Lifesum alternative: a food diary without streaks and without tracking
Lifesum and TellerBuddy are both food diaries for the iPhone. The difference is in what happens around them: TellerBuddy works without tracking across other companies’ apps, without an advertising ID and without mechanics that push you to open it every day. There are no streaks, no badges and no points.
So that you do not have to take our word for it, this page contains only details you can check: what the Lifesum team and we state on the App Store and what Lifesum writes about streaks in its Help Center, each with link and retrieval date.
Lifesum and TellerBuddy compared
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.
| App | Data Used to Track You (across apps and websites of other companies) | Third-Party Advertising | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TellerBuddy | No | No | App Store, retrieved on 27 October 2026 |
| Lifesum | Yes (Identifiers) | No | App Store, retrieved on 27 October 2026 |
Lifesum 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: Lifesum App Store page.
The Lifesum Help Center describes streaks: a streak is the number of days in a row on which food was tracked in the app (source, retrieved on 27 October 2026). TellerBuddy does not count days in a row.
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.
A diary instead of a streak
TellerBuddy shows your day as a list of your entries, with calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and, if you like, sugar, plus water, steps and intermittent fasting. Whether you logged something yesterday changes nothing about what the app shows today: there is no counter that starts again from zero.
Reminders exist only if you switch them on yourself. A forgotten day can be added later through the calendar.
What else sets TellerBuddy apart
- No third-party SDK and no advertising ID. The app therefore never asks for permission to track you.
- Usable without an account; your diary, profile and weight then stay on the device.
- Servers in Germany; the operator is a German company based in Göttingen.
- Barcode catalogue with over 2.8 million products, basic foods without packaging, goods from the deli counter and your own recipes.
- Exporting your data and deleting your account yourself works in the settings, without an email to support.
When TellerBuddy is not for you
- You need Android, a web version or an Apple Watch app: TellerBuddy is for iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later.
- You want advice or a plan from a professional: TellerBuddy is not a medical device, and values are estimates.
- Photo recognition, the Bluetooth kitchen scale and cloud backup cost €2.99 a month or €29.99 a year in the subscription (Ireland), and the first three days are free.
More comparisons
All pages use the same data basis and give their sources with the date they were retrieved.
- YAZIO alternative
- MyFitnessPal alternative
- Fddb alternative
- Calorie counter without tracking
- All apps compared
Frequently asked questions
Does TellerBuddy have streaks?
No. TellerBuddy has no streaks, no badges and no points.
How is TellerBuddy different from Lifesum?
The details of both apps on the App Store are in the table above, with source and retrieval date. We do not give our own ratings of the Lifesum app.
Does TellerBuddy work without signing in?
Yes. Tap “Continue without an account” on the first screen. Diary, barcode scanner, product search, recipes and Apple Health work without signing in and without a subscription.
Where do my photos go during AI recognition?
The recognition does not run on our side but at Google as a processor, and only with your explicit consent. Without it, no photo leaves your device. The photo is processed for the recognition and discarded afterwards.