The 6 Best Weight Loss Apps Our Experts Tested in 2024

Noom is our best overall pick because we find it easy to track our food and movement through the app, and it includes aspects of community support, health coaching, nutritional education, and behavioral changes for a well-rounded weight loss experience.

• Cost: $17–$70 per month.
• Compatible devices: Android and iOS devices.
• Free version: No.
• Trial period: 14 days.
• App inclusions: Food and activity tracking, recipes, daily lessons, personalized health coaching.

Noom has many beneficial features for both novices and experienced users of nutrition and weight loss programs. Their program is comprehensive. You can track your progress using the food and weight trackers, interact with community members in Noom Circles, and message your health coach with questions or concerns about your journey. This program is different from others because it’s rooted in psychology. It combines education with behavioral changes so that you have both the knowledge and the tools to reach your goals.

In our experience, tracking your food intake in a weight loss app can often be tedious and time-consuming, but it’s easy with Noom. You have many options to choose from, and foods are grouped together, so you don’t have to add each ingredient. For instance, if you enter “latte,” some options that come up include “latte with oat milk,” “chai latte,” and “iced latte.” All of the nutritional information is added automatically. There is no need to manually add calories or anything else on the nutrition label. If you can’t find an item, you can scan the barcode.

One of the app’s shortcomings is that you can’t easily review old daily lessons. The daily lessons are one of Noom’s most beneficial features, but users receive new information about nutrition and wellness every day, which can be a lot to take in and remember.

Our tester discovered that you can save lessons as you go through them, but it isn’t practical for users to remember to save every single lesson to be able to return to them. Still, the daily lessons are a unique feature that sets Noom apart for our testers. We also don’t love the app’s recipe feature. Testers say that it isn’t very easy to navigate and that the recipes themselves do not provide very comprehensive directions.

Simple is our pick for the best weight loss app for intermittent fasting because it is user-friendly and helps you track your fast with beneficial features like an AI wellness assistant and a fasting window countdown.

• Cost: $9.99 for one week, $29.99 for one month, $59.99 for three months.
• Compatible devices: Android and iOS devices.
• Free version: Yes.
• Trial period: No.
• App inclusions: Fasting tracker, AI wellness assistant, content library with nutritional education.

The Simple app allows you to choose a custom fast period, read educational information on nutrition and wellness, and track your meals, exercise, and water intake. Many intermittent fasting (IF) apps are limited in features and information, but Simple is one IF app that offers bonus features and educational information.

Our tester appreciates that the fasting timer is displayed on her iPhone’s lock screen. This makes it easier for her to keep track of her fasting period, as she doesn’t have to go all the way into the app to see how much time is left.

We also appreciate the daily checklist. On the app, there is a list of items to complete for the day. It may include tasks like reading a guide to fasting or starting your fast at a specific time. We think a list like this can keep users on track to their goals. It can also be especially useful for people who are new to fasting and looking for a more guided approach.

We find the AI-powered wellness assistant, Avo, one of the most beneficial features of the platform. You can chat with Avo within the app and ask any questions related to health and wellness. Avo can also help you with things like:

• Healthy eating tips, snacks, and meal ideas.
• Exercise tips and suggestions.
• Questions about fasting and overall nutrition.

Avo is especially beneficial for people with busy schedules or who have trouble coming up with meal ideas. When suggesting meal ideas, Avo asks how much time you have to prepare meals, what specific ingredients you want to use or avoid, and what dietary preferences or restrictions you have. Simple is the first platform we see that offers an AI feature like this.

YAZIO is the most affordable weight loss app in this review, ranging in price from $3.99–$8 per month. This app has many of the same features as others in this review, like a fasting timer, food and activity trackers, and a barcode scanner, all for a more affordable cost.

• Cost: $3.99 per month for 12 months, $8 per month for three months.
• Compatible devices: Android and iOS devices.
• Free version: No.
• Trial period: Seven days.
• App inclusions: Barcode scanner, fasting timer, tracker for food and activity.

Just because YAZIO is more affordable than other apps doesn’t mean it lacks key features. With YAZIO, you track your food and activity, set up a fasting timer, and discover new recipes, similar to many other apps in this review. The recipes are broken down by meal type (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and there are options for specific dietary preferences like vegan or high-protein. You can also search for a specific ingredient within the recipe database to find a recipe that includes that ingredient. Our tester tried out a few of the recipes and found them to be simple and tasty.

YAZIO is similar to Noom in that it is easy to track your food. You don’t need to put in exact measurements; it will calculate the nutrition information for you.

Plus, you can always use the food barcode scanner to save even more time. There’s a “speak to log” feature where you can audibly list the items you want to log rather than type them out and the app will input them.

One of YAZIO’s downsides is that the subscription plans are limited. You have to choose between a three-month plan or a 12-month plan. No one-month plan is available, but you can access a seven-day trial to test it out.

