If you want to know whether a product is actually good for you, barcode scanners are the fastest tool there is. Yuka deserves huge credit for making that habit mainstream — tens of millions of people now scan before they buy. Eatly is built on the same idea, with a focus on being genuinely free and transparent.
This is an honest look at how they compare. (App features and pricing change over time, so always double-check the current details in each store listing.)
What they have in common
The two apps are more alike than different, and that’s a good thing:
- Scan a barcode, get a 0–100 score. Both turn a confusing label into one clear number.
- Food and cosmetics. Both cover groceries and personal-care products.
- Built on open data. Both lean on community databases like Open Food Facts and Open Beauty Facts, so coverage is broad and improves over time.
- Additives matter. Both go beyond calories to flag questionable additives and ingredients.
If you just want to stop buying things with hidden junk in them, either app will help.
Where Eatly is different
Eatly’s whole design philosophy is “no catch.”
- Completely free. Every feature, every scan, no premium tier gating the useful parts.
- No ads, ever. Nothing interrupts your scan, and no brand can pay to change its score.
- No account required. You can scan straight away — no sign-up, no email, no profile. Your choices stay on your device.
- Transparent scoring. Food is scored on a clear, published split: 60% nutrition, 30% additives, 10% an organic bonus, with high-concern additives capping the result. Cosmetics are scored across safety, irritation, efficacy, formulation and sustainability. No black box.
Where Yuka is strong
Credit where it’s due:
- Maturity and scale. Years of development and a very large user base mean lots of products are already recognised and reviewed.
- Brand recognition. If friends already use it, comparing scans is easy.
- A polished recommendation engine for finding better-rated swaps.
Yuka operates a freemium model — core scanning is free, while some conveniences sit behind a paid subscription. That’s a completely fair way to fund an app; it’s just a different choice from Eatly’s “everything free” approach.
Side by side
| Eatly | Yuka | |
|---|---|---|
| Food scoring | ✅ 0–100, transparent 60/30/10 | ✅ 0–100 |
| Cosmetics scoring | ✅ multi-factor | ✅ |
| Price | Free — all features | Free core + paid tier |
| Ads | None | None |
| Account required | No | Account-based |
| Better-product suggestions | ✅ | ✅ |
| Built on open data | ✅ | ✅ |
Which should you pick?
- Choose Eatly if you want every feature free, dislike sign-ups, and value a scoring method you can actually see and understand. The cosmetics breakdown — safety, irritation, skin-type match — is especially detailed for the price (free).
- Choose Yuka if you’re already in its ecosystem, your friends use it, and you don’t mind its model.
Honestly? They’re complementary. Many people scan the same product in both and compare. Because Eatly costs nothing and needs no account, there’s no downside to having it on your phone as a second opinion.
Try it yourself
The fastest way to decide is to scan a few things you already own. Pull a product off your shelf, check its Eatly score, and see whether the verdict matches your gut.
Eatly is free on Google Play — no account, no ads, no catch. Browse scored products to get a feel for it, then scan your own.