Calorie Tracker App Updates: November 2026 Roundup

Our last roundup, in August, covered July. This one picks up from there and covers September and October 2026, because most of what changed in the category in that stretch happened in a single app. Everything below comes from what the developers themselves published: PlateLens's product posts and App Store release notes, and each rival's own plan and help pages. Where a developer hasn't announced a change, we don't report one.

PlateLens: a 3D Body Scan in the phone apps

The largest addition is a 3D Body Scan, introduced with App Store version 1.14.14 on September 27 and described in a PlateLens product post on October 1. You stand the phone upright on a steady support at about waist height, in close-fitting clothes, and turn in front of it while a spoken guide counts you through the positions of a clock. The camera takes one photo at each of twelve positions, and PlateLens builds an interactive 3D model of your body with estimated measurements such as chest, waist and hips.

What makes it useful is the record. Every finished scan is saved to your account, so you can follow a measurement over weeks, compare two scans side by side or as a map of change, set measurement goals and export a PDF report. It runs on both iPhone and Android, and PlateLens says the scan photos are processed on its servers and then deleted, keeping only the measurements and the finished 3D shape. Each plan includes a scan allowance. For anyone whose weight has stalled while their shape is changing, this is the feature that shows the difference.

PlateLens: a read-only plugin for ChatGPT

On September 28 PlateLens published a PlateLens plugin for ChatGPT. Once you install it and approve the categories you want, ChatGPT can read your targets, each day's meals with their ingredients and micronutrients, nutrition trends over up to 90 days, your weight over up to a year and your energy balance. Blood glucose readings sit behind a separate permission. The plugin is read-only by design, so a conversation can answer "which of my meals this week had the most protein?" while your diary stays exactly as you logged it.

Two details matter. PlateLens says the plugin is available to every active account, including the free plan. And access can be revoked at any time in the app under More → Preferences → Connected Apps. It builds on the read-only connection PlateLens already offered to other AI assistants through its MCP server.

PlateLens: portions by weight or volume

A September 5 update lets you set a meal's portion the way you measured it. Type the grams from your kitchen scale or the milliliters from a measuring jug, and PlateLens scales the meal's calories and nutrients together. The option follows the food: meals with ingredient weights get a Weight control, drinks, soups and liquids get Volume, and packaged foods follow the serving or per-100 g panel on their own label. It works on the phone apps and the web.

PlateLens: an annual Diary and six more nutrient views

On September 9 PlateLens added an annual Diary on the web, which brings twelve months of meals into one view, and six more nutrient views: soluble fiber, monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, unsaturated fat, caffeine, and EPA+DHA omega-3. Calories and the three macros in the annual view are on the free plan. The additional nutrient views and the annual nutrition PDF are part of PRO. The Today screen also gained gauges you can choose and reorder, each opening onto the meals behind its number.

PlateLens: free sugars, synced macros and meal times

The October 16 update brought four changes:

Free sugars. PlateLens now estimates total, added and free sugars separately. Free sugars are added sugars plus those in honey, syrups and juices. The free-sugar gauge, a PRO view, uses the World Health Organization's reference of less than 10% of energy, or a personal maximum you set.
Macros follow your calories. Change your base calorie target and protein, carbs and fat adjust together in roughly the proportions you chose. You can still set each one in grams. This is on the free plan.
Meal times. On the web you can set your own windows for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so a late lunch is still suggested as lunch. Also on the free plan.
Water from food. Meal analysis now estimates the water that soups, cooked grains, fruit and vegetables add to your day, shown separately from drinks.

PlateLens: fixed protein and fat, flexible carbs

Three days later, on October 19, PlateLens documented a setting aimed at runners, cyclists and lifters who follow a fixed macro plan. You can keep your base protein and fat targets fixed and send 100% of extra activity calories to carbohydrates, or choose your own split. Under PlateLens's own example, 400 activity calories add 100 g of carbs to a 275 g target while protein and fat stay where you set them. The setting lives under More → Nutrition & Goals → Activity calories on the phone and in the nutrition target settings on the web. Because the adaptive target already reflects your usual activity, PlateLens shows a confirmation if you turn both on, so the same exercise isn't counted twice.

