Which Calorie Trackers Track Micronutrients on Free in 2026?

Only 2 of 10 major calorie trackers show micronutrients on a free tier in 2026. Cronometer and Nutrola. Everyone else paywalls them.

Micronutrient tracking is the feature most users assume their calorie tracker includes — and the feature almost none of them deliver without payment. Calories answer one question: energy balance. Macros answer a second: protein, carbs, fat distribution. But neither tells you whether you hit your iron target, whether your vitamin D is chronically low, whether your sodium crept past 3,000 mg again, or whether your fiber is anywhere near the levels associated with gut health. Those answers live in the micronutrient panel, and the micronutrient panel lives behind a paywall in almost every app on the market.

This matters more than the category lets on. Plant-based eaters watch vitamin B12 because it is not reliably found outside animal products. Women of reproductive age watch iron because losses through menstruation consistently outpace dietary intake. People managing blood pressure watch sodium. Gut-health-focused eaters watch fiber. People living in northern latitudes or working indoors watch vitamin D. If your calorie tracker only shows you a calorie bar and a protein bar, it is not answering any of these questions — and if you are paying nothing, you almost certainly are not getting those answers in 2026.

This audit goes through ten major calorie tracking apps and reports, honestly, what each one shows on its free tier when it comes to vitamins, minerals, fiber, and sodium.

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What Counts as Real Micronutrient Tracking?

Before auditing the apps, we need a definition. "Shows sodium somewhere in the app" is not the same as tracking micronutrients. A meaningful free micronutrient tracker should meet the following criteria.

More than 5 nutrients beyond macros

Calories, protein, carbs, and fat are the baseline. A real micronutrient tracker goes beyond them with a consistent panel of additional nutrients — at minimum fiber, sodium, saturated fat, sugar, and a handful of vitamins and minerals. Apps that show only sodium and fiber alongside macros do not qualify. The panel should be wide enough that you can actually diagnose a gap.

Tracked from the database, not manual entry

Many apps technically let you "track" micronutrients — if you manually type each value from the back of a package. That is not tracking; that is data entry. Real micronutrient tracking means the nutrient values come from the food database automatically when you log a food, the same way calories and macros do. You should not have to tab into a custom-food form and fill in fields to see your iron for the day.

Daily progress view

The numbers are only useful if you can see them accumulate across the day. A real micronutrient tracker has a screen or panel where today's totals are visible at a glance — ideally grouped by vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients — and where you can see whether you are on track or trending short. Buried per-food breakdowns do not replace a daily roll-up.

Percent of a reference daily intake

Raw milligrams of magnesium are not interpretable for most people. Apps worth using express nutrient totals as a percentage of a reference daily intake — typically an RDA, DRI, or NRV depending on region — so that a user can read "54% magnesium" and know they are short without consulting a table. Without a reference figure, the numbers are decorative.

An app that meets all four criteria on its free tier qualifies as a real free micronutrient tracker. An app that meets none of them, no matter how loudly its marketing implies otherwise, does not.

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The 10 Apps Audited

Here is the free-tier micronutrient behavior of the ten most downloaded calorie tracking apps in 2026. Every claim below refers to the free tier, not the premium plan.

1. Nutrola — 100+ Nutrients on Free During Trial

Nutrola's free trial includes the complete micronutrient panel that paid users see: over 100 nutrients covering calories, macros, fiber, sodium, saturated fat, sugar, and the full vitamin and mineral set including A, C, D, E, K, the B-complex vitamins, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and more. Values are pulled from the 1.8 million+ verified food database, displayed as percentages of a regional reference intake, and available in a daily progress view that groups nutrients by category.

Photo logging, voice logging, and barcode scanning all populate the full nutrient panel — not a macro-only subset — so every meal logged during the trial counts toward every nutrient, not just calories. There are no log limits during the trial and no ads on any tier.

