Fddb alternative: a calorie counter from Germany without tracking

Looking for an alternative to Fddb? Fddb is a German service, and its app is listed in the Irish App Store. TellerBuddy is a plain calorie counter in English, and in six other languages: a food diary for iPhone and iPad made in Göttingen, with servers in Germany, no advertising ID, no third-party SDK and no streaks, badges or points.

Here you can read what the Fddb team and we ourselves state about privacy in the Irish App Store, with link and retrieval date, and what TellerBuddy can and cannot do in everyday use.

For iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later · Free to use, extras with a subscription

Fddb and TellerBuddy compared on privacy

Based on the privacy details each development team publishes on its product page in the Irish App Store (self-reported, not verified by Apple). “Yes” means the team states there that data may be used for this. In brackets are the data categories listed under the tracking entry. Retrieved on 27 October 2026; the source column links to the product page.

Fddb states in the Irish App Store that data (Identifiers) may be used to track users across apps and websites owned by other companies. The listing does not mention use for third-party advertising. Information as of 27 October 2026, source: Fddb App Store page.

TellerBuddy collects data too. According to its own listing in the Irish App Store, the following may be linked to your identity, each for App Functionality: Health & Fitness (Health, Fitness), Contact Info (Email Address, Name), User Content (Photos or Videos, Customer Support, Other User Content) and Identifiers (User ID). Not linked to you may be Usage Data (Product Interaction) for Analytics, and Diagnostics (Crash Data, Other Diagnostic Data) for App Functionality. TellerBuddy lists no data used to track you. Without an account, your diary, profile and weight stay on your device; the details are in the privacy policy.

Logging in two steps

Pick the product, confirm the amount, done. You find the product by barcode (over 2.8 million products, based on Open Food Facts), by text search with brand, calories and Nutri-Score in the results, through basic foods without packaging, or as goods from the deli counter without a fixed barcode. If a packaged product is missing, you take three photos: front, nutrition table, ingredients. The app reads the details, and the product is in the catalogue straight away, marked as unchecked.

Privacy in practice

• No ad network, no advertising ID, no third-party SDK.
• Statistics without personal reference. Only the event is stored, such as which barcode was scanned, with no account, no device identifier and no IP address.
• Servers in Germany. A network service provider is also used for delivery; which providers these are is listed in the privacy policy.
• Export and deletion are yours to do in the settings: health data is deleted immediately, the account after 30 days at the latest.

When TellerBuddy is not for you

• You need Android or a web version: TellerBuddy exists only for iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later.
• Search, photo recognition and backup need an internet connection.
• Photo recognition, the Bluetooth kitchen scale and cloud backup are available only with the subscription (€2.99 a month or €29.99 a year in Ireland, three days free).

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All pages use the same data basis and give their sources with the date they were retrieved.

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