How It Felt vs
How It Felt vs See How You Eat.
How It Felt is a mindful eating journal with no calories, no macros, no weight and no goal — every entry is hunger, fullness and an emotion, and it stays on your device with no account. See How You Eat (listed as “Food Diary See How You Eat Log”, by Health Revolution Oy Ltd) starts from the same refusal of the numbers: its own store listing says “without calorie counting” and tells you to “save macros, nutrients, measurements, calorie counting… for fitness athletes.” The difference is what an entry is. There, it's a photo of the plate with a timestamp, plus meal reminders — their listing frames those around eating at regular times — and one-tap sharing with a coach or dietitian. Here, it's what happened inside you while you ate, kept private.
What each app optimises for
See How You Eat
Seeing the whole day's plates at a glance, with reminders, challenges and a food log you can hand to a coach, dietitian or doctor. Its reminders are framed around eating at regular times — if that's something you're working on, it's worth setting the pace with a doctor or dietitian rather than an app.
How It Felt
One meal at a time — hunger, fullness, emotion and senses — with nothing to keep up with and nothing to send anyone.
Side-by-side
| Feature | See How You Eat | How It Felt |
|---|---|---|
| Calories and macros | See How You Eat None — “without calorie counting” is their pitch too | How It Felt None — no food database, no barcode scanner |
| What an entry is | See How You Eat A photo of the meal with a timestamp — “2 taps to log a meal” | How It Felt Hunger, fullness and an emotion; a photo is optional and never analysed |
| Emotion logging | See How You Eat Not listed as a per-entry field; their listing frames feelings as something the photos help you notice | How It Felt 21-emotion grid, every entry |
| Hunger / fullness | See How You Eat Not listed as per-entry sliders; the approach is about eating rhythm rather than rating each meal | How It Felt Sliders for both, every entry |
| Notes | See How You Eat Yes — thoughts and recipes alongside your log | How It Felt Yes — plus taste, texture and setting prompts |
| Meal reminders | See How You Eat Yes — central to their approach, plus water, vitamin and exercise reminders | How It Felt No reminders and no streaks; post-entry affirmations are optional and can be turned off |
| Water / drink tracking | See How You Eat Yes — daily drinks and goal progress | How It Felt No — meals only |
| Challenges | See How You Eat Yes — 14-day challenges (regular eating, photo journaling, veggie tracking) | How It Felt None |
| AI | See How You Eat Yes — AI-supported veggie tracking | How It Felt No — nothing reads your entries |
| Mindful eating timer | See How You Eat Not a listed feature | How It Felt Yes — breathing-paced |
| Sharing with a coach or clinician | See How You Eat Yes — export and send your diary to a coach, dietitian, doctor or friend; See How You Eat PRO gives professionals their own client view | How It Felt No sharing feature — you export CSV or PDF yourself and pass it on if you want to |
| Account / data location | See How You Eat Registration required; their privacy policy lists name, email and the content you post among the data collected | How It Felt No account; entries stay in a local database on your device |
| App Store privacy label | See How You Eat Declares data used to track you — purchases, contact info, identifiers, usage data and other data | How It Felt Entries never leave the device; the free tier's ads, analytics and crash reporting do collect identifiers, usage data and diagnostics — see our privacy page |
| Languages | See How You Eat 13 — including Japanese, Russian, Turkish, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch and Polish | How It Felt 6 — EN, DE, ES, FR, IT, PT |
| Platforms | See How You Eat iOS (with Apple Watch) and Android | How It Felt iOS and Android |
| Pricing | See How You Eat Free to download; Premium subscription after a 7-day free trial — US App Store in-app purchases listed from US$4.99 to US$36.00, checked August 18, 2026. See How You Eat PRO, the professional plan, starts at US$29/month. Store prices vary by territory | How It Felt Free with ads; optional Supporter tier |
When to pick which
Pick See How You Eat if…
- You want the lowest-friction log there is — a photo and a timestamp, nothing to fill in.
- You've found reminders and prompts helpful rather than stressful.
- You work with a coach, dietitian or doctor and want to hand them your food log without retyping anything.
- Water tracking, 14-day challenges and a visual week make you more likely to keep going.
- You want it in Japanese, Russian, Turkish, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch or Polish — we don't have those yet.
- One caution first: if eating regularly is hard right now, or you have a history of disordered eating, reminders, challenges and a whole-day photo log can add pressure rather than take it away — it's worth talking to a doctor or dietitian before you start.
Pick How It Felt if…
- You want the entry to record how the meal felt, not only what it looked like.
- Hunger, fullness and a specific emotion are the things you're trying to notice.
- You'd rather not be reminded, challenged, or nudged into anyone's rhythm.
- No account, no entry ever leaving your phone, and nothing to pay are the point for you — the free tier is still ad-supported, so ads, analytics and crash reporting do collect identifiers, usage data and diagnostics.
Verdict
Both apps agree that calories are the wrong unit, and both are honest about not being clinical tools. See How You Eat is the better fit if you want the log itself to be almost frictionless — a photo and a timestamp — with prompts along the way and a diary a professional can look at with you. How It Felt is the better fit if you want to understand the experience: how hungry you were, how full you ended up, what you felt, and what it tasted like — kept on your own device, with nothing reminding you and nobody to share it with unless you choose. Neither is the answer if eating itself feels hard at the moment; that's worth taking to a doctor, therapist or registered dietitian, and no app choice substitutes for it.
Frequently asked
Do both apps really skip calories?
Yes. See How You Eat's App Store description says it helps you track meals “without calorie counting” and suggests leaving macros, nutrients and measurements to fitness athletes. How It Felt has no food database, no barcode scanner and no portion estimator, so there is nothing to count in the first place.
What's actually different about an entry?
In See How You Eat an entry is a photo of the meal with a timestamp — two taps, then the day builds into a visual collage. In How It Felt an entry is hunger before, fullness after, at least one emotion from a 21-emotion grid, and optional sense notes; a photo can be attached but is never recognised, named or analysed. One captures what was on the plate, the other captures what happened while you ate it.
Can I share my journal with a dietitian in How It Felt?
Not directly. There's no sharing feature, no professional portal and no cloud — that's the trade for having no account. You can export to CSV or PDF yourself and send that on if you want to. See How You Eat is built for exactly that hand-off, including a separate PRO product for professionals, so if working with a coach or clinician is central for you, it's the more practical choice.
Does How It Felt remind me to eat?
No. There are no meal reminders, no streaks and no challenges — the app doesn't chase you. Affirmations after an entry are optional and can be turned off entirely. See How You Eat takes the opposite view on purpose, and frames its reminders around eating at regular times. Whether prompts like that steady you or add pressure is personal — and if eating regularly is the hard part, that's a conversation for a doctor or dietitian rather than something to settle by picking an app.
What does each one cost?
See How You Eat is free to download with a Premium subscription after a 7-day free trial; its US App Store in-app purchases were listed from US$4.99 to US$36.00 when we checked on August 18, 2026, and there's a separate PRO plan for professionals from US$29/month — check the store for current pricing in your region. How It Felt's full journal is free forever with ads, plus an optional Supporter tier that removes them and unlocks the full affirmation library and extended export.
Sources and review date
Comparison claims are based on the public product information linked below and the How It Felt feature set on this site.
Last reviewed: April 30, 2026.
Learn the concepts
Plain-language explainers behind the comparison.
Try How It Felt
A calmer way to be with food.
Free, no account, all data on your device.