A Noom alternative for people who want to log food, not take a course

Noom vs MyFoodBuddy, feature by feature

Noom is a weight-loss program with an app. MyFoodBuddy is a food logger with an AI coach. They overlap on logging, and Noom adds a lot of program around it.

Two rows matter most. On logging, the two are closer than most people expect, since Noom also lets you describe a meal by text or voice. On what you pay for, they are far apart. Noom’s price covers lessons, coaches and a structured plan. MyFoodBuddy’s price covers logging, nutrition numbers and Fiona.

How Noom works day to day

Here is the Noom Weight routine as Noom describes it on its site, help center and App Store listing.

1. Take the quiz. About 15 minutes of questions on your weight, goal and dieting history, then a plan (usually around 16 weeks) with a daily calorie range.
2. Read the daily lessons. 5 to 15 minutes a day on why you eat the way you do, drawing on CBT and DBT techniques, plus sleep and stress.
3. Log meals. Search the database of 1M+ foods, scan a barcode, snap a photo with Scan Meal, or use Describe Meal to type or say what you ate. Every food gets a color.
4. Watch the colors. Green foods are least calorie-dense, yellow are in the middle and orange are most calorie-dense. Nothing is banned.
5. Talk to coaches. AI support and human coaches by chat, with optional 1 to 1 coaching.
6. Track the rest. Steps, weight, water, Noom Move classes and Circles for community. Macro and advanced nutrient tracking can be turned on in settings.

How MyFoodBuddy works day to day

MyFoodBuddy skips the course and the quiz-driven plan. You set your goals and start logging.

1. Set your goals. Calorie and macro goals are set from your age, weight, height and activity, and you can edit them.
2. Say what you ate. Type or speak a normal sentence, like two eggs, toast with butter and a coffee with oat milk.
3. Check the cards. Fiona splits the sentence into foods and amounts and shows calories, protein, carbs and fat for each before anything is saved. Tap Log it.
4. Fix it by chatting. Tell Fiona the portion was bigger or you forgot the dressing, and she updates the entry.
5. Ask questions. What is left for today, how the week went, how much protein you are getting.
6. Stay with it. Streaks, a color-coded calendar, friends and leaderboards, and Apple Health sync for weight, sleep, steps and workouts.

How much does Noom cost compared to MyFoodBuddy

Noom Weight is sold in plan lengths from 1 to 12 months, and every plan auto-renews. Noom publishes the full list on its own pricing page. Noom Med is priced separately and the medication may cost extra. MyFoodBuddy has one plan with everything in it.

What you would actually pay

The cheapest way to use Noom long term is the free version, and the cheapest paid way is the $209 annual plan. Both are trade-offs. The free version drops most of the program, and the annual plan is more than five times the price of MyFoodBuddy for a year.

Can Noom log a meal from a sentence, like MyFoodBuddy

Yes. This used to be a clear difference, and it no longer is. Noom’s help center describes Describe Meal, where you type or say what you ate, and Scan Meal, where you take a photo, and Noom identifies the ingredients and portions for you to review. It is available to most members in the US, Canada and Australia on the latest app.

The differences are in what happens around the log. In Noom, each food gets a color and counts toward your calorie range, and you edit an entry by changing ingredients on the review screen. In MyFoodBuddy, each food gets a card with calories and macros, and you can fix it later just by telling Fiona what changed. MyFoodBuddy also tracks 20+ vitamins and minerals, where Noom’s advanced tracking adds six nutrients beyond macros (fiber, sodium, sugars, saturated fat, calcium and potassium).

Noom has photo logging and MyFoodBuddy does not. If you would rather take a picture than type or talk, that is a real point for Noom.

Can you use Noom just to track food, without the lessons

You can, but you will be paying for a lot you do not use. Noom’s own pricing page lists what a member gets, and most of it is program, daily lessons, challenges, an SOS plan, affirmations, coaches, community and meal planning. Food and exercise logging is one item on that list.

Fortune’s reviewer liked Noom’s habit-building approach and gave it 4 out of 5, but listed as cons that it does not offer many long-term tools, that some people may not like daily weigh-ins and that there are no daily meal plans.

If the lessons are why you want Noom, it is built for you. If you already know the basics and the hard part is actually logging every meal, a logger like MyFoodBuddy at $39.99 a year is the cheaper fit.

Is Noom free, and what does the free version include

Partly. Noom’s help center describes a free version you get by downloading the app and making an account, or automatically when a paid plan ends. It includes, depending on location and app version,

• Select lessons
• Movement tracking
• Meal logging, where available in your location

Coaching, the full lesson plan and the rest of the program need a paid plan. Noom Weight also has a 7 or 14 day trial where you choose what to pay, and Noom says it costs it about $10 to offer a 7-day trial. When the trial ends you are charged for the plan you picked unless you cancel.

MyFoodBuddy has no free version. It has a 7-day free trial, then $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month with nothing locked behind an upgrade and no ads.

What Noom Med and the GLP-1 programs include

Noom Med is a separate program for people who want weight-loss medication. Described from Noom’s own pages,

• Eligible members can be prescribed GLP-1s such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound or Mounjaro after a clinician consultation, or join Noom’s own GLP-1Rx programs, including a microdose option.
• Noom says not everyone qualifies, and that compounded medications in its GLP-1Rx program are not reviewed by the FDA for safety, efficacy or quality.
• The program includes online access to doctors and coaches and a GLP-1 Companion with Muscle Defense for protein tracking and workouts.
• Pricing varies by program. The App Store listing says Med plans start at $69 a month before medication, and Noom’s homepage lists GLP-1Rx programs that include medication from $79 for the first period, then from $199 a month.

MyFoodBuddy has nothing like this. Fiona is an AI coach, not a doctor or dietitian. If you are on a GLP-1 and just want to log meals and protein quickly, MyFoodBuddy does that, and your prescriber handles the medical side.

Is Noom worth it, and what do reviews say

Noom has 873K App Store ratings averaging 4.7 and an Android app on Google Play. Fortune’s 2026 review scored it 4 out of 5, praising how easy it is to use and how customizable it is. A dietitian quoted in that review pointed out that because colors are based on calorie density, some nutrient-rich foods end up orange, which can be confusing.

The common thread is that Noom is worth it if you use the program. People who read the lessons and talk to coaches get what they pay for. People who mainly log food are paying program prices for a tracker.

When Noom is the better pick

• You want daily lessons on the psychology of eating and a structured plan.
• You want human coaches as well as AI support.
• You want GLP-1 care and food logging in the same app.
• You want photo logging, or you use Android.
• You want a free version to keep using after a paid plan ends.

When MyFoodBuddy is the better pick

• You want a cheaper Noom alternative for logging, $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month.
• You do not want lessons or a course, just a fast log from one typed or spoken sentence.
• You want to fix entries by chatting and ask Fiona what is left for the day.
• You want 20+ vitamins and minerals as well as calories and macros.
• You want to know where the numbers come from, USDA FoodData Central, Edamam and Open Food Facts.

Comparing other programs? See WeightWatchers vs MyFoodBuddy and Simple vs MyFoodBuddy, or a classic tracker in MyFitnessPal vs MyFoodBuddy. Everything is on the compare page.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how we checked