Yazio vs MyFitnessPal: Europe's polished diary or the biggest catalogue

You are comparing two calorie apps that promise the same surface job: log the meal, stay in a deficit. MyFitnessPal is the default, with a catalogue its own blog puts above 20.5 million foods. Yazio is the German-built alternative for fasting timers, a less social diary, and stronger European brand coverage.

The reasonable assumption is that you pick the bigger database or the prettier PRO promo and get on with logging. Fine if food is the whole problem. It fails if you need muscle on a cut, or a progressed week next to the diary. Wider map: best food tracking app; Pocket Fit head to head: Pocket Fit vs MyFitnessPal; Lose It: Lose It vs MyFitnessPal.

Our bias, stated first

We make Pocket Fit. We are not a neutral third party between Yazio and MyFitnessPal. This piece exists partly to sell a third option when food and training belong in one place, so read every sentence about us as a claim from an interested party.

What we can do is keep the Yazio versus MyFitnessPal comparison checkable. Claims about those two come from their own websites, help centres or store listings, with sources at the end. Prices in this category move by region and promotion - Yazio PRO is commonly seen in bands around $23.90 to $47.90 a year depending on the offer on your screen, and MyFitnessPal Premium is published separately. Verify live pricing on the App Store or Google Play before you decide.

Honesty tax: MyFitnessPal's published catalogue scale is still the industry's measuring stick, and Yazio's fasting-plus-diary product shape is real for people who want that stack. If all you want is a food diary, one of these two is often the right purchase, not us.

The short answer

Choose MyFitnessPal if database breadth and finding branded, regional or restaurant food is your binding constraint, and you are willing to pay Premium for the fast paths (barcode, Meal Scan and voice logging sit behind Premium on MyFitnessPal's own help centre).

Choose Yazio if you want a calorie and intermittent-fasting app with a cleaner European-leaning feel, you accept that useful tools such as barcode and AI photo logging are often PRO-gated, and you do not need MyFitnessPal's social gravity or catalogue ceiling.

Choose Pocket Fit if you lift or want a multi-week programme, and food logging only matters because protein and training have to share one picture of you - via Fuel, not a standalone calorie brand.

Choose neither paid tier yet if you are only testing whether logging sticks. Both have free tiers for basic diary use; see free calorie counter apps.

Yazio vs MyFitnessPal side by side

Every figure below is the company's own published number, store pattern, or a range we flag as promo-variable. Where we are unsure of the exact 2026 price on your screen, we say so.

Prices are published differently by region. Read the last row as product shape, not an exchange-rate comparison.

MyFitnessPal: the database everyone measures against

MyFitnessPal's job is to find the food. Its own blog states over 20.5 million foods, and for obscure branded, regional and restaurant items it is still the default. Free covers manual search. Barcode, Meal Scan and voice logging are Premium per its help centre (barcode Premium from 1 October 2022).

Catalogue scale is not adherence. Bigger helps on hard lookups; it does not keep you logging after week ten. Premium gates the speed on packaged-food weeks. There is no training programme - a stalled bench is only a food number here.

Yazio: Europe's polished diary, not a free lunch

Yazio is a calorie counter with intermittent fasting, recipes and meal tools - EU-leaning, less social gravity. Listings and reviews routinely credit a smaller database than MyFitnessPal - often ~4 million foods versus MFP's published 20M+. Real trade: better European brand feel for many users, worse odds on obscure US restaurant items.

PRO is promo-variable: store SKUs commonly show about $47.90 a year at list, promotions toward ~$23.90 - verify, do not treat as permanent. Free covers basic diary use; barcode and AI photo logging are frequently PRO-gated, so free does not stay fast on packaged food.

Still a food diary - fasting timers do not write Tuesday's squat or reshuffle a missed Wednesday. Breadth loses to MyFitnessPal. PRO is where convenience lives - same paywall pattern as MyFitnessPal, different price band.

Pocket Fit as the third option when training matters

Neither Yazio nor MyFitnessPal is a training programme. If food logging is the whole job, pick between catalogue scale and diary-plus-fasting and stop reading.

