calvinCalvin is a calorie and nutrition tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch that keeps barcode scanning, food search and full macros free, with no account and no scan limit. The food log stays on the device. Calvin Plus, $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year, adds AI meal-photo scanning.
Boilerplate
One line. Calvin is a calorie tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch that does not paywall the barcode scanner — that, food search and full macros are free.
Short. Calvin is a calorie and nutrition tracker for iPhone and Apple Watch. Barcode scanning and food-database search are free with no scan limit, there is no account to create, and the food log is stored on the device rather than on a server. An optional subscription, Calvin Plus, adds AI meal-photo scanning and deeper trend analysis. Calvin is made by Kevin Estrada.
Fast facts
| Name | Calvin |
|---|---|
| Category | Calorie and nutrition tracker |
| Platforms | iPhone, Apple Watch. No Android, web or desktop version. |
| Status | Available on the App Store |
| Price | Free. Calvin Plus is $9.99/month or $49.99/year, with a 3-day free trial. |
| Free features | Barcode scanning (no cap), food search, full macros, recents and usuals, recipes, weight trend, adaptive calorie target, weekly and monthly recaps, a year in review, Apple Health sync, widgets, Siri and Shortcuts, CSV export |
| Plus features | AI meal-photo scanning, deeper insights, direct Google Health sync |
| Data sources | USDA Branded Food Products Database; Open Food Facts (Open Database License) |
| Maker | Kevin Estrada — why he built it |
| Contact | [email protected] |
What is actually different about it
Two things, and neither is a claim about accuracy. First, barcode scanning is free and uncapped, where MyFitnessPal has required Premium for it since 1 October 2022 — the free-tier comparison sets out who charges for what. Second, there is no account: the log is on the phone, not on a server, which is unusual in a category built on cloud sync.
The adaptive calorie target is the third thing worth a sentence. After about three weeks of weigh-ins, Calvin fits a trend line through daily weight and back-calculates maintenance calories from it rather than from a formula, so under-logging shows up as a corrected target instead of a wrong one.
Assets
- App icon — 180×180 PNG
- Dashboard screenshot — 416×900 PNG
- Food logging screenshot — 416×900 PNG
- Weight trend screenshot — 416×900 PNG
- Activity screenshot — 416×900 PNG
- Fitness tab screenshot — 416×900 PNG
- Health tab screenshot — 416×900 PNG
Screenshots may be reproduced in coverage of Calvin without asking. Please do not alter the app icon.
Things that are not true
A few claims circulate about apps in this category that are not true of Calvin, and it is easier to say so here than to correct them later.
- Calvin is not a medical device and gives no medical or dietary advice.
- Calvin has no analytics service, advertising, third-party trackers or data brokers.
- Calvin does use a server, for AI photo scanning, food and barcode lookups, subscription checks and the optional third-party connections. The privacy policy lists exactly what each one sends. An earlier version of that policy described Calvin as having no backend; that was true when written and is corrected there.
- There is no Android version and none has been announced.
Getting in touch
Email [email protected] — it reaches the person who makes the app. Happy to answer technical questions about how the adaptive target or the photo estimate works.
Calvin is made by Kevin Estrada.