MacroLog is a macro tracking app for iPhone, iPad, and Android that you can install and start logging today — no account, no subscription — using a photo, a barcode, your voice, or a search. Choose MacroFactor if you want its weekly coaching loop: it estimates your energy expenditure from your own intake and weight trend and rewrites your macro targets every week, which MacroLog deliberately does not do.
Disclosure: MacroLog is our app, so this comparison has an obvious commercial interest. MacroFactor facts below are taken from its public Google Play listing, checked August 12, 2026; the judgements about fit are ours. MacroLog claims are checked against our internal product-facts ledger.
These two apps disagree about what a tracker is for. MacroFactor treats your food log as input to a coaching algorithm that keeps adjusting your targets. MacroLog treats the log as the point: your goals stay where you set them until you change them. Neither approach is a trick; they suit different people.
MacroLog vs MacroFactor at a glance
| If you care most about… | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Targets that adapt to your own data | MacroFactor | Its listing describes a weekly macro plan updated from your intake and weight trend. MacroLog's goals are fixed until you edit them. |
| Trying a tracker without paying | MacroLog | MacroLog has a free tier. MacroFactor's listing states it is a premium app with a trial and no free tier. |
| Logging by photo or voice | MacroLog | Photo, voice, and typed-description logging are MacroLog Pro features; MacroFactor's listing describes search, barcode, and history-based logging. |
| Not being nagged for going over | MacroFactor | Its listing is explicit: no warnings, red numbers, or shaming, and the weekly check-in works regardless of adherence. |
| Starting without an account | MacroLog | There is no sign-up screen. |
| Expenditure and weight-trend analytics | MacroFactor | Expenditure estimate, weight trend, habit and period trackers are all in its listing. |
Feature comparison
| MacroLog | MacroFactor (per its Play listing) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ways to log a meal | Photo, barcode, voice, typed description, or search | Search, barcode scan, custom foods and recipes, copy/paste and smart history |
| Account required | None — there is no sign-up screen | Yes |
| Free tier | Manual search, unlimited barcode scanning, macro tracking, streaks, local storage, plus a limited number of AI trials | None — its listing states MacroFactor is a premium app with a free trial and no free version |
| How targets are set | Mifflin-St Jeor BMR and TDEE, adjusted for activity level and a lose, maintain, or gain goal, and editable by you | Nutrition coach recalculates expenditure from intake and weight trend and updates the macro plan weekly |
| Micronutrients | 12 micronutrients, on Pro | Macro and micronutrient tracking |
| Food database | 10,000+ foods in in-app search; barcode data from OpenFoodFacts | Large verified database, plus Open Food Facts data |
| Analytics | Daily progress bars, streaks, day-by-day timeline, widgets, Live Activity | Expenditure estimate, weight trend, nutrition averages, top nutrient contributors, habit and period trackers |
| Integrations | Two-way Apple Health and Health Connect. Steps and active energy are read for display only and never change your calorie budget | Apple Health and Google Fit; home and lock-screen widgets |
| Offline use | The diary, your history, and the on-device food list work offline. AI photo, voice, and barcode lookups need a connection | Not described in the listing |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android | Android and iOS |
| Pricing | Free tier plus a Pro subscription — check the current store listing for terms | Subscription only after a free trial — check the store for current terms |
What MacroFactor genuinely does better
The coaching loop, and nothing else in this category does it as thoroughly. Instead of trusting a formula once, MacroFactor keeps solving for your energy expenditure from the two things it can observe — what you logged and what the scale did — and rewrites your macro targets every week. If your maintenance calories are drifting during a long cut or a bulk, that is the feature that notices. MacroLog cannot: our goal calculation is Mifflin-St Jeor BMR and TDEE with an activity multiplier, set once and edited by you, and macro auto-adjustment from a weight trend is explicitly not something we ship.
The second thing worth crediting is a design decision rather than a feature. MacroFactor's own listing promises no warnings, no red numbers, and no shaming when you miss a target, and its weekly adjustment works the same whether you hit your macros or not. For anyone who has quit a tracker because it made a bad day feel worse, that matters more than any number in a feature table.
Its analytics are also deeper: expenditure estimate, weight-trend smoothing, nutrient contributors, habit and period tracking. MacroLog shows you today, a timeline, and a streak.
What MacroLog does differently
You can use it for free, without an account. MacroFactor's listing says there is no free version. MacroLog's free tier covers manual search, unlimited barcode scanning, macro tracking, streaks, and local storage, plus a limited number of AI trials, and there is no sign-up screen to get through first.
Four ways to log the same meal. Photo, barcode, voice, typed description, or search. AI photo and voice are Pro features and always end in a review step where you confirm the food and the grams. A photo estimate is an informed guess; a barcode reads the printed label. MacroFactor's listing describes search, barcode, custom foods, and smart history — no photo or voice path.
Your goals hold still. Some people want a target that moves with the data; others want a number they set on purpose and then defend. MacroLog is the second kind. If you want to understand the arithmetic instead of delegating it, our explainer on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation and the TDEE calculator show exactly where the number comes from.
Steps stay informational. Active energy and steps are read from Apple Health or Health Connect for display only and never raise your calorie budget.
When to choose which
Choose MacroFactor if:
- You will log consistently and weigh yourself often enough for an algorithm to have something to work with.
- You are in a long cut or bulk and want targets that follow your actual expenditure.
- You want expenditure and weight-trend analytics rather than a daily dashboard.
- You want a tracker that never scolds you, by explicit design.
Choose MacroLog if:
- You want to try a macro tracker without a subscription or an account.
- Some of your meals suit a photo or a voice note better than a search box.
- You want fixed goals you control, calculated transparently.
- You want the diary and history to keep working offline.
Sources checked August 12, 2026
- MacroFactor, official Google Play listing — weekly coaching behaviour, adherence-neutral design, logging methods, analytics, no free version.
- MacroLog claims: internal product-facts ledger and the live store listings.