Free AI Food Scanner

Photo · Voice · Barcode · Text · Updated September 14, 2026

Fud AI is a free AI food scanner for iPhone and Android. Point the camera at your plate, scan a packaged-food barcode, say what you ate, or type it — the app identifies the food, estimates calories and 30+ nutrients, and lets you review everything before it goes into your log. It is open source, runs on an AI key you own, and has no ads, no subscription, and no required account.

Download on the App Store Download on Google Play

How the AI meal scanner works

Every logging path in Fud AI follows the same four steps, so you always get a chance to correct the AI before anything is saved:

Capture. Take or import up to 10 photos, add an optional note, scan a barcode, speak, type, or share a photo from another iOS app.
Analyze. Your chosen AI provider identifies the food and estimates the full nutrition profile. Barcodes skip the AI and look up label data instead.
Review. Rename the food, change grams or a visible unit such as slices, pieces, cups, or ml, unlock and correct calories or nutrients, and preview the day's macro impact with What if?.
Log. The entry is saved locally on your device. Nutrition syncs to Apple Health or Health Connect only if you turned that on.

Photo scanning: up to 10 images in one analysis

Real meals rarely fit in one frame. Fud AI lets you take or select up to 10 photos in a single capture session — the plate, the side, the drink, the label on the sauce — and sends them together as separate images in one request, so the model sees the whole meal rather than a stitched collage. An optional note ("half portion", "cooked in olive oil", "shared with two people") gives the AI the context a photo cannot. If an analysis fails, Retry and Cancel stay available so you never have to rebuild the selection.

Smart serving units show slices, pieces, cups, or ml when the AI can infer them, and changing the amount recalculates every nutrient live.

Barcode scanning for packaged food

For anything with a label, scan the barcode. Fud AI looks the product up in the public Open Food Facts database and pulls the product name, brand, serving size, and nutriments when they are available — no AI key involved. If the product is missing or incomplete, you can photograph the packaging instead and let the AI read the label.

Voice and text logging

Describe your meal out loud with native on-device speech recognition on iPhone or Android, or pick one of six speech-to-text options (Gemini Audio, OpenAI Whisper, Groq, Deepgram, AssemblyAI) with per-provider language selection. Typing works too, and saved meals let you re-log a regular breakfast in two taps. On iPhone, Siri Shortcuts can log food and read today's calories hands-free, and on supported iPhones Apple Intelligence can process eligible text descriptions on-device as the final fallback.

Choose the AI that does the scanning

Most AI food scanner apps lock you into one hidden model. Fud AI lets you pick from 13 providers and switch any time: Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, xAI Grok, OpenRouter, Together AI, Groq, Hugging Face, Fireworks AI, DeepInfra, Mistral, Ollama running locally, or any custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint. A free Gemini key covers everyday use; an optional Fallback Provider retries automatically when your primary is overloaded or rate-limited; and Custom AI Instructions let you tell the model once about your region, brands, or diet.

Because the key is yours, the scanner is free forever with Bring Your Own Key. On iPhone there is also an optional Plus/Pro hosted AI plan if you would rather not manage a key.

Private by design

Your photos, food log, and nutrition history are stored locally on your phone. In BYOK mode, a scan goes directly from your device to the AI provider you configured — Fud AI has no server in the middle and never sees your API key, which lives in the iOS Keychain or Android EncryptedSharedPreferences. There is no in-app analytics or tracking, and the whole app is open source so you can verify that. The Privacy Policy lists every request the app can make.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Fud AI food scanner free?

Yes. The app is free and open source with no subscription or ads. AI photo scanning uses Bring Your Own Key, which is free forever — a free Google Gemini key, OpenRouter's free routing, or a local Ollama model all work. Barcode scanning does not need an AI key at all.

Which AI does the food scanner use?

Whichever you choose. Fud AI supports 13 providers, including Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, xAI Grok, OpenRouter, Together AI, Groq, Hugging Face, Fireworks AI, DeepInfra, Mistral, Ollama running locally, and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints. You can switch models any time and set a fallback provider.

Can the AI meal scanner handle a whole plate or several dishes?

Yes. You can take or import up to 10 photos in one session and add a note such as "shared the fries". The photos are sent together as separate images in a single analysis, and the AI returns a nutrition estimate you can adjust on the Review Food screen before logging.

How accurate is an AI food scanner?

AI estimates are approximations and vary with the model, the photo, and portion cues. Fud AI treats every result as a draft: you can rename the food, change grams or a visible serving unit, unlock and edit calories or individual nutrients, and preview the effect on your day before you log. For packaged foods, barcode lookup uses Open Food Facts label data where available. The Terms of Service explain the estimate disclaimer in full.

Does the food scanner work without internet?

Manual entry, saved meals, and native on-device speech recognition work offline. AI photo analysis needs a connection to your chosen provider unless you run Ollama on your own network, and barcode lookup needs a connection to Open Food Facts. On supported iPhones, Apple Intelligence can process eligible text food descriptions on-device as the final fallback.

Try the free AI food scanner

Install Fud AI, add a free key or start with barcodes and manual entry, and scan your next meal. Comparing options? See Fud AI vs Cal AI.