Noom is a weight loss app that uses psychology to help transform eating habits. Noom uses food-logging methods, educational lessons, inspirational exercises, and a team of guides to help you meet personal goals. The cost of a Noom subscription depends on your personalized weight-loss plan, and the total is billed upfront, not monthly.
Noom At a Glance
Cost: (Noom subscription depends on your personalized weight-loss plan)
Insurance Accepted? Not mentioned
Pros & Cons of Noom
- Seven-day free trial
- Provides a personalized weight-loss plan
- Offers the option to read or listen to your lessons
- Allows you to set how many minutes you’d like to dedicate to daily learning
- Uses psychological and evidence-based methods for healthy weight loss
- Includes a team of Noom Guides that offer 24-hour assistance
- Offers the option of one-on-one weight-loss counseling with a coach
- Has community features called Noom Circles to connect users
- Not safe for anyone diagnosed with an eating disorder or a history of disordered eating
- Constant calorie counting may trigger toxic dieting behaviors for some
- Difficult to initially figure out costs
- Plans are billed upfront, not broken down into monthly payments
- Features are gradually rolled out, so you don’t get access to everything throughout the seven-day free trial
Preview Noom
Noom is a weight loss app that uses psychology to help users change their eating habits. It includes daily lessons, food-logging tools, progress tracking, guides, and community features to help users connect. Noom provides personalized plans and uses evidence-based psychological techniques to promote healthy eating. The Noom app offers “Guides” to help you throughout your program. They communicate with you via chat and typically respond to questions within minutes. Noom’s weight-loss program includes educational lessons and asks members to log every meal and weigh in daily.
The cost of a Noom subscription depends on your personalized weight-loss plan, and the total is billed upfront, not monthly. All subscriptions come with a seven-day free trial. Noom has 4.7 stars from over 816.7K reviews in the Apple App Store and 4.2 stars from 310K reviews in the Google Play Store. Noom also has 3.9 stars from 63,524 reviews on Trustpilot. Noom is not a safe choice for anyone who’s been diagnosed with an eating disorder or has a history of disordered eating. You’ll also want to find an alternative if you simply want to focus on health and wellness, not weight.
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Noom Key Takeaways
- Noom is a weight-loss app that provides personalized plans and uses evidence-based psychological techniques to promote healthy eating.
- Noom is not recommended for anyone diagnosed with an eating disorder or a history of disordered eating.
- The Noom app offers “Guides” to help you throughout your program. They communicate with you via chat and typically respond to questions within minutes.
- Noom’s weight-loss program includes educational lessons and asks members to log every meal and weigh in daily.
- Subscription prices will depend on your unique weight-loss plan, but all plans come with a seven-day free trial.
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What Is Noom?
Noom is a weight loss app that uses psychology to help users change their eating habits. It includes daily lessons, food-logging tools, progress tracking, guides, and community features to help users connect. The cost of your Noom subscription will depend on your personal weight-loss goals and the length of your plan.
Your Noom journey begins with a lengthy questionnaire that takes 15 – 30 minutes to complete. The onboarding process aims to collect as much data as possible on your health, eating habits, lifestyle, and weight-loss goals to design the most suitable program for you. After you complete the survey, Noom will show you your personalized plan, which includes how long your program will last and the cost of your subscription.
Once you approve your plan, you can begin your free trial, explore the app features, and start your first lesson. Noom allows you to complete lessons via text or audio and adjust the daily lessons’ length to fit your schedule. You’ll see your daily lessons when you log in at the top of your home screen.
At the top right-hand corner of the home screen, you’ll find your message box where you can send questions or concerns to your Noom Guides. Noom Guides are like customer service personnel and weight-loss coaches rolled into one. To the left of your message box, you’ll see a flag icon that takes you to your Course Map, which shows you how far you’ve come with your lessons. “Noomcoins” are given as rewards when you meet daily targets, but their simply for collecting; you don’t “purchase” anything with them.
The other main features all fall under the progress tracking system. Progress tracking includes weigh-ins, meal and water intake logs, movement tracking (which can be paired with a smartwatch), and even a mood tracker that helps Noom understand how your emotions impact your eating. These metrics are closely monitored so your plan can be adjusted if you’re not meeting your initial goals or surpassing them.
How Much Does Noom Cost?
Noom costs are determined by each user’s customized weight-loss program, so costs and length of programs will vary. All subscriptions come with a seven-day free trial. After the trial ends, you must pay for the total cost of your plan upfront.
My Noom Plan Cost
To offer an example of cost, my personalized plan was two months for $98.99. My plan included focusing on heart health, shorter daily lessons to fit my busy schedule, and a slow-paced weight-loss program. Overall, the longer and more intensive your plan is, the more expensive it will be.
