Fasted vs Simple: Feature-by-Feature Breakdown
Quick Answer: Simple leads in AI-powered coaching and personalized weight loss guidance, backed by a massive marketing budget. Fasted offers deeper tracking features, including meal logging, streak tracking, and detailed stats, at a significantly lower price with a better free tier. Choose Simple for AI coaching. Choose Fasted for comprehensive tracking and value.
Simple (simple.life) has become one of the most visible fasting apps thanks to aggressive marketing and a focus on AI coaching. You have probably seen their ads. The app positions itself primarily as a weight loss tool that uses intermittent fasting as the method, with AI providing personalized guidance.
Fasted takes a different approach: give you powerful tracking tools and let the data guide your decisions. Here is how they compare across every major feature.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Fasted | Simple |
|---|---|---|
| Fasting Timer | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Schedules | 6 built-in | Yes |
| Weight Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Meal Logging | Yes | Limited |
| Streak Tracking | Yes | No |
| Detailed Stats | Yes | Yes |
| AI Coach | No | Yes |
| Personalized Plans | No | Yes |
| Water Tracking | No | Yes |
| Educational Content | Basic | AI-generated |
| Free Tier Quality | Strong | Very Limited |
| Premium Price (Annual) | $29.99 | $59.99+ |
AI Coaching vs Data-Driven Self-Tracking
Simple's headline feature is its AI coach. The app asks detailed questions during a lengthy onboarding quiz, then generates personalized recommendations for fasting schedules, eating habits, and weight loss targets. The AI can answer questions, provide encouragement, and adjust its recommendations over time.
This is genuinely useful for people who want a conversational guide. Ask the AI whether you should extend your fast, and it gives you a tailored answer. Ask about what to eat during your window, and it provides suggestions. For beginners who feel overwhelmed by choices, this hand-holding approach reduces friction.
Fasted does not include AI coaching. Instead, it provides comprehensive tracking tools, detailed stats, and streak tracking that help you see patterns and make your own decisions. The philosophy is that your own data, consistently tracked, is a better long-term guide than any AI recommendation.
Both approaches have merit. AI coaching can accelerate the learning curve for beginners. Data-driven self-tracking builds deeper understanding over time. The question is what kind of support you need right now.
The Onboarding Experience
Simple has one of the longest onboarding flows in the fasting app market. The quiz asks about your age, weight, goals, activity level, eating habits, sleep patterns, and more. This data feeds the AI coach's personalization. It can take five to ten minutes to complete.
The onboarding then leads into a paywall. Simple's free tier is extremely limited, and the app pushes hard toward a subscription before you can meaningfully use it. This is the trade-off of their marketing-heavy approach: the acquisition cost is high, so the monetization needs to be aggressive.
Fasted gets you to a working fasting timer in under a minute. You choose your schedule, start your fast, and begin tracking. The app earns your trust through use, not through a quiz.
If you enjoy personalized onboarding and do not mind the subscription push, Simple's approach feels thorough. If you prefer to start using an app immediately and decide later whether to pay, Fasted respects your time.
Tracking Features
Meal logging is where Fasted has a clear advantage. The app lets you log what you eat during your eating window, creating a record that connects your nutrition to your fasting and weight outcomes. Simple offers some nutritional guidance through its AI, but open-ended meal logging is limited.
Weight tracking is available in both apps. Both show trends and progress over time.
Streak tracking is unique to Fasted in this comparison. Maintaining a visible streak adds daily accountability. Simple does not offer an equivalent feature.
Stats and insights are available in both apps at the premium level. Simple's insights are filtered through its AI coaching lens. Fasted's insights are more data-forward, showing trends and patterns directly.
For more on how meal tracking works across apps, see our best fasting apps with meal tracking guide.
Free Tier Reality
This is where the comparison gets stark.
Simple's free tier is among the most limited in the market. The extensive onboarding collects your data and generates a plan, but accessing most features requires a subscription. Many users report feeling that the free tier is essentially a demo designed to convert you to paid.
Fasted's free tier includes the fasting timer, multiple schedules, and basic tracking. You can use the app productively for weeks or months without paying and make an informed decision about whether premium features would add value.