YAZIO also sends out multiple notifications throughout the day. This may be helpful for people who want frequent reminders to log their foods and to be held accountable, but our tester finds them annoying and turns them off in settings.

MyFitnessPal is one of our top picks because we find tracking our progress in the app really easy. The app has bonus features that make tracking a breeze and it doesn’t require a big time commitment, which makes it more sustainable to work toward your goals.

• Cost: $19.99 monthly or $79.99 annually.
• Compatible devices: Android and iOS devices.
• Free version: Yes.
• Trial period: One month.
• App features: Calorie counting, recipes, workout videos.

MyFitnessPal is essentially a calorie-counting app that includes bonus features like exercise videos, recipes, nutritional information, a fasting tracker, and even sleep tracking. We like that the app is really straightforward and doesn’t require a big time commitment. It takes less than three minutes to create an account and answer basic questions about your height, weight, and goals. When our tester uses the app daily, she finds she doesn’t have to spend much time tracking her food and fasting periods.

The process of tracking foods is quick and simple. You type the foods you eat and the app will fill in your nutritional information. With the premium plan, you can scan the barcode of your food to log it or take a photo of your meal—it identifies the food items in the photo and logs the nutritional information for you. We haven’t seen this unique feature in other weight loss apps. Our tester says that the feature isn’t always accurate (as it once mistook yogurt for a potato), but it works well with fruits and vegetables.

We also like that you can set custom goals for calories, carbs, protein, and fat and that there’s a MyFitnessPal community forum to share stories, challenges, and questions. It’s a great place to gain support and interact with people on a similar health journey.

One of the biggest benefits of MyFitnessPal is that there’s a lot of diversity in the plans they offer. Our tester had trouble deciding which plan to choose because she felt like so many options would work for her. You can also change your plan at any time. Some of the plans include:

• Intermittent Fasting.
• Eating for Pregnancy.
• Eat Green.
• Small Steps.
• Jumpstart Your Health (a beginner program).
• Building Healthy Habits.

We recommend Numi for people who prioritize convenience. The app makes it easy to order and log your Nutrisystem ready-to-eat meals, and it offers live in-app support from a health coach.

• Cost: $318.60–$375 per month.
• Compatible devices: iOS and Android.
• Free version: No.
• Trial period: Seven days.
• App inclusions: Track meals, activity, and hydration, pre-portioned microwavable meals, coaching sessions.

One barrier to healthy eating can be a lack of time to dedicate to meal prepping and cooking. Nutrisystem can help overcome that barrier. Its meals are pre-portioned and sent to your door, so all you have to do is open them up or microwave them to eat. The Numi app lets you pick out your meals and track the nutritional information.

In the app, you can contact your personal health coach who can answer questions about health, wellness, and your meal plan.

We don’t think Nutrisystem is a great long-term, sustainable weight-loss plan, but it can be a great option to help you get started. The program can help you transition into eating healthier meals and you can use their recipes to learn how to make healthy meals on your own. Additionally, the in-app coach is a beneficial resource that can help you with any struggles or questions you may have.

While the app and pre-made meals are very convenient, our tester found some of the food she ordered unappetizing. You can add spices or condiments, as our tester did, but you will need to try out different options to find the meals that suit your tastes.

Nutrisystem also advertises unrealistic expectations for weight loss, stating that you can lose seven pounds in seven days. This is greater than the recommended guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recommends losing one to two pounds per week for sustainable weight loss.

Cronometer is a good option for beginners looking for a simple approach to weight loss. The calorie counter, fasting timer, and nutrition and health trackers can help hold you accountable to your goals.

• Cost: $4.58–$9.99 per month for Cronometer Gold.
• Compatible devices: iOS and Android.
• Free version: Yes
• Trial period: One week (email customer service to receive a free trial).
• App inclusions: Fasting timer, calorie counter, track meals, activity, and health metrics.

Cronometer is a calorie-counting app where you can log your meals, hydration, and activities. It’s great for beginners looking for a simple app with tracking features.

Our tester finds it easy to log her activities in the app and there are lots of different options for all kinds of activities. Fitness can look different for each person and we appreciate that Cronometer takes that into account. There are activities you can log for every fitness level. On top of traditional exercises like sports, strength training, and cardio, there are also household activities like:

• Cleaning
• Laundry
• Yard work
• Sex
• Errands
• Playing music

We also appreciate the specificity of this feature. For instance, when our tester logs “lap swimming,” the app asks if she swims freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, or butterfly. This level of detail is great for people who don’t participate in traditional workouts because they can still find their activities listed on this app.

Our tester finds that tracking food can be difficult at times. You have to input every food item separately, but you can save meals to log them faster if you eat the same meal again. You can also scan food barcodes to save time.

For easier meal tracking, we suggest Noom instead of Cronometer. But if you want a simple app that makes tracking activities and exercise easy, Cronometer is our pick.