Cronometer alternative: zweitaps
Cronometer is one of the best-known calorie trackers there is. This page tells you why people switch anyway, and where zweitaps is different — with evidence, and with what Cronometer does better.
Cronometer is the most precise app of this group. If you genuinely want to track micronutrients, that is where you belong, and we would not talk anyone out of it.
The reason to switch is a different one: it is built for the English-speaking market and for whole foods. If you shop in a European supermarket you are looking for branded products that are simply not in there — and then you type nutrition values off the packet.
What zweitaps does differently
zweitaps is built around one movement: tap plus, tap the food, done. Two taps for anything you have eaten before, because "Recent" opens directly under the plus. No streaks, no diamonds, no confirmation after saving, no ads in the diary.
You pay once, and only for photo recognition: 100 photos 2,99 € or 500 photos 9,99 €. Logging costs nothing and that will not change — nothing that is free today moves behind a paywall later.
| zweitaps | Cronometer | |
|---|---|---|
| Logging costs | nothing, permanently | core features free, the rest by subscription |
| Pricing model | one-time purchase for photo recognition, no subscription | freemium with a paid tier |
| Streaks, diamonds, animations | none | varies by version |
| Ads in the diary | none | not in the paid tier |
| Barcode offline | yes, 40,000 products ship inside the app | no, search and scan need a connection |
| Usable without an account | yes, everything stays on the device | no, an account is required |
| Getting your data back out | yes, CSV, any time, at no cost | yes, free |
Figures for Cronometer come from the vendor's own public help pages and store listings, last checked 15 September 2026. Prices are deliberately not in this table: they differ by country and promotion and would be wrong here faster than they would be right. What is compared is the model. Found a mistake? Write to hello@zweitaps.com and we will fix it.
What Cronometer does better
This belongs on the page because it is true: micronutrients in real depth, around 80 values per entry, vetted data sources (NCCDB, USDA) and data export even without Gold. If one of those is the thing that matters most to you, stay. Switching apps only to miss something you use daily is a bad trade.
What zweitaps cannot do
So you read it here and not after installing:
- No recipes, no plans, no coaching. zweitaps is a diary, not a programme.
- Micronutrients only roughly. Calories, protein, carbs, fat. If you want to follow iron and B12, Cronometer serves you better.
- A smaller database than MyFitnessPal. We sit on Open Food Facts plus our own selection for European retail. Unusual items are sometimes missing; you enter them once and then you have them.
- Photo recognition is not free. Logging is, permanently. A photo of your plate costs one credit, because every photo costs us compute.
Your diary comes with you
You do not have to start from zero. zweitaps reads the Cronometer export — Web: More → Account → Account Data → Export Data → „Export Food & Recipe Entries“. The steps, which fields arrive and what gets lost on the way are on exporting your data from Cronometer.
Common questions
Is zweitaps free?
Logging is free, permanently and without an account. The only thing that costs money is photo recognition, as a one-time purchase: 100 photos for 2,99 €, 500 photos for 9,99 €. No subscription, no card up front.
Can I bring my data over from Cronometer?
Yes. The Cronometer export is free. zweitaps reads the file and creates your entries and foods. How the move works.
Do I need an account?
No. Without one, everything stays on the device. With one, entries, foods and goals also sit on our own server in the EU and are identical on every device.
Does the barcode scanner work offline?
Yes. 40,000 products ship inside the app. That works in a supermarket basement, where a network lookup gives up.
Which languages does it speak?
13, German first.