A YAZIO alternative: count calories without tracking
Several large calorie counters state on their App Store product page that data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies. TellerBuddy is built differently: no ad network, no advertising ID, not a single third-party SDK. That is why the app never asks for permission to track you.
TellerBuddy is made by a small studio in Göttingen, Germany, as a privacy-friendly alternative for Germany and the EU. The servers are in Germany, and the diary also works without an account.
What the apps themselves state on the App Store
Based on the privacy details each developer publishes on its App Store product page. “Yes” means the developer states there that data may be used for this. Apple does not verify these details. Retrieved on 27 October 2026; select a name to open the product page.
| App | Tracking across other companies’ apps and websites | Data used for third-party advertising |
|---|---|---|
| TellerBuddy | No | No |
| YAZIO | Yes | Yes |
| MyFitnessPal | Yes | Yes |
| Lifesum | Yes | No |
| Fddb | Yes | No |
YAZIO and TellerBuddy: what the App Store says
YAZIO states in the Irish App Store that data (Identifiers) may be used to track users across apps and websites owned by other companies, and that data may be used for third-party advertising. Information as of 27 October 2026, source: YAZIO 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.
How TellerBuddy handles it
- No game made of food. TellerBuddy has no badges, no challenges, no points and no counters for days in a row. The app shows what you ate and neither rewards nor punishes you for it.
- No ad network. TellerBuddy includes no ad network and uses no advertising ID. In exactly one place in the settings you will see a labelled recommendation for a kitchen scale.
- One clear line on paying. The essentials are free, three extras come with a subscription.
- No pressure. TellerBuddy only sends reminders if you switch them on yourself, and a forgotten day is easy to add later.
- Wrong nutrition data from the community. New products added by users are in the catalogue straight away, but they are marked as unchecked in the app and reviewed afterwards.
- Data as a business model. No third-party SDK, no advertising ID, no tracking prompt. You don’t need an account, and if you sign in, it’s only with Apple. Export and deletion are yours to do in Settings.
- And otherwise: more than 2.8 million products by barcode, basic foods, your own recipes, intermittent fasting, widgets and, if you like, a Bluetooth kitchen scale, sold separately.
What to look for in a calorie counter
- Read the privacy details. On the App Store page, the “App Privacy” section shows whether a development team states tracking. It takes a minute and works for any app.
- Check whether an account is required. With TellerBuddy it is not: your diary, profile and weight stay on your device without an account.
- Watch for streaks, badges and points if you do not want them. Whether an app has them shows in its help pages and screenshots; TellerBuddy has none.
- Know where photos go. With TellerBuddy, photo recognition runs at Google as a processor and only after your explicit consent; without it, no photo leaves your device.
Worth knowing before you start
TellerBuddy is free to use, no subscription needed. Photo recognition, the Bluetooth scale and cloud backup need a subscription, which you can try free for three days; after that a monthly or yearly subscription runs, which you can cancel at any time in your iOS settings.
TellerBuddy is available for iPhone and iPad running iOS 18 or later. There is no Android version.
More comparisons
All pages use the same data basis and give their sources with the date they were retrieved.
- MyFitnessPal alternative
- Lifesum alternative
- Fddb alternative
- Calorie counter without tracking
- All apps compared
Frequently asked questions
Does TellerBuddy track me?
No. There is no ad network and no third-party SDK in the app. The statistics we need we collect ourselves, without any personal reference, for example which barcodes are scanned, so we can see gaps in the catalogue. Everything else is in the privacy policy.
Does TellerBuddy know the products in my supermarket?
The catalogue covers more than 2.8 million products, from brands to supermarket own labels, plus basic foods such as rice, eggs or apples. If a product is missing, you photograph the pack and it is in the catalogue for everyone straight away, marked as unchecked until it has been reviewed. For that you need an account with Apple.
How much does TellerBuddy cost?
The core features are free. Photo recognition, the Bluetooth scale and cloud backup come with a monthly or yearly subscription, free for the first three days. The App Store shows the price for your country before you buy.