What’s the Best Carb Tracking App for Keto Dieters in 2023?
Making sure you’re eating under 50 grams of carbohydrates each day (or under 20 grams, depending on the version of keto you follow) can be challenging unless you consume only animal foods, such as eggs, red meat, seafood, and poultry. [1]
Luckily, several apps are available to simplify the process of tracking carbs. Using them can help you get closer to your weight loss goals, on top of avoiding blood sugar spikes and maintaining nutritional ketosis.
In this article, we answer the question, “What’s the best carb tracking app?” with 7 great options. Most of these apps provide customized meal ideas and can be synced with other fitness apps to boost your overall health and wellness.
1. Carb Manager
Carb Manager has a wide range of features, from counting your daily net carbs to logging your workouts and tracking intermittent fasting.
One of the first steps when getting started is choosing your specific diet from the list of options available, along with their corresponding macronutrient breakdown. That way, the app accurately tracks how well you follow your macro goals for the day.
With its premium features, you’ll be able to do more. Some of these features include accessing over 350,000 recipes, logging food using only your camera, and syncing with fitness trackers. You get the basic account for free or go premium for $3.33 a month.
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
2. MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal isn’t specific for keto dieters, although it’s great for those who want to lose weight through keto. Based on your information (height, weight, target weight loss rate, etc.) the app sets your daily calorie goal and estimates how much you can lose in a given period.
To help you save time, MyFitnessPal has a barcode scanner that allows you to instantly log store-bought foods. If you’re trying to keep carbs from convenience foods as low as possible, the barcode scanner is a top feature.
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
3. FatSecret
If you’re looking for a 100% free carb counting app, try FatSecret. According to FatSecret, over 35 million people have lost weight using the app. You can start adding your meals right away to your food diary by simply searching and selecting your food. Then, it’ll show you the complete nutritional information from the number of carbs to the micronutrient content of that food.
Love homemade meals? You’ll like FatSecret’s “Search for Recipes” feature which allows you to filter your search results by the carb percentage, including calories per serving and time required for prepping and cooking.
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
4. KetoDiet App
One of the things users like most about the KetoDiet App is that it lets them log their meals in advance to ensure that they stay keto the following day. For those who are new to the keto diet, this app has lots of free content, such as recipes and articles to help you get started on the right foot.
What’s more, you’ll be able to track your progress on keto. It monitors metrics that matter to every keto dieter, such as your ketones, blood glucose, blood lipids, and energy levels. However, note that advanced tracking is only available for premium user accounts.
KetoDiet App has a user-friendly interface, plus there’s an option to join their Facebook group to learn from other members, share your journey, and get the support you need!
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
5. MyMacros+
Designed by a fitness professional, MyMacros+ is great for meeting your macronutrient targets no matter your goal—adhering to a keto diet, prepping for a figure competition, and more.
Although MyMacros+ doesn’t have a free version, it costs only $1.99 per month. With that, you have access to over 5 million food items, a barcode + nutrition label scanner, a body weight tracker, and more.
There’s also an option for a Macro Coach subscription, which tells you how much to eat based on your specific goals.
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
6. Senza
Senza outperforms the rest of the carb tracking apps on this list by being extremely helpful to users who are new to keto macros. As soon as you install the app, it will ask you to specify personal details, such as your age, weight, height, and goal (lose weight, maintain weight, etc.). Based on these details, Senza shows you a summary of the grams of net carbs, protein, and fat to reach ketosis.
In addition to carbs, you’ll love that this app lets you log your daily weight, glucose readings, ketone levels, and calories burned from your workout session so you can track these trends over time. In the Feed section, you’ll find recipes that are beautifully presented along with their corresponding calories, macros, and comments from users.
Senza is also capable of tracking an intermittent fast. Just enter your desired fasting duration and click Create Fast to get started.
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
7. Atkins® Carb & Meal Tracker
Although this simple carb counter app was originally designed for those on the Atkins diet, it can also be used by keto dieters. After all, both diets involve carbohydrate restriction. Atkins created this app to save you the hassle of tracking net carbs and finding nutritional information for unprocessed, convenience, and restaurant foods.
It’s easy to navigate. The Atkins dashboard provides a quick summary of Net Carbs Consumed, My Weight, and My Water. It works with fitness tech apps like Fitbit and Garmin.
Download the app: App Store or Google Play
Stay Keto and Burn Fat With the Best Carb Tracking App
After a period of time restricting carbs, your body enters a fat-burning state. Counting carbs takes effort, which makes these apps useful. Moreover, they simplify meal prepping and help you keep an eye on other useful metrics (weight, blood sugar, ketones, etc.)
Before you download any of the apps above, decide what your goals are. Consider the costs involved if you want the premium version, the type of support the app offers, and reviews from real users.
Read below for more questions and answers about tracking carbs on keto.
FAQs
Should I track total carbs or net carbs?
The short answer is you can track both. More specifically, if your diet consists of mostly meat, it makes sense to track total carbs since animal foods have zero fiber content.
In contrast, if your routine involves snacking on keto-friendly convenience foods (such as keto bars, cookies, and bread) and including a variety of plants in your diet, counting net carbs is the way to go as these foods have fiber and, in the case of packaged foods, sugar alcohols.
Is it better to count calories or carbs to lose weight?
Counting carbs is best for losing weight, especially if you’re aiming for long-term weight loss. The problem with counting calories alone is that it fails to consider the impact that certain foods have on our metabolic health. Read more about the calories in vs. calories out model.
What is the easiest way to count carbs?
Logging your daily meals and snacks in a free carb counting app is a simple way to keep track. If you don’t have an app yet, simply check the “total carbs” and “dietary fiber” in a nutrition label, then subtract the dietary fiber and sugar alcohols (if available) from the total carbs to get the grams of net carbs per serving for that food item.
What is the fastest way to cut carbs to lose weight?
The fastest way to cut carbs for weight loss if you’re already following a keto diet is to choose a keto carnivore diet. Alternatively, you can eliminate or reduce your consumption of processed keto snacks.
What is the best free carb counting app for diabetics?
Any of the apps mentioned in this article will work for those with diabetes, including Senza and the KetoDiet App. These apps let you record your blood glucose readings, helping you build a connection between certain amounts of carbs and their effect on your blood glucose levels.
References
Paoli, A., Rubini, A., Volek, J. et al. Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 789–796 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.116
