Best Weight Loss Apps (2025): 10 Options That Made the Cut After Extensive Testing

WeightWatchers earned the spot of best weight loss app overall for two major reasons. First, and most importantly, it scored really highly on all of our tests. GGR head of content and certified personal trainer Kate Meier rated it a 4 or 5 out of 5 for almost all major tested features except one (we’ll get into that later). It’s also a tried-and-true program that has years of success behind it.

WeightWatchers has been around since 1963 and while the name has changed since—they go by WW now—the foundation remains the same and people find it really effective. 

The app does work on the same principles as the regular program. Instead of getting a calorie budget, you’ll follow a point system that basically gets you to the same end goal. This just makes food tracking easier for a lot of people. 

Kate says she found the app extremely easy to use and very accurate—she only had to manually enter one item into the food database, which stores more than 12,000 recipes. There’s also a barcode scanner that allows you to quickly input packaged food, and that worked well too.

In addition to food, you can track all kinds of activities and it syncs with Apple Health and other platforms so you don’t have to manually input exercise, according to Kate. One of the biggest draws of the app is its community. You have access to an active community of users within the app, but Kate says there’s also a huge, active community on social platforms.

The downside is that it doesn’t track a ton of metrics—this is the only area where it scored under 4 in our testing. You can track activity, sleep, food, body weight, and blood sugar, but that’s it. Granted, that’s probably plenty for beginners, but if you want to get deeper into biometrics at some point you’ll have to transition to another app.

Registered dietitian Perry Nix says, “Although Weight Watchers was rebranded to take on a more wellness-centered focus, the program is still very much a diet promoting weight loss.”

It “encourages nutrient-dense foods, but no foods are completely off limits,” she explains. “Unlike other diets that eliminate certain foods or food groups, Weight Watchers takes an ‘all foods fit’ approach. This may enhance the sustainability of the program for those pursuing a balanced approach to weight loss.”

There’s also no free version. You’ll have to pay $10 per month to access the features, but we think this is a fair ask for the accuracy, ease of use, and impressive community.

Learn more about this app with our full WeightWatchers review.

While many weight loss apps provide structured strength training programs, BetterMe takes a slightly different approach. Instead, this holistic health coaching app focuses primarily on Pilates and bodyweight workouts as your modes of movement. In addition, BetterMe offers a separate mental health-specific app (BetterMe: Mental Health), which may be useful if you want to sharpen your mindset as you embark on your weight-loss journey.

Nicole Davis, GGR head of content and an experienced certified personal trainer, put BetterMe to the test, evaluating everything from ease of use to value to accountability. Although she gave the setup and ease of use a 4-star rating, she pointed out one potential drawback with the onboarding quiz.

“I like that it guides you through the quiz and populates a plan just for you to follow, but the quiz seemed too long for my liking,” says Nicole.

The app contains a workout library that primarily includes Pilates and bodyweight-focused options. This makes it better suited for beginners and those who may not have access to dumbbells, barbells, and other strength training equipment. However, there is a catch.

“You can only filter by workout type: yoga, sofa yoga, wall Pilates, Pilates, and ‘busy mom’ workouts,” Nicole explains. “But once you look around things are clearly labeled.”

Unfortunately, BetterMe doesn’t provide the best bang for your buck. While the $20 per month subscription cost isn’t exorbitant, you have to pay for additional features. For example, you have to pay to participate in challenges or engage in conversations with a BetterMe coach. As a result, Nicole only scored this app a 3 out of 5 for value.

In addition, although the app offers food tracking, step counting, and other features that could help with weight loss, many users have been left disappointed. That said, if you’re looking to get in better shape with a less-intense approach, this Pilates-based platform could be a useful solution.

For more details on Nicole’s experience, check out our full BetterMe review.

Many weight loss apps are an “on your own” kind of thing, but Noom is built around coaching. The whole program takes the stance that changing your mindset through evidence-based approaches, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), is the key to sustained weight loss.