After the trial, the full panel remains on the paid plan at €2.50 per month. There is also a free tier that continues beyond the trial for users who need calorie and macro basics.

2. Cronometer — 80+ Nutrients on Free (Daily Log Limits Apply)

Cronometer is the only major competitor that shows a full micronutrient panel on its free tier. The app is built around nutrient density as a first-class feature, not an upsell, and the free tier tracks over 80 nutrients from verified databases including USDA and NCCDB. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and fiber are all present, displayed as percentages of customizable targets.

The tradeoff is that Cronometer's free tier applies daily log limits and reserves certain features — barcode scanning on mobile, custom biometrics, intermittent fasting tools, recipe importer — for its paid Gold tier. For users who log a handful of foods a day and do not need the convenience features, the free tier remains one of the most accurate micronutrient tools available at no cost.

3. MyFitnessPal — Calories + Macros Only on Free

MyFitnessPal's free tier shows calories and a macro breakdown (protein, carbs, fat). Everything beyond that — custom macro goals, detailed nutrient analysis, fiber and sodium targets, meal scan, food insights — is part of Premium. The food database is one of the largest in the category, but the database records that do contain nutrient detail are not surfaced in a daily micronutrient view on the free plan. Users who want to see vitamins and minerals accumulate across the day need MyFitnessPal Premium.

4. Lose It — Calories Only on Free

Lose It's free tier is the narrowest of the group. Calories, weight tracking, barcode scanning, and basic exercise logging are free. Macro goals are a Premium feature; nutrient tracking beyond calories is effectively unavailable on free. Users looking at Lose It for micronutrients will find that even basic macros are behind the paywall, let alone vitamins and minerals.

5. FatSecret — Macros on Free; Limited Vitamins

FatSecret is more generous on macros than most competitors at no cost, but its free micronutrient coverage is shallow. Users get protein, carbs, fat, fiber, and sodium on food entries, but the broader vitamin and mineral panel is not consistently present across the community-driven database, and there is no daily nutrient dashboard that rolls up vitamins and minerals as a percentage of a reference intake. FatSecret counts as a free macro tracker, not a free micronutrient tracker.

6. Lifesum — Macros on Free; Most Vitamins Premium

Lifesum's free tier covers calories, macros, and a water tracker, with a clean consumer design. The nutrient detail that makes Lifesum interesting — life scores, diet-specific nutrient analysis, vitamin and mineral breakdowns — sits behind the Premium subscription. The free tier surfaces almost none of the app's micronutrient capability, which limits its usefulness for anyone trying to manage a specific nutrient on a budget.

7. Yazio — Macros on Free; Nutrients Premium

Yazio follows a similar pattern. Free users see calories and macros; premium users see the expanded nutrient set including fiber, sugar, sodium, saturated fat, and selected vitamins and minerals. The free tier is functional for calorie counting but not for micronutrient management. Recipe plans and intermittent fasting schedules are part of the Pro tier.

8. Noom — Minimal Nutrient Tracking at All

Noom is structured as a behavioral weight-loss program, not a nutrient-tracking tool. The food logging surface is organized around color-coded food categories rather than numeric nutrient detail, and the free experience is limited to a trial window rather than a persistent free tier. Even on the paid program, micronutrient granularity is not a focus. Noom is the wrong app for users who want to see their iron, B12, or sodium as daily totals.

9. Carb Manager — Macros + Net Carbs Free; Micronutrients Premium

Carb Manager's free tier emphasizes net carbs and macros for keto and low-carb users. Fiber is visible because net carb math requires it. The broader vitamin and mineral panel — electrolytes beyond sodium, vitamins A, C, D, the B-complex, magnesium detail — is part of the premium tier. Carb Manager is an excellent free macro tracker for a specific diet, but it is not a free micronutrient tracker.

