Keto Weight Loss: Best App Recommendations

The ketogenic, or keto, diet is a low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein diet that is often used for weight loss. The diet is notoriously hard to stick to, and requires careful tracking of macronutrients, or macros. To help with this, there are a number of keto apps available that can track your macros, suggest recipes, and provide nutritional information for a range of foods. Some of the best keto apps for weight loss include Carb Manager, Senza, Total Keto Diet, Keto.app, MyFitnessPal, and MyMacros+. These apps offer a range of features, such as tracking net carbohydrates, providing access to keto recipes, and connecting with other keto dieters.

Best keto apps for beginners

Sticking to a keto diet can be challenging, but there are several apps available to help you track your macronutrients and reach your weight loss goals. Here are some of the best keto apps for beginners:

Senza

Rated as one of the best apps for beginners, Senza offers a comprehensive guide to help first-timers transition to a keto diet. It features a "5 days to keto" plan, as well as tools to track glucose, ketones, and insulin load for those already familiar with the diet. Senza also offers barcode scanning, a database of 200,000 food records, restaurant menus, and over 800 keto recipes. You can also monitor your electrolyte intake and get personalized keto recommendations. The app is free to download and use, and it offers an online shop for all your keto needs.

KetoDiet (and KetoDiet Basic)

KetoDiet and its basic version are ideal for keto newbies, offering tools to calculate macros and plan and track keto meals effectively. The app provides expert advice from the KetoDiet Blog, which includes input from registered dietitians. It also offers 300 recipes and nutritional information on popular foods, products, and restaurant meals. KetoDiet is highly rated for its ease of use and ability to track daily trends. The app is free, with a paid version offering additional premium features.

Cronometer

While not exclusively for keto, Cronometer is a comprehensive nutrition tracker that is highly useful for keto dieters. It allows you to log meals and then tracks your micronutrient and macronutrient status with visual charts and graphs. Cronometer stands out for its vast database of nutritional information, sourced from verified sources like the USDA. This ensures you accurately track various nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. You can set specific micronutrient and macronutrient targets and even includes a keto calculator to track your macros. Cronometer is free, with a premium version available for a monthly subscription.

Keto.app

Keto.app is a digital keto coach that helps you achieve your keto goals. You input your body type, activity level, weight, and goals, and the app generates a customized macro plan. You can then log your daily foods using the database or barcode scanner to see if you're meeting your targets. The app also offers shopping lists, low-carb recipes, and net carb calculations. Some of the best features are reserved for paying customers, such as entering more than five foods per day into the tracker. Keto.app is free, with a premium version available for an annual subscription.

Carb Manager

Carb Manager is a keto-focused app that helps you track your carbs, fat, and protein intake, alerting you if you deviate from your goals. It also includes a photo feature that automatically recognizes foods, making tracking even easier. Beyond tracking, Carb Manager offers a community aspect with low-carb articles, recipes, meal planners, an intermittent fasting tracker, forums, and other resources to support your keto journey. Carb Manager is free, with a premium version available for an annual subscription.

These apps offer a range of features to help beginners navigate the keto diet, providing guidance on meal planning, tracking, and community support.

Best keto apps for tracking macros

Sticking to a keto diet can be challenging, but there are several apps available that can help you track your macronutrients, or macros, and provide suitable recipes and nutritional information for a range of foods. Here are some of the best keto apps for tracking macros:

Carb Manager

Considered the best comprehensive option, Carb Manager allows users to track their macros and true net carbohydrates. It also has features such as a keto community, weight, exercise, calorie and water tracking, and additional features such as diet articles, forums, and weekly challenges. The app is free to download, with an optional subscription for around $40 per year.

Senza

Senza is a great option for beginners. It offers a "5 days to keto" guide for beginners, as well as features for those already familiar with the keto diet, such as glucose, ketone, and insulin load tracking. It also has barcode scanning, with 200,000 food records, restaurant menus, and over 800 keto recipes. Senza is free to download and use, with no subscription available.

Total Keto Diet

Total Keto Diet is ideal for creating shopping lists. It offers hundreds of keto recipes and allows users to track their macros and find out the total and net carbohydrates of foods and meals. It also includes a keto diet guide for beginners. The app is free to download, with ratings of 4.7 out of 5 stars on the App Store and 4.1 out of 5 stars on Google Play.

Keto.app

Keto.app is perfect for custom meal creation. It offers meal-by-meal macros tracking, a searchable database of specific foods, drinks, and restaurant items, and the ability to create custom meals to save for later. The free version only allows users to add five food items, so the paid version may be preferable. The app is free to download, with an optional subscription for around $30 per year.

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is a popular app that helps individuals track their nutrition and fitness. It has a database of over 6 million foods, making it a great source of nutritional information. While it is not specifically a keto app, users can tailor their meals to meet their keto requirements. MyFitnessPal is free to use, with a paid premium version available for around $50 per year.