“You get a personal accountability coach who texts back and forth with you in the app. You can literally ask them any question and they get back to you, and within hours. The content is offered each week that makes sense for the week and stage that you are in…I feel like there is a psychologist in this app helping me,” Sarah Price, a GGR tester, says.

Keep in mind that you’re not working directly with nutritionists or registered dietitians. Because this is more of a behavioral approach, you’ll get tools to help you adjust your behaviors and habits, like daily courses to take and read.

“It is very different from other apps that I have tried. It cares about your goals and weight loss, but more about why you eat what you do and helps you with other choices,” Sarah says.

All that considered, there are some commonalities between Noom and the other weight loss apps on our list. In addition to personal coaching, there’s an in-app community, which Sarah rated a 5 out of 5, where you can share comments and/or screenshots of your progress. It also tracks additional metrics like blood sugar, exercise, steps, and water intake. 

The only thing Sarah really didn’t love about Noom is the food tracking system. While she could track calories and weight loss, there’s no way to track macros, which is what she wanted to do most. 

Instead of focusing too much on calories and nutrient breakdown, it assigns certain colors to foods to help you make choices that way. This works for some people but if you really want to learn how to track macros, this app isn’t going to be the best way to do it.

Speaking of categorizing foods by color, dietitian Perry Nix says “Noom’s color coding system may be triggering for those with a history of disordered eating. A ‘red’ or ‘green’ food could easily be interpreted as ‘bad’ and ‘good.’ This type of labeling can lead people to feel guilt or shame when eating.”

It also doesn’t sync with smartwatches or other devices, which seems kind of archaic for a health app. Noom recommends using the app only on your phone, as even tablet capability is a work in progress.

Check out our Noom review for more information.

The Simple app takes a, well, simple approach to intermittent fasting by providing timers until your next fasting periods and an artificial intelligence “coach” that rates your meals based on its nutritional value. All you have to do is snap a picture of your plate, and the AI assistant will rate your meal from 1 to 4 based on things like protein and fat content.

“This was my favorite feature of the app,” GGR founder and expert product tester Coop Mitchell says of the AI coach. “I don’t know what criteria the AI is using, but I entered a ton of different meals to see what score they got, and I felt the AI gave an accurate rating based on what I’ve learned.”

Before we continue, it’s important to note that the AI coach is the only accountability buddy on the app. There’s no human coaching or community element, which might be a dealbreaker for some people. Coop, however, still rates the AI coach a 3 out of 5 when it comes to accountability.

Coop says the app uses neutral language when talking about food, meaning it doesn’t label any meals as “bad” or “good” like other apps. “I actually really like this feature compared to obsessing over whether your numbers are accurate in the tracker,” he says, rating the app’s safety a 4 out of 5. “There’s no body shaming and no food shaming.”

While our tester had a good experience with the app, we’ve read multiple customer reviews that said Simple is prone to glitches and crashes. Others said they had difficulties canceling the program.

One area where the app fell short, in Coop’s opinion, was the instructional content, which he rated a 4 out of 5. “The educational content wasn’t as comprehensive as Noom or Centr when it comes to explaining the psychology and physiology behind the program,” he says. “However, there are informative articles that you can read to give you a basic understanding of intermittent fasting.”

The app is free to download and use for most of the features, though Pro subscribers can get more personalized plans.

If you’re serious about tracking macros and other key health metrics, Cronometer is the choice for you. According to former GGR senior editor and certified nutrition coach Erin Chancer, who tested the app, it’s very easy to use, and has many available metrics to track. 

“Other than meal and exercise tracking, you can track your measurements (such as biceps, calves, and hips.) You can track heart rate, blood pressure, and pulse. There is also a way to track your mood and sleep to chart your mental health. Anything you choose to track can then be added to your daily diary,” Erin says.