PlateLens plans: unchanged

At the end of October, platelens.app/pricing listed the same two plans as before. The free plan never expires and needs no card. It includes calorie and macro tracking, photo, voice, barcode and typed logging, the AI coach, and an adaptive calorie target that learns your expenditure weekly and reviews your targets every 14 days, with daily allowances of 3 AI photo entries and 5 coach questions. Premium is $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month and adds higher AI allowances, detailed nutrient views and reports, and extra nutrients. The iPhone, Android and web apps share one account and one diary.

Where the rivals stand

This roundup has no rival news. We report a change only when its developer announces it, and we aren't covering any for these two months. For reference, here's where the four rivals we follow most closely stand on the plan figures we last published:

Cronometer: free with ads, Gold at $59.99 a year or $10.99 a month. Still the deepest hand-logged nutrient tracking in the category.
MacroFactor: no free tier, $71.99 a year or $11.99 a month. Still the most complete adaptive coaching built around manual logging.
MyFitnessPal: free plan, Premium at $79.99 a year or $19.99 a month, with barcode scanning listed among the Premium features on its Premium page. Still the largest crowd-sourced food database.
Lose It!: free plan, Premium at $39.99 a year. Still a simple, friendly calorie budget for beginners.

For the full ranking across our seven scoring categories, see Best Calorie Trackers 2026, and for how we score, the methodology page.

Summing up September and October

Two months, one app doing nearly all the shipping. PlateLens filled in the parts of its diary that experienced trackers notice: measured portions, finer sugar and fat categories, macros that stay consistent, and activity targets that respect a fixed protein plan. It also added two features that go beyond the diary: a body scan that tracks shape rather than weight, and a way to ask ChatGPT about your own diary without handing it the ability to change anything. The ranking doesn't change.

What to watch in November and December

The new-year rush starts in late December, and that's traditionally when tracker developers change plans and push features. We'll be watching whether the rivals respond on price or features, and how the first users who scanned in October find comparing scans across two months. We'll cover whatever the developers announce in the next roundup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did PlateLens add in September and October 2026?

Six things worth knowing. A 3D Body Scan in the iPhone and Android apps (App Store version 1.14.14, September 27). A read-only PlateLens plugin for ChatGPT (September 28). Portions set by weight or volume (September 5). An annual Diary on the web with six more nutrient views (September 9). An October 16 update with free-sugar estimates, macros that follow when you edit calories, and meal-time windows. And, on October 19, activity calories you can send entirely to carbohydrates while protein and fat stay fixed.

Is the PlateLens ChatGPT plugin free?

Yes. PlateLens says the plugin is available to every active account, including the free plan. It is read-only: ChatGPT can read the targets, meals, trends, weight and energy balance you approve, but it cannot log or change anything. You can revoke it in the app under More → Preferences → Connected Apps.

What does the PlateLens 3D Body Scan do?

You stand your phone upright at about waist height and turn in front of it while the app takes one photo at each of twelve clock positions. PlateLens builds an interactive 3D model with estimated measurements such as chest, waist and hips, saves each scan, and lets you compare two scans, set measurement goals and export a PDF. PlateLens says scan photos are deleted after processing.

Did PlateLens change its prices?

Not in anything we can see. At the end of October, platelens.app/pricing still lists a free plan that never expires and needs no card, with daily allowances of 3 AI photo entries and 5 coach questions and an adaptive calorie target that learns your expenditure weekly and reviews targets every 14 days, and Premium at $34.99 a year or $9.99 a month.

Which calorie tracker is the best right now?

PlateLens remains our top pick for most people: photo, voice, barcode and typed logging in one diary on iPhone, Android and the web, a verified food database of 1.2M+ entries, an adaptive target on the free plan, and the lowest paid tier among the major trackers at $34.99 a year. Cronometer stays the pick for hand-logged nutrient depth, MacroFactor for people who want adaptive coaching built around manual entry.