BetterMe App Review: The Costs Added Up Quickly (2024)

When I came across BetterMe, it caught my interest because it claimed to be different from other weight loss apps I’ve tested, focusing strongly on self-love and acceptance.

Much of my experience as a health and nutrition coach has been helping clients work through negative self-images and unhealthy relationships with food and dieting.

Since these issues can be complex, I was skeptical that an app could accomplish this.

So, along with my colleague Janine Collins, we purchased the app and tested it to determine whether BetterMe was too good to be true.

Key Takeaways From Using BetterMe

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• I was pleased with the workouts’ quality and the daily chapters aimed at improving my mindset and self-talk. The “challenges” may also benefit you, but I didn’t use this feature. 

• I was disappointed with the calorie and meal tracking portion of the app. It was inaccurate and not user-friendly.  Don’t use Betterme if you want a calorie and macro counter.

• I was also disappointed with the coaching portion, and I don’t believe that you can cost-effectively connect with a coach through BetterMe any more than hiring a private health coach outside the app.

• If you want to get started working on your mental and physical health, Betterme could be an option to consider for your first couple of months to kickstart your journey.  Long term, I think there are better solutions for your health and fitness.  

• If you want an excellent, out-of-the-box app, then I recommend Noom (click to read my review of Noom).  The learning modules around mental health have a slight edge, and the food tracking system is superior.

What Is BetterMe? 

Betterme is a mobile app that sets out to act as a “virtual” personal trainer, nutrition coach, and health coach all in one. 

• Want to learn more about the brand? We interviewed the Founder of BetterMe, Victoria Repa. Read the BetterMe Story here.

The app includes a variety of different workout options, along with the ability to customize your dieting preferences.

The initial intake process is extremely specific and thorough and goes beyond asking you basic questions such as your height, weight, gender, and goal weight. 

It also asks you things such as dietary preferences, if you have any target areas that you want to focus on in your workouts, if you have any “bad habits”, and how much sleep you get. 

This thorough intake process (while longer than other apps) allows Betterme to recommend specific workout programs and meals that will cater to your goals and preferences.

The app also includes a “personal coach” option. With this feature, you are able to choose out of 5 different coaches, and pay an extra fee to personally ask them questions, or have an online nutrition consultation.

Unlike other weight loss apps on the market, Betterme aims to put a large focus on mindset, and developing a healthy and positive relationship with yourself, fitness, and food. 

It provides daily learning modules that take around 5-10 minutes to listen to (with the option to read through them as well) that aim to improve your relationship with food and dieting.

Betterme has over 100 million users worldwide and offers a 7-day free trial where you can use the app to ensure it is a good fit for you. 

My Experience Using BetterMe + How it Works

I used the Betterme app for 1 month, and in that time I made sure to also try some of the additional features that were available for purchase, to see if they were really worth it.

When I first downloaded the app, I was impressed that the intake process was quite thorough, and I was asked around 10 questions all relating to my health and fitness goals.

For example, in the first question, I was asked what my main goal was, and I had the option to choose between obvious answers such as “lose weight” and “build muscle”, but also had the option to choose “find self-love”. I personally chose the self-love option, as I found this to be quite unique for a fitness app to offer this choice.

I was also asked if I was interested in any special workout programs. I thought this was pretty cool, since I am currently 28 weeks pregnant, and the app offered a special “prenatal program” option. It also offered special programs such as “sensitive knees”, “sensitive back”, “limited mobility (wheelchair)”, and “postnatal” workouts.

After the thorough intake process, the app developed my plan, and I was immediately prompted into the 7-day free trial.

After the 7-day trial, the app stated that I would be charged 38.50 USD for a 3-month subscription. I didn’t like that it did not offer me a monthly subscription, and also thought this was quite pricey, so I was thankful for the 7-day free trial.

(I should note here that I found out later I was charged the 3-month subscription fee for Betterme, before my free trial had even ended. I could not figure out a way to reverse this, as the customer service was very difficult to communicate with.  More on this later though.)

I was then taken to my dashboard, where my plan was displayed with the option to log my calories, complete the workout for the day, track my water and steps, and read/ listen to a module covering the inner workings of the brain, and how to work on improving my thoughts.

I noticed that every day I completed a chapter in the mindset module, I was offered a new chapter the next day. 

However, if I didn’t log in for a few days, I would not be able to unlock a new chapter. I think that this could serve as motivation to ensure you are checking into your plan on a daily basis so that you can continue to move forward with the program.

When I went to log my calories each day, I found myself really frustrated with the way the app was set up. 

First of all, the app suggested that I should eat around 1625 calories per day, which I thought was quite low, being that I am 28 weeks pregnant and not looking to be in a calorie deficit (eating fewer calories than I burn).

