AI engine
How the AI engine works
CalorieAI is free to use. You choose how the AI that recognizes your meals is powered — and you're always in control of your keys and your data.
What it does
Where AI helps inside the app
AI shows up in three places — always with an estimate you can review and adjust before it's saved.
Photo recognition
Identifies the foods on your plate, estimates portions, and calculates calories and macros from a single photo.
Meal suggestions
Need 2,500 kcal and sitting at 1,000 with only dinner to go? AI suggests a ~1,500 kcal meal that also balances your carbs, protein and fat.
Natural-language entry
Can't find a product? Type what you ate — like “chicken sandwich with a donut” — and AI proposes the items with estimated amounts.
Powering the AI
Three ways to power the AI features
AI photo recognition, meal suggestions and text entry all run on an AI provider. Pick whichever setup suits you.
Bring your own key
Add your own OpenAI (ChatGPT Vision) or Claude Vision API key in the app. CalorieAI stays completely free — you simply pay your AI provider directly for what you use, which is typically only a few cents.
- Open Settings → API keys in the app
- Paste your key and tap Save
- Start analyzing meals right away
CalTrack Server key
Prefer not to manage your own provider account? Use a key for the CalTrack Server, a service run by CalorieAI. You request a key once and we handle the AI connection for you.
- Request a key once by email
- Paste it under Settings → CalTrack‑server
- No provider account needed
Subscription
Soon you'll be able to subscribe and skip keys entirely. The AI costs are covered by CalorieAI as part of your plan — you just pay for the subscription and everything works out of the box.
- No API keys to manage
- AI costs included in your plan
- Works instantly, no setup
Your keys stay yours. Any key you enter is stored in your device's encrypted storage — never on our servers. You can clear it at any time from Settings.
Most of CalorieAI is completely free
You only need an AI provider for photo recognition. Everything else works for free — no key, no subscription required.
Barcode scanner
Scan any packaged product for instant nutrition, backed by a database of millions of items.
Full tracking
Diary, daily goals, macros and progress analytics — all included for free.
Manual & AI text entry
Add foods by hand or describe a meal in text whenever you prefer.
Recipe search
Discover thousands of recipes with a free Spoonacular key (see below).
Recipes
Add a free Spoonacular key for recipes
Recipe search is powered by Spoonacular, a database of thousands of recipes. It's free to get started — you just create your own key and paste it into the app.
- 1
Open the Spoonacular Food API page
Go to spoonacular.com/food-api and click Start Now (or open the pricing page and choose the Free plan).
- 2
Create your account
Enter your email and a password, accept the terms and click Sign up. It's free — no credit card needed for the free plan.
- 3
Verify your email
Open the verification email Spoonacular sends you and confirm your account.
- 4
Copy your API key from the console
Log in to the Spoonacular API Console → Profile and copy the API key shown there.
- 5
Paste it into CalorieAI
In the app, open Settings → Spoonacular API key (recipes), paste your key and tap Save. Recipe search is now unlocked.
The free Spoonacular plan includes a daily quota that's plenty for personal use. You can always upgrade on their site if you need more.
Start counting calories the smart way
Download CalorieAI free on Android today. iPhone coming soon.
Free to download · No credit card · Privacy first