Cronometer

Cronometer is another excellent option for tracking macros. It has a vast database of nutritional information, including micronutrients and macronutrients, gleaned from verified sources like the USDA. It also has a keto calculator to help track your macros. Cronometer is free to use, with a premium version available for $5.99 per month.

Best keto apps for custom meal creation

For those looking to create custom meals on a keto diet, Keto.app is a great option. The app allows users to enter their body type, activity level, weight, goals, and more to generate a customised macro plan. Users can then log their daily foods using the app's database or barcode scanner to see if they're hitting their goals. While tracking their macros, users can also create shopping lists, access low-carb recipes, and calculate net carbs.

The free version of the app only allows users to add five food items, so those looking to get the most out of the app may prefer to invest in the paid version. The paid version offers a subscription for around $30 per year, or users can choose a monthly subscription.

Another app that can help with custom meal creation is MyFitnessPal. Although the app is not specifically for keto diets, people can tailor their meals to meet their requirements. MyFitnessPal has a database with more than 6 million foods, making it a great source of nutritional information. The app also allows users to add photos to weight entries to track visual changes. MyFitnessPal is free to use, with a paid premium version available for around $50 per year.

Senza is another app that can be useful for custom meal creation. The app was made with keto dieters in mind and allows users to keep track of their fitness and nutrition. It also offers live assistance and can suggest restaurants with low-carb options nearby. Senza is free to download and use, and the company also has an online shop with keto products.

For those looking for an app that is super customisable, LifeSum is a good option. The app allows users to specify which "level" of keto they're on by changing their macros percentage, track their water intake and activity, and opt in for daily reminders. The paid version of the app can also provide very detailed nutrition information. LifeSum is free, with a paid version available.

Cronometer is another app that can be useful for custom meal creation. The app has the ability to track up to 82 macronutrients and has a specific "keto calculator" that calculates a maximum protein and carbohydrate target based on the user's lean body mass. Cronometer is free, with a premium version available for $5.99 per month.

Best keto apps for an extensive food database

MyFitnessPal is a popular app that helps users track their nutrition and fitness. It features a database of over 6 million foods, making it a great source of nutritional information. While the app is not specifically designed for keto diets, users can tailor their meals to meet their requirements. MyFitnessPal also allows users to add photos to their weight entries to track visual changes. The app is free to use, with a paid premium version available.

Cronometer is another app with a vast database of nutritional information. It tracks micronutrients and macronutrients with visually pleasing charts and graphs. Cronometer is unique for its extensive database of nutritional info, sourced from verified sources like the USDA. This is an important feature as most nutrition databases lack detail, often excluding vitamins and minerals from the analysis. Cronometer is free, with a premium version available for $5.99 per month.

LoseIt! is another app with a comprehensive food database of over 7 million foods. The app also connects with other devices, such as fitness trackers, making it a one-stop destination for health tracking. LoseIt! is free, with a premium paid version available.

Senza is an app specifically designed for keto dieters. It includes features such as a food journal, meal suggestions, and educational content about macros and electrolytes. Senza is free to download and use, with an online shop available for additional keto products.

Best keto apps for offline access

If you're looking for keto apps that can be used offline, here are some of the best ones to try:

Keto Diet Recipes

The Keto Diet Recipes app is the best option for offline access, according to Medical News Today. It features low-carb recipes for all meals and snacks, including vegetarian options, and provides the number of grams of each macro a meal contains. You can also create a shopping list that can be downloaded directly from the recipes. The app offers offline access to more than 1,000 recipes. However, it's only available for Android devices and includes pop-up commercials.

Easy Keto Diet by Recipeno

Easy Keto Diet by Recipeno is a simple recipe finder, shopping list creator, and keto macro calculator that can be used offline. Each recipe includes nutritional information, making it a great choice for those following a keto lifestyle. The app is incredibly user-friendly, and the free option includes a wide range of features. There is also a premium Pro version available for a one-time payment.

Cookmate

Cookmate is a simple recipe manager app that allows you to import recipes from various sources or enter them manually. It includes an integrated shopping list, ingredient scaling, customization features, and Android Wear support. It's an excellent option for offline storage of recipes, and you can unlock all the app's features with a single payment. There is also an optional yearly subscription that unlocks additional features like syncing unlimited recipes.

My Recipes Box

My Recipes Box is a recipe manager app that features a beautiful Material Design and various methods for importing recipes. While it may not have a vast collection of keto recipes to start with, it's a good place to store your keto recipes on your mobile phone. The app lets you modify ingredients, add photos and ratings, and includes categories for organisation. The pro version removes ads and allows you to export your recipes as an HTML file.

While these apps offer offline access, it's important to note that internet connectivity may be required for initial setup, and some features may not be fully functional without an internet connection.

Frequently asked questions