Bao vs MyFitnessPal for Asian Food

October 25, 2026 · Updated October 25, 2026 · 5 min read

As of 2026-10-25, MyFitnessPal's own Premium page lists a photo-based Meal Scan as a paid feature, and its home page does not name Asian foods. Bao is built around Asian dishes and scans a whole menu before you order. This page lays the two side by side using only what each page says, with the date we checked.

We are Bao, so we are not neutral, and we are not affiliated with MyFitnessPal. That is why we kept this to quotes and facts you can open and check yourself. We do not claim Bao is more accurate, because we have not scanned the same plates in both apps.

What we compared and when

We read two MyFitnessPal pages on 2026-10-25: its Premium page and its home page. We did not install or test the app. Bao facts come from Bao's own pages. Anything a company changes after that date is not reflected here.

Photo scan: what each page says

MyFitnessPal's Premium page lists Barcode Scan and Meal Scan as Premium features, not free ones (as of 2026-10-25, source: myfitnesspal.com/premium). Meal Scan is its photo feature for logging food.

Bao scans a photo of a plate and also scans a menu. A plate scan answers "what did I just eat." A menu scan reads every dish on a menu, in the language it is printed in, and estimates each one so you can choose before you order. Our post on scanning a whole restaurant menu explains the difference. Every Bao figure is an AI estimate, not a lab measurement.

Food coverage claims

MyFitnessPal's home page says "over 18 million global foods" in one place and "20.5M" in another, so the page disagrees with itself. It also claims "30+" cuisines. As of 2026-10-25, the page we read does not mention Asian foods by name (source: myfitnesspal.com). That is a statement about what the page says, not about what the app can do.

The better comparison is the one in our tracker comparison for Asian food, which checked each app's own App Store listing. If a dish is hard to spell in English, ask whether the app identifies it at all. A neat number on the wrong dish is still wrong.

Price and trial as listed

The MyFitnessPal prices are in New Taiwan dollars because that is what its page showed from our location on 2026-10-25 (source). They are not converted, so do not compare the two columns line by line. Bao also lists $4.99 per week. Prices change, so check each store listing before you decide.

MyFitnessPal's Premium page also lists interface languages that include Chinese, Japanese and Korean (as of 2026-10-25, source: myfitnesspal.com/premium). An interface in your language is useful, but it is a different thing from recognizing the food on your plate.

Where this comparison stops

We did not run the same plates through both apps, so we make no accuracy claim either way. We did not test MyFitnessPal's food database, search or Meal Scan. We read two public pages on one day. If you want a real accuracy answer, scan your own usual meals in both apps for a week and compare against what you know about your food.

How to try Bao

Bao is free to download, and new users start with a 7-day free trial of Pro, which includes unlimited photo and menu scans. Point it at a plate of dumplings or at a menu you cannot read, and see whether the dish name and the estimate look right to you. If you eat out a lot, our guide to hidden calories in restaurant food shows what a photo scan can catch.

Common questions

Does MyFitnessPal have a photo scan? Yes, as a Premium feature. As of 2026-10-25, MyFitnessPal's Premium page lists Meal Scan and Barcode Scan as Premium features, not free ones. We did not test either feature.

Is MyFitnessPal Meal Scan free? No, not according to its own page. As of 2026-10-25, the Premium page lists Meal Scan under Premium. That page showed NT$300 per month or NT$1,490 per year when we read it from Taiwan, with a 7-day free trial for people who have never had Premium.

Does Bao scan a whole restaurant menu? Yes. Bao's menu scanner reads a menu in whatever language it is printed in, translates the dish names and gives an AI estimate for each dish before you order. That is separate from scanning a single plate after it is served.

Can I use both apps? Yes. Nothing stops you from installing both, for example using Bao for Asian dishes and menus you cannot read and MyFitnessPal for everything else. We have not tested whether their logs can be shared, so assume you would check numbers in each app separately.