API for Food Calories
Published October 1, 2026
An API for food calories takes a food name or a barcode and returns the calories. Calorie API returns them per 100 grams, with protein, carbohydrate, and fat on the same object. A 40 gram serving is the calorie number times 0.4. That multiplication is yours. The daily total is yours. The API does not keep either.
One request
curl "https://api.calorieapi.com/api/v1/search/foods?q=almonds" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
The query parameter is q, not query. The key is the X-API-Key header. Ranked foods come back with a stable id. Ask again with GET /api/v1/foods/{id} when you need the full record. For a package, GET /api/v1/search/barcode/{upc} returns the same calorie shape, or 404 if neither our catalog nor the Open Food Facts fallback knows the code.
Search is keywords. "Almonds" works. A sentence about a snack does not. If the product you are building starts from a sentence, read the Nutritionix alternative before you integrate the wrong API and then rewrite it.
What the call costs
On 1 October 2026, pricing is:
| Plan | Price | Calls a month | Commercial product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no card | 1,000 | No |
| Basic | $15 | 20,000 | No |
| Core | $50 | 150,000 | No |
| Plus | $150 | 1,000,000 | Yes |
A calorie lookup on every keystroke will burn the free thousand in an afternoon. Debounce. Use suggest while they type, and call search or food details when they commit. Re-opening yesterday's log must read your database, not ours.
Plus is the plan if the app charges, shows ads, or ships inside a company that does. The header on those requests is X-API-Usage-Type: commercial. Basic being inexpensive does not make it a commercial license.
Spoonacular can also return calories, inside a points budget where a search is not one point. The arithmetic is on Spoonacular API pricing. Use that API when you need the recipe. Use this one when you need the number.
There is no photo calorie estimate on these plans. Image-to-calorie is the enterprise add-on. The calorie counter API page is the same lookup described as the three calls a counter makes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an API for food calories?
Yes. Search by name or look up a barcode. Calories come back per 100 grams. Multiply by the grams the user ate.
Is the API for food calories free?
The free plan is 1,000 calls a month, no credit card, for non-commercial use. Paid plans start at $15 a month for 20,000 calls and are still non-commercial until Plus.
Does it add up the calories for the day?
No. Each call is one food. Your app stores the log and sums it.
What if the barcode is unknown?
The barcode endpoint returns 404. Fall back to text search, or let the user enter the food.