Fig is a food scanner built for people who have to avoid something. You tell it what you cannot eat, and it tells you whether the product in your hand is a problem. Of every app on this site, it is the one closest in intent to Kaibu, and this page says so plainly rather than pretending otherwise.
Everything here about Fig comes from Fig’s own site, its support pages and its App Store listing, linked as it goes, and was Prices and features change, so the date above is the one that matters.
What Fig does
You build a profile of what you avoid, and Fig checks products against it. You can scan a barcode, search its catalogue, or browse what a shop stocks. Fig describes its purpose on its own site as showing you the food that fits your restrictions, which is a good summary of the difference between it and a scanner that grades products in general.
Its App Store listing claims support for a named set of diets, “Low FODMAP, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Low Histamine, Alpha-Gal”, and “2,800+ other options”.
What Fig does well
The list is very long. This is the real strength and it is not close. Most apps, Kaibu included, work from the fourteen allergens European labelling law requires plus a set of common diets. Fig goes far past that, into individual ingredients and conditions that a regulated list was never going to cover.
Alpha-gal is on it. Anyone who has looked for an app that understands alpha-gal syndrome knows how short that list is. Fig names it explicitly.
It answers the question you asked. A yes or no against your own restrictions is more useful to somebody avoiding sesame than any score out of 100, and Fig was built around that from the start.
Is Fig free?
Partly. There is a free tier, and it is metered. Fig’s support pages say the free version gives you “5 scans per month and unlimited searches”. Fig+ adds unlimited scans, filtering by shop, and early access to its restaurants feature.
What Fig costs
Fig does not publish one price. Its support page says Fig+ costs “about the cost of a cup of coffee each month” on the annual plan. The App Store listing is more specific and shows several tiers at once, monthly options at $5.99 and $7.49 and annual ones ranging from $34.99 to $69.99, which is what price testing looks like from the outside. The figure you are shown may not be the figure somebody else is shown.
Fig also runs a scheme for readers who cannot afford Fig+, which is worth knowing about and which few apps in this category offer.
Is Fig worth it?
It depends on whether it knows about the thing you avoid, and the free tier tells you that for nothing. Fig’s value is the breadth of its restriction list, so the question is whether it knows about the thing you avoid. Five free scans is enough to find out, and if it does know, no other app on this page covers that ground.
If what you avoid is one of the common allergens, the list stops being the deciding factor, and then you are paying for unlimited scans of something other apps will scan for nothing.
Where Kaibu differs
Both apps read a product against a list you chose, so the interesting differences are elsewhere.
- Scanning is not metered. Kaibu’s scanning is unlimited and works without an account. What the free tier meters is the personal verdict, at five a week. The scanning is not metered at all.
- There is a nutritional read as well as a match. Every product shows its Nutri-Score grade, A to E, and a plain sentence about what drove it. That is a different question from “can I eat this”, and Kaibu answers both.
- The ingredients are explained, one at a time. Tap any ingredient and Kaibu says what it is and what it does in food, free for everyone. On Premium it also says what that one ingredient means for your own list, rather than only whether the product as a whole passes.
- The data is open. Kaibu reads Open Food Facts, the database volunteers build, and a product you add goes back into it for everyone. Fig’s catalogue is its own.
- The restriction list is shorter. Kaibu covers the fourteen regulated allergens and a set of diets, not thousands of options. If what you avoid is unusual, Fig will know about it and Kaibu may not.
Which one suits you
If you avoid something specific and uncommon, and the thing you need is the widest possible list of restrictions, Fig covers ground nothing else here does, and the free tier will tell you within five scans whether it knows about your restriction.
If what you avoid is on the common list, and you also want to know what the product is nutritionally and what the words on the label mean, that is what Kaibu does, and it does not count your scans.
Neither app is a medical device, and neither replaces the packet. Label data can be wrong or out of date whoever holds it, so check the pack before you eat.