FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I receive customer referrals fees from companies on this website/post. All data & opinions are based on my experience as a paying customer or consultant to a paying customer.
It can be a tough decision to choose between different platforms when you’ve decided you’d like some help with losing weight. There are many apps out there, but two kingpins reign over the weight loss market.
Noom, founded in 2008 is the younger of the two, with Weight Watchers being founded years ago in 1963 being the senior, but obviously still fresh to the app store.
In this article, we’re going to review Noom vs Weight Watchers to help you choose the best tool for you.
At first glance, Noom is there to help you with weight-loss and dietary guidance with lots of great features.
The app prides itself on being simple. It provides a full-calorie breakdown tailored for you through a set of questions answered, by you the community.
Noom logs your exercise, weight, blood pressure and blood sugar while providing the ability to receive 1 on 1 personal health and fitness coaching from a professional. It even helps motivate you with a personalized list of article posts and quizzes.
What is Weight Watchers?
Weight Watchers, a very well respected and mature name in the weight-loss scene, is an app built around helping people lose weight and eat healthily.
Features include a user-friendly food and fitness tracker, a 24/7 online coach to assist you if needed, an in-app social media platform called “Connect” that allows you to share progress with other users & your own personal weight and daily activity dashboards.
Weight Watchers also has features to help you find workshops near you and an exclusive fitness workout from Aaptiv, a popular fitness app.
What Is the Difference Between Weight Watchers and Noom?
The main fundamental difference between Weight Watchers and Noom appears to be that, Noom looks to be aimed at millennials while Weight Watchers appears to lean towards an older audience.
The features on both reflect this also, with Noom feels to be more easy to use and slimmed down app and Weight Watchers looking more mature to the eye.
While Weight Watchers appears to focus more on social interaction and workshops outside of the app itself, Noom provides a flexible way to get advice from a coach and focuses mainly on you.
1. Diet Focus
Both Noom and Weight Watchers both give great options when it comes to dietary and food intake focus.
Noom breaks down and tracks calories to help you tailor your diet depending on your needs, they do this by asking you to answer a set of questions.
Noom also allows you to log meals and provides full meal plans, made by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) while also leaving the option to contact a professional health coach.
Weight Watchers, on the other hand, allows you to find workshops near you that can focus on dietary needs, it gives you food recipes made by professionals and used by many and also gives you a personalized weight dashboard, tracking your progress daily through a point system to make it clear to follow.
Like Noom, Weight Watchers also provides the option to contact a health coach if needed. Both apps will recommend you to eat a balanced diet to keep you healthy all the time. (1)
2. Core Philosophies
Both Noom and Weight Watchers want to help you with the same thing, dietary needs, and weight-loss. But, they both have slightly different philosophies when it comes to what they are aiming for.
Noom, which is mainly aimed at a younger, millennial audience, hopes to help you and other users lose weight on a long term basis, planning ahead and setting goals. Noom focuses on a sustainable diet and weight-loss plan provides sensible and less drastic measures for meal planning.
Weight Watchers, which as we’ve highlighted, seems to be aimed at a more mature audience, push the idea that a healthy lifestyle is very important to achieving your weight loss goals.
3. Coaching Techniques
The Noom and Weight Watchers applications both provide positively received coaching, often on a 1 to 1 basis and performed by professionals.
Noom coaches appear to be there to mainly motivate and push you, in order to achieve the goals that you have set. The coach will work with you to craft a tangible realistic goal, with steps to achieve it, depending on your needs.
Weight Watchers coaches are people who have been through what you are experiencing and are quite often ‘success stories’ of their own. Meaning that they are coaches that you can relate to and may make it easier for you to follow along.
4. Cost
Noom appears to be much more costly when it comes to the available plans but offers a free 14-day trial and only one set plan giving all features.
Whereas Weight Watchers pricing looks to have a more tailored range and gives 3 different plans depending on your needs.
Noom Pricing is as follows:
Weight Watchers pricing is as follows:
A. Digital Plan $3.07 USD Weekly. Includes:
B. Workshop + Digital Plan. Requires Zip Code.
C. Personal Coach + Digital. $12.69 USD Weekly
Noom: Pros and Cons
Pros
CONS
Weight Watchers: Pros and Cons
Pros
CONS
What Users Are Saying About The Apps
Users of Noom are claiming that it’s “loaded with tools, quizzes and articles” that are there to help people achieve their goals. Other users are claiming it has helped make them aware of possible unhealthy dietary habits.
Users also report that their coaches are helpful in pushing and motivating them with their goals and keeping them accountable with their meal plans and workout.
Weight Watchers, having a similar experience, showed many users saying that the app “encourages” them to consume more of what they should be eating well.
Lots of users claiming that Weight Watchers is straightforward to use. However, some users also said that the app often records food in the wrong categories and can also have problems saving points logged, then making the info wrong.
To learn more about what other people have experienced, you can watch these video reviews below. Here's Youtuber Asia talking about her honest review about Noom.
To know more about Weight Watchers, watch this video review by Youtuber Olivia Hayward.
FAQ
1. How much does Noom cost?
2. How much does Weight Watchers cost?
3. Can you pay for Noom monthly?
4. Does Weight Watchers own Noom?
Not only are weight loss apps easy to use, but many of their benefits are also supported by scientific evidence. (2)
Brianna Elliot, RD
Contributor, Healthline.com
Noom vs Weight Watchers: Which Should You Choose?
Both apps may seem like great choices for those looking to lose weight and get healthy, but both have different philosophies when it comes to your coaching. Use this guide to decide which key aspects and focuses appeal and motivate you the most.
Because Noom is focused more on the long term weight loss goals and a sustainable plan, I find it more appealing and helpful especially if you struggle with starting a diet or workout plan and not pushing through with it.
It's the professional guidance of the coaches and the accountability that could really pick you up, motivate you, and push you through achieving your weight loss goals.
Plus, the food log is more comprehensive and the app is straightforward and simple.
Which of these two have you tried?
References:
1. NHS Inform, Health benefits of eating well, retrieved from https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/food-and-nutrition/eating-well/health-benefits-of-eating-well
2. Brianna Elliott, RD, The 10 Best Weight Loss Apps That Help You Shed Pounds, retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-best-weight-loss-apps