10. MyNetDiary — Some Micronutrients Free (Diabetes-Focused)

MyNetDiary is the closest thing to a third free micronutrient option. Its free tier surfaces a selection of nutrients relevant to blood sugar management — fiber, sugar, sodium, some vitamins — alongside macros, which is more than most competitors offer without payment. The full nutrient panel and the diabetes-specific reporting remain part of the Premium tier, and the free experience is less comprehensive than Cronometer or Nutrola. For users specifically tracking glycemic-related nutrients, it is worth a look.

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Who Needs Micronutrients and Why?

Micronutrient tracking is not a luxury feature for health optimizers. Several large groups of users have concrete reasons to watch specific vitamins and minerals, and a free tier that hides those numbers forces them to choose between paying for a tracker and flying blind.

Plant-based eaters

Vitamin B12 is produced by bacteria and reliably found in animal products. Strict vegans and, to a lesser extent, vegetarians often need fortified foods or supplementation to maintain adequate intake. A calorie tracker that shows B12 as part of its free nutrient panel lets plant-based eaters confirm that their fortified cereals, nutritional yeast, and plant milks are actually covering them. A tracker that hides B12 behind a paywall forces them to trust that everything is fine — which, for B12, is a bad assumption.

Women of reproductive age

Iron losses from menstruation often exceed dietary iron absorption, especially on diets low in red meat or high in compounds that inhibit iron uptake. Visibility into daily iron intake helps identify whether food choices are supporting adequate levels or falling short over time. Pregnancy adds folate and iodine to the watch list, with needs that are higher than typical intake patterns in many diets.

Athletes and active people

Zinc, magnesium, and the B vitamins are all relevant to energy metabolism and recovery. Athletes training at volume can run short on these nutrients even while eating more total food, because their demand scales faster than their intake of nutrient-dense foods. Sodium and potassium visibility matters for endurance work where losses through sweat are significant.

Older adults

Absorption of vitamin B12 and vitamin D typically declines with age. Older adults often need higher intakes of calcium and protein to support bone and muscle maintenance. A micronutrient tracker that surfaces these values helps older users see whether their meals are covering age-relevant needs rather than assuming that "eating enough" is enough.

People watching blood pressure

Sodium is the single most cited dietary lever for blood pressure management. A free calorie tracker that does not show daily sodium totals — and most free tiers do not, at least not as part of a proper rolled-up daily view — cannot help users manage this. Potassium visibility is similarly useful, because dietary patterns high in potassium pair with sodium management.

GLP-1 medication users

Users of GLP-1 receptor agonists eat less food overall and need to be more deliberate about hitting protein, fiber, and micronutrient targets within a smaller calorie budget. Tracking calories alone is a blunt tool for this population. Tracking macros plus micronutrients lets them confirm that the smaller plate is still nutritionally complete.

Gut-health-focused eaters

Fiber is a single nutrient with outsized impact on gut health outcomes. Most general populations fall well short of commonly cited daily fiber targets. A free tracker that keeps fiber out of the daily summary — which many do — makes it very hard to see whether a day's meals are gut-friendly.

This is not medical advice. But it is the practical reason micronutrient visibility matters, and it is why paywalling the nutrient panel is a more consequential product decision than most app reviewers admit.

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The Real Free Tiers: Cronometer vs Nutrola

Cronometer and Nutrola are the two apps in this audit that deliver meaningful micronutrient tracking without payment. They approach the problem differently, and the right pick depends on how you log and what you want from the app beyond nutrients.

Cronometer's free tier is built around the nutrient panel as its primary feature. Logging interfaces are more utilitarian than consumer apps; the database is verified; the nutrient breakdown is deep and organized around scientific groupings. The tradeoff is the rest of the app: no mobile barcode scanning on the free tier, daily log limits, no AI photo recognition, and an interface that feels closer to a data-entry tool than a consumer product. For users who are willing to log manually and want the deepest free nutrient detail in the category, Cronometer is the benchmark.

