A calorie calculator
A formula from age, height, weight and activity. Useful on day one, but it does not learn from what your scale does.
Compared
A bodybuilding app with a weekly check-in.
NOTANOTR, an iPhone app launching soon, re-measures your maintenance every week from what you eat and what the scale does, reads the 7-day trend against your plan line, and every Sunday proposes one change, such as holding or lowering calories, with the number behind it.
The short answer
One measurement a week, one change a week.
A calculator guesses your maintenance once. MacroFactor and NOTANOTR both measure it from what you eat and how your weight trends. NOTANOTR also reads your training, sleep and blood work before it proposes the week’s change, and checks weeks later whether that change landed.
MacroFactor
Expenditure estimated from intake and the weight trend, with a weekly check-in that recommends adjustments to your targets.
NOTANOTR
Maintenance re-measured every week, the 7-day trend against your plan line, and a Sunday report whose one change can be about sleep instead of food.
Side by side
Where your calorie target comes from.
A calculator as any formula-based one works. MacroFactor as its help centre describes it. NOTANOTR as its front page does.
| Feature | A calorie calculator | MacroFactor | NOTANOTR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Estimated once from a formula | Estimated from intake and the trended rate of weight change, refined as you log | Re-measured every week from what you ate and what the scale did, shown with a range and the days behind it |
| Scale weight | The number you type in | A trend, not single weigh-ins | The 7-day trend against your plan line; a carb-up, sodium, creatine or a diet break moves the scale but is not fat |
| Weekly check-in | Not part of a calculator | Recommends intake and macro adjustments | Every Sunday: your week in four numbers, what went right, what to do better and one change |
| What the change can be | Not part of a calculator | Calories and macros | Calories, training or sleep: “Keep 2,200 kcal. Fix: sleep, not food.” |
| Checking the change | Not part of a calculator | Not listed | Weeks later the app checks whether the change landed where it was predicted |
| Training in the same read | Not part of a calculator | Not in the nutrition app; MacroFactor Workouts is a separate app | Every set, e1RM and stalls in the same file |
| Sleep and blood work | Not part of a calculator | Not listed | Sleep and HRV from Apple Health; blood work against the lab's range |
| Price | Usually free | Free trial, then a subscription | USD 39.99 a month or USD 299 a year, 7 days free |
As their own sites describe them, read on 15 October 2026: MacroFactor help centre, macrofactor.com, macrofactor.com/workouts. “Not listed” means we did not find it there, not that it cannot exist.
Honest limits
What NOTANOTR does not do.
- No AndroidiPhone only, for now. MacroFactor runs on Android.
- Not for beginnersIt reads what you already log. It does not teach you how to train or how to count food.
- Not in the App Store yetIt launches soon. Leave an address on the front page and we tell you when it is live.
- Not freeUSD 39.99 a month or USD 299 a year, with 7 days free (CHF 39.95 or CHF 299 in Switzerland, EUR 39.99 or EUR 299 where the App Store charges in euros). Most calculators are free, and MacroFactor has a free trial.
How does NOTANOTR measure maintenance?
From what you logged and what the scale did, week by week, followed through the diet. It shows the number with a range and the days it rests on, for example 2,857 kcal a day, range 2,806 to 2,908, from 20 logged days.
What is in the Sunday report?
Your week in four numbers (weight, calories, protein, training), what went right, what to do better with the days it happened, and the one change for next week, each with the number behind it. In the app under Reports, and in your inbox if you want it.
Why only one change a week?
One change is one you can follow, and one the next weeks can measure. Each report says what changed and what it should do, and later the app checks whether it landed where it was predicted.
Does it work for a recomp or a lean gain?
Yes. The front page names recomp, lean gain, off-season and show prep, and the weekly measurement follows the plan line you set for any of them.
Does it change my calories by itself?
No. It proposes one change on Sunday with the number behind it, and you decide. The coach cannot lower your calorie floor.
More comparisons: Hevy, Strong or MacroFactor · MacroFactor alternative · Progressive overload · MyFitnessPal alternative · Apps for advanced lifters · Body recomposition · Contest prep · Blood work tracking · Lean bulk · Fat loss stalled