifters switching from MFP, not for people who have never tracked food.

I make Arrow. Competitor facts below come from each company's own site or store pages, checked November 9, 2026. Spot something out of date? Email support@arrowfitnessapp.com.

This page is for people who lift and are unhappy with MyFitnessPal, whether that's the ads, the Premium paywalls, the lack of a calorie target that adjusts to your weight trend on the Premium pages we checked, or the lack of a real lifting log. Arrow is built for lifters who want their training and food tracked together. If you don't lift, MacroFactor or Cronometer is usually enough.

01Why do lifters leave MyFitnessPal?

These are the gaps that show up most often when lifters compare apps, and what to look for instead:

MFP still wins on a usable free version and Premium logging tools (barcode, Meal Scan, voice). Premium is $79.99/yr or $19.99/mo, and Premium+ is $99.99/yr or $24.99/mo with meal planning (MFP pricing blog).

02Week 3 of a cut: your bench just dropped

Here's the lifter scenario this page is for. You're three weeks into a cut (a fat-loss phase). Trend weight (the smoothed average of your daily weigh-ins) is down. Protein has been fine. Bench went from 225 x 5 to 215 x 5, and the sets feel harder: you have fewer reps left in the tank. What does each app actually help you do?

• MyFitnessPal: You can see calories and protein. You change the calorie goal yourself. It won't read the bench drop as a training signal, because it doesn't keep a real strength log. You decide whether the deficit is too hard.
• MacroFactor Nutrition: Weekly check-ins can move calories based on your food logs and weight trend. Your bench drop lives in a separate gym log (Hevy or MacroFactor Workouts). Per MacroFactor, Workouts does not automatically adjust Nutrition targets at launch (integration FAQ). You still connect "lifts falling" to "ease the deficit" yourself.
• Cronometer: Strong on whether protein and vitamins and minerals are actually there. Exercise logging exists, but it isn't built to guide strength progress. Useful if the question is "am I under-eating protein or nutrients," not "what should the next bench target be."
• Hevy plus any food app: Hevy shows the bench trend clearly. The food app shows the deficit. You compare them yourself.
• Arrow: Lifts, food and trend weight are in one iPhone app, so you can see the bench drop next to protein and the downward trend. When your training stalls, Arrow updates your calories, protein, carbs and fats on its own, and that works on a cut as well as a gain, so you don't have to connect "lifts falling" to "ease the deficit" yourself. For the judgment call behind it, see is my deficit too aggressive?.

If that scenario is why you're shopping, also read MacroFactor vs MyFitnessPal for lifters and Arrow vs MacroFactor.

03How do they rank for lifters?

1. MacroFactor is the best default MFP alternative if you'll pay for calorie targets that adjust to your weight.
2. MyFitnessPal Premium is best if you mainly need faster logging and different macros on different days, and you're fine setting calories yourself.
3. Cronometer is best if vitamins and minerals are the reason you're shopping.
4. Arrow is best if you want food and training in one iPhone app.
5. MacroFactor plus Hevy is the best two-app combo if you love MacroFactor's nutrition side and want a free or cheap gym log.

04How do they compare side by side?

Cronometer Basic/Gold and platform notes: free features, Gold, subscription types.

05When is MyFitnessPal still the better pick?

• If you want a free food log and you're okay with ads.
• If you need Meal Scan, barcode or voice logging and you're fine paying for Premium.
• If you want different macros on training days without leaving MFP (Premium).
• If you're on Android and don't want to pay MacroFactor's price.

If you need that free version and Premium logging toolkit, MyFitnessPal does it better than Arrow today.

06When should you pick MacroFactor over MyFitnessPal?

• If you want your calorie target recalculated every week from what you actually eat and weigh.
• If you're tired of guessing a new calorie target every time your weight stops moving.
• If you'll pay $71.99/yr and don't need a free version.

MacroFactor Nutrition doesn't automatically adjust from MacroFactor Workouts lifting data at launch (integration FAQ), so pair it with Hevy or Workouts if your lifts matter.

07When should you pick Arrow over MyFitnessPal?

• If you want workouts and macros in one iPhone app.
• If you want your calories, protein, carbs and fats to update on their own when your training stalls, when your weight gain stalls, or when you're gaining too quickly.
• If you're tracking a recomp (losing fat and gaining muscle at once) or a cut, where strength and food have to be judged together (recomp or cut?, best body recomposition apps).

Arrow's downsides: no free version (one paid subscription after a 7-day free trial), latest features are iPhone only, no photo body-fat tool, and no Apple Watch app is listed.

08Which one should you pick?

1. Need free food logging? Stay on MyFitnessPal Free, or Premium if logging speed is the problem.
2. Need calories that adjust to your weight, and you'll pay? MacroFactor.
3. Need vitamins and minerals? Cronometer.
4. Need one iPhone app for lifts and food, with targets that update on their own when training stalls? Arrow.
5. Need a free gym log alongside any food app? Hevy.

09FAQ

What's the best MyFitnessPal alternative for lifters?

MacroFactor, for calorie targets that adjust to your weight. Arrow, if you also want the lifting log in the same iPhone app. Cronometer, if vitamins and minerals are the point.

Is MacroFactor worth it over MyFitnessPal Premium?

If calorie targets that adjust to your weight trend are why you're shopping, usually yes. If you just want barcode and Meal Scan logging and different macros on different days, MFP Premium may already be enough.

Does Arrow replace MyFitnessPal?

For lifters on iPhone who want food and training in one app, it can. For free logging, no.

Can I use Hevy with MyFitnessPal?

Yes. You compare the two apps yourself. Arrow's pitch is that you don't have to.

10Sources

Checked November 9, 2026.

• MyFitnessPal pricing / tiers: blog membership tiers · Premium+
• MacroFactor pricing: macrofactor.com/workouts/price
• MacroFactor integration: macrofactor.com/workouts
• MacroFactor Nutrition plan modes / different macros by day: App Store listing
• Hevy pricing: hevy pricing comparison
• Cronometer Basic: free features
• Cronometer Gold / Macro Scheduler: cronometer.com/gold · subscription types
• Arrow: App Store