Software Alternatives & Startups

fatsecret VS Substack

Compare fatsecret VS Substack and see what are their differences

fatsecret

Individualized and sustainable weight loss.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Freemium $9.99 / Monthly
Substack

With Substack, anyone can start a publication that combines a personal website, blog, and email newsletter or podcast. It's quick and simple.

Rating
0 reviews
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Substack seems to be a lot more popular than fatsecret. While we know about 105 links to Substack, we've tracked only 6 mentions of fatsecret.

social mentions
6 vs 105
Health And Fitness popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
215 vs 240+

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

fatsecret
Substack
Website fatsecret.com substack.com
Pricing
Freemium $9.99 / Monthly
—
Platforms
Web iOS Android REST API +1
—
Company Startup from Australia · 2006 Startup from the United States
Listed in

About fatsecret and Substack

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

fatsecret
Substack

At fatsecret we empower anyone to reach their desired weight through individualized and sustainable weight loss, because we envision a world where everyone can achieve their weight loss goals, leading to better health and happiness. We support a community of more than 100 million enthusiastic...

Read more about fatsecret

No description of Substack yet.

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

fatsecret 6 features
Substack 6 features
  • Weight Loss
  • Calorie Counter
  • GLP-1 Weight Loss Workflows
  • Diet Tracker
  • Community
  • Weight Tracking
  • Ease of Use
    Substack offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for writers to publish and monetize their newsletters.
  • Built-in Monetization
    Writers can easily charge readers for subscriptions, allowing for straightforward monetization.
  • Direct Audience Connection
    Substack allows writers to build a direct relationship with their audience via email, which can lead to a more engaged readership.
  • Discovery and Community
    Features like staff picks and recommendations help writers get discovered by new readers.
  • No Upfront Costs
    Substack does not charge upfront fees; instead, it takes a percentage of subscription revenues, making it easier to start.
  • Content Ownership
    Writers retain full ownership of their content, giving them more control over their work.

Possible disadvantages

  • Revenue Share
    Substack takes a 10% cut of subscription revenues, which can add up for writers with a large subscriber base.
  • Limited Customization
    The platform has limited customization options compared to building a custom website or using more flexible CMS options.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying on Substack means depending on its policies and infrastructure, which could pose risks if the platform changes its terms or features.
  • Competition
    As more writers join Substack, it can become challenging to stand out amidst the growing competition.
  • Email Deliverability
    Writers may face issues with email deliverability, as some newsletters may end up in spam folders.
  • Payment Processing Fees
    Besides Substack's fee, payment processors like Stripe also take a percentage, further reducing net earnings for writers.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

fatsecret
Substack

Overall verdict

  • FatSecret is generally considered a good resource for those seeking a free and user-friendly way to monitor their diet and fitness journey. Its extensive food database and additional features like community support make it a valuable tool for many users.

Why this product is good

  • FatSecret is a popular nutrition and diet tracking tool that provides users with a comprehensive database of foods, including nutritional information and calorie counts. It allows users to track their meals, exercise, and weight loss progress. The app also features a community forum and provides access to healthy recipes and diet tips, which can be helpful for individuals looking to maintain or lose weight.

Recommended for

    FatSecret is recommended for individuals who want a simple yet effective app to track their calorie intake, monitor their weight loss or maintenance goals, and engage with a community of like-minded individuals. It is particularly useful for those on a budget, as the app's basic version is free.

Overall verdict

  • Substack is a good choice for writers seeking autonomy and a straightforward way to monetize their content. However, it may not be the best fit for those who prefer working within the framework of a larger publication or those unfamiliar with the challenges of building and maintaining a subscriber base.

Why this product is good

  • Substack is a platform that allows writers, journalists, and content creators to publish and monetize their newsletters. It is praised for its ease of use, built-in subscription system, and direct-to-consumer model which enables writers to retain control over their audience and content. The platform has attracted both independent writers and established journalists seeking the freedom to monetize their work without traditional media constraints.

Recommended for

  • Independent writers and journalists
  • Content creators looking to monetize their work
  • Individuals seeking a direct relationship with their audience
  • Those who appreciate simplicity in publishing

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

fatsecret 0 videos + Add
Substack 5 videos + Add

No fatsecret videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Monetizing Podcasts and Newsletters - Chris Best of Substack and Jonathan Gill of Backtracks

More videos

  • - E1016 Substack CEO Chris Best empowers writers via email newsletter platform, raised $15M from a16z
  • - Why EVERYONE should be on Substack | What it is, How it Works, $$$
  • - Beehiiv vs Substack (2024) - Which is Better?
  • - My Experience with SUBSTACK: An Honest Review of Substack

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
fatsecret
Substack
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
CMS
100% 100%

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing fatsecret and Substack.

What makes your product unique?

fatsecret's answer

fatsecret is defined by its global scale and data integrity. Unlike many platforms that rely solely on unverified user-generated content, fatsecret provides a highly curated, verified global food and nutrition database covering 56 countries and 24 languages. Our consumer app empowers millions of users to lose weight, while our professional-grade Platform API serves as the nutritional backbone for global tech giants. This ensures that whether a user is tracking a meal in Melbourne or a developer is building a health app in San Francisco, they are accessing the most accurate, localized and comprehensive data available.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

fatsecret's answer

Users and businesses choose fatsecret for its uncompromising transparency and accessibility.

