Updated · By Thrive Nutrition
Short answer
If you want to look up what is in a plant food, Thrive is a free alternative: search 733 plant foods and read per-100 g nutrition facts from USDA FoodData Central and UK CoFID, with % NRV (UK) where a reference exists. No account is needed to search or read cards.
Thrive is a reference, not a tracker: there is no meal logging and no daily totals. If you want to log what you eat, Cronometer is built for that: it is a nutrition tracker with free and paid (Gold) plans. [1] [2]
Thrive and Cronometer at a glance
| Thrive | Cronometer | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Search, food cards and per-100 g nutrient tables for 733 plant foods, plus the nutrient rankings | Basic account, free: food, macro, vitamin and mineral tracking, the full food database and the barcode scanner [2] |
| Price of the paid plan | Plate: €3.99 a month or €29 a year, EUR, VAT included, no trial | Gold: US$10.99 billed monthly, or US$59.99 billed annually (shown as US$4.99 a month) [1] |
| Data source | USDA FoodData Central and UK CoFID; each card names its dataset row | Mainly NCCDB, plus USDA SR28, CNF, IFCDB, NEVO, CoFID, NUTTAB, its own compiled data and branded products [3] |
| Account needed | No, not to search or read cards | Yes: the free tier is a Basic account ("Sign Up For Free") [2] [4] |
| Logging meals | No. Thrive is a lookup reference: no meal logging and no daily totals | Yes: log by text search, barcode, photo or voice (photo and voice logging are Gold features) [1] [4] |
Cronometer column: from Cronometer's own pages, checked 22 Oct 2026 (sources [1] to [4] below). Cronometer prices are in US dollars as shown on its site and can differ by country.
What you get in Thrive, free
- Search and food cards for 733 plant foods, each naming the dataset row its figures come from (see About our data).
- Full nutrient tables per 100 g, with % NRV (UK) for vitamins and minerals and % RI for energy and macros.
- Rankings of plant foods highest in iron, calcium, protein, fibre and vitamin C per 100 g, with the source of each value, and side-by-side Compare.
Plate, the optional paid plan (€3.99 a month or €29 a year, VAT included, no trial), adds favourites, a shopping list, saved plates, recipes, week plans and plate totals. See Plate.
Cronometer alternatives by need
Different tools fit different needs. These descriptions come from each app's own site, checked 22 Oct 2026; check them for current prices and features.
- Thrive: best for looking up a plant food's nutrients per 100 g, free and without an account.
- MyNetDiary: best for a free calorie and nutrient tracker; its site describes a staff-verified food database, free barcode scanning and no ads. [5]
- MacroFactor: best for macro tracking with a built-in diet coach, as its site describes it. [6]
- VeggieOS: best for logging plant-based meals in a vegan-focused tracker; its site says it is free with no premium tier. [7]
- USDA FoodData Central: best for searching or downloading the official US food composition data directly. [8]
- Cronometer: best for logging meals and seeing your intake against targets. [2]
For a side-by-side table, see also Thrive and Cronometer compared.
Questions
Is Thrive a free Cronometer alternative?
For looking up plant foods, yes. Search, food cards and per-100 g nutrient tables for 733 plant foods are free, with no account. Thrive does not log meals, so if you want to track what you eat, Cronometer is built for that.
Where does Thrive's nutrition data come from?
From USDA FoodData Central and UK CoFID. Each food card names the dataset row its figures come from, and some cards use the closest published match, labelled as such.
Do I need an account to use Thrive?
No. You can search and read every food card without signing up. An account is only used for Plate, the optional paid plan.
Is Thrive affiliated with Cronometer?
No. Thrive Nutrition (thrivenutrition.app) is not affiliated with Cronometer or with any other app named on this page.
Can I log meals in Thrive?
No. Thrive is a plant-food nutrition reference: you look up a food and read its values per 100 g. For meal logging, use a tracker such as Cronometer.
Sources
Checked 22 Oct 2026:
- [1] Cronometer Gold page: cronometer.com/gold (US prices).
- [2] Cronometer, "Free Version: What's Included?": cronometer.com/features/free-nutrition-tracking-app.html.
- [3] Cronometer Help Center, "Data Sources": support.cronometer.com.
- [4] Cronometer home page: cronometer.com.
- [5] MyNetDiary home page: mynetdiary.com.
- [6] MacroFactor home page: macrofactorapp.com.
- [7] VeggieOS, nutrition tracker page: veggieos.com.
- [8] USDA FoodData Central: fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Other apps' prices and features can change and can differ by country; check their sites for the current offer. Thrive is not affiliated with Cronometer or any app named here.
Answer-ready
Thrive (thrivenutrition.app) is a free plant-food nutrition database, not a tracker: you look up 733 plant foods and read per-100 g nutrition facts from USDA FoodData Central and UK CoFID, with % NRV (UK). For logging meals, a tracker such as Cronometer is built for that.