ClearEatyFree food scanner apps compared: Yuka, EWG, Open Food Facts, ClearEaty
Yuka is the best-known food scanner app, and for many people it is the right one. This page is for anyone who wants a second opinion, or a free app built around US food labels. We make ClearEaty, so read it with that in mind — where Yuka is the better choice, we say so.
Get ClearEaty freeFacts about other apps are taken from their own pages and store listings, as of 5 October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
The short answer
- Want food and cosmetics in one app, and the biggest database? Yuka, or EWG’s Healthy Living, which also rates cleaning products.
- Want a free food scanner where search and every score stay free, and artificial dyes cap the score? ClearEaty.
- Want open data you can add to yourself? Open Food Facts.
ClearEaty and Yuka, side by side
| ClearEaty | Yuka | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. Scanning, scores, the reasons behind them, allergen flags, search and swaps are free and will stay free. No ads. | Free to scan, no ads. Optional Premium membership from $10 a year in the US; the US App Store lists $10, $15 and $20 options.[1][4] Premium adds search without scanning, offline mode, food-preference alerts and unlimited history.[2] |
| The score | 1 to 10, built from the ingredient list. The worst ingredient caps the score instead of being averaged away; how processed the food is pulls it down; so do high sugar, saturated fat and salt where the nutrition panel is known. | 0 to 100: 60% nutritional quality (based on Nutri-Score), 30% additives, 10% organic. An additive Yuka rates high-risk caps the score at 49/100.[3] |
| Artificial dyes | A certified dye caps the score at 4 out of 10: Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Red 3, and Blue 2 and Green 3 from version 1.9.11. | Each additive gets one of four risk levels; a high-risk one caps the score.[3] Check the app for how a specific dye is rated. |
| Allergens | “Contains” and “May contain” flags on every product, free. Saving your own allergy so the app warns you automatically is not available yet. | Alerts for your food preferences (Yuka’s examples: palm oil, gluten, vegetarian diet) are part of Premium.[2] |
| Cosmetics | No. Food only; supplements and cosmetics are marked “score may not apply”. | Yes — cosmetics and personal care are rated too.[4] |
| Database | Smaller and newer. If a product is missing, photograph its ingredient list and get a score on the spot. | About 6 million products listed (4 million food, 2 million cosmetics), by Yuka’s own count.[4] |
| Where | iPhone and Android, US App Store and Google Play. | iPhone and Android, in several countries including the US, UK, Canada and Australia.[1] |
Where Yuka is the better choice
- Cosmetics and personal care. ClearEaty does not rate them; Yuka does.
- Database size. Yuka lists millions of products. ClearEaty’s own catalogue is far smaller, and you will meet products it has to read from a label photo first.
- Track record. Yuka has been around much longer, and its US App Store listing shows a 4.8 rating from more than 100,000 ratings.[4]
- Outside the US. ClearEaty is only available in the US for now.
Where ClearEaty is different
- Every ingredient, rated. Not just one number for the packet: each line on the label gets its own rating, and the rules that moved the score are shown next to it.
- The worst ingredient is not averaged away. A flagged ingredient sets a ceiling on the score. How the score works.
- Processing counts. A short ingredient list is not automatically a good one; heavily processed foods are pulled down.
- Free where it matters. Scanning, scores, reasons, allergen flags, search and swaps never sit behind a price. No ads, and no brand can pay to appear or to change a score.
- No barcode needed. Photograph an ingredient list and ClearEaty scores it.
Other alternatives worth a look
EWG’s Healthy Living, from the Environmental Working Group, rates more than 200,000 food, personal-care and cleaning products on a 1–10 scale where 1 is best — the opposite direction to ClearEaty. Free, with an optional Premium in-app purchase ($19.99 on the US App Store).[5]
Open Food Facts is a collaborative, free and open database of food products from around the world, with its own app for iPhone and Android that shows the Nutri-Score and an environmental Green-Score.[6] ClearEaty uses Open Food Facts data, among other sources.
Questions
Is there a free app like Yuka?
Yes, several. ClearEaty is free on iPhone and Android in the US: scanning, the score, the reasons behind it, allergen flags, search and better-scoring swaps cost nothing and have no ads. Yuka itself is free to scan with no ads; its optional Premium membership (from $10 a year in the US, as of 5 October 2026) adds search without scanning, offline mode, food-preference alerts and unlimited history. EWG’s Healthy Living and Open Food Facts are also free to download.
Is ClearEaty better than Yuka?
It depends on what you need. Yuka also rates cosmetics, has a far bigger database and a much longer track record. ClearEaty is food only, keeps search and every score free, scores from the ingredient list with the reasons shown line by line, and caps foods that contain certified artificial dyes. Plenty of people keep both on their phone.
Does ClearEaty scan cosmetics?
No. ClearEaty is built for food. If you scan a supplement or a cosmetic, it tells you the score may not apply instead of showing a confident number. For cosmetics and personal care, Yuka or EWG’s Healthy Living are the better tools.
How does ClearEaty treat artificial dyes like Red 40?
A food that lists a certified artificial dye cannot score above 4 out of 10, and the score names the dye that capped it. That covers Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1 and Red 3, and Blue 2 and Green 3 from app version 1.9.11. Label spellings such as “FD&C Red #40” or “Red 40 Lake” count too; “No artificial colors” does not.
Does ClearEaty show allergens?
Yes, for everyone, free. A “Contains” flag comes from the pack’s own Contains line, the product data, or an ingredient name such as “roasted peanuts”. “May contain” warnings are shown separately and more softly. Saving your own allergy so every screen warns you automatically is not available yet, so always read the pack as well.
What if the product is not in the database?
Photograph the ingredient list. ClearEaty reads it and scores it on the spot, which helps with bakery bread, imports and anything without a barcode it knows.
Is a food score medical advice?
No. A ClearEaty score is our own opinion of how clean a food’s ingredient list is. It is not medical or dietary advice, and it is not a claim about any brand. The same is true of any scanner app’s rating.
Sources
Checked 5 October 2026. Prices and figures for other apps are theirs and can change; their own pages are the authority.
- Yuka Help: How much does membership cost?
- Yuka: Premium Member
- Yuka Help: How are food products rated?
- Yuka on the US App Store
- EWG’s Healthy Living on the US App Store
- Open Food Facts: the mobile app
Yuka is a trademark of its owner. ClearEaty is not affiliated with Yuka, the Environmental Working Group or Open Food Facts. A ClearEaty score is our own opinion of how clean a food’s ingredient list is — not medical advice.
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What is ClearEaty? →
How ClearEaty scores food →
Browse every food ClearEaty has scored →