Furthermore, the actual process of logging food into the app was frustrating, to say the least (i.e. not user-friendly compared with other calorie-tracking apps I’ve used). 

One example is that the food measurements were only offered in ounces, rather than offering an option to measure in cups or grams.

Not only that, but I looked up many different types of foods for their nutritional information and found inaccuracies across all of them inside the app. 

This could prove to be very confusing for a new dieter who is not familiar with the correct calorie and macronutrient content of the foods that they eat.

For example, when I looked up an egg to log into my breakfast meal, I was met with about 20 different options, all of which varied heavily in their calorie and macro content. One egg option I chose told me that one egg was 200 calories and contained 36 grams of fat, which is obviously extremely inaccurate (1 egg contains about 75 calories, 7 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, and 0 grams of carbohydrates).

I did have the option to log pre-suggested meals into my calorie tracker that were recommended by the app based on the answers to my questions in the initial intake. This option would likely be beneficial if you were someone who struggled with well-balanced meal ideas, but for me, this was not a feature that I found I used much.

In the workout portion of my plan, I could choose between 3 suggested workouts. In my case, there was usually a suggestion for a short stretching session, a yoga class, or an at-home pregnancy-friendly workout.

The app provided videos and audio explanations for each exercise in the workout, along with a timer for each set. I liked the videos since I think this feature could really help to ensure that you have the correct form for each exercise.

I found that the workouts suggested for me were quite easy, however, I think that this was probably justified since they were prenatal workouts.

I also had the option to allow the app to schedule my workouts for a certain time every day, and remind me so that I didn’t forget.

Unfortunately, I found that the app would crash frequently during the middle of my workout. Upon reading a few reviews, I was not the only person to have experienced this, which was quite frustrating.

I personally did not use the water or step tracker portion of the app, since I track my steps on my Garmin watch, and I consistently drink 3 Liters of water a day, which I measure based on how many times I fill my 1 Liter water bottle.

The step tracker required me to sync to my Health app on my iPhone, which is not something that I use.

There was the option to take part in a variety of different challenges that the app hosted. 

For example, some of the challenges were called “Better Sleep”, “Meditation for Beginners”, “Beauty Routine”, and “Clean Eating”’ challenge. These challenges were anywhere from 28-30 days long, and cost anywhere from $10.99- $25.99.

I personally found that with all the tasks that I was supposed to complete on the plan I had been given (logging my food, doing my suggested workouts, and reading my mindset modules) I had enough information and did not want to overwhelm myself with additional tasks, like entering a challenge. 

This is where I personally thought that the app got a bit pricey since the initial program was already costing $38.50 USD for 3 months.

However, one service that I did decide to pay for was the “ask a coach” chat option that was offered in the Personal Coach section. 

In this section, I could pick between 5 different coaches. I chose a coach named Stefan and wrote him a personal message to see if he could answer some specific questions for me.

It was at this time I was prompted to pay $4.00 in order to send my message to the coach. 

Again, for the amount that the app costs for 3 months, I think that the additional charges that are included to unlock all of the features could begin to make this app quite expensive. 

Nevertheless, I paid the fee in order to speak with a coach. 

(I found out later that when I did this, I was actually charged the full 38.50USD fee for the app while still in my free trial, I tried emailing customer service but never was able to get it reversed).

Once I was able to message Stefan, I found that the only way I was actually going to be provided with personalized workout and nutrition advice was if I signed up for 1 on 1 coaching, which would cost me $99 for 4 weeks. 

I then continued to try and ask questions, but was continuously logged out of the chat and had to start over, so I felt I was never really able to get anywhere with the conversation.

My experience with paying for the ability to chat with my coach of choice did not go smoothly. 

In fact, I tried using the chat multiple times and never really had one question answered.

For this reason, I really didn’t feel confident or comfortable with moving forward with a personalized program, since no one was really able to answer my questions in the chat I had paid for already. 

Plus, I thought that paying for this coaching service would completely defeat the purpose of me purchasing the app in the first place.

Being a health coach myself, I think that developing a connection between coach and client is a critical part of the client’s success, and based on my experience with the app, I am really not sure if that would be entirely possible with the coaching options in the app.

When it comes to online nutrition and workout apps, I am of the opinion that they should be affordable.

After using this app, I found that if you weren’t careful, you could easily rack up a pretty hefty bill between the additional challenges and coaching options.

What I Liked About Betterme

While I have some mixed feelings about the Betterme app, there were a few features that I can truly say that I liked and appreciated, such as:

The Quality of the Workouts

I really enjoyed how straightforward and easy to understand all of the workouts and corresponding videos were, and I liked that I could choose between a workout circuit, yoga session, or stretching routine on any particular day. 

