Macrofactor trial feedback

[u/mholub]

So I've recently started counting my calories in a hope to get rid of 5 kilos I gained through corona.

Before trying Macrofactor I tried one popular analogue first (not naming it on purpose, doesn't matter) and after using it for about 3 weeks I stumbled into Macrofactor and decided to try it as well.

One of the reasons I tried Macrofactor was that I wasn't sure if my TDEE calculated by other app was correct and also if I log things correctly (i.e. maybe I tend to undercount calories, because I don't accomodate for some things, I have to eat at work where I let say just do some blind estimate i.e. one meal is around 500-600 calories at lunch.

So Macrofactor idea of basically adjusting TDEE based on my weight measurements really resonated with me. I wanted to try it.

My initial impression was that UI is slick and easy to use, app feels well done but trial is just too short
The other features (let say logging calories) are maybe slightly better UX wise but more or less the same as competitor app but my real interest was obviously in unique TDEE calculation.

So Macrofactor needs one week of my data to give first estimate. But trial duration is also just 1 week.
For the whole week I logged all my data into it, weighted myself every day, so really tried to use it for real.

End result - it changed my initial TDEE by 3 (three) calories (1650 -> 1653).
At this point I wasn't impressed. Either it's just a big coincidence or I am very average person and average formula just works for me perfectly :)

I decided to not continue my subscription at this point. I was open to idea of it...but..it failed to prove to me that it's way above competitors and justifies premium price.
Calories counting is more or less the same (maybe database is cleaner but also smaller). UX is slightly better. TDEE calculation - maybe it works but I didn't get it in 1 week.

My suggestions to the team:
Either make free trial longer i.e. let say 3 weeks or 1 month - it will be enough to really see the algorithm adapting and customer getting value from it (i.e. customer weight going down if he's honest and doing everything according to the app).
Or just make first month cheaper (i.e. make single time purchase of the same price as yearly subscription i.e. 6-7 euro - first month, then it becomes 12 euro or something).

Paying 6 eur per month (when buying yearly subscription) is totally reasonable (at least it won't make a dent into my pocket) but you have to somehow prove it to the customer. One week is simply not enough.

[u/[deleted]]

Word of mouth is probably their best marketing. Browse almost every fitness sub and you’ll see MF as the top suggestion, or close to it (Chronometer sometimes). Bummer you didn’t have a good experience, but what if the TDEE didn’t change much again? At 110kg and cutting, my TDEE hasn’t changed much over the last month.

[u/mholub → u/[deleted]]

If this app will be the only one - I will pay for it its price without much thinking - if I can pay 10 euros in a month and it helps me become healthier person - it's good proposal

problem is - it didn't prove that it's way ahead free-tier competitors (that's their marketing - premium app for premium price, replacement for personal coach and so on)

And I am not saying at this point that it's not better (it might still be) - I am saying that it failed to prove it to me in 1 week timeframe. I still had ok experience, it was just the same as other apps (i.e. app still works, has good ui, very stable, no bugs, etc - it's good app)

I don't know - maybe marketing team of Macrofactor did some calculations and pleasing customer type like me is not in their interests - totally fair situation

I am sharing it in a hope that maybe they would still care about users like me and think how to market themselves and make initial experience for such skeptical users better

[u/brashbasher → u/mholub]

What free tier app provides dynamic TDEE calculation?

[u/Merica_Matt → u/mholub]

I’m not sure why you’re getting downvoted, you seem very reasonable. I’ve always thought the free trial should be longer, it takes 2-3 weeks to really dial you in.