MacrosFirst: Macro Tracker App Reviews

by JabezDawg

I gave this a try because the free version also includes a scanner tool to scan barcodes and enter foods. It’s not very user friendly or intuitive and most obnoxious is the way it functions and labels servings. Other trackers ask what a serving is and how many servings you had. MacrosFirst calls serving size what should be called serving unit (fl oz, ml, cups of tc) and then where it says servings it places the number of whatever unit of measurement is in the “serving size” box. Example, I tried to enter a beer I had. It’s trying to have me enter 360ml as my serving number and 30ml as my serving size. 1 fluid ounce is 30ml so 12 is 360 ml. I find this to be absurd, incorrect language and convoluted at best. Serving size is 12 ounces. I’d even deal with calling the serving size 360 ml as long as number of servings was then set to 2 assuming you had two of them. Ridiculous.

by Lennon678

Woke up today to a brand new set up, which I can get used to the whole app being overhauled except for now they are more aggressive about paying them. I eat more than the allotted meals that were given on the last version. No big deal right? Just add another meal when needed to track the macros for your day. Yea, can’t do that now! I have to pay to add a meal for the day to track my daily macros?!? Insane!! Oh and if you accidentally delete one of the preset up and pre named meals, you can’t even add those back. This is ridiculous and I will be looking for a new app to use. Thanks for the money hungry upgrade guys. Great job! Bye.

by The Yahyel

I couldn’t understand MacrosFirst . I put in my macros and it saves. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to do passed that. When I add my macro numbers for each meal, it doesn’t subtract that number from my goal to leave me with a number that shows what’s left. Oddly it used those imputed numbers as a way to tell me that this is what I’m still needed to consume. I was hoping to find an app that allows me to put in my daily macro goal numbers and than Input my macros for each meal below. As I do this I thought I’d see a subtraction algorithm type experience. I mean the math isn’t hard to do on my own. I guess I’m going to do this old school. Pen and paper.

by MrCruise89

I’m writing to express my frustration with the current subscription-only model. While I appreciate the effort put into developing a comprehensive macro tracking app, I find it incredibly disheartening that the only options available is a $12/month or annual subscription. As someone who values the ability to own the products I use, I find it difficult to justify paying a recurring fee for the rest of my life just to access features like tracking micros or following more than five friends. I’m not opposed to paying for a quality app—in fact, I would gladly purchase it outright—but the lack of a one-time purchase option feels unfair and exploitative. Please consider offering an alternative option for users who prefer to buy MacrosFirst and own it permanently. This would not only make your app more appealing but also show that you respect the preferences of customers who wish to avoid being locked into a never-ending payment cycle. Thank you for your consideration.

by Ttbean1781

I used to love MacrosFirst. It was so easy to use. I’m not sure what happened, but the functionality has changed. I used to be able to adjust my food by the grams, since I weight my food. I’m no longer able to do that. For instance, if the food was entered as 4oz being a serving and also 112g, I used to be able to override the 112g to 100g, let’s say, and MacrosFirst would adjust the macros accordingly. I can no longer do that. I can only adjust the ounces now, which is a huge pain. What happened???????

by Sczapuchlak

Like the title says- I want to love MacrosFirst. As someone who just wants to track macros and really doesn’t want the social / bloated aspect of MFP- MacrosFirst is wonderful. I legit was about to pay the 80$ a year to support the team because that’s how much I appreciated the simplicity of MacrosFirst. However- for 80$ a year you do not get much besides being able to create different subsets of macros. I have a hard time paying that price when most food items aren’t in the database ( so I’m creating everything I eat) and there is no apple health integration. I am a numbers and data gal- I have everything connect to apple health to keep track of my health and life. It seems bogus that integration to anything is not a feature - even in a subscription. I’ll keep checking back on this but for now it looks like I’ll have to go to macros+ or Cronometer. I love MFP but it’s just too bloated with crap I don’t use.

by Dpingma

I don’t think MacrosFirst is extremely user friendly. Most foods I’ve scanned in, aren’t in their log so I have to create a new food every single time. If the food is in their log, 50% of the time it is the same as what is listed on the package.

