Fit Healthy Momma Rating: 9.5/10 
Cronometer is one of the most accurate macro and calorie-tracking apps on the market thanks to its dedication to pre-vetting every food logged into its database. Plus, in addition to tracking macronutrients, they break down micronutrients as well, giving a more in-depth look at the food you’re eating.
As a personal trainer and nutritionist, my clients are always asking me about where they should be tracking their nutrition, what the best app is, and whether a particular app is good for macro tracking.
While I certainly have my own personal preferences, I also know that every person is different, as are their needs, so I like to help educate them on their choices so that they can make the best decision for themselves. Remember, one of the keys to being consistent with nutrition tracking is to make it easy and convenient, so whatever works best for you is great in my book!
I was recently asked about Cronometer for tracking macros, and to be honest, I hadn’t heard of it yet. Of course, I then made it my mission to get to know the app, test it out for myself, and then share my thoughts regarding whether I think it’s a good choice for tracking nutrition, macros, and other healthy lifestyle metrics.
Quick Summary of Cronometer Review
Product: | Nutrition App Macro Tracking |
Brand: | Cronometer |
Founder: | Aaron Davidson |
Website: | |
Best for: | Macro Tracking (Track nutrition, count calories, protein, carbs and fats) |
Price: | Free features or upgrade to gold membership |
Gold Membership cost: | $8.99 per month, or $49.99 USD per year ($4.17 per month) |
Avg. User Rating: | 4.8/5 |
FHM Rating: | 9.5/10 |
(21,130 reviews)
What Is Cronometer?
Cronometer is a nutrition tracking app that allows you to input and track various health-related metrics like calories, macros, exercise, biometrics, and health data. One unique aspect of Cronomoter, when compared to similar nutrition tracking apps, is the fact that it encourages users to not just count their calories but to focus on their nutrition as a whole.
With Cronometer, you have control of your diet, nutrition, and macros, but with structure, control, and a ton of accurate data to work from as you make your way towards your personal goals.
There are currently over 5 million app users and the basic app version is completely free to use, however, you have the option to upgrade to the Gold package if you want to access to some additional features that really take your tracking to the next level.
Cronometer is available as a mobile app for both IOS and Android devices and can also be used in a web version.
Brand Background
Cronometer was founded by Aaron Davidson who was following the CRON diet (Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition) and realized that most of the nutrition tracking apps on the market were highly inaccurate thanks to the fact that users can contribute data themselves.
What began as a small side project to help Aaron achieve better tracking blossomed into the most accurate, comprehensive nutrition tracking app out there. The Cronometer team takes pride in providing accurate nutritional data that’s curated from verified sources so that their users can depend on it.
Pros:
Cons:
Benefits and Special Features
I know what you’re thinking; how can a much smaller version of Tempo’s incredibly popular Studio provide as much value? Well, here’s the deal. Tempo took all the tech and advanced features that come standard with the Tempo Studio and made them work for smaller spaces.
Incredibly Accurate
The nutrition information found inside the Cronometer app is derived from only the most trustworthy sources like the NCCDB and USDA. Most other nutrition tracking apps allow users to submit their own entries, which has some great advantages, but that also means that there can be multiple options for a single food and that they will all look a little different and may not be accurate. Cronometer, on the other hand, does allow users to submit foods into their database but not before being checked and verified by a professional staff member before it becomes available for public use.
Highly Detailed Data
With Cronometer, you get the ability to scroll through granular level details on up to 82 micronutrients, which far surpasses any other app on the market. This allows users to take a deeper dive into specific micronutrients that might be important for their particular dietary needs and situation.
Syncs With Most Devices
If you wear an activity tracker, you’ll be excited to see that you can sync it up to Cronometer so that you can have a seamless health experience. Plus, this integration will provide valuable details about your movement patterns and will allow the app to automatically adjust your macros for you based on your movement. In addition to syncing with the most popular devices, Cronometer also syncs with Apple Health, Samsung Health, and Google Fit, so you can always import your data from those sources, too.