I think the videos would be particularly helpful for those at the beginning of their fitness journey who want to ensure they are practicing proper form.

• If you’re looking for a workout app that primarily focuses on yoga, check out my review of Asana Rebel

The Focus on a Healthy Mind 

I enjoyed the daily chapters that I was able to unlock and read/ listen to that focused on nourishing my mind and creating healthier self-talk. 

I noticed that this content had a heavy focus on your relationship with food and dieting, which I thought was quite appropriate given the prevalence of unhealthy mindsets around food in the weight loss world.

What I Didn’t Like

There were definitely some features on Betterme that I did not like which would deter me from using the app further, such as:

Poor Food Library With Inaccurate Foods

I disliked how this portion of the app was set up and found that after looking up multiple different foods to log, the food library contained way too many unverified food sources that made no sense, and could be extremely confusing for a new dieter

Lack of Food Measuring Options

I also disliked how the app only allowed food measurements to be in ounces, rather than having the ability to measure in cups or grams. 

While I do use ounces as a form of measurement for certain food sources, I would never use it for foods like eggs, or a piece of bread. 

So I found this really irritating and inconvenient while I was logging food.

The “ask a Coach” Option is Very Inefficient

After having paid a small fee ($4) for the ability to ask one of the online coaches a few questions, I was met with a lot of frustration with being kicked out of the chat multiple times (due to being timed out) only to have to start my questions all over again.

As a result, the only information I really did get from the chat was that I would have to pay $99 dollars for a personalized program from him.  

Key Features & Benefits

Some of the key features and benefits that the app had to offer were:

•  Daily chapters regarding a healthy mindset- Betterme gives you the ability to work on a healthier mindset and positive self-talk, while also working toward a nutrition and fitness goal.

• A variety of workouts accompanied by tutorial videos– These workout videos make it extremely easy to follow along with each workout, and give you the feeling that you are being coached by a trainer or taking a workout class,

• Option to “ask a coach” questions- While I personally did not have a great experience with this portion of the app, the option is there if you felt like you had questions that you needed to ask and were willing to pay for it.

• The option to pay for a personalized program from a coach- If you feel as though the plan the app provides you is not enough, you could pay for a personalized program with a coach from the Betterme app.

• Meal plans that were specified to your dietary preferences– This is an amazing option if you struggle with meal ideas since the plans offer ideas for almost any diet type (traditional, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, and diabetic).

• Access to Additional “Health Challenges”– the app provides the option for you to pay for and join various 20-30 day health challenges that relate to various aspects of your wellness such as beauty, sleep, clean eating, mindset and meditation.

What Other Customers Think

I wanted to see what others thought of Betterme, and I found that the app had a mixture of both positive and negative reviews on the internet.

For example, on the apple app store, Betterme received 4.5 out of 5 stars from a total of 137k reviews. Similarly, the app had a rating of 4.21 out of 5 stars on Sitejabber from a total of 679 reviews.

However, I found that the app had a slightly lower rating on Google, only boasting 3.1 stars out of 5. Within these reviews, I found that many people had the same thoughts, experiences, and frustrations as I did with the app.

For example, one user said: 

“When buying access to this app, I did not expect it to have hidden costs. When choosing a fitness assistant in the Play Market, I compared their functionality and the cost of the subscription. As it turned out, I was deceived. The functionality that I was promised turned out to need to be purchased separately from the subscription. This comes out to be much more expensive than any other fitness app”.

Similarly, there was another user who said: 

“The food recording is ridiculous-good luck finding what you are looking for in the measurement that is reasonable. Many different measurements seem to have been done by a completely inept person/machine, having 5 different measurements that all say the same calories.”

One other user seemed to have a similar experience to me during their free trial of the app, stating, 

“It took an unauthorized $39 from my bank account. (I had bought only the $6.99, one week course, but they added another month without my permission).”

I could relate to all of these reviews quite strongly, as I had the very same frustrations.

However, I did see positive reviews, too. In particular, one user said: 

“Hands down one of the best workout apps in the game. Anyone who feels lost in their weight loss journey needs to download it ASAP.”

While I didn’t necessarily share the same opinion as the review above, the app’s reviews make it clear that there are certain individuals who enjoy the app.

How Much Does Betterme Cost?

After a 7-day free trial, the Betterme app costs $38.50 for 3 months.

However, this did not include features such as the monthly challenges (which cost anywhere from $10.99-$25.99 per month), the ability to chat with a coach (costing $4.00), or a 4-week personalized program with a coach ($99.00 for 4 weeks).

Is Betterme Worth It?