I do like that most foods have the options for grams but not all foods do. You can also edit portion sizes from the Home Screen which makes that easier than flipping back and forth. In quick add’s, you can add in fiber which beats out MFP but it doesn’t allow for the micronutrients.

Right now, I will be switching back to MFP until there are more food entered in the system.

by Traveler 4 Life

This is a great app for tracking macros. The label scanner is the best I’ve ever used on an app. It’s a 4 and not a 5 because it doesn’t have weight and activity tracking, and it doesn’t give you a weekly dashboard. I hope the developers update it! It’s easy to see the impact of your food choices before you eat - helps me make better choices. Also, I thought it was weird that the charge fee was for tracking water - I generally avoid “free” apps because they are rarely free. I’d prefer to just pay a reasonable amount per month.

by Ajsyb

Much appreciated app as this is by far the best free app if you are looking to truly improve yourself and track your macros! Every app out there is so focused on calorie counting I love to see there are apps out there for the full macro spectrum. App earns a 4/5.

I would love to see 1 thing that I believe MacrosFirst is lacking. In the new generation of widgets, every other app I have looked into has a widget to be able to see the macros without opening MacrosFirst and you can see right on your home screen. I will continue using MacrosFirst as it is by far better than the rest. However, I would love to see widgets at some point.

by Mlamkey

Love MacrosFirst for tracking. It displays the information in a way I like much more than my Fitness Pal. I originally got this because of the free barcode scanner, which is a great time saver when it works. I have noticed in the past few weeks the scanner has some kind of bug when I open the camera it scans so fast I am not able to position it right, which hinders the readability. Aka It can’t be used, so I am back to manually entering in the info. Hope an update will fix this soon!!!

by Dicolo

First off, I love MacrosFirst . It’s so much easier to use than MyFitnessPal and even offers the barcode scanner as a built-in, non-premium feature, which is much, much appreciated. I can comfortably give MacrosFirst 4 stars, despite the following issues that appeared recently.
However, with the most recent update, which seems to be 2.1.8, I’ve noticed that the barcode scanner severely hinders MacrosFirst ’s performance, leading to lag, “eaten” inputs (as in a swipe or tap doesn’t register), and my phone heating up. It seems that restarting my phone fixed the issue, until I opened the barcode scanner again and the issues began again.
Hopefully this can get fixed quickly, because MacrosFirst itself is great and perfectly functional, but I would like to get the old, unhindered performance back.

by DoogalHead

After using MacrosFirst for a few weeks now I have to say I do like MacrosFirst - but still finding at least 50% of the items I scan are incorrect. Make sure you double check every result. Too many to be sending them to the developers at this point. I end up pretty much adding my own foods in 75% of the time for almost every meal I log. It’s not a huge burden but does get frustrating when I’m in a hurry. I’ll keep using it but I think work still needs to be done with it.

by Teamelitecoaching

I’ve been an online nutrition coach for over 10 years and I’ve used Apotheo software with all my clients, and we have all used MFP to track our macro nutrients. But what I’ve learned is all my clients had a very hard time understanding my fitness pal, and it was a lot of work for me to really explain it to them one by one, but since we transition to this app app we have fell in love with it not only because it’s very easy to navigate but also, you can track your alcoholic beverages and it has a Calendar where it can show you how to save your meals, share your meals, and thus can barcode is a spot on 100%. I truly recommend MacrosFirst if you have used my fitness pal This one is a lot easier.

by DarkEyze

I have been a user since it was recommended by Amber Brueseke from Biceps After Babies. I’ve asked questions in this app DM’s on Instagram and they’ve been answered same day. I just listened to the BABS podcast that had the owner, Jacob Bockelmann, on and I cannot say enough good things about MacrosFirst and this company! They are constantly adding new, helpful features to help us trackers get the most out of MacrosFirst , while making it fun and easy because at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to help us stay consistent. Thank you Jacob and this app for all you do and really listening to your users! Well done and I’m looking forward to all the new things you’re working on ❤️

by Mckbean

If you’re new to tracking your macros, go for MacrosFirst. So many food tracking apps suffer from “we’re gonna put a whole bunch of useful functions behind a paywall, but we’re also going to add a whole bunch of bells and whistles you don’t need so paying feels justified.” This is not that, and I’m super grateful for it - all the most useful functions are available with the basic plan. It’s also super user-friendly and has a clean and tidy layout. The only other feature I would want is this — as someone who is working on building a healthy relationship with food, I always get a little spike of panic whenever I see the red “You’ve gone over” signal. I would love a feature that allows me to turn this off - just the red warning part of it — so even if I go over in one area of my macros that day, it’s just stays white like normal, so I can have the accurate numbers without the panic.