Target Editing
Macros aren’t the kind of thing that you set once and forget, they are a constantly moving target that will adapt and change as you adapt and change. With the Cronometer app, you can fully customize your macronutrients (protein, carbs, and fat) as well as your micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to make sure that your targets are where they need to be at all points in your journey.
Community Access
One of the quickest ways to give up on your fitness and health journey is to feel like you’re all alone. Thankfully, Cronometer has a great community and a supportive team that is there for you when you need them. They welcome you to reach out to their support team at any time and they also encourage you to get inside their community forums and interact with other users who are on a similar journey.
Community Access
One of the quickest ways to give up on your fitness and health journey is to feel like you’re all alone. Thankfully, Cronometer has a great community and a supportive team that is there for you when you need them. They welcome you to reach out to their support team at any time and they also encourage you to get inside their community forums and interact with other users who are on a similar journey.
Cronometer vs My Fitness Pal: Which Is Better?
This is probably the number one question that I get when it comes to Cronometer is how it compares to My Fitness Pal, so here are my thoughts having used both apps myself. My Fitness Pal is a great app for tracking macros and calories, but many people, myself included, have grown frustrated with it because the database is full of inaccurate entries and is largely un-controlled.
While I appreciate that My Fitness Pal allows people to enter their own foods, especially for recipe creators, it can cause some discrepancies that can result in inadvertently missing your macro targets. Cronometer eliminates this problem by having someone on their team review each entry for accuracy before it’s able to be widely used by all app users. This allows Cronometer users to feel confident that they are inputting the correct macros and getting accurate information when tracking.
Cost
Cronometer is free to use when using the basic version of the app. If you want full access to all of the features and benefits of the app, you can upgrade to a Gold account for just $8.99 per month, or choose to be billed annually for $49.99, which comes out to $4.17 per month.
Here’s a breakdown of what you get with the free version vs the Gold version of Cronometer:
The Free version includes:
- Nutrition data from lab analyzed sources
- Access to the Cronometer Community Database
- Create custom foods and recipes
- Sync selected activity trackers and apps to importing data to your diary
- limited data analysis tools
- Ability to export ALL raw data
- Access to the iOS and Android Mobile Apps
Upgrading to Gold will give you:
- No Advertisements
- Oracle Food Suggestions
- Nutrient Oracle
- Diary Groups
- Long term data charts and reports
- Extended Library charts (GKI, Glucose, etc.)
- Custom Charts
- Fasting
- Nutrient intake graph
- Timestamped data
- Custom biometrics
- Recipe sharing
- Nutrient Balance charts
- Nutrition Scores
Is It Worth Paying For Cronometer?
In my opinion, paying for the Gold version of Cronometer is 100% worth it because you get access to more charts, scores, and data for a minimal amount of money.
Wrapping Up: Is Cronometer A Good App For Tracking Macros?
Yes, after using Cronometer for myself and getting to know the ins and outs of it, I can confidently say that this is one of the best macro tracking apps out there. The biggest and most impactful benefit that Cronometer offers in comparison to other popular macro tracking apps is that the food data entered into the database is verified for accuracy, greatly reducing the likelihood of running into improper tracking.
Overall, it took me a bit to understand Cronometer and how it works (as it does with any new app), but I am very impressed with it and think that it’s a great fit for people who rely on accuracy (which is all macro trackers) and those who want to get really granular with their nutrition by focusing on the micronutrients in their foods as well as the macros.
Best of all, it’s super affordable to upgrade to the Gold version of the app which unlocks even more insights and tracking capabilities, which will only serve to help you get to your goals faster.
Verified Review
Tips and Tricks For Success From a Nutritionist
If you’re brand new to macros or tracking your calories in general, please know that there’s going to be a big learning curve. Don’t get discouraged by the time it will take you in the beginning, the more you do it, the more it will become second nature.
If you don’t already have macros calculated for you by a professional or coach, consider looking into doing that. Computer-generated macros can be a great starting place, but we often find that adjustments need to be made based on additional lifestyle and history information that can only be gathered by working 1:1 with a coach.
Utilize the information and resources that Cronometer makes readily available to you. Their website has an entire section dedicated to walking you through how to use the app. Plus, their support team is always available to help with any specific questions, which is really refreshing to see.