This was overwhelming at times, but if you get to a place where you can narrow down your most important metrics, Cronometer makes it easy to see macros (and even micronutrients) and other metrics with visually appealing data graphs, charts and reports. Because of this, she rated it a 4 out of 5 for features and ease of use, and a 4.5 out of 5 for available stat tracking.

Perry Nix, RD, loves that Cronometer doesn’t just track macros and instead actually helps people “obtain an optimal micronutrient intake, too”

“Cronometer tracks significantly more nutrients than most other tracking apps. This is super helpful for those with medical conditions that can lead to nutrient deficiencies,” she explains. “It’s also great for athletes who want to track nutrients like electrolytes and B vitamins for improved muscle recovery, hydration, and energy production.”

All this is available in the free version, but you will have to upgrade to the paid app for additional tracking for things like fasting times.

The only place Cronometer really fell short was meal tracking. While the meal tracker is relatively easy to use, you have to enter meals manually as recipes, according to Erin. She says this isn’t a deal breaker if you meal prep or eat the same things daily. However, it can be tedious for new meals with many ingredients.

“When you have a meal with multiple ingredients (e.g., my daily salad lunch), unless you weigh and measure everything you eat, you’ll have to estimate the amounts, which can lead to inaccuracy in your tracking,” she says.

MyFitnessPal is one of the most recognizable fitness apps in the game, and it still remains one of the best free options you can get.

“I think this is one of the easiest apps I’ve ever used. I love how clean the interface is. It’s super user-friendly and it works really well if you are just needing to count calories/track macros,” GGR head of content Kate Meier says.

As far as stat-tracking goes, it’s a little limited. Kate says it only really tracks weight, but you can input just about any lifestyle or fitness goal of your own and track progress in a separate tab. You can also use it as a food log to dig into calories and/or macros.

“I’ve used MyFitnessPal on and off for about 5 years. It has always been a good ‘check-in’ tool for me to make sure I’m getting enough protein, or if I want to see how I’m doing on macros. I have gone through spurts where I want to lose weight, so I’ll use it for a few months at a time, and it has always been incredibly effective,” Kate says.

GGR staff writer and certified personal trainer Stephen Sheehan has also used MyFitnessPal for several years, noting that it helped him stay accountable during his 75-pound weight-loss journey. He rates it a 5 out of 5 for value, especially since most of the features you need are available in the free version.

“I love the visual layout of the pie charts since it’s easy to see where your calories and macros are going,” he says. “Once you start tracking your food consistently, it almost becomes second nature.”

There are also a lot of features, like a recipe database, workout routines, and intermittent fasting tracking. All recipes also have a detailed macro breakdown, which is helpful for those who want to track food choices beyond calories.

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According to Kate, the biggest downside to this app is the automated formula it uses to help you track your weight and food intake. She says she prefers to set her own calories because it often underestimates her ideal calorie intake compared to her activity level. 

If you’re a beginner, this might be a bit of a deterrent because you’ll need some time to figure out your body and what works best for you. But otherwise, we think this is a great option for most people.

Perry Nix, RD, LD, says that when she was using MyFitnessPal, she appreciated appreciated the visual pie graph depicting the macronutrient breakdown of the foods she consumed each day. “For someone who works out regularly, this is a helpful tool when you are working on increasing your protein or reducing your fat intake,” she says.

One downfall from a dietitian’s perspective? “Food tracking with MyFitnessPal doesn’t account for daily fluctuations in calorie needs,” Perry says. “For example, on days you exercise you might need more calories from protein and carbs to fuel your body and recover post-workout.”

There is a paid option, but the free version has most of the features. If you do upgrade, you’ll get a barcode scanner, custom macro tracking, and no ads.

All the weight loss apps we recommend have some sort of community aspect, but Fitbit really highlights this feature. The app has a whole separate community area that really makes it feel like more of a social media platform than a weight loss app.

There are both public and closed groups that you can join. You can also create your own groups around specific themes or areas of interest and add up to 2,000 members. You can use these groups to share anything you want, from healthy recipes to general fitness and diet plans.