by Ssaarraahh04

MacrosFirst is great. It’s so easy to track all your macros. I loveee the barcode scanning feature. You can also create your own meal, recipe, and drink to make it easier to log them. There’s an option to get your nutrition report for the day which is awesome as well. I used to use MyFitnessPal, but the newest update where you have to pay for literally any feature made me switch. So glad I did, I prefer MacrosFirst much more. You don’t really need to pay for anything if you’re just tracking the basic stuff which is a big reason why I love MacrosFirst. I’ve paid for several macro and calorie counting apps but this one takes the cake. and it’s FREE

by Double Hawk

I have tried at least a 20 calorie / macro tracking apps, multiple times - My Fitness Pal, Lose It, My Plate, Eat This Much, LifeSum, Calory, Weight Watchers, Noom, Cronometer, Stupid Simple, Carb Manager, personal spreadsheets, and a bunch just called “Macro Tracker”. (I’m sure there are more)

For whatever reason Macros First is the only one I’ve been able to stick to. I don’t know if its the fact that it’s super easy to use, or well designed, or even that they don’t nickel and dime to get access to the features you really need.

But whatever it is, I’m just glad to I’ve finally gotten into the tracking habit

by Whatsername58

I’m new to MacrosFirst, converted from MFP, and I already much prefer it. I’m still getting used to the interface but it is very user friendly. I love that you can set specific daily macro goals, as I am following a plan from a specialist. It would be great if you could set different goals on certain days (carb cycling), but that’s probably a lot to ask for, and I don’t anticipate having a problem just calculating the difference on those days.

Customer service is top notch as well. I asked a question and they got back to me within the hour. Very much appreciated!

by Tamral

As a long time MFP premium user, I wasn’t sure how MacrosFirst would compare, but Macros First is winning me over. I’ve only been using MacrosFirst for a short time, but I’ve found it easy to set up and easy to log food/meals. The nutrition label scanner is so fast and makes creating a new food super easy. I’m still learning all the features and tips/tricks, but so far I’m loving it. I like the color coding on the macros and how you get a green dot for tracking or a star for being within a certain amount of your calorie goal each day. It’s a great visual for tracking consistency when you look at the monthly calendar. Overall this is a great app and I would recommend it!

by Kathie GG

I have been using sparkpeople for years and then they rather abruptly closed your current app and created a new one that’s nowhere near as good. After tracking my food for 10 years, I felt extremely anxious not being able to track. I looked at dozens of apps and found this one and, boy, am I glad I did! I can’t follow directions (it’s definitely a learning disability) and so I need something that’s extremely intuitive because that’s how I’m able to learn. this app is completely intuitive and within 10 minutes I was tracking my food! MacrosFirst is astonishingly good. It has a fantastic database and even without upgrading to the premium membership (which costs, I think, $12 a month), I will do great with MacrosFirst. I am so thankful to the company that makes MacrosFirst!

by Trxbdkoewp

I checked out this app after MFP’s retraction of the barcode scanner feature, and boy am I happy they made that mistake. Little did I know there was a far superior app out there as far as usability and customer service. I reached out to MFP following their change, receiving no response. However, my questions to the MacroFirst team were answered promptly and with great detail. If only MFP had checked out some of the this app features and charged a premium subscription for similar, new innovations rather than gouging their loyal users for a feature they had come to rely on for free, maybe so many wouldn’t have come to the same realization. I find the database to be pretty darn extensive, but even when there is a food that doesn’t yet exist, the food label scanning feature makes it a breeze to enter for the future. And with so many seeming to have made the move from MFP, we can only expect the database to grow, and for this team to gain even more traction to deliver more impressive features. Hoping their new dashboard features, especially weekly averages, will come without a high cost as that is the sole feature I miss. Keep up the good work!!

