The best cheaper alternative to MacroFactor for tracking protein

Protein Buddy is the best cheaper MacroFactor alternative for protein

Protein Buddy is the best choice for tracking protein, and the cheaper one by the plainest measure: its core logging is free forever, while MacroFactor has no free version at all.¹ If you want an app to reset your calories every week, that is MacroFactor's job. For the protein number itself, Protein Buddy is the better tracker, and the free one.

Protein Buddy is our app. The MacroFactor facts on this page come from MacroFactor's own site and store listing, read on 24 September 2026.

Why Protein Buddy wins

1. Free forever. Manual entry, barcode scanning, typed meals, Siri logging on iPhone, your target, history and two-way Health sync never expire. MacroFactor answers its own question "Is there a free version?" with no, and says there never will be.¹ You sign up for an account,⁴ and when the 7-day trial ends, you subscribe or stop.³
2. Pay once, keep it for life. Photo, voice and Protein Scout come with 3 free tries each. After that, a one-time lifetime purchase makes them unlimited for good, right next to the subscription. MacroFactor's listing describes three auto-renewing subscription options.²
3. Barcode scanning with no limit, free. Point the camera's Barcode tab at a packaged meal or bar, set the servings and log it.
4. Photo, voice and Siri from day one. Snap the plate and the grams fill in; had a bigger portion? One tap on ½, ¾, All or ×1½. On iPhone, say "Log protein in Protein Buddy", answer with the grams, and it is logged with nothing to build or set up.
5. A missed meal is just a missed meal. Every other entry of the day still counts. MacroFactor's own FAQ calls partial logging its algorithm's "Achilles heel": if dinner never reaches the food log, it lowers its expenditure estimate and your future calorie recommendations.¹
6. No account to start. Install, answer a short quiz, log. MacroFactor starts with a sign-up;⁴ Protein Buddy starts with your first entry.

Protein Buddy vs MacroFactor, scored

A protein log is the one you keep

MacroFactor's coaching runs on calories, so every meal has to go in with enough detail to count them, every day, for the subscription to pay off.¹

A protein log asks less. Each entry stands alone, so a forgotten lunch is simply a lunch you can add later, and nothing else in your week moves. A systematic review of 22 studies found a consistent link between self-monitoring and weight loss (the authors rate the evidence as weak, but the direction never flips),¹⁰ so the log worth choosing is the one you will still be keeping in a month.

A protein day in Protein Buddy

Two large eggs bring 12.6 g and the yogurt 17.3 g.¹¹ To see those portions on a plate, what 30 grams of protein looks like lays them out.

Calories and macros, whenever you want them

Protein Buddy is protein-first tracking. Calories, macros and fiber are optional. Protein is the only number shown by default; in Settings the Keep an eye on row adds calories, fiber, carbs or fat with a goal for each, suggested from your answers, and Just protein keeps them out of sight. Your weight from Apple Health or Health Connect keeps the protein target current, and nothing changes without your tap. Macro tracking apps compared, protein first puts that approach beside six well-known apps, MacroFactor included.

Other cheaper MacroFactor alternatives

Every app below has a free starting point, and every one is a calorie diary first:

• Cronometer has a free Basic account. Photo, voice and Siri logging are Gold, and Basic shows ads.⁶⁷ Our Cronometer alternative page scores it against Protein Buddy.
• MyFitnessPal keeps barcode scan, meal scan and Voice Log in Premium.⁸
• Lose It! puts barcode scanning, photo and AI voice logging, and macronutrient tracking such as protein, in Premium.⁹

Each of them keeps protein as one line in a calorie diary. Protein Buddy puts it on the Home screen. The full protein tracker comparison puts them side by side, and free protein tracker apps shows what free covers in each.

Moving across from MacroFactor

MacroFactor lets you export your data at any time, so take an export before the subscription ends.¹ Protein Buddy reads dietary protein from Apple Health and Health Connect, a standard data type on both,¹²¹³ so once Health sync is on in Settings, whatever protein MacroFactor wrote there counts toward your days. The Siri and Shortcuts actions you built for MacroFactor stay behind with it;⁵ on iPhone, Protein Buddy's "Log protein" works as soon as the app is installed, with nothing to build.

Download Protein Buddy

Download Protein Buddy, set your target in the quiz, and give it the week you were about to give MacroFactor's trial. Every step in the day above is free, and it stays free after day seven.