Noom VS Weight Watchers (Which is the Better App & Why in 2019?)

In case you did not know your back-breaking workout at the gym actually constitutes only 25% of your weight loss routine. The rest of it is made in the kitchen.

But how do you track the number of calories you have been gulping down? Do you even remember what and how much of it did you have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Clearly, your gym trainer isn’t going to be following you everywhere. So what can you do?

That is where fitness apps have become a game-changer for all fitness freaks and Noom and Weight Watchers are two of the most popular of all.

Obviously, you do not want both the apps to be eating battery life and space so which of these apps is the better one?

We take an in-depth look into both the apps to see which one takes the podium when it comes to Noom Coach Vs Weight Watchers in 2019.

What is Noom Coach?

Noom Coach is just like having a personal trainer except this one follows you around 24*7 as it can be easily installed onto your mobile through your App Store.

It is the brainchild of Saeju Jeong and Artem Petakov and looks to go beyond the conventional methods of weight loss.

Yup, that means while it has the common benefits of Meal Planning, Calorie Tracking and even recipes it also lays emphasis on psychological and behavioral aspects.

Now, while most the basic features are free, if you are really serious, I mean damn serious about your weight loss regime, you DO NOT want to miss out on its other features.

Here are the Noom Plans that you can opt for

  • $59 monthly recurring
  • $99 for 2 months
  • $129 for 4 months
  • $149 for 6 months
  • $159 for 8 months
  • $199 for a yearly plan

But Does Noom Really Help?

I am sure the question on your mind is whether paying $59 every month or even $199 per year is going to be worth, isn’t it?

Well, believe it or not, users have lost about 15-20lbs in just 5-6 weeks and there are tons of user reviews to prove that. So my simple answer would be heck, yes, it works.

But how can an app make such a huge difference?

An in-depth look into Noom’s approach to weight loss highlights exactly why it works so well for every user.

How does Noom work?

The main difference between Noom and other similar apps is that Noom takes a more personalized yet deeper approach and also impact your behavior.

That means from questions related to your age, current weight, expected weight, gender and everyday diet to even to your personality, eating pattern and current/past illnesses, the app will want to know it all.

This will help them formulate a custom meal plan that helps you deal better with your weaknesses (people with a craving for cakes, donuts, muffins, etc. will know exactly what I am talking about).

While signing up, Noom will ask you for your desired weight and a timeline for it.

If you haven’t already hit the gym and would like workouts you can do from home, you have the option to purchase that along with a DNA weight loss test and some other meal plans.

You will be required to log your food, steps, weight, etc. on a daily basis to help you track your progress and so Noom can customize your weight loss program to be more effective.

Oh, and this is not some automated bullshit we are talking about.

After you have signed up, you are immediately assigned a fitness professional who can be contacted via the chat anytime from anywhere (told you, you can now have your trainer anywhere, anytime).

These coaches will help formulate the ideal diet and workout plan based on your timeline and no, this is not like some random guy giving you advice at the gym.

The coaches here have an associate degree or better and experience of over 1000 hours as a personal trainer (so yeah, they are pretty darn serious about their stuff).

What do I mean by Noom impacts Behavior?

Ask any fitness freak or trainer and they will tell you the same thing. The one thing that matters the most is motivation and determination (after all, the only body achieves what mind can).

And that’s where Noom stands out from the pack, a pack that has over 20,000 similar apps.

To keep you motivated you are constantly provided with the best tips and tricks from around the web while helping you overcome mental and habitual barriers pushing you down.

Furthermore, you will also learn to focus on things more in your control and than fretting over things you cannot control.

I have told you enough about Noom, let’s take a look at what Weight Watchers has to offer.

Here’s what Laura had to say about her Experience with Noom


What is Weight Watchers?

As you already know, this is another very popular fitness app but Weight Watchers focusses on helping users through a point-based system.

Each food item and drink is assigned points and you need to stick to a certain number of SmartPoints for the day. The best part about this system is that it does not forbid you from eating anything.

That means you can grab that last slice of pizza or order a burger but then will have to compensate over dinner to ensure you remain in the threshold i.e. do not exceed the SmartPoints allocated for the day.

The foods with the highest number of saturated fat and sugar have the most points while the eggs, nuts, etc. have lower points.

This is a concept that has been previously tried and tested and has worked for thousands of people across the globe as it is easy to understand and implement.