After using the app and testing out its features, I think the app is a little pricey for what it offers. 

Essentially, a price of $38.50 for 3 months is giving you the ability to track your calories, water, and steps, along with access to personalized workouts and a 5–10-minute chapter per day on a positive mindset.

I personally think that the majority of these features can be offered on free apps (or at least apps that are substantially cheaper) along with free online resources.

I am especially hesitant to say that the Betterme app is worth it, since the calorie recommendations that it offered me as a pregnant woman were so low, and it really didn’t feel that personalized at all (other than the fact that the workouts were pregnancy friendly).

If I am going to be paying that amount for an app, I would expect it to be more personalized and the calories to be a bit more accurate.

Any other potential value that could have been offered from the app (such as the personalized coaching program and the challenges) cost a substantial amount more than the app subscription itself, which I did not like.

I think that for what the app does offer, there are so many other free online resources that you can access that provide the same thing, and if you are truly wanting a more personalized experience and connection with a coach, then you should seek that outside of an app.

Who Should Use Betterme

• Those who want access to a variety of workouts and stretches– The app offers easy follow along video tutorials with each workout, making them very user friendly for beginners.

• Those who are willing to spend extra for more personalized advice and challenges– If budget is not an issue, the app provides many fun challenges that you could participate in that are geared toward health and wellness.

Who Should NOT Use Betterme

• Those on a tight budget– I personally do not recommend this app for anyone on a tight budget, since the app subscription itself does not provide much more than many other free fitness apps offer.

• Those focused on calorie/ meal tracking– Betterme is definitely not the app for anyone who is taking their calorie and macro tracking seriously, since this portion of their app is not only extremely difficult to use with odd measurements, but also seems to include a lot of inaccuracy within their food library.

Sign Up for Betterme

The process of signing up for Betterme is quite easy, and only takes a few minutes with the steps below

1. Go to the Appstore and download Betterme

2. Click on the app and fill out the personal information including things like your height, weight, gender, motivation levels, workout preferences, etc. so the app can develop your plan.

3. Enter the app, where you can start your plan (i.e. listen to your daily module, track your calories/ water/ steps, and complete your workout)

4. Upgrade to premium features such as additional challenges or personalized coaching programs by clicking on the options and putting them through on your app store.

Betterme Alternatives

I’ve tested 18+ nutrition apps (click to check out the full list). Based on my experience, here are some top 2 alternatives:

1. Noom

An alternative to Betterme is the Noom app, which has been increasing in popularity in the wellness world.

Similar to Betterme, Noom combines standard dieting practices such as calorie tracking, meal planning, and workouts with mindset and behavior change techniques to help you reach your goal.

While Noom also offers a 7-day free trial, its cost is quite high at $60 USD per month. Therefore, if you are looking for a more cost-effective option, this is likely not the app for you.

2. MyNetDiary

Having already reviewed MyNetDiary, I can recommend it to anyone who is looking to accurately track their calories, meals, water, steps, and even workouts. The app also includes a variety of different meal guides and options.

I personally liked how accurate and user-friendly the app is when it comes to calorie and macro tracking, and only costs $6.50 USD per month for the premium version.

If you are someone who is on a budget, you could easily use this app to track your nutrition, while accessing free online resources for at-home workouts, along with free online resources to improve your mindset.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Betterme Good for Weight Loss?

The Betterme app could help you along your weight loss journey if you struggle with staying consistent with workouts, and struggle with your mindset toward food and dieting.

While the Betterme app does offer calorie tracking, this portion of their app is not as user-friendly as other competing apps on the market.

Is Betterme Free?

The Betterme app is not free, but does allow you a 7-day free trial where you can test out its features and services before committing to a purchase. Once the free trial is over, the app costs 38.50 USD for 3 months.

There is also additional cost for other features such as health challenges and coaching services.

Is Betterme Compatible with Apple Watch?

Yes, Betterme is compatible with Apple Watch, along with other devices such as your iPad. You also have the ability to sync information from the Health app on your iPhone onto the Betterme app.

Is Betterme Accurate

When it comes to its food library, I did not find the Betterme app to be an accurate source for food logging. I found that many of the suggested foods listed contained an incorrect calorie and macro count, which made it a bit confusing to use.

How Do I Cancel My BetterMe Subscription?

If you want to cancel your Betterme subscription, you can simply enter your iPhone settings and click into your iCloud subscriptions. Once there, click into your Betterme app subscription, and click the cancel button.

You can cancel the app at any time with no penalty.

How To Contact Betterme

The only way I found that you could contact Betterme is through their online support through email at support@betterme.world.

Unfortunately, there is no option for a live chat with customer service or a phone number to call if you have additional questions.

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