Nutrola's free trial delivers the full 100+ nutrient panel alongside the consumer conveniences that make everyday logging fast: AI photo recognition in under three seconds, voice logging in natural language, barcode scanning against the verified 1.8 million+ food database, zero ads, and a tablet- and watch-native experience. After the trial, the ongoing paid plan is €2.50 per month — the low end of the category — and the free tier continues for users who only need calorie and macro basics. Nutrola's position is that nutrient visibility and logging speed should not be separate products.

In other words: Cronometer is the best free micronutrient tracker for users who accept friction in exchange for depth. Nutrola is the best free trial for users who want nutrient depth and a modern logging flow at the same time, with an affordable continuation price when the trial ends.

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How Nutrola's Free Trial Handles 100+ Nutrients

For users new to micronutrient tracking, here is what Nutrola's free trial actually does when you log a meal.

• Full nutrient panel on every log: Every photo, voice, or barcode entry populates the complete 100+ nutrient panel, not just calories and macros.
• Calories and macros baseline: Protein, carbs, fat, and calorie totals are always visible at the top of the daily summary.
• Fiber and sodium front and center: Fiber and sodium appear alongside macros, not buried in a detail view, because they are the two nutrients most users want to watch daily.
• Fat subtypes: Saturated fat, trans fat, mono- and polyunsaturated fats where database records support them.
• Full vitamin set: Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B-complex — including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 (folate), and B12 — each logged from the database.
• Full mineral set: Iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, copper, manganese, iodine where available.
• Sugar breakdown: Total sugars and, where the database record supports it, added sugars separately.
• Percent of regional reference intake: Nutrient totals display as percentages of a regional reference so that users can read progress at a glance rather than interpreting milligrams.
• Daily roll-up view: A single screen shows today's nutrient totals across all meals, grouped by vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.
• Verified database: 1.8 million+ foods, reviewed by nutrition professionals, so that nutrient values are trustworthy rather than crowdsourced guesses.
• Recipe import nutrients: Paste a recipe URL and the full nutrient panel is calculated from ingredients, not just calories.
• Zero ads on any tier: The nutrient panel is not interrupted by banners or interstitials, on the free trial or on the paid plan.

The free trial is designed so that someone wondering whether they are short on iron, B12, fiber, or magnesium can answer that question within a day of logging, at no cost.

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Free Micronutrient Tracking Comparison Table

App	Free Macros	Free Micros	# Nutrients	Regional RDA	Daily Log Limits	Ads	Monthly Cost
Nutrola	Yes	Yes (trial)	100+	Yes	None during trial	No	€2.50 after trial
Cronometer	Yes	Yes	80+	Yes	Yes	Yes	Paid Gold tier
MyFitnessPal	Yes	No	Macros only	N/A	No	Heavy	Premium required
Lose It	No (Premium)	No	Calories only	N/A	No	Yes	Premium required
FatSecret	Yes	Partial	Macros + fiber/sodium	Partial	No	Yes	Optional premium
Lifesum	Yes	No	Macros only	N/A	No	Yes	Premium required
Yazio	Yes	No	Macros only	N/A	No	Yes	Pro required
Noom	Minimal	No	Categorical	N/A	Trial-based	No	Program fee
Carb Manager	Yes	No	Macros + net carbs	N/A	No	Yes	Premium required
MyNetDiary	Yes	Partial	Some vitamins	Partial	No	Yes	Premium upgrade

Two apps meet the criteria set at the top of this audit. One additional app, MyNetDiary, meets them partially. The remaining seven are free calorie or macro trackers, not free micronutrient trackers.

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Which Should You Pick?

Best if you want the deepest free nutrient detail and do not mind manual logging

Cronometer. The free tier is unmatched in the category for nutrient breadth and data quality, as long as you are willing to work within log limits and a more utilitarian interface. If your priority is nutrient accuracy above convenience, this is the pick.

