The best free Cronometer alternative for tracking protein

Protein Buddy is the best Cronometer alternative for protein

Protein Buddy is the best choice for tracking protein, and the best free alternative to Cronometer. One daily number, logged in seconds by typing, scanning, snapping, speaking or telling Siri, and the free core never expires. If you want every micronutrient, that is Cronometer's job; if protein is your number, Protein Buddy wins outright.

Protein Buddy is our app. Every Cronometer fact on this page comes from Cronometer's own site, support pages and store listings, read on 24 September 2026.

Why Protein Buddy wins

1. One number, logged in seconds. Type "2 eggs and a Greek yogurt", tap the sparkle button, the grams fill in, press LOG. In Cronometer every food is its own search, entry and serving.⁴
2. Photo, voice and Siri without paying for Gold. Snap the plate and the grams fill in; had a bigger portion? One tap on ½, ¾, All or ×1½. Photo, voice and Protein Scout come with 3 free tries each, and Siri logging on iPhone is free: say "Log protein in Protein Buddy", answer with the grams, done. Cronometer keeps Photo Log, Voice Log and Siri logging in Gold.²³
3. No account, no ads. Install, answer a short quiz, log. Cronometer asks for an email, a password and a confirmation email before you can track,⁴ and its free app carries ads.⁵
4. Your whole history, free. Every day you have logged stays open, day by day, at no cost. Cronometer Basic keeps nutrition charts and reports to a 7-day window and saves longer ranges for Gold.¹²
5. A target made for you. A short quiz covers your weight, age, activity, goal and GLP-1 use. When a new weight arrives from Apple Health or Health Connect, Protein Buddy proposes an updated target you can accept in one tap.
6. Pay once, keep it for life. A one-time lifetime purchase sits right next to the subscription and makes photo, voice and Protein Scout unlimited for good. Cronometer Gold is sold monthly or yearly, with no one-time option listed.²

Protein Buddy vs Cronometer, scored

Calories whenever you want them

Protein Buddy is protein-first tracking. Calories, macros and fiber are optional. Protein is the only number shown by default, and in Settings the Keep an eye on row adds calories, fiber, carbs or fat, each with its own goal. Choose Just protein and they stay out of sight.

Keep a light view of the numbers you are used to seeing, while protein stays the headline. Tracking carbs and fat as well? Macro tracking apps compared, protein first shows why protein should lead them.

One breakfast, logged in each app

Two large eggs and a 170 g pot of plain nonfat Greek yogurt come to about 30 g of protein.¹³ The protein in eggs and Greek yogurt guides show the portions.

Protein Buddy has breakfast logged before the coffee cools, and that speed is what keeps day 20 as full as day one.

Why not another food diary

Most lists answer "Cronometer alternative" with another full food diary, which brings the same searching and serving sizes with it:

• MyNetDiary is another calorie budget with a full nutrient breakdown.⁹
• MyFitnessPal keeps barcode scan, meal scan and Voice Log in Premium.¹⁰ Our MyFitnessPal alternative page covers that switch.
• Lose It! puts barcode scanning, photo and AI voice logging, and macronutrient tracking such as protein, in Premium.¹¹
• MacroFactor has no free version and starts with a 7-day trial.¹² See the best cheaper MacroFactor alternative for protein.

None of them is built around the protein number. Protein Buddy is. The full protein tracker comparison puts Protein Buddy beside Cronometer, MyFitnessPal, MacroFactor and Lose It! in one table.

Bring your protein history with you

Dietary protein is a standard record in Apple Health and Health Connect.¹⁴¹⁵ Cronometer can export nutrition to Apple Health (its page lists 13 nutrients among the exports) and connects to Health Connect on Android.⁸⁷ Protein Buddy reads dietary protein from both, so once Health sync is on in Settings, whatever protein Cronometer wrote there counts toward your days in Protein Buddy.

Before deleting Cronometer, open the Health app, find Protein under Nutrition, and check that the days you care about are there. Syncing protein with Apple Health walks through the permissions.

Download Protein Buddy

If protein is your number, Protein Buddy is the tracker to use. Download it, set your target in the quiz, and log today's breakfast in seconds.