Apart from that, it also has features like calorie tracking, exercise tips and suggestions and so on. All of these can be accessed using the mobile app available for both Android and iOS.

More in detail about how Weight Watchers (WW) works


Weight Watchers Pricing and Plans

The most basic of plans will cost you around $3.70 per week and includes some good features like 24/7 online chat support, syncing with fitness trackers, food and activity tracking, etc.

But if you want access to the serious stuff like personalized coaches, one on one phone sessions, custom-made plans, workshops, and so on then Weight Watchers will cost you about $10 per week.

Noom Vs Weight Watchers

Here we’ll take a look at both the apps based on some of the most important aspects such as calorie tracking, cost, intuitiveness, customer support, etc.

So let’s dig right into it.

1. Calorie Tracking

With calories, the math is really simple when it comes to weight loss. You need to burn more calories in a day than you consume.

Now, some people might find the SmartPoint-based system to be easier which means you will lose points based on the food and drinks you consumed but I found the Noom calorie tracker more beneficial.

Noom has a database of over millions of ingredients so you pretty much have everything you would eat in a day. Once you find the ingredient just enter the amount you have eaten and you are good to go.

Either way, this is more about personal preference. I have friends that find the SmartPoints system fun so I would call this a draw.

2. Trial Period

Okay, who does not love a free trial now, right? And why not, they give you the chance to test out all the features without paying a penny so you know exactly what you’re paying for.

And since this has a lot to do with your short and long-term health, you definitely want to try it out.

Thankfully, both of the apps offer you a free trial. Noom offers you a trial period of 14-days at a mere price of $1 and you do not get charged a penny more if you cancel the membership within 14-days.

During the trial period, you get full access to the features. That means you will be able to connect with trainers and kick-start your diet and exercise plan immediately.

Weight watchers do an even better in this regard as they offer a full first month as trial giving it the win here.

You get access to all the features and get ample time to learn whether the SmartPoint System is really your thing or not.

3. Customer Care

Truth be told, both the apps have a top-notch rating with people quite happy with their customer care services. So here’s what happened when I put it to the test.

Noom replied to all queries within 24 hours and even the personal trainers were quick to respond to any questions I had (even the silliest and lamest of ones).

So whether you have issues regarding billing, doubts about workouts, diet, etc. feel free to shoot them a question anytime.

You can also get in touch with them through Facebook. They have one of the most active Facebook communities when it comes to fitness app with thousands of users ready to help out.

Weight watchers are equally efficient if not better. In fact, these guys have been in the industry for over 25 years so for them to be good at it comes as no surprise.

Not to forget, they also have a huge social media following giving you an opportunity to connect with people that have similar goals and problems.

4. Coaching

Everybody loves a bit of personal attention and guidance since each person has a different set of problems and questions.

This is why both the apps provide you with personal coaches for a monthly/yearly fee. But there’s a stark difference between the two.

The coaches on weight watchers are users that have previously used and succeeded with the program. Now, while that is a source of inspiration, personally, I would prefer someone more qualified and I am sure many of you would too.

And that is just what Noom provides. As I have mentioned above, all of their coaches have the necessary certifications and hours of training under their belt. Plus, they are further trained to provide you with quick-fire solutions to every challenge.

Both apps lay a lot of emphasis on group efforts as they both advocate the idea that fitness is better achieved when in a group rather than individually.

This is why Weight Watchers and Noom provide you with group chats, meetings, etc. where you can talk about pretty much anything and everything (from your feelings to even the mental and physical challenges, it is an open forum).

5. Convenience

Remember the old days when you would have to write down each and every detail in order to track down the number of calories you have had in a day? And then book an appointment with a nutritionist to details out a diet plan you probably would forget about in a week or month?

Thankfully, calculating daily calorie intake is a whole lot easier now and eliminates a lot of the hassles that acted as barriers.

In order to track calories using Weight Watchers, you need to find and select the food and drinks and the amount you have had. According to that, the Smartpoints are deducted. You also have the option of scanning the barcode of the items you have been consuming.

But many users have reported that the barcode scanner isn’t all that accurate and finding items can be tedious at first for new users.

On the other hand, finding products on Noon was a breeze (literally takes mere seconds). It also gives you a list of previously selected items further making the selection easy.

To top that, it is also faster, more user-friendly as navigating around is really convenient even for beginners.

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