Health, fitness and wellness apps
How much does it cost to build an app like MyFitnessPal?
By Nick McCandless, founder of EltherionUpdated
Short answer
Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like MyFitnessPal, a food and calorie tracking app, at $36k to $105k. A full platform with the features listed below runs $72k to $212k. These are Eltherion's own estimate ranges for building a comparable product, not what MyFitnessPal spent; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call, and small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
An app like MyFitnessPal lets people log meals, scan barcodes, see calories and nutrients against goals, and track weight over time. The food database behind the search is as important as the app itself.
What an MVP of an app like MyFitnessPal costs, feature by feature
The first version below is the smallest product people could actually use. Core features are covered by the base price for an iPhone and Android app; each outside service the app connects to, and each add-on, adds its own line.
| Line item | What it covers | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Core iPhone and Android app (MVP) | Food logging, Goals and daily summary, Progress tracking, Custom foods and recipes | $30k to $90k |
| Food database | Nutrition data from a licensed food data provider | $2k to $5k |
| Barcode scanning | Look up packaged foods by barcode | $2k to $5k |
| Health data sync | Steps and weight from health platforms | $2k to $5k |
| Total | $36k to $105k |
- Food logging: Search foods, add servings to meals.
- Goals and daily summary: Calories and nutrients against targets.
- Progress tracking: Weight and history charts.
- Custom foods and recipes: Add your own items.
What drives the cost of an app like MyFitnessPal
- Food data licensing and quality shape the whole experience.
- Fast search and logging are what keep people using it daily.
- AI photo logging adds model costs per use.
Full platform: $72k to $212k
The full-platform tier prices the same app at full-platform scope ($54k to $162k for the core) plus these additions:
- Photo meal logging: Estimate foods from a photo ($10k to $30k).
- Subscriptions: Premium features through app store billing ($2k to $5k).
- Coaching and plans: Programs and reminders (part of the full-platform core).
Most products should not build this tier up front. Ship the MVP, see what users actually do, and add the pieces that earn their place. Open the full-platform estimate in the calculator.
Running costs after launch
- Maintenance and small improvements: $6k to $19k a year for the MVP (18% of the build, a planning assumption).
- Hosting: about $4k a year (a planning estimate; heavy usage costs more).
- Three-year total for the MVP, build included: $66k to $173k.
- App store accounts: the Apple Developer Program is $99 a year and Google Play has a $25 one-time registration fee (checked October 30, 2026).
- Card payments: Stripe's standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction (checked October 30, 2026); other providers price differently.
Each integration also has its provider's own usage fees (maps, messaging, video, AI models), which depend on how much the app is used.
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Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to build an app like MyFitnessPal?
- Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like MyFitnessPal, a food and calorie tracking app, at $36k to $105k, and a full platform at $72k to $212k. These are Eltherion's estimate ranges from its published pricing model; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call. Small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
- Can a nutrition coach build their own tracking app?
- Yes. A coaching app with food logging, client check-ins and plans fits the MVP here, built on a licensed food database rather than one you assemble yourself.
- Where does nutrition data come from?
- From licensed food databases and public government nutrition data sets. Licensing terms differ, so pick the data source before the build starts.
- Is this what MyFitnessPal spent to build its app?
- No. It is Eltherion's estimate for building a comparable first version today. It says nothing about what MyFitnessPal spent, and Eltherion is not affiliated with MyFitnessPal. A product at that company's scale has years of work and teams behind it that no MVP includes.
- How can I lower the cost?
- Launch with fewer integrations, one market and one platform, and leave the full-platform features until users ask for them. The adjustable calculator shows how each choice moves the range.
How we priced this
Every number on this page comes from Eltherion's software development cost calculator: a base range for the product type, multiplied by scope, plus a fixed range for each integration and add-on. The method is published on the cost methodology page. The feature list describes a typical comparable product; Eltherion is not affiliated with MyFitnessPal.