Best if you want a full nutrient panel and a modern logging experience at zero cost

Nutrola's free trial. Full 100+ nutrient tracking, AI photo logging, voice logging, verified database, zero ads, and an interface designed for daily use — all at no cost during the trial, with a €2.50-per-month continuation if you want to keep it. Users who want nutrient visibility without logging friction will find the trial does what other apps charge for.

Best if you only need calories and macros on a budget

FatSecret or Yazio or Lifesum. All three give you calories and macros without payment. None of them give you meaningful micronutrients on the free tier — so if micros matter, you will need to upgrade or switch. For a purely calorie- and macro-focused use case, they are fine free options.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I track vitamin D for free?

Yes, on Cronometer and during Nutrola's free trial. Both apps show vitamin D as part of their free nutrient panel, pulled from the food database and displayed against a regional reference intake. MyFitnessPal, Lose It, Lifesum, Yazio, Noom, and Carb Manager do not surface vitamin D as a daily tracked nutrient on their free tiers. FatSecret and MyNetDiary show partial nutrient data but not a consistent daily vitamin D roll-up.

Does MyFitnessPal show micronutrients without Premium?

MyFitnessPal's free tier shows calories and macros (protein, carbs, fat). It does not show a daily micronutrient roll-up for vitamins and minerals without a Premium subscription. Individual food entries may include nutrient detail in their underlying database records, but those values are not surfaced as percentages of a daily target on a free daily dashboard.

Is Cronometer completely free?

Cronometer has a genuinely free tier that includes over 80 nutrients and verified database access. It is not completely free — features like mobile barcode scanning, recipe importing, custom biometrics, and fasting tools are part of the paid Gold tier, and the free tier applies daily log limits. For users whose needs fit within those limits, the free tier is among the most functional free options in the category.

Which calorie tracker tracks fiber and sodium on the free tier?

FatSecret, Cronometer, Nutrola (during trial), and MyNetDiary all surface fiber and sodium as part of their free food logging. MyFitnessPal, Lose It, Lifesum, Yazio, and Carb Manager either hide them behind premium dashboards or show them only on individual food entries without a daily roll-up.

How many nutrients does Nutrola track?

Nutrola tracks 100+ nutrients, including calories, macros, fiber, sodium, saturated fat, sugars, vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B-complex, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and more. All of them populate automatically from the 1.8 million+ verified food database when you log by photo, voice, or barcode, and display as percentages of a regional reference intake on the daily summary.

Is there a free app to track vitamins and minerals?

Yes. Cronometer's free tier and Nutrola's free trial both track vitamins and minerals at no cost. MyNetDiary's free tier covers a partial set focused on diabetes-relevant nutrients. Most other major calorie trackers put the full vitamin and mineral panel behind a premium subscription in 2026.

How much does Nutrola cost after the free trial if I want to keep micronutrient tracking?

Nutrola costs €2.50 per month after the free trial, which keeps the full 100+ nutrient panel, the 1.8 million+ verified database, AI photo recognition, voice logging, barcode scanning, recipe import, 14-language support, and zero ads on any tier. There is also an ongoing free tier that continues beyond the trial for users who only need calorie and macro basics.

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Final Verdict

In 2026, the honest answer to "which calorie trackers show micronutrients on free?" is a short list. Cronometer does, with depth and log limits. Nutrola does during its free trial, with depth and a modern logging flow. MyNetDiary does partially. Everyone else paywalls the nutrient panel and ships a calorie or macro tracker as the free experience.

If you care about vitamin B12 on a plant-based diet, iron through a menstrual cycle, sodium for blood pressure, fiber for gut health, or vitamin D in a northern winter, a calorie tracker that hides those numbers is not actually helping you. Pick an app that shows them. If you want manual logging and the deepest free nutrient data, use Cronometer. If you want a 100+ nutrient panel alongside AI photo logging, voice logging, a verified database, and zero ads at no upfront cost, start Nutrola's free trial — and continue at €2.50 per month if the micronutrient visibility proves worth keeping.