| Feature | Tone | Cal AI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Announced at launch | Subscription after a 3-day trial (prices vary on the App Store) |
| Free version | Announced at launch | Free to download; food scanning results need a subscription |
| Log by voice | Yes, the main way in: say the whole meal at once, and Tone splits it into foods and portions | Not stated |
| Log from a photo | Yes, with an optional note like “I ate half”; the photo isn’t kept | Yes, the main way in |
| Barcode scanning | Yes; an unknown product can be added from a photo of its label | Yes |
| Food database | Tone Verified foods checked by a person, USDA data and branded products; every food shows where its numbers came from | Connected to MyFitnessPal’s database since MyFitnessPal bought Cal AI in March 2026 |
| Caffeine | Yes: how much is still in you by the hour, a sleep line, and your latest cut-off for coffee | Not stated |
| Water | Yes, with a goal set for you | Not stated |
| Apple Health | Reads weight and body fat | Reads steps |
| Ads | – | Not stated |
| Platforms | iPhone (coming soon) | Not stated |
Checked October 4, 2026. Tone is coming soon to iPhone. See how it works.
Who should pick Cal AI?
- You mostly eat plated meals you can photograph, and speed matters more to you than precision.
- You want a well-proven app: Cal AI is rated 4.8 from over 368,000 ratings on the App Store.
Who should pick Tone?
- A photo can’t see the oil, the sauce, or that it was oat milk. You can just say it.
- You eat packaged foods and drinks a lot, where the brand and size matter.
- You want to see and fix what the app understood before it’s logged.
- You track caffeine and water alongside calories.
How accurate is Cal AI?
Cal AI’s own FAQ says its scans are about 80% accurate. Photo estimates struggle with what a camera can’t see: cooking oil, dressings, what’s inside a wrap, or whether a drink is whole or skim. That’s why Tone lets you say those things, and asks a quick question, like which brand, when it needs to.
Is Cal AI owned by MyFitnessPal?
Yes. MyFitnessPal announced it had acquired Cal AI on March 2, 2026, and said Cal AI keeps running as a standalone app.
How we compared
Everything about Cal AI on this page comes from its own App Store listing, website and help center, checked on October 4, 2026 and linked below. Prices change often and many apps run promotions, so check before you buy. Where Cal AI doesn’t say, we’ve left it blank rather than guess. Spot something out of date? Email support@trytone.app and we’ll fix it.
About the author
Jacob is a product designer and the founder of Tone. Before Tone, he co-founded Boba, an AI-native trading app, as its chief product officer, and designed products at Decrypt.