by Toridashanne

I don’t know about you, but MFP confused the crap out of me. Half the time it didn’t have the option to log something in grams and I just continued to get more and more frustrated, so I would quit counting Macros. I was trying to make a recipe for my husband yesterday to figure out how much Protien would be in it and discovered that the barcode scanner option was gone! I’m not forking over 80 dollars a year for something that stresses me out, so I went on the search. Luckily, I found this app right away and HOLY crap! It’s a whole new ball game. I’m excited to finally work towards getting this baby weight off and not stress out while doing it:)

by Liltinieprincess

I have used My Fit Pal for 6-7 years but they have recently remove the scanning bar unless you are a member. It was given to us for free, you can’t take it away and make ppl play for it now! Switch to MacroFirst and loving MacrosFirst so much more! You can see the macro by section, per food and over all. I have to say thank you to the creator of MacrosFirst!

I think if we can enter the nutrition facts for the food we scan but doesn’t have the information would be better because sometimes it entered the wrong numbers. Hope MacrosFirst learns to pickup and save all the barcodes from everyone that use MacrosFirst so no one has to enter it manually.

MFP provided us tracking water for fee but MacrosFirst doesn’t… it’s ok, I rather have the ability to scan my food faster. But the search engine isn’t the best… it needs to be able to find more meals that everyone in MacrosFirst has made…

by Ahfownscaufogm

So many apps require a subscription to use even the most basic of features, but this app has a truly great app even with the free option. The visualization of each macro goal, the user interface, and the overall experience is very nice. I especially enjoy the ability to tap on a food and say, for example, how much protein I want from that food during that meal. this app will adjust the serving size to tell you how much to have to reach that protein goal. Thats a pretty cool bonus feature that I didn’t even know I wanted. I could go on more about what I love about MacrosFirst(not a paid review, I promise). Overall, thank you team for creating such a great app and keeping the bulk of it free!

by JennWard82

After logging out and back in again. The search function is working again. Perhaps it was some type of outage. But I am back in business!! I also realize that you can pick any day on the calendar and plan your macros. For instance we are have dinner date on Friday. So I went to the calendar picked the date and was able to log my macros for the meal im planning to have. Now all I have to do is adjust macros for lunch and breakfast. So simple and a GREAT feature to be aware of.

Uninstalling and reinstalling This update has affected the search option when building a recipe. It keeps telling me I’m not connected to the internet. Verified connection, restarted my phone. Verified connection again in MacrosFirst and with other apps just to be sure. No joy.

by Montiac84

These folks nailed it! Recently switched from a super popular nutrition tracker and wish we had done it sooner. Data presentation and ability to see remaining macros at-a-glance is amazing. Dashboard isn’t cluttered with ads begging you to pay for the premium version which is such a refreshing change. Food selection gets better every day as more people use it and the barcode scanner works really well. Sharing meals and recipes is so simple and has been a game-changer for my wife and I. Had issues with a bit of a bug in the Apple Health integration and support was responsive and helpful and they fixed the problem in the most recent update. Only gripe is the nutrition facts scanner isn’t all that great and kind of gimmicky, but otherwise MacrosFirst is FANTASTIC

by Jeffrostorm

Yes, I’m here to tell you I’ve been using MacrosFirst for the last 4 days and I’ve continued to drink alcohol and lost 5lbs! Now, I’ve needed to adjust the kind of alcohol but I can drink 3 bottles of hard cider and a shot of vodka with each one and have not had to suffer at all! In fact I’ve had to eat more to meet my daily requirements! I am active at the gym 3 days a week and do a lift significant amount of weight but until now my belly kept getting bigger more than anything else. I don’t plan on giving up alcohol any time soon but I do expect to continue loosing weight following this program.

by CStrojny

I’ve been tracking macros for over 5 years and used Cronometer, MyFitness Pal and a few other smaller name apps. NONE of them are as intuitive and as user friendly as MacrosFirst. I’m sold!! MacrosFirst is PERFECT. It solved all the pain points I had with other apps. You can easily find every product in grams (other apps you have to do the math); you can zoom out to view your data for a week, a month a year etc with ease (other apps you have to export into excel…); you can quickly update amounts on the main page, without going into the food details page (huge time saver if you eat basically same thing all the time and just need to change volume). IN LOVE WITH MacrosFirst!

