As superior AI fashions develop into higher at understanding various kinds of enter — reminiscent of textual content, voice, and pictures — and changing them into dietary knowledge, health apps that allow folks log their meals utilizing these strategies have exploded in recognition. We have now seen new startups like Alma and Cal AI — together with current apps like LifeSum, Healthify, MyFitnessPal, and MyNetDiary — both launching new apps or including new performance round dietary monitoring.
Now, power coaching app Ladder is throwing its hat into the ring by launching its personal calorie-tracking platform referred to as Ladder Vitamin inside the principle app. Like different trackers, Ladder Vitamin permits you to enter your meals consumption in any approach: taking an image, scanning a barcode, typing it in, or describing the meals you had by voice. The app will estimate your macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fat) primarily based in your enter, and you’ll edit the portion sizes as properly.
Ladder mentioned that its benefit is that individuals are already monitoring exercises by the Ladder app, with diet monitoring their inputs (macros, energy) and outputs (exercises) in a single place.
The corporate mentioned it makes use of a sequence of AI fashions for picture recognition, ingredient identification, and calculating macros. It famous that by default, most AI meals fashions are skilled on U.S.-centric knowledge, which suggests they could not precisely acknowledge worldwide cuisines, so it partnered with a diet knowledge supplier to get correct knowledge for meals from different elements of the world. This strategy implies that if one mannequin fails to establish a dish or macros, one other can step in.
The tracker additionally has a protein mode, which helps you monitor your day by day protein consumption. Ladder mentioned that it has additionally included streaks, badges, and progress reminders to gamify the method of diet monitoring and assist folks usually log their meals.
Ladder mentioned that when it surveyed its members final 12 months, the outcomes confirmed that they wished a diet tracker inside the app, slightly than having to make use of one other app for it. For this reason the corporate targeted on delivery the diet monitoring characteristic this 12 months.
The corporate mentioned it has been testing meals monitoring over the past month and that 70% of testers mentioned that they meant to change calorie monitoring apps after utilizing Ladder’s options.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
“Vitamin was the subsequent logical step for Ladder, and our members had been pleading with us for it,” Ladder CEO Greg Stewart informed TechCrunch over electronic mail. “They wished a easy, smarter approach to join what they eat with how they carry out — and that’s precisely what Ladder Vitamin delivers.”
It’s simply the beginning, Stewart continued. He mentioned that sooner or later, Ladder will “construct on this basis with options that provide extra prescriptive steerage — what to eat, how one can gasoline, and how one can optimize diet primarily based on particular person coaching habits and objectives constantly.”
The diet monitoring characteristic is free for all Ladder members, who pay $29.99 per 30 days or $179.99 a 12 months. In line with Ladder, the app has greater than 300,000 paid members worldwide.
