Carb Manager review, and how it compares to MyFoodBuddy

Carb Manager vs MyFoodBuddy, feature by feature

Carb Manager and MyFoodBuddy both count calories, protein, carbs and fat. Carb Manager is a keto and low-carb diary built around a 1 million food database, with a free tier and a Premium plan. MyFoodBuddy is a paid iPhone app where you text or say what you ate and an AI coach named Fiona logs it.

Two rows matter most. Protein, carbs and fat looks the same in both columns, but Carb Manager lets you count total, net or diabetes carbs, which is the whole point for keto. Log by typing a normal sentence is where MyFoodBuddy is built differently. It is the main way to log, and it comes with the one plan, while in Carb Manager natural language logging sits behind Premium.

How Carb Manager works day to day

Carb Manager is made by Wombat Apps LLC and has been around since 2010. Here is the routine as its own pages and help center describe it.

1. Set your goals. The Macros Calculator sets calorie and macro targets from your profile. You choose whether to count total carbs, net carbs or one of two diabetes carb formulas.
2. Log food. Search the database, scan a barcode (free and unlimited) or, on Premium, snap a photo or say the meal. Foods carry a tag like Common Food (verified by the USDA or the University of Minnesota NCCDB) or Member Food (added by users, not verified), plus a Keto grade.
3. Watch net carbs. The daily log shows net carbs, protein and fat against your goals, with what is left for the day.
4. Fast, if you want. On Premium you start a 12:12, 16:8, Warrior Diet, OMAD or custom program, and the app asks before logging food during a fasting window.
5. Track the extras. Ketones, blood glucose, insulin and the Glucose Ketone Index are there for people who measure them, along with weight and body measurements.
6. Plan and cook. Premium adds a meal planner, shopping lists, curated plans and more than 5,000 test kitchen recipes.

How MyFoodBuddy works day to day

MyFoodBuddy skips the search screen. You describe the meal and Fiona, the AI coach, does the picking and the measuring.

1. Say what you ate. Type or speak a normal sentence, like “two eggs, toast with butter and a coffee with oat milk.” Several foods in one message is fine.
2. Fiona logs it. She splits the sentence into foods and amounts, looks each one up and shows a card with calories, protein, carbs and fat. Tap Log it and you are done.
3. Fix anything by chatting. Bigger portion, forgot the dressing? Tell Fiona and she updates the entry.
4. Scan packaged food. The barcode scanner is part of the one plan.
5. Check your day. Ask Fiona what is left or how your week went. Fiber, sugar, sodium and 20+ vitamins and minerals are tracked too, and weight, sleep, steps and workouts sync from Apple Health.

Everyday foods are matched in USDA FoodData Central, branded foods in the Edamam database and barcodes in Open Food Facts. If you give a number yourself, your number wins. More on that on the about page.

How much does Carb Manager cost compared to MyFoodBuddy

Carb Manager is free to download and use, with Premium on top. In the App Store Premium is $8.49 a month, $16.49 every 3 months or $39.99 a year. MyFoodBuddy has one plan with everything in it, $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial.

What you would actually pay

On a yearly plan the two cost the same. Carb Manager wins if you want to stay free, since Basic covers the food log, barcodes and net carbs. Two notes on buying. The App Store page also lists older and promotional Carb Manager prices from $24.99 to $59.99 a year, so check the price on the confirm screen. And for website or Google Play purchases Carb Manager refunds within 7 days, while App Store refunds are up to Apple.

Is Carb Manager free, and what does Premium add

Yes, Carb Manager has a real free plan. Its own Basic vs Premium comparison is specific about the split.

So the free plan is a good keto diary if you are happy to search and scan. The faster logging methods, fasting and the health extras are what you pay for. In MyFoodBuddy there is no split. Text and voice logging, the barcode scanner, 20+ vitamins and minerals and Apple Health sync are all in the one plan, and nothing is free after the trial.

Should you count net carbs in Carb Manager or MyFoodBuddy

If net carbs are the number you live by, use Carb Manager. This is the honest answer.

• Carb Manager lets you pick total carbs, net carbs or diabetes carbs. Net carbs subtract fiber, sugar alcohols and allulose. The two diabetes formulas follow UCSF and the American Diabetes Association.
• It adjusts for countries like the UK and Australia, where fiber is not included in the carbohydrate line on labels.
• It shows sugar alcohol and allulose details on foods and gives most foods a Keto grade.
• Premium tracks ketones, glucose, insulin and the Glucose Ketone Index, and supports carb cycling with different goals by day.

MyFoodBuddy tracks carbs, fiber and sugar along with protein, fat and 20+ vitamins and minerals, but it has no net carb setting and no ketone or glucose logging. If you eat a regular or high-protein diet and just want carbs counted, that is enough. If you are on a medical low-carb plan, Carb Manager is built for you, and its help center rightly tells people with diabetes to talk to their doctor before choosing a carb setting.

How does Carb Manager voice logging compare to describing a meal

Both apps let you say a meal out loud. What happens next is different, so here it is step by step from each app’s own description.

Carb Manager (Premium). Tap Say Food and speak, for example “two scrambled eggs and half of an avocado for breakfast.” Confirm the transcript. Carb Manager then shows a list of foods that match your description. Turn on Multi-Add and tap + next to each food you want. If a serving size does not match what you ate, its help page says to add the food as is and edit the portion from the daily log afterward.

MyFoodBuddy. Type or say the same sentence. Fiona splits it into foods and amounts and shows one card per food with its calories and macros. Tap Log it. If a portion is off, tell Fiona (“it was a big avocado”) and she updates the entry.

Neither approach is wrong. Picking from a list gives you control over the exact database entry, which keto trackers often want. Describing the meal and correcting it in chat is quicker if picking entries is the step that makes you stop logging.

Is Carb Manager worth it, and what do reviews say

Carb Manager is one of the most reviewed diet apps there is. When we checked on October 18, 2026 it had about 736,000 ratings averaging 4.8 on the US App Store and 167,000 reviews averaging 4.8 on Google Play, with 5 million plus downloads there.

Garage Gym Reviews scores it 4.4 out of 5. It lists fitness tracker integration, a lot of free content and adjustable macro goals beyond keto as pros, and names “no refunds after 7 days” as a con, which matches Carb Manager’s own refund page for website and Google Play purchases.

App Store reviews from long-time users praise the database, recipe builder and recurring meals. The complaints we saw are about data entry, such as a Premium member who found recipe saving and text editing frustrating. Carb Manager replied that newer versions save recipe drafts.

Is Premium worth it? At $39.99 a year it is fair if you will use fasting, meal plans, recipes or ketone tracking. If you only need net carbs and barcodes, the free Basic plan already has them.

When Carb Manager is the better pick

• You eat strict keto or low carb and want net carbs, sugar alcohols and allulose handled properly.
• You measure ketones, glucose or insulin, or want carb cycling with different goals by day.
• You want a free plan you can keep using, with unlimited barcode scans.
• You want recipes, meal plans and shopping lists built for low carb, or a fasting timer in the same app.
• You use Android or a computer. Carb Manager has an Android app and a web app, and MyFoodBuddy has neither.

When MyFoodBuddy is the better pick

• You eat a normal diet and want calories and macros counted without managing carb settings.
• You want to log a whole meal in one sentence, typed or spoken, without picking entries from a list.
• You would rather fix a portion by chatting than open the entry and edit it.
• You want to ask an AI coach what is left for the day or how your week went.
• You want one plan with no ads and nothing held back, at $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month.

Still comparing? See how MyFoodBuddy stacks up against MyFitnessPal, MacroFactor and the fasting app Zero, or browse every comparison.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how we checked