Outside of this community aspect, there are also regular tracking features, like a calorie counter, an exercise tracker, a heart rate monitor, and a sleep tracker. You can also get deeper into fitness tracking to see how long you spend in fat-burning or cardio zones. 

Like more basic apps, you can, of course, input your current weight and monitor your progress toward your goal weight.

While Fitbit is available on both iPhones and Android devices, there is a major downside here: You can’t directly sync the data to an Apple Watch or other fitness trackers. There are some hacks you can try to get around this, but the results from users seem mixed. 

If you’re a dedicated Fitbit user, the app will integrate seamlessly with your existing fitness tracker. But if you’re an Apple fan, you might want to go with Apple Health for stat tracking instead, and consider joining weight loss community groups on an actual social media platform for that additional support.

According to GGR senior writer and certified personal trainer Amanda Capritto who tested it, PlateJoy isn’t your typical food tracking app. 

“It’s more of a menu and shopping planner than a macro or calorie tracker, although it does provide nutrition information for the meals you plan to shop for and make. It also totals up all of the nutrition info to show you your day’s total calories/macros,” she says.

Because of this, we think it’s the best app for those who are looking for a zero-hassle way to get into meal planning. Amanda rated it 4.5 out of 5 for ease of use and 5 out of 5 for accuracy. She says what’s really great about this app is that you aren’t actually logging your food like you’d have to with MyFitnessPal, Noom, or WW.

“You select recipes from the menu lists for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then the app automatically calculates everything for you. Of course, if you alter the recipe, the nutrition info will not be quite the same, so if you’re really serious about logging, you’ll need to follow the recipes to a T,” she says.

Registered dietitian Perry Nix says, “A lot of people don’t know how to create a balanced, healthy meal. Platejoy not only meal plans for you, but teaches you the components of a nutritious meal.”

“I like that Platejoy creates meals based on what’s already in your pantry. Eating healthy doesn’t require fancy, expensive ingredients, and you likely already have what you need at home to make a nourishing meal,” Perry says. However, it may not be the best for picky eaters, since it does encourage a wide range of ingredients, Perry calls out.

It also has an aesthetically pleasing interface, although creating a menu and shopping list can take some getting used to. 

The major callout here is that there’s no actual focus on weight loss or stat tracking in the app. We know what you’re thinking: How can you call this one of the best weight loss apps without the weight loss focus? But here’s how we see it:

If you want to focus on meal planning and healthy eating more than you want to dig into calories and other numbers, this is a great option for you. It also works well if you’re already working closely with a nutritionist and personal trainer to lose weight and you just need a place to track the meals and dietary plan they’re giving you. That being said, you can sync PlateJoy with a Fitbit to view daily nutrition totals.

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PlateJoy is also missing the community aspect that most other weight loss apps share, but again, this one is really meant for a different purpose.

A lot of weight loss apps focus on food intake and counting calories more than fitness tracking. But Apple Health is really more about physical activity and other lifestyle factors, like sleep and cycle tracking. 

It tracks active exercise and calories burned, but it also considers other aspects of your overall activity level, like time spent standing, walking speed, walking steadiness, walking heart rate, and flights of stairs climbed. It monitors other health metrics, too, including heart rate, resting energy expenditure, blood oxygen level, and respiratory rate. 

GGR staff writer and certified personal trainer Stephen Sheehan utilizes Apple Health daily to assess the effectiveness of his workouts. He rates it a 5 out of 5 for both ease of use and value, as you get excellent insight into your training for free.

“I use my Apple Watch to track my heart rate and calories burned in the gym and even on the dance floor,” he explains. “This gives me valuable insight that can shape how I handle my nutrition and recovery based on my output.”

One thing you don’t get with Apple Health is food-calorie tracking. You can monitor your weight and other related body composition metrics, like body fat percentage and body mass index (BMI), but it won’t spit out recommended daily calories to help you hit your weight loss goals.

