MyNetDiary Bets on AI Coach in Crowded Digital Health Race

BOCA RATON, FL – January 27, 2026 – MyNetDiary, a long-standing player in the digital nutrition space since 2008, today announced a significant strategic pivot with the launch of Premium Plus, a new subscription tier that integrates a conversational AI Coach and a suite of smart tools into its popular calorie-tracking app. The move, which also includes the release of a standalone AI-first app called PlateAI, signals a deeper push into artificial intelligence, aiming to shift the user experience from passive data logging to active, personalized guidance.

This launch places the company directly into an increasingly competitive and sophisticated arena where major health and wellness platforms are racing to leverage AI to solve one of the biggest hurdles in digital dieting: user adherence and the manual labor of tracking. By introducing a diet assistant that understands a user's goals and food diary, MyNetDiary is betting that the future of weight management lies not just in counting calories, but in conversation and context.

The AI Coach: A New Era of Personalized Dieting?

The centerpiece of the new Premium Plus offering is the AI Coach, a conversational assistant designed to act as a personal diet guide. According to the company, the tool analyzes a user's logged meals, goals, and progress to offer daily guidance, troubleshoot weight loss plateaus, and provide strategies for real-world challenges like dining out or managing cravings. This represents a significant step beyond the AI-powered photo logging that has become common in recent years.

"We introduced AI Meal Scan in 2024 to make food logging as easy as snapping a photo," said Sergey Oreshko, CEO of MyNetDiary, in the company's official announcement. "Premium Plus takes that further—AI that not only sees what you eat, but understands your goals and helps you make better decisions without requiring more effort."

The ambition is to replicate the supportive and adaptive nature of human coaching at scale. For users, this could mean moving away from a rigid, rule-based dieting app toward a more dynamic and responsive partner. The potential to make personalized health advice more accessible and affordable is a key driver for AI integration across the health tech industry. If successful, such tools could help millions by providing continuous, tailored support that was previously only available through expensive one-on-one coaching.

Beyond the Coach: A Suite of Smart Tools

To combat the decision fatigue and tedious data entry often associated with diet apps, the Premium Plus tier also introduces several tools aimed at automation and convenience. These features directly address user pain points that frequently lead to abandonment of health and wellness apps.

The new tools include:

• AI Suggest Meals: This feature analyzes a user's daily log and recommends foods or meals that fit within their remaining calorie and macronutrient targets.
• AI Restaurant Menu Scan: Users can photograph or paste a menu to receive personalized recommendations, with the app highlighting choices that align with their nutrition plan and providing estimated nutritional data.
• AI Voice Logging: This allows users to describe their meals in natural language, which the AI then converts into structured entries in their food diary.

While the promise of effortless tracking is compelling, the execution of such features is critical. Early feedback from users on similar AI-powered food logging tools has been mixed. Some users have expressed frustration with the accuracy of AI in identifying foods and, more critically, estimating portion sizes. One user on a public forum, commenting on their experience with AI meal scanning prior to this launch, noted they were unimpressed with its accuracy, suggesting that manual correction was still frequently required. The success of MyNetDiary's new suite will hinge on its ability to deliver a truly seamless and reliable experience that builds user trust.

The Crowded Field of AI-Powered Wellness

MyNetDiary's foray into advanced AI coaching comes as the entire digital health landscape undergoes a similar transformation. The company is not just innovating in a vacuum; it is entering a heated race. Industry giant MyFitnessPal is preparing to launch its own "Premium+" tier, priced at $99.99 annually, centered on an AI-generated meal planner. Meanwhile, Noom has already integrated its own AI chatbot, "Welli," to provide 24/7 assistance alongside its human coaches and power an AI-driven meal planner for subscribers.

This competitive context makes MyNetDiary's pricing and product strategy particularly noteworthy. The Premium Plus tier is set at $14.99 per month, a step up from its standard $59.99 annual premium plan. The separate PlateAI app, powered by the same engine, is offered at a similar annual price point, with discounts for existing MyNetDiary subscribers. This two-pronged approach allows the company to both upsell its established user base and attract new customers who prefer a streamlined, AI-first experience. The pricing appears positioned to be competitive, especially when compared to the higher annual cost announced by some rivals for similar AI-driven features.

Navigating the Promise and Pitfalls of Digital Health

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in personal health, it brings with it a host of complex ethical and practical considerations. Experts in AI and healthcare have raised concerns about the "black box" nature of some algorithms, where the decision-making process is not transparent. The risk of AI "hallucinations"—generating factually incorrect information with confidence—is particularly concerning in a health context, where bad advice could have serious consequences. Furthermore, the potential for AI systems to perpetuate health disparities if trained on biased or non-diverse datasets remains a significant challenge for the entire industry.

These challenges are being met with a push for greater oversight and regulation, but for now, the responsibility largely falls on companies like MyNetDiary to ensure their products are safe, reliable, and equitable. The stakes are incredibly high, as the global health and wellness market, valued at over $6.8 trillion in 2025, continues its rapid expansion. This growth is fueled by consumer demand for preventive care, personalized solutions, and the integration of technology like wearables and smart apps into daily life. MyNetDiary's launch is a clear reflection of these market forces, representing a calculated move to capture a piece of a future where health management is increasingly automated and intelligent. The ultimate success of this new generation of AI health tools will depend not only on their technological sophistication but on their ability to earn user trust and deliver meaningful, real-world health outcomes.