Your calorie app has never seen half the food you eat.
Bao has. Ramen, pho, pad thai, biryani, dim sum, and burgers, burrito bowls, pizza and takeout too: one app for all of it. Bao lists what's on the plate, reads restaurant menus in any language, and labels every number as an AI estimate.
Built for the food you actually eat.
Dinner is happening. Your app has never heard of it.
Most trackers are fine with a banana. Here is where they stop, and what Bao does instead.
The dish isn't in the database.
You search, you scroll, you pick the closest thing and hope.
Bao reads the photo, names the dish and splits it into ingredients, so a cheeseburger and a dish you can't pronounce get the same treatment. Wrong guess? Fix it in two taps.
Restaurant and takeout are a guess.
No label, no scale, no idea what's in the sauce.
Scan the menu before you order. Bao estimates every dish, flags your allergies, and Build My Meal plans the whole order around your day.
The menu is in a language you can't read.
Point, hope, order.
Bao reads menus in any language, several pages at a time, and shows each dish in your language and the original script, with calories next to the price.
See it on your own plate.
Download on theApp StoreBao next to the apps you already have.
We read each app's own App Store listing and wrote down what it says it does. A dash means the listing doesn't say it, not that the app can't.
the listing says it their App Store listing doesn't mention it the listing says it's paid-plan only
Swipe sideways to see each app. Bao stays in view.
Quotes are from each app's US App Store description, read October 31 to November 2, 2026; capitalization normalized. Bao's menu scanner and unlimited scans are part of Bao Pro (7-day free trial). Bao's listing was read the same day.
Where each one is good, and where it stops.
Strengths and limits come from the listings. Anything from reviews is a one-star App Store review, marked user-reported.
Its listing names no Asian dish and lists no menu scan, so your dumplings are on their own.
“despite paying for premium which promises to be ad-free”App Store review, 1 star, Oct 22, 2026, v26.42.0, user-reported
No ads on any plan. The photo names the dish, dumplings included, and the menu scanner reads the rest.
Sources: US App Store listing, read Nov 2, 2026; one-star review, user-reportedIts listing doesn't mention a menu scan, so a menu is just paper to it.
Bao scans the whole menu, in any language, and puts each dish's calories next to the price.
Source: US App Store listing, read Oct 31, 2026Photo, voice and barcode logging, with Apple Health and device sync. 783k ratings.
It likes to slip an ad in while you count, says one reviewer.
“Now you have to watch adds to count your calories…”App Store review, 1 star, Jul 11, 2026, v18.3.700, user-reported
No ads on any plan. Log the meal, close the app, nothing in between.
Sources: US App Store listing, read Oct 31, 2026; one-star review, user-reportedIts listing mentions no Asian dishes and no menu scan, so a bowl of laksa is on its own.
The photo names the dish, laksa included, and the menu scanner handles the rest. No ads on any plan.
Source: US App Store listing, read Nov 2, 2026Also read: Lifesum, Cronometer and fatsecret. See the longer comparisons.
We haven't run a published accuracy test against any of these apps, so we claim no accuracy win. This is about what each listing says.
No idea what's in that bowl? Three taps and you do.
Snap
Point your camera at the dish — or the menu. Home-cooked, takeout, a restaurant plate, or a menu in any language.
Know
The dish comes back named in your language and its native script, with calories, macros, fiber, and sodium — most trackers stop at macros. Honest AI estimates, not false precision.
Ask
Bao remembers you and personalizes every answer — what to eat, exercise tips, or just how you're feeling today. All in your language.
Plus the everyday stuff.
Apple Health
Weight, height and steps come in. Meals and water go out, and deleting a meal in Bao updates Health too.
Water and your own goals
Log water in any amount against your own water goal, and set your own calorie and protein targets.
Describe it instead
No photo? Type what you ate in plain words and Bao logs it.
Barcode scanner
Packaged food? Scan the barcode.
Menus that respect your diet
Vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, halal or kosher: menu scans filter for it, and you can add a dish Bao missed.
Allergies and health conditions
Tell Bao once. Flags show up on photo scans, menus, barcodes and typed meals.
Not a mockup.
The actual app.
Three things you'll really do in Bao — tap into each phone below and watch it work.
Read any menu,
in any language.
Point Bao at a menu — Thai, Chinese, Korean, anything. It reads every dish, estimates the nutrition, and picks what actually fits your goal, in your language.
Ask Bao anything
you're about to eat.
Your day's macros sit right at the top, then it's a chat. Ask whether the beef pho fits your cut — Bao answers for your goal, in plain language.
BaoSnap a plate.
Get the macros.
One photo. Bao breaks the dish into each ingredient, estimates the calories in every part, and logs the whole bowl as one meal.
Snap your meal
AI analyzes nutrition in seconds
Protein comes from the pork and egg — the noodles and broth carry most of the carbs and fat.
That's a real scan. Not staged.
Download on theApp StoreHonest pricing. That's the feature.
No dynamic pricing, no fake countdown timers, no “limited offer” that never ends. The price is the price.
- Unlimited photo & barcode scans
- AI nutrition coach
- Menu scanner — reads any language
A weekly plan, Bao Pro Weekly at US$4.99, is also available inside the app.
Prices shown in USD. Final localized price is set by the App Store at checkout. No ads on any plan, ever.
I'm Andrew, a Taiwanese-American living in Taipei. I lift and track calories to stay in a deficit — Western apps got my oatmeal and chicken breast right, but dinner was always a guess. A bowl of braised pork rice came back as “beef stew, 400 calories.” So I built the app I actually needed: one that knows Asian food as well as it knows Western food. Bao is built by someone who eats both.
The honest answers.
How accurate is the AI?
Every figure is an estimate: food photographed at an angle isn't a lab scale, and we won't pretend otherwise. Bao gives you a best estimate, shows its confidence, and lets you correct anything in two taps. Corrections make it better.
Does it work on burgers and takeout, or only Asian food?
Both. Bao reads burgers, pizza, burrito bowls and takeout the same way it reads ramen, pho, pad thai and dim sum. One app, no switching.
Can it read a menu I can't read?
Yes. Scan a menu in any language, several pages at a time. Bao shows each dish in your language and the original script, with an AI estimate of its calories.
Is Bao more accurate than Cal AI or MyFitnessPal?
We haven't published a head-to-head accuracy test, so we won't claim a win. What we can show is in the table above: what each app's own App Store listing says it does.
Is there Traditional Chinese?
Yes. The entire app works in Traditional Chinese, from onboarding to the coach.
How do I cancel?
Two taps: Settings → your Apple ID → Subscriptions → Bao → Cancel. No emails to write, no retention phone call, and the app tells you the same thing.
What happens to my data?
Your food log is yours. No ads means no ad tracking; the privacy policy spells it out in plain language.
Know your food. Finally.
Free download · 7-day Pro trial · no spam, no ads.
Download on theApp Store Available on iPhone · requires iOS 16 or later · Android? Get notified