Grove vs Proto: Photo Logging or a Looked-Up Fiber Count?

Grove and Proto both track fiber on iPhone, and they log food in opposite ways. Proto estimates a meal from a photo and puts protein first, with fiber, calories, carbs and fat alongside. Grove looks each food up in the USDA database or scans its barcode, tracks fiber only, and adds a one-tap gut check-in. Pick Proto if you want protein and fiber together and would rather take a photo than search. Pick Grove if fiber is the one number you are working on and you want it looked up.

I build Grove, so read this knowing that. I checked every Proto detail below against its App Store page on October 7, 2026. Where that page does not mention something, I say "not listed" instead of guessing.

Two ways to log lunch

Say lunch is a burrito bowl: rice, black beans, chicken, salsa, some lettuce.

In Proto you take one photo. Its App Store page says the app analyzes the meal and shows protein, fiber, calories, carbs and fat. You can add a line of text for things the camera cannot see, like the brand or the amount, or dictate the meal by voice.

In Grove you search "black beans," pick a serving like 1 cup, and tap. Then rice. Grove only counts fiber, so you can skip the chicken. If the food comes in a package, you scan the barcode. Foods you eat often sit on the Today screen as tiles, and one tap logs them.

Proto's way is one step for the whole plate. Grove's way is one step for each food, and each number comes from a database entry instead of an image.

Feature comparison

| Feature | Grove | Proto | | --- | --- | --- | | Main thing it tracks | Fiber | Protein first, with fiber, calories, carbs and fat | | How you log | Search, barcode scan, or one-tap tiles | Photo of the meal, text, voice, or a photo of a nutrition label | | Where the numbers come from | USDA database, Open Food Facts for barcodes | AI analysis of your photo or description | | Barcode scanning | Yes | No. The listing says "No barcode scanning" | | Daily fiber goal | Yes, starts at 25g and you can change it | Yes, next to your protein goal | | Daily gut check-in | Yes, one tap: Great, Good, Meh or Rough | Not listed | | Apple Health | Reads and writes fiber, saves gut symptoms | Export to Apple Health listed | | Widgets | Home and lock screen, with one-tap logging | Home screen widgets and a lock screen camera shortcut listed | | Siri | Yes | Yes | | CSV export | Yes | Listed | | Devices | iPhone, iOS 18.0 or later | iPhone, iPad and Mac listed, iOS 18.0 or later | | Account | None | Not listed | | Price | Grove+ $7.99/mo or $49.99/yr, after 7 days with the whole app and no card | Free to download. Pro listed at $29.99 a year, with a monthly option and a $199.99 lifetime purchase |

Proto's App Store page shows 4.6 stars from 67 ratings on October 7, 2026.

Where Proto wins

One photo logs the whole meal. This is the reason to choose it. If searching for foods is what made you quit the last app, a camera is a real fix. Grove has no photo or AI logging.

It tracks protein and fiber together. Many people want both numbers, especially anyone lifting or eating on a GLP-1. Proto shows protein, fiber, calories, carbs and fat from one log. Grove tracks fiber and nothing else. You would need a second app for protein.

It costs less. Proto is free to download. Its listing shows Pro at $29.99 a year, a second annual option at $24.99, monthly options under $5, and a lifetime purchase at $199.99. Grove+ is $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

It runs on more devices. The listing shows iPhone, iPad and Mac. Grove is iPhone only.

Where Grove wins

The fiber number is looked up. Grove searches thousands of real foods from the USDA database and you pick the serving, like 1 cup or 1 slice. A photo can see that there are beans in the bowl. It has a harder time seeing whether that is half a cup or a full one, and with beans that difference is several grams.

Grove starts you at a 25g goal. Say you are at 13g by mid-afternoon, so you have 12g to go. If dinner's estimate is off by 3g, that is a quarter of what you had left. A few grams either way barely shows against a 100g protein goal. Against a 25g fiber goal it does.

It scans barcodes. Point the camera at a package and Grove pulls the fiber from Open Food Facts. Proto's listing says "No barcode scanning." It reads a photo of the nutrition label instead.

It tracks how your gut feels. Once a day you tap Great, Good, Meh or Rough. Grove lines your answers up with your fiber, so after a few weeks you can see whether your higher-fiber days were your better days. Proto's listing does not mention symptom tracking.

Fiber owns the screen. Your day is a hill. Each food you log lands on it, and Grove the broccoli walks toward your goal flag. Proto's listing describes fiber as something you can track next to protein or "keep as a simple stat." In Grove, fiber is the only number on the screen.

No account. Grove has no account, no email and no ads. Your food log is stored on your iPhone and, if you are signed in to iCloud, it also syncs through your own private iCloud account. Grove has no server that stores your log.

What Grove does not do

Grove does not track calories, protein or macros, and it cannot log from a photo. It runs on iPhone only. After the first 7 days it needs a Grove+ plan, while Proto stays free to download. If any of those is a dealbreaker, Proto is the better pick and I would rather you find that out here than in week two.

Which one should you use?

Choose Proto if you want protein and fiber in one app, you want to log by photo or voice, or you want something on iPad and Mac too.

Choose Grove if fiber is the number you are trying to move, you want it looked up instead of estimated, you eat a lot of packaged food and want a barcode scanner, or you want a daily record of how your gut feels.

Still weighing more than these two? Our roundup of the best fiber tracker apps for iPhone covers FiberUp, Cronometer and MyFitnessPal as well. If you do not know your daily number yet, the fiber calculator works it out from your age, sex and calories.

Frequently asked questions

Is Grove a good Proto alternative?

It is if fiber matters more to you than protein. Grove gives you USDA fiber numbers, a barcode scanner and a daily gut check-in. You give up Proto's photo logging and its protein, calorie, carb and fat tracking.

Does Proto track fiber?

Yes. Proto's App Store page says it shows fiber per meal and per day, and lets you set a daily fiber goal next to your protein goal. Protein is the main number in the app.

Does Proto have a barcode scanner?

No. Its App Store listing says "No barcode scanning" as of October 7, 2026. You log by photo, text or voice, or by photographing a nutrition label. Grove scans barcodes.

Can Grove log a meal from a photo?

No. Grove has no photo or AI food logging. You search the USDA database, scan a barcode, or tap a tile for a food you eat often.

Which app is cheaper, Grove or Proto?

Proto. It is free to download, and its listing shows Pro at $29.99 a year, with monthly options under $5. Grove+ is $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year. You get the whole Grove app for 7 days with no card before you pick a plan.

Is a photo estimate accurate enough for fiber?

It depends on how close you need to be. A photo tells an app what is on the plate, and portion size is harder to read from an image. If you want a rough daily picture, an estimate is fine. If you are working toward a set number, a looked-up value for a serving you picked is easier to trust.

Can I track protein in Grove?

No. Grove tracks fiber only. If you want protein and fiber in the same app, Proto does both.

The bottom line

Proto is the faster way to log a plate, and it covers protein too. Grove is the app for one number, fiber, looked up food by food, with a record of how your gut felt that day.

If that is the number you want to see every day, get Grove on the App Store and see where today lands.