For Consumers: We offer a completely free, high-quality core weight loss experience including a barcode scanner, comprehensive macro tracking and an engaged community - without the aggressive paywalls common in the industry.

For Developers: We provide a "no lock-in" contract and a white-label API that is arguably the most flexible and easy to integrate in the market. Choosing fatsecret means choosing a partner that prioritizes data accuracy and user success over short-term monetization.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

fatsecret's answer

fatsecret serves a diverse, global audience:

Health-Conscious Individuals: People seeking a personalized, easy-to-use tool for sustainable weight loss and nutrition management.

The Developer Ecosystem: Over 35,000 developers and startups who require high-quality, localized nutrition data to power their own innovative health, fitness and medical applications.

Enterprise Leaders: Global corporations in the technology, insurance, and healthcare sectors (such as Google/fitbit, Samsung and Abbott) that integrate our data into their wearable devices and wellness platforms.

What's the story behind your product?

fatsecret's answer

Founded in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia, fatsecret began with a simple mission: to empower people to achieve their ideal weight through individualized and sustainable nutrition. Over the last ~20 years, we have evolved from a social network for dieting into the world’s leading provider of verified food and nutrition data to the leading consumer weight loss solution, now even expanding into medically supported weight loss through the fatsecret Clinic.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

fatsecret's answer

The fatsecret platform is an API-first ecosystem designed for high-concurrency and global reliability. Our core infrastructure handles millions of API calls per month, utilizing:

  • Scalable REST APIs: Delivering JSON-formatted data with localized support.
  • Enterprise-Grade Security: Implementing robust OAuth protocols and role-based authentication to ensure data integrity for our global brand partners.
  • Advanced Image Recognition: Proprietary AI/ML models for automated food detection and portion estimation.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

fatsecret's answer

Our Platform API is trusted by some of the most influential companies in the world to power their health and wellness offerings. Customers include:

  • Technology Giants: Samsung and Google (Fitbit).
  • Healthcare & Med-Tech: Lingo, LifeScan, Welldoc and Hims & Hers.
  • Global Brands: Nestlé and Betty Bossi.
  • Innovative Apps: Bending Spoons, Health2Sync and CalAI.

User comments

Share your experience with using fatsecret and Substack. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

fatsecret no reviews yet
Substack no reviews yet
  • Top Alternatives to MyFitnessPal
    calsnaps.com · Nov 2024

    FatSecret provides basic calorie counting and community support in a simple, easy-to-use app. It is free and offers basic tracking capabilities including a food diary, exercise log, and weight chart. While it is...

  • 10 Best MyFitnessPal Alternatives
    www.geeksforgeeks.org · Apr 2024

    As we speak, there are multiple options that bear a striking resemblance to MyFitnessPal as tools for tracking our diet, workouts, and general health. The selection process is pretty specific too; it could be an...

  • The 8 Best Calorie Counter Apps
    www.healthline.com · Mar 2023

    FatSecret also offers a monthly summary view, which displays total calories consumed each day and averages for each month. This feature may be convenient for tracking your overall progress.

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

fatsecret 6 mentions
Substack 105 mentions
  • 100g of rice contains 27.9g of carbs, 2.66g of protein, 0.28 g of fat, and about 400 mg of everything else in terms of nutrition, where is the other 68.78g? Is it the amount of excretion we will produce?
    Data from fatsecret.com Source : https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/generic/rice-white-cooked-regular?portionid=53181&portionamount=100.000. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How to lose 10 pounds?
    I'm using fatsecret.com to track my calorie intake and used another site to figure out the macro ratios I should be eating. I eat healthy food anyways but after tracking it for a few weeks my macros were WAY off eating too many carbs and... Source: over 3 years ago
  • CMV: Eggs served in a restaurant should come properly salted unless otherwise requested by a customer.
    Should fatsecret.com be the one to determine standards for the amount of salt on eggs? I would think this ought to be up to the chef. Source: over 3 years ago

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  • Benchmarking Qwen3.8 27B quantizations: 4-bit holds up, 1-bit collapses
    For anyone that would like to see more quantizations tested, I can highly recommend paying a few bucks for oobabooga's testing, which is published on his Substack: https://substack.com/@oobabooga. - Source: Hacker News / 19 days ago
  • Discovery of a new OpenAI agent message board
    Reminds me of this meme: https://substack.com/@tomasbjartur/note/c-323840878?r=6cjtqn. - Source: Hacker News / 23 days ago
  • How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been?
    Valid criticisms of AI - safety critics who think AI can take over the world like Yud (I find this the least credible but still valid) - Bernie type of critics who think AI can cause widespread job losses - Ruxandra Teslo who thinks AI... - Source: Hacker News / 26 days ago

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Alternatives to fatsecret and Substack

When comparing fatsecret and Substack, you can also consider the following products.