Outside of that, an obvious downside here is that Apple Health is only compatible with iOS devices. You can’t use it on Android operating systems without going through a third-party app. But there’s also an upside here for Apple fans: You can easily sync it to your Apple Watch and other iOS devices and have access to your health information across all devices.

We also think it can get a little complicated for beginners. There’s a lot of information and sometimes too much information can lead to overload. While wearable devices definitely have their place, we don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing to get too caught up in tracking everything—and Apple Health makes that really easy to do.

LoseIt! is our top choice for beginners because it’s easy to use and has an extensive food database that’s really accurate. GGR writer and certified personal trainer Anthony O’Reilly rated it a 5 out of 5 for both ease of use and progress tracking, and a 4.5 out of 5 for accuracy.

You can adjust nutritional information if needed, but Anthony didn’t have to deal with that at any time during the testing period because everything was spot-on. It also has a free barcode scanner, which Anthony calls a “lifesaver,” that makes shopping really easy.

While there are premium features, the free version has a lot to offer beginners. You can only see calorie breakdown instead of specific macronutrients, but this is a good place to start on your weightloss journey. Once you get calorie counting down, you can progress into macro tracking down the line if you want to.

“The Snap It feature makes it super simple to track your food intake and portion sizes,” says registered dietitian Perry Nix. “This is great for those who find entering foods repetitive and time-consuming, and could make it easier to stick to your goals.”

Note, though, that “Lose It doesn’t track your vitamin and mineral intake, so it’s not ideal for those at risk for micronutrient deficiencies,” according to Perry.

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There’s also a really detailed quiz when you first sign up so the app can understand your wellness goals and help you accurately track your progress to get there.

Another callout is that it sends just enough push notifications to keep you motivated and on-track, but not so many that you just want to delete it from your phone to get rid of them. This is an ideal balance for beginners who may need more of a push, but don’t want to be overwhelmed by excessive notifications.

One downside is that the community support feature is only available on the premium version. We do think this is a worthwhile upgrade for beginners, so it’s worth it if you’re looking for that social accountability.

If you’re following a keto diet, you’ll need a weight loss app that can accurately track carbohydrates and, ideally, net carbohydrates. While many apps have this functionality, it’s often a premium feature. Carb Manager still tracks calories, but it puts carbs at the forefront and there are more than 5,000 low-carb recipes in the database of the free version.

Yet despite the large library and extensive features, GGR staff writer and Olympian Caine Wilkes says it’s simple to navigate and he gives it a 4 out of 5 for ease of use and functionality and a 4.5 out of 5 for accuracy.

“I never had to input a meal while using it. However, there were quite a few times where nutritional information was off, even for scanned-in items, although errors were minor. And they were quick to fix,” he says.

While carbohydrates are the main consideration with the keto diet, Carb Manager can also track water intake, intermittent fasting times, and workouts. If you upgrade to the premium version, you can also see your micronutrient intake.

Perry Nix, RD, says, “I like that you can track macros, calories, exercise, water intake, and body weight. It’s also convenient that the app includes thousands of healthy recipes for when you’re needing a little meal inspo.”

Perry also calls out that “Carb Manager really markets towards individuals following a keto or low-carb diet, which are considered restrictive diets. If you have a history of disordered eating, avoid using tracking apps and following restrictive diets, as these practices can spiral into unhealthy obsessions.”

This app is compatible with a number of devices, including blood sugar trackers, but Caine says these are upgraded features that will require a premium subscription. There’s never any confusion about which features are free and which are part of the premium membership, though, which is another thing Caine likes about the app.

Carb Manager also gets a perfect score (5 out of 5) for the community aspect. There are groups and challenges that help keep you motivated and engaged.  

“Groups are basically forums and chats for people with similar weight loss goals, and each week a 4-week challenge begins to engage the community together, earning challenge points through logging food and using the app,” Caine says.

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