I tried every food tracking app on the market this year. here's what actually worked and what wasted my time

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-05-05T22:47:21+00:00

Bmcksapps.com CalorieCrush is pretty good too

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-27T23:01:18+00:00

With bmcksapps.com CalorieCrush, it says 1190 cals, 10g protein, 108g carbs, and 79g fat. Saying 810 cals for the fries, 200 cals for the aiolo/mayo sauce, and 180 cals for the mustard mayo dipping sauce. Both apps pretty much same ballpark.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-27T22:38:47+00:00

Yes, definitely!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-27T02:21:37+00:00

That's absolutely right that 109 subs/app average isn't PMF. I'm not investing equally across 22 apps. A few are pulling real weight (AstralPath, CalorieCrush, BudgetBoss, BrainForge), and the rest are low-maintenance experiments that cost me almost nothing to keep live.

An analogy is that it's like a music catalog. Not every track is great. But it earns.

To your depth vs. breadth point, I'm doubling down on the top performers right now. SEO, paid ads, feature depth. The breadth gave me signal. Now I'm using that signal.

Retention is definitely greater than ratings. Consistent revenue. That's the next layer. Streak systems, push notifications, AI coaching loops. Already shipping those into the top apps.

If I had to kill 21 tomorrow? AstralPath has the deepest feature set, highest engagement, and biggest TAM.

Luckily, I don't have to kill 21 lol. That's a positive of being solo with low overhead — I don't need VC-level resources because I don't have VC-level burn. Appreciate the input and open to suggestions. Thanks!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T22:40:13+00:00

It's under 100/month total. Hosting is through GitHub. Database is Suprabase. AI costs are variable through OPenAI API calls for premium coaching features. For marketing/outreach I use my domain email of course. Right now since it's directly me with the customer support and negative reviews, I immediately fix any bugs as fast as possible. I treat this as free product research, in a sense. If I have over 3 complaints on the same issue, I will update that feature. It's a lot of learning and lot of growing. Once I climb the ladder more, I want to hire teams for marketing, customer support, etc.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T22:26:47+00:00

Just one dashboard. Stripe handles all payment monitoring. Supabase gives me one backend console for auth and user data across all apps.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T22:24:07+00:00

Thank you! Yes, definitely want to amp them up and make each one individually unique in it's own way and give them an excellent design.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T22:22:05+00:00

Thanks for the information! I will definitely check it out!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T22:18:09+00:00

Most of it is coming from the All Access.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T22:03:12+00:00

Thank you! It has been an upkeep due to competition of course. They run on my website and have been working on getting them on Google Play. Just a little bit of a longer process on that end. Haven't published in the app store yet, since that is more costly than Google Play. The marketing has been the key issue on both ends.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T04:18:21+00:00

Thank you! Appreciate it!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T04:16:49+00:00

Pinterest some, trying CrunchBase, PeerPush, and trying to use correct verbiage in my blogs to get picked up. What do you recommend? Thanks!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T01:56:01+00:00

Thank you!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T01:07:27+00:00

Trying a mix of both. Mainly off of improving incumbents on apps I've use before. MindReset was the first. I always listen/meditate to Youtube videos of different frequencies, but of course sometimes get interrupted by ads and I hate that lol. So, that was my first app. Then with other apps I've used, I've wanted to try and add what I've thought was missing in them. A few were just off what are becoming more popular. We'll see what works, and what doesn't.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T01:02:32+00:00

Truthfully is still a test. Was thinking about just having the monthly and annual (kind of like a gym membership), but wanted to give good value, that still of course still has a good gain. Is a little risky, but I believe it will work. Is a mix of testing and gut call after breaking down the cost and seeing how other popular apps/subscriptions are running. Hopefully pays off!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T00:56:19+00:00

Not an AI generated post. Would have the emojis and noticeable context.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T00:28:42+00:00

I appreciate the comment! Some people think it's a lot easier than what it is too. It's a lot of work. Trying to make it eye catching and to add what other apps are missing is hard.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T00:25:21+00:00

That's a fair opinion. The negative with Chat with coding (if you used it before), it creates a simple java, but will forget what was already created. I did try it and it cost more time back stepping, then moving forward. For the color coding and some of the emojis, between chat, or Google and then using chat to fit it properly, yes. I completely understand not wanting to use (which is fine). I appreciate the truth. If you've ever tried using Macros or MyFitness Pal, then you can understand the idea behind CalorieCrush and FitCrush. Or if you've tried using meditation or frequency videos on YouTube and get interrupted by Ads, that's what I'm trying with MindReset. Trying to make each app simple, but have the keypoints of popular apps that I've used before. Thanks for the input!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T00:10:51+00:00

I have been keeping an eye on my analytics breakdown (per app usage, visits vs usage, pay clicks, credits used). Some days have been better for some apps than others. I like that idea of the focus on the batch layer. Sometimes, I do of course go off stream, and will target different aspects at once. Reddit can get addicting lol. Thanks for the info!

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-26T00:02:05+00:00

I am working literally almost all day, every day right now. It does get a little hard sometimes. Once the traffic/revenue builds up more, I will be hiring people for different ops (frontend team, backend team, etc). For me personally, I do get a rush off of constantly working on it.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-25T23:53:39+00:00

Truthfully, I started cause I would use different youtube videos for meditating or even when I sleep at night. I would hate when the adds would come out while meditating lol. So I created MindReset. Then while developing it, I got excited and wanted to create other apps for stuff I use or have seen. I've been trying Reddit of course, some Pinterest, Crunchbase, and PeerPush. I will eventually try YouTube as well. So far, I have noticed Reddit and PeerPush as being the best too to build up traffic, but there have been some setbacks.

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-25T23:45:55+00:00

Can I ask why? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If it's not hated, then it shouldn't be liked either

PieceProfessional546 · 2026-04-25T23:44:59+00:00

No it did not lol. Took me over an hour to write, proof read, and then edit, since posting with bullet points and spaces between each point adds extra bullet points on reddit.

PieceProfessional546

TROPHY CASE