BeforeIBite launched as a paid subscription with no ad-supported tier. This is uncommon for nutrition apps, so it's worth explaining.
Ads would compromise the experience
Calorie tracking already asks for some discipline. Adding banner ads, interstitial videos, and rewarded-ad upsells on top of that turns logging into a chore — and creates a perverse incentive: an ad-supported app makes more money when you scroll more, not when you log more accurately.
We didn't want that trade.
AI has a real per-user cost
Every photo you scan goes through a large multimodal AI model. Every barcode lookup hits a food database. Every label scan runs OCR. Those calls cost money — small per-call, real per-user, every month. Free apps recover that cost some other way: usually ads, sometimes data sale, sometimes aggressive paywalls inside features you thought were included.
A direct subscription is the honest trade. You pay for the service you use; we don't have to monetize attention or sell data on the side.
What this means for you
- No banner ads. Not in the trial, not after.
- No upsells inside features. The AI photo scan you got on day one is the same one you have on day 100.
- No data sale. We're paid by you, not by advertisers. See What data does BeforeIBite collect? for the full breakdown.
- One subscription, everything included. No "Pro AI" tier hiding behind a paywall. No coupon-pop-up dark patterns.
Why we still offer a trial
A calorie tracker is something you have to use for a few meals before you can tell whether it works for you. The 7-day trial is enough time to log a few meals, see how the AI handles your cuisines, and decide. See How your free trial works.