MyFitnessPal barcode scanner: what changed, and what to use instead

What changed

In October 2022 MyFitnessPal moved barcode scanning from the free tier into its Premium subscription. It had been free and effectively unlimited since the feature launched. As of 2026 it remains a Premium feature.

The reaction was loud, and the reason is straightforward: for a great many users, scanning was MyFitnessPal. Manual searching was the fallback, not the product. Moving the most-used feature behind the paywall was commercially rational and felt to users like the removal of something they already had.

What the free tier still does

• Search the food database by name and log manually
• Track calories and a basic macro breakdown
• Set a calorie goal and log weight
• Log exercise and connect some fitness trackers
• Full diary history

It is a functional calorie counter. It just is not a scanner any more, and scanning is what most people were there for.

What Premium adds

Barcode scanning, "Meal Scan" photo logging, macros by gram rather than percentage, food timestamps, custom goals per meal, and no ads. Roughly $20 a month or $80 a year depending on region and promotion.

Whether that is worth it depends entirely on whether you use the rest. If you want the scanner and nothing else, you are paying a subscription for a feature that costs the provider a fraction of a penny per use.

Meal Scan

MyFitnessPal's photo-based logging, also Premium. Photograph a plate and it estimates the foods and portions — the same category of tool as our AI calorie scanner, with the same structural limits. It cannot see cooking oil already absorbed into food, cannot see what is underneath, and struggles with dense-versus-airy foods that look alike.

Useful within those limits, and worth judging as an estimate rather than a reading.

The free alternatives

Taking your data with you

MyFitnessPal lets you export your diary as CSV, and you should do this before you stop paying:

1. Sign in on the website rather than the app
2. Settings, then Export Data
3. Choose the date range — pick everything
4. The file arrives by email

Your weight history and food log are worth keeping regardless of where you go next. Export it while you still have access.

Should you switch?

Stay if you already pay and use the integrations, if your friends are there, or if years of history in one place is worth the subscription. That history has real value and switching forfeits the continuity.

Switch if you only ever wanted the scanner, if you are paying purely to avoid retyping, or if the subscription renewed and you had to think about whether it was worth it.

Scanning here needs no install and your first scan is free — open the scanner and see whether it covers what you actually use.