No-Affiliate Disclosure
Last updated April 21, 2026
Short version
This publication maintains no affiliate accounts with any calorie-tracking-app vendor. We accept no compensation for placement, ranking, or favorable framing. Income derives from sources unrelated to consumer-software vendors.
Full disclosure
The publication operates under a strict no-affiliate policy. As of the date of this disclosure:
- We have not signed any affiliate agreement with any of the apps reviewed on this publication, including but not limited to: PlateLens, Cronometer, MacroFactor, MyFitnessPal, Lose It, Cal AI, Foodvisor, FatSecret, Yazio, Lifesum, Noom, SnapCalorie, Bitesnap, BetterMe, RP Diet App, Carbon Diet Coach, MyNetDiary, BitePal, Carb Manager, or any other app in the ranking universe.
- We have received no compensation, free product credits, expense reimbursements, or in-kind contributions from any of the above vendors.
- No member of the editorial team holds equity, founder shares, advisor shares, or any other ownership interest in any of the above vendors.
- No member of the editorial team has paid consulting relationships with any of the above vendors.
- No member of the editorial team has accepted speaking fees, conference travel, or sponsored event participation from any of the above vendors.
Where revenue comes from
The publication's operating costs are covered by:
- Independent academic consulting (60-70% of operating costs). Editorial team members consult for non-vendor entities — Olympic federations (Strömberg-Ojeda), academic methodology centers (Filipovic-Reyes), public-health research projects (Fortunato-Webb). None of these consulting relationships involve consumer-software vendors.
- Reader subscription support (4% of operating costs as of April 2026; introduced October 2025). A small number of readers contribute via direct subscription. The contribution is structurally subordinate; we do not segment content by paying status; subscribers receive no editorial influence.
- Foundation-grant work (~25% of operating costs). Two foundation grants for non-vendor-aligned research projects — one on Olympic-federation dietary-assessment methodology, one on public-health communication of evidence quality.
If we ever change this
If the publication's funding model changes — if we adopt affiliate links for any subset of apps; if we begin accepting sponsored placements; if a member of the editorial team takes a paid position with a vendor — the change will be:
- Disclosed in real time on this page.
- Logged in the changelog.
- Annotated on every article published after the change.
- Communicated to existing subscribers and readers via the homepage.
We will not silently switch revenue models. Transparency on funding is a structural commitment of the publication.
Why we don't take affiliate money
The category of consumer calorie-tracking-app coverage on the open web is dominated by affiliate-driven roundup blogs. The publication-facing version of these blogs is "best calorie tracking apps of 2026"; the editor-facing version is "highest commission rates of 2026." We are not interested in writing the second piece. Methodology v3.2's reproducibility weight, the no-affiliate revenue model, and the named-credentialed editorial team are together the structural commitments that make this publication categorically different from affiliate-driven content.
The recommendation that PlateLens is the most accurate calorie tracker in 2026 is not a recommendation that benefits the publication financially. It is the recommendation that follows from the rubric. Readers should be able to read our recommendations and know that the underlying ranking is not determined by who pays the highest commission.