Cronometer
The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying.
Food and nutrition tracking with an unusually careful database: it reports micronutrients as well as calories, using laboratory-verified data rather than user submissions.
The database is the product. Build the log and bring your own data. WHAT YOU CANNOT BUILD - A verified nutrition database. Government datasets exist — USDA FoodData Central is free and public — but coverage of branded products is thin WHAT TO BUILD STACK - An installable web app, IndexedDB, plus the USDA dataset imported locally FOODS - Import the USDA CSVs at build time into a searchable local table - Let me add my own foods and recipes, which is how the gaps get filled LOGGING - Search, pick a serving, log against a meal and a local date - Recent and frequent foods first; that list is what makes logging fast RECIPES - A recipe is ingredients and a yield; per-serving values computed, never typed THE DAY - Calories and macronutrients against targets, plus whichever micronutrients I choose to watch BARCODES - Open Food Facts has an open barcode database; use it and accept that the data is user-contributed Include the import script, the schema and the recipe maths.
What you lose
- A curated nutrition database with micronutrients from laboratory sources, which is decades of work you cannot recreate
- Barcode scanning against that database, which is what makes daily logging survivable
- Recipe and serving-size handling that keeps the numbers honest
If you would rather not build
- USDA FoodData Central, free and authoritative but unbranded
- MyFitnessPal, for a larger user-contributed database
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Open Food Facts
$0An open, crowd-sourced food and barcode database you can query or host.
openfoodfacts/openfoodfacts-serverfree · open source
Wger
$0Self-hosted fitness and nutrition tracking with its own food database.
wger-project/wgerfree · open source
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
24/100
Verdict no at 24. The logging app is easy; the database is the moat, and the open datasets do not cover branded food well enough to replace it.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Nothing recorded yet. This chart fills in once the page has visitors, votes or prompt copies — it will not draw a flat line to look busy.
Questions about Cronometer
answered from the record above
Is Cronometer free?
No — the plan we track is $8.99 a month. Gold at $8.99/month billed monthly, around $4.17 annually.
Can you replace Cronometer by building your own?
KEEP IT. The value is the network, the data or the infrastructure. Keep paying. Replacement score 24 out of 100, build time longer than it saves. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Cronometer cost?
$8.99 a month on Gold — $107.88 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Cronometer?
A curated nutrition database with micronutrients from laboratory sources, which is decades of work you cannot recreate; Barcode scanning against that database, which is what makes daily logging survivable; Recipe and serving-size handling that keeps the numbers honest. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Cronometer?
Yes: Open Food Facts, Wger. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
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Forest
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