Lifesum Review UK (2026)

The lifestyle-focused nutrition app with 65 million users - but mixed UK reviews suggest it's not for everyone.

Users 65 million
Recipes 1,000+
Price Free / ~£40/yr
Best For Diet plans & recipes
Quick Verdict: Lifesum positions itself as a lifestyle app rather than a pure calorie counter. It offers meal plans, recipes, and diet programmes (keto, Mediterranean, fasting, etc.) alongside basic tracking. The interface is polished and the premium is reasonably priced. However, UK Trustpilot reviews are mixed, with complaints about buggy updates, unreliable food database entries, and customer service issues. Worth trying if you want guided meal plans, but expect some frustrations.

What is Lifesum?

Lifesum is a Swedish nutrition app founded in 2013, now with over 65 million users in 182 countries. Unlike pure calorie trackers, Lifesum emphasises a "lifestyle" approach - combining food logging with structured meal plans, diet programmes, and recipe suggestions.

The app offers various diet programmes including keto, high protein, Mediterranean, intermittent fasting, and more. Each programme comes with meal suggestions, recipes, and shopping lists to make following it easier.

The Lifesum Approach

Lifesum focuses on three pillars:

  • Food tracking: Log meals with barcode scanner and 25M+ food database
  • Diet programmes: Structured plans like keto, Mediterranean, fasting
  • Lifestyle tracking: Water, fruit/veg intake, exercise integration

The "Life Score" feature gives you an overall rating based on your tracking, designed to gamify healthy eating.

Key Features

  • Diet programmes: Keto, high protein, Mediterranean, fasting, paleo, and more
  • Meal plans: 1-3 week pre-planned meals with shopping lists
  • Recipe library: 1,000+ recipes with nutritional info
  • Food logging: 25M+ food items with barcode scanner
  • Macro tracking: Calories, protein, carbs, fat
  • Water tracking: Daily hydration goals
  • AI photo logging: Snap a photo to log meals (Premium)
  • Fitness integration: Connects with Apple Health, Google Fit, Fitbit, and others

UK Food Database

Lifesum claims a database of 25 million foods, but UK users report mixed experiences. The barcode scanner works for many UK products, but accuracy is inconsistent.

UK user feedback: "You can have three entries for the same food but different calorie counts so I don't trust it. The counts didn't even match the product and a lot of it was in cups so presumably American." Multiple UK Trustpilot reviews mention database reliability issues.

Lifesum Pricing UK

Lifesum has a limited free tier, with Premium unlocking most features:

Lifesum UK Pricing (January 2026)

Plan Price What's Included
Free £0 Basic food logging, water tracking, weight tracking
3-month ~£25 Full access to all features
6-month ~£40 Full access (~£6.67/month)
Annual ~£40-50 Full access (~£3.33-4/month)

Note: Prices shown on website in USD. Actual GBP pricing varies.

Free vs Premium

The free version is quite limited - you get basic food logging but miss out on meal plans, recipes, detailed tracking, and most of what makes Lifesum different from competitors. If you're just going to use the free version, other apps offer more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Polished, attractive interface
  • Good variety of diet programmes
  • 1,000+ recipes included
  • Meal plans with shopping lists
  • Reasonable premium pricing
  • AI photo logging feature
  • Good fitness app integrations

Cons

  • Food database accuracy issues
  • Limited free version
  • Buggy updates reported
  • Customer service complaints
  • Some features feel US-centric
  • Barcode scanner inconsistent
  • Entries saved incorrectly

From the makers of HomeCooks

Reach your goals with friends. Effortlessly.

Balance is the nutrition tracker that doesn't feel like homework. Snap a photo, scan a barcode, or just type what you ate. Log meals in seconds, not minutes.

Track with mates who are on the same journey. Get coaching that suggests real swaps, not guilt. And it's completely free - no 7-day trial that quietly charges you.

Download Balance Free
Balance app home screen showing calorie and macro tracking Balance app dashboard showing macro targets and protein trends

What Real Users Say

Lifesum has 159 UK Trustpilot reviews with a mixed reception:

"I've been using Lifesum on & off for 2 years now and I can say that it has definitely helped me change my understanding of nutrition and helped me build a more positive relationship with food! The latest AI update has also been helpful." - UK Trustpilot review, January 2026
"The app becomes worse with every update. Meals not saved, calories changing after saving entries, barcode scanner problems. I'm tired with facing new issues constantly, so looking for an alternative." - UK Trustpilot review

Common praise: Nice interface, good recipe variety, helpful for learning about nutrition

Common complaints: App bugs, database accuracy, customer service, features breaking after updates

Who Lifesum Is Best For

Diet Programme Followers

If you want to follow keto, Mediterranean, or fasting with guided meal plans and recipes.

Recipe Seekers

If you want meal inspiration alongside tracking, the 1,000+ recipe library helps.

Lifestyle Trackers

If you want to track food, water, and exercise in one attractive app.

Visual Learners

The Life Score gamification and visual feedback can motivate some users.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

  • Accuracy-focused: If you need reliable calorie counts, the database issues are frustrating
  • Free tier users: The free version is too limited - other apps offer more
  • Micronutrient trackers: Lifesum focuses on macros, not vitamins/minerals
  • UK food database priority: US-centric entries remain an issue
  • Reliability seekers: Recent buggy updates have frustrated users

The Bottom Line

Lifesum offers a polished package for people who want more than basic calorie counting - the meal plans, recipes, and diet programmes are genuine differentiators. The premium price is reasonable compared to competitors.

However, UK users report frustrating issues with database accuracy, buggy updates, and features not working reliably. If you're going to pay for a tracking app, you want it to work consistently.

Our verdict: Try the free version to test the interface, but don't commit to premium until you've verified the food database works for your typical meals.

← Back to App Reviews

High Protein Prep Meals, Macro Counted

Chef-prepared meals with 30-50g protein. Full nutritional info on every meal - ready in 3 minutes.

See Our Menu

High Protein, High Quality, High Satisfaction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.6 (6,000+ Reviews)

Delivered to 30,000+ people across the UK

How it works - Healthy Eating Made Easy.

Pick Your Weekly Plan
Pick Your Weekly Plan

Choose from a wide variety of flavours. 250+ meals per month and counting.

Our Chefs Get Cooking
Our Chefs Get Cooking

Our partner chefs cook in small batches with ingredients you'd find at home.

Delivery to your Door
Delivery to your Door

Healthy meals for the week, fully prepped, delivered to your door.

Heat, Eat & Repeat
Heat, Eat & Repeat

Quality, balanced meals ready in minutes. No prep. No mess. Enjoy!