by Tallyjoe29

my daughter recently started counting macros and I thought I would give it a try. I downloaded this app on oct 19 with a goal of losing 5 to 7 lbs and making sure that I am getting enough protein in my diet to support my muscles. After logging my macros and hitting my goals for 5 days I went from 128 lbs to 125, amazing. I also feel so much better, more energy. I know a lot about nutrition but this exercise has taught me how many hidden carbs there are (meaning I didn’t realize some of the foods that contained carbs). Also I didn’t realize how little protein I was getting prior to tracking my meals. A big thank you! Definitely recommend.

by Testing0

Overall works well.
Suggestions for new features:
1.Allow user to calculate calories consumed by the actual macro nutrients instead of the number printed on the nutritional label. When entering a brand new food or has an option to not enter calories and have it be auto calculated, this should also become a profile level setting that you can toggle for how it tracks your calories consumed.
2.Introduce some social features aka my fitness pal. When tracking with a partner and you have made a meal, I have to manually share it with that partner so they can log it. If they could see my profile and logs then they could more easily copy that meal/food into their log without me needing to take an action.
3. Would like to be able to submit foods for review on the nutritional information. Some things I have scanned did not have correct numbers.

by Brookeam1992

I’m typically not someone that takes the time to write a review, but MacrosFirst is absolutely amazing. I’m looking for something new only because my fitness pal took away their scanning feature for non-premium members. I’m absolutely thrilled that they did because if they hadn’t I never would’ve found MacrosFirst. The features on MacrosFirst that are free or far superior to my fitness pals features . I’m so excited to start using this!!! Whoever used this really knows about macros and what features are helpful to make tracking and cooking easier!!!! Thank you!!!!

by Gianlucaimprota

I’ve tried every macro counting app on the market, and this one is nearly perfect. The design is sleek, the functionality are great , and most of all, the customer service is top notch: I couldn’t figure out how to do something, and after writing an email to the developer, he answered with a custom video ,made just for me, to explain my issue.
Anyway, the food database is very big, you can modify items and save them, the barcode scanner works right away, and you have the option to see the macros you have left , not just the one you already ate.
Try MacrosFirst, you won’t be disappointed!!!

by Ken Rocks

Macros First is the best app to track your calories and your macros. That is all MacrosFirst does and it does it WELL. The free version is THE SOLUTION for anyone who knows what their caloric and macronutrient goals are, and want to track them easily.
If you’re the type who needs motivating messaging or social media integration or meal plans, then there are other apps for you to use. The free version is a straightforward calorie and macronutrient meal tracker - and it has a label scanner!
The user interface takes a little while to get used to, but after a week of daily use, you’ll get the hang of it. Things that annoyed or confused me at first now make sense after using it daily. Great app!

by Ericj G

Downloaded every calorie/macro tracking app and didn’t like the setup, layout or functionality of any of them until I downloaded this app. By far the best FREE app for tracking not just protein, but everything on a nutrition label, very easy to use, keeps track of weekly progress, has every food already preset to add, counts down the calories to show how many you have left in the day, and makes it easy to actually reach your weight goal because you know exactly what and how much you’re eating. Great app if you’re tired of guessing and blindly eating and not making progress 10/10

by #Lara2022#

I paid for premium MFP and have been frustrated with constant freezing of MacrosFirst and so many little things that should just work better/be more intuitive. I stumbled across this app and it’s just better. All the things things that bugged me about MFP (and the big things) work differently in MacrosFirst. Only thing I think i will miss is recipe import from MFP, but ability to scan foods and pull from you My Food list in this app will ultimately be better. It’s just a bit more time consuming to build. GREAT JOB!

by Jenny R.P.

