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Bluehorn’s recommendation: use a paper diary if you want a simple record of meals and drinks. Consider Cronometer Basic if you prefer an app. Consider a paid plan only when you can name an extra feature you need.
You do not need a paid app to begin recording what you eat. The NSW Get Healthy Service provides a printable weekly food diary with spaces for meals, snacks and drinks. It also asks you to choose a focus for the following week. View the free NSW diary ↗
This is a tool-selection recommendation. It does not mean you need to count calories, change your weight or buy supplements. You can decide that tracking is not useful for you.
What does each option add?
| Option | Useful when | Cost and trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Paper diary | You want a meal-and-drink record without another account. | Use an existing notebook or print the free worksheet. You enter and review information yourself. |
| Cronometer Basic | You want digital food entry, custom foods or recipes and data export. | Free plan. You share information with a third-party service; check its privacy terms before entering it. |
| Cronometer Gold | You specifically want ad removal, longer-term reports or a recipe importer. | Paid subscription. Check the Australian price, billing period and renewal conditions at checkout. |
Cronometer’s own support documentation describes these plan differences. They are feature claims from the provider, not evidence that the app produces better health outcomes. Check the plan documentation ↗
Find your starting point.
Use the chooser below. It runs in this page. Your answer is not saved or sent to a server.
Before starting, write down one question you want the record to help organise. Choose how much detail is useful. If recording becomes burdensome, you can stop. Bluehorn does not require a diary or collect your entries in this preview.
A record is not a diagnosis.
A food diary records what you enter. An app estimates from those entries and its database. Neither tells you, by itself, that you have a deficiency or need a supplement. Do not treat a dashboard target as an individual treatment plan.
If tracking feels distressing, or you need help with a health condition or dietary requirement, a qualified health professional can help you decide whether and how to use a diary. This page does not assess your suitability.
There is no automatic path from “I want more energy” to “buy a supplement”. A useful outcome can be a clearer question, a record to discuss, or a decision not to buy.
Where this guide came from.
The archive’s Layne Norton eating discussion raised a useful theme: food tracking involves consistency and uncertainty. That is a lead from the conversation, not an endorsement of Cronometer. Bluehorn selected the tool comparison.
- NSW Get Healthy Service: food diary
- Cronometer: subscription types
- Cronometer Gold: current feature information
Commercial transparency: no active affiliate relationship is represented here. These are ordinary information links. Bluehorn receives no commission through them. Future paid links would require accepted terms and a clear disclosure.
Review boundary: this guide compares observable tool features. It makes no claim that tracking or a named app causes weight loss or improves health. It does not rely on a paper’s clinical result, so no paper-reference audit is claimed. Broader episode and clinical-evidence reviews remain separate.