The difference in free tier generosity reflects different business models. Simple spends heavily on user acquisition through advertising and needs high conversion rates to premium. Fasted relies more on organic growth and word-of-mouth, so the free tier needs to be good enough that users recommend it.
For a thorough analysis of free versus paid value across all major apps, read our free vs paid fasting apps guide.
Pricing
Simple's pricing varies and often includes promotional offers during onboarding, but the standard annual subscription starts around $59.99 and can go higher depending on the plan tier. This makes it one of the most expensive fasting apps.
Fasted's premium is $29.99 per year. That is roughly half the price of Simple, and Fasted includes features like meal logging and streak tracking that Simple does not offer.
The price gap is significant. Simple justifies it with AI coaching, which is expensive to develop and run. Whether that coaching is worth the premium depends on how much you use it and whether the AI's guidance genuinely adds value beyond what you could learn from tracking your own data.
Design and Daily Use
Simple has a polished, modern design with a weight-loss-forward aesthetic. The interface is clean but oriented around the AI coach and its recommendations. Navigation can involve more taps to reach basic features because the app prioritizes guided experiences.
Fasted is minimal and function-first. The timer, stats, and tracking tools are immediately accessible. Daily check-ins are fast.
For an app you use multiple times per day, speed matters. Fasted gets you in and out faster. Simple provides a richer experience per session but takes more time.
Where Simple Wins
Simple has real strengths:
- AI coaching. Conversational guidance is unique and genuinely helpful for some users.
- Personalization. The detailed onboarding creates a tailored experience.
- Weight loss focus. If weight loss is your primary goal, Simple is built specifically for that.
- Marketing and visibility. Easy to find, well-known, large user base.
- Polished design. The app looks and feels premium.
If you want an AI coach that guides you through fasting and weight loss, Simple is the best option in the market for that specific need.
Where Fasted Wins
Fasted leads in several areas:
- Meal logging. Flexible food tracking that Simple lacks.
- Streak tracking. Daily accountability metric.
- Far better free tier. Usable features without subscription pressure.
- Lower price. Half the annual cost or less.
- Faster daily use. Minimal design, fewer taps to core features.
- Schedule flexibility. Six built-in protocols including 5:2 and ADF.
- No aggressive onboarding. Start fasting in under a minute.
Who Should Choose Which?
Choose Simple if:
- You want AI-powered coaching and personalized guidance
- Weight loss is your primary and specific goal
- You are a beginner who wants hand-holding through the process
- You are comfortable paying $59.99+ per year
- You do not need meal logging or streak tracking
Choose Fasted if:
- You want comprehensive tracking tools in one app
- You prefer making your own decisions based on data
- Streak tracking helps you stay consistent
- You want a strong free tier and lower premium price
- You value fast, minimal daily app interactions
For a comparison with social-focused alternatives, see Fasted vs Fastic. For the complete market overview, check the best fasting app roundup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Simple fasting app worth the price?
Simple's AI coaching is a unique feature that some users find very valuable, particularly beginners who want personalized guidance. At $59.99+ per year, it is one of the more expensive fasting apps. Whether it is worth it depends on how much you rely on the AI coach. If you mainly need tracking features, Fasted offers more for less.
Does Simple have a good free version?
Simple's free tier is very limited. The app collects detailed information during onboarding but gates most features behind the premium subscription. If you want to try a fasting app without committing to a subscription, Fasted's free tier offers significantly more functionality.
Can Simple help me lose weight?
Simple is designed specifically with weight loss as a primary goal. The AI coaching, personalized plans, and weight tracking are all oriented toward weight loss outcomes. However, any consistent fasting practice combined with mindful eating can support weight loss, regardless of which app you use.
Is the AI coach in Simple actually useful?
The AI coach provides personalized recommendations and can answer fasting-related questions. Its usefulness depends on your needs. Beginners who want guidance tend to find it most valuable. Experienced fasters who already know their preferred protocols may not use it enough to justify the cost.
Which app is better for experienced fasters?
Experienced fasters typically value tracking depth and flexibility over coaching. Fasted's meal logging, streak tracking, detailed stats, and schedule variety are well-suited for people who already know what they are doing and want data to optimize. Simple's AI coaching is designed more for guidance than optimization.