I searched for an app that focused on tracking macros better than the one that most people say to use. I have never heard of MacrosFirst and am SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY I discovered it. Hands down the easiest and most useful app around. I downloaded several apps looking for what MacrosFirst offers and have already told at least 5 or more (I lost count) of my friends. They have switched and loving it too. I want everyone that tracks their eating with macros to know about MacrosFirst. Bravo this app!👏 ~Jenny

by TRQ12

This new and improved app has everything you need in a macro tracker and more. Just input your goals to set up your week. Then choose foods from their extensive library or enter your own to populate your meals. Once a meal is established, you can copy and paste it to another day if you wish. MacrosFirst does all the calculating for you and tells you if you are on track for the day. You can even enter your water intake and track micro nutrients like sodium and fiber. A lot of other great features too and so easy to use!

by TJmcdade

Not only do I use MacrosFirst for myself but for ALL of my clients. It’s easy to use and very straight forward. I love how I can change my goal from day to day. The scan feature makes it a breeze when I have to add a new food. And it’s very efficient if you’re a 5-star chef who likes to throw down in the kitchen; MacrosFirst has a feature where you can create a meal and add all of the ingredients. I definitely recommend for anyone who is looking to track their daily macros! #MacrosFirstIsTheBest

by AlanKhanukaev

I have tried at least a 20 calorie / macro tracking apps, multiple times - My Fitness Pal, Lose It, My Plate, Eat This Much, LifeSum, Calory, Weight Watchers, Noom, Cronometer, Stupid Simple, Carb Manager, personal spreadsheets, and a bunch just called “Macro Tracker”. (I’m sure there are more)

For whatever reason Macros First is the only one I’ve been able to stick to. I don’t know if its the fact that it’s super easy to use, or well designed, or even that they don’t nickel and dime to get access to the features you really need.

But whatever it is, I’m just glad to I’ve finally gotten into the tracking habit

by DeadliftQueen

I’ve tried every darn macro tracker out there and everyone of them had something off... a confusing design, poor food search, stupid expensive features and finally I got lucky and found this app. I love this tracker. It’s so simple, so straight forward, and so easy to use. I also love that that it automatically calculates my food serving sizes by my macro goal per food. This is especially helpful at the end of the day when I need to hit my protein. Great work! Thanks for MacrosFirst.

by Deepsquat3030

The new October 2020 update is amazing. I have tried pretty much every single macro app and with this new version nothing comes close to this app. It’s so easy to use, has a great food database, and I love how I can create different daily goals with their own unique meals and schedule them across my week. This is app lets me track in ways others don’t and it’s a game changer. I recommend MacrosFirst to everyone at my box.

by Aryn R.

Finally, a macro tracker that has lots of features, is easy to use, and looks great! It tracks everything (calories, fat, carbs, protein). It’s easy to add foods by barcode, and it saves them for future use. Foods, macros, and serving sizes are fully customizable. Meals can be saved to quickly add to future days. The screen design is organized and clean like the Apple brand. The optional upgrade tracks net carbs and offers folders for more organization. I tried many macro apps, but this one by far stands out as the best!

by A Kulkarni

I was a user of MFP and I hated that they took away the scanning barcode feature for free app users.
I love this app and the fact that I can scan and create recipes and calculate my macros! I also love that I can put in the macros and it will tell me how much for a specific food I should eat to be able to reach certain grams. I love this feature and I hope it’s not taken away from the free app users.

by AgDawg

MacrosFirst is outstanding at tracking macros. Some of the features I enjoy is saving a food as my food. I can verify with the label and even save it in my preferred measure such as in grams. Next the recipe builder allows you to save the whole recipe as a total yield so then when you go to make a serving you simply weigh it on the scale and it automatically saves in correct macros. Just can’t say enough positive things about how MacrosFirst keeps you on track.

by Viewdita

Better than everything out there. Why? Because its simple and actually does what we need it to do…calculate and track macros!

Now with automated calorie calculation? A company that ACTUALLY listens and does whats best for their customer. This is so much better than anything else out there. Thank you so much to the developers this has literally been a game changer for the last 3 years!

by LexyMonster

I’ve tried them all... and this is the best. I track my nutrition from a macro standpoint, making sure I stay in a balanced diet that meets my nutrition goals. MacrosFirst combines the ease of use of basic calorie tracking apps, but with the macro-first interface for me to easily see where I’m at. I recommend this to all my friends to use!