If you lift - protein on a cut, or fuelling a heavy week without two apps - Pocket Fit is the other shape. Fuel logs macros next to a dated multi-week programme. The scheduler reshuffles a missed session. One sentence to the AI coach rebuilds a session. The body budget tallies workout, streak, sleep and nutrition so a stall is diagnosable as under-eating or under-sleeping, not only as "open the calorie app harder".

We are not a dedicated fasting product, and we will not claim a bigger database than MyFitnessPal. We claim the week. Pricing on pocket-fit.app/pricing. Also: Pocket Fit vs Cal AI, Pocket Fit vs Cronometer.

What the evidence says: the diary only works while you keep it

Burke, Wang and Sevick reviewed 22 studies for the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and found a consistent association between dietary self-monitoring and weight loss, while calling the evidence weak on methodology. Turner-McGrievy and colleagues analysed two six-month mobile trials (N=124) and found fewer than half still tracking after week 10, with days logging at least two eating occasions explaining the most variance in weight loss.

Paywalls on barcode and photo matter more than brand loyalty. Database size is not adherence. The app you abandon in week three does not get credit for four million or twenty million foods.

For lifters, Longland and colleagues and Morton and colleagues' protein meta-analysis (practical ceiling near 1.62 g/kg/day) explain why macros matter on a cut with training. Neither Yazio nor MyFitnessPal programmes the bar that protein is supposed to protect.

Where the evidence and our claims run thin

No head-to-head RCT of Yazio versus MyFitnessPal versus Pocket Fit. Feature and price comparisons are product journalism, not clinical proof.

Database size claims are not comparable. Companies count entries differently. "~4M vs ~20M" is directionally useful and still not a lab result.

Prices move. Yazio PRO promos and MyFitnessPal Premium bands can diverge from what your store shows today. Check before you pay.

Our third-option pitch flatters us when your only job is logging brunch and fasting windows. If you do not train, you do not need our programme.

Who should buy which

Buy MyFitnessPal if lookup breadth is what breaks other apps, especially branded and restaurant food. Pay Premium if barcode and Meal Scan are how you log.

Buy Yazio if you want a European-leaning calorie and fasting diary, the PRO offer on your store is the deal you actually want, and you accept a smaller catalogue than MyFitnessPal.

Buy Pocket Fit if strength training is part of the goal and you are tired of a food app that never sees your week - Fuel plus programme, not a pure food diary.

Buy Cronometer if micronutrients are the point - Pocket Fit vs Cronometer. Adaptive macros without a gym programme: MacroFactor vs MyFitnessPal.

Put it together

MyFitnessPal answers with catalogue scale. Yazio answers with diary-plus-fasting and a smaller database. Neither hands back a training week. Pocket Fit hands back both: dated sessions, a scheduler, an AI coach, Fuel, and a body budget.

The founder note: Georgi built Pocket Fit after going from 122 kg to winning first place at The Yard Games, having lost 38 kg along the way. The app is shaped by the bad weeks - missed sessions and plates logged in the car park. That is our story, and why food sits next to the programme.

Yazio vs MyFitnessPal: common questions

Is Yazio better than MyFitnessPal?

Neither is better in general. MyFitnessPal wins on published database scale. Yazio often wins on fasting tools and a cleaner European-leaning diary. If food is the whole job, pick between those two. If you need a strength programme next to protein logging, that is Pocket Fit's job, not theirs.

How much does Yazio PRO cost in 2026?

Promo-variable. Public listings and pricing trackers commonly show annual PRO around $47.90, with promotions sometimes near ~$23.90 a year. Monthly and shorter SKUs also appear. Verify on the App Store, Google Play or Yazio's own help pages before you pay.

Does Yazio paywall barcode and AI photo logging?

On current product behaviour, barcode scanning and AI photo meal logging are often PRO features, with a free tier for basic manual diary use. Treat that as something to confirm in-app on your account - feature gates move.

Can Yazio or MyFitnessPal programme strength training?

No. Both are food products. They do not publish a multi-week gym programme, a progression rule or a missed-day scheduler. That is why Pocket Fit exists as a third option for lifters.

Which should I use if I want to lose fat and keep muscle?

A food diary alone does not write the training week that protects lean mass. Use MyFitnessPal or Yazio if logging calories is the binding constraint. Use Pocket Fit if you want Fuel next to a dated programme so protein and sessions share one picture of you.