How to Sign Up for Noom
Signing up for Noom can take about 15-30 minutes, depending on how well you identify your goals and eating behaviors. You can sign up for Noom by visiting your device’s app store, or you can visit Noom’s website to begin. Follow the steps below to get started with your first Noom lesson.
- Visit the Noom website and click on ‘Get Noom.’
- Begin the onboarding survey. This is a comprehensive questionnaire, so be sure to set aside some time to answer every section. (15-30 min)
- View your personalized weight-loss plan and choose the free trial if it suits you.
- Choose how many minutes you’d like to dedicate to your daily lessons.
- Begin your first lesson.
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Noom Key Features
Noom is a weight-loss app with educational lessons, food-logging tools, and progress-tracking features. They also provide “Noom Guides” that communicate with you via chat to answer questions, address concerns, or offer inspiration. Your plan and membership price will ultimately depend on your personal weight-loss goals.
Science & Psychology Lessons
Every day I opened the Noom app, I was given a list of lessons that were brief and easy to digest. I love that you can listen to the lesson’s audio or read the text. You can also choose the length of your daily lessons so you’re not overwhelmed.
You’ll be introduced to Noom’s color-coded food charts at the beginning of this coursework:
- Green Foods – lowest caloric density/highest nutritional value
- Yellow Foods – mid-level caloric density/medium nutritional value
- Orange Foods – highest caloric density/least nutritional value
My Noom courses were a mix of food science and the psychology of eating habits. For instance, I started with learning more about caloric density (CD) and how eating foods with less CD can make you feel full faster. Then, I moved on to how habits are formed and the psychology of emotional eating. All lessons were evidence-based, with statistics, data, and current research included to support points and ensure accuracy.
Progress Tracking & Logging Tools
Noom encourages users to weigh in every day and log every meal. While this can be time-consuming and somewhat frustrating, several studies show that weighing yourself every morning can help you adopt better weight-control behaviors.1 Conversely, research also suggests that weighing yourself every day may increase anxiety and depression and lead to toxic dieting behaviors.2
I didn’t experience any negative results from weighing myself each morning, but I firmly believe this ritual can be discouraging or even dangerous for others. Anyone using Noom should be aware of how the daily weigh-ins affect their mood and eating habits in order to practice safe and healthy weight loss.
Noom attempts to make tracking and logging as easy as possible. Remember that you’ll also have to include weight and volume, so having a food scale can be handy with Noom’s programs. In addition to logging food and daily weight, you’ll also have water intake, movement, and mood logs. When you complete your logs, you’ll see an analysis of your day that shows your average consumption of green, yellow, or orange foods.
Noom Guides, Noom Coaches, & Noom Circles
While many users can follow the Noom program independently, others may want more guidance and support. Noom provides a lot of extra assistance through Noom Guides, Noom Coaches, and Noom Circles.
Guides communicate with you via chat and can answer any questions about the app or your weight-loss plan. Coaches provide one-on-one attention and help users reach their goals using CBT methods and video conference sessions. Noom Coaches can be accessed for an additional cost. Circles are much like Facebook; you connect with other users, post pictures, and share experiences. There are a variety of Circles to join, and Noom encourages you to find one with members that match your interests, lifestyle, and personal goals.
Who Is Noom Right For?
Noom would be an excellent fit for anyone interested in learning the psychology behind their eating habits and those focused primarily on weight loss. It’s also a great choice if you hope to go on your weight-loss journey with a friend.
Interested in Understanding the Psychology Behind Eating Habits
Noom is famous for its psychological approach to weight loss. It encourages members to learn about their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around food using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) methods. Studies show CBT can be incredibly effective for those hoping to change their eating habits.3 Because of this, Noom is a top pick for understanding the psychology of weight loss.
Focused Primarily on Weight Loss
While Noom may be classified as a health and wellness app, its primary focus is weight loss. You’ll learn about healthy foods, emotional eating, mindful eating, when to weigh yourself, how to track calories, and many other aspects of weight loss. It’s a good match for anyone seeking support in shedding a few extra pounds.
Want to Lose Weight with a Friend
Noom makes it easy to share your stats and progress with others or invite friends to join you on your weight-loss journey. They also offer discounts for referring a friend to the program. Evidence shows people tend to see more positive results with diet and exercise programs when doing them with a supportive friend, family member, partner, or co-worker.4 Tap “Noom Together” on the main menu to learn more.
Who May Want an Alternative to Noom?
Noom is not a safe choice for anyone who’s been diagnosed with an eating disorder or has a history of disordered eating. You’ll also want to find an alternative if you simply want to focus on health and wellness, not weight.
Eating Disorder or Disordered Eating
Noom would not be a safe or appropriate app for anyone who has a history of disordered eating or an eating disorder. The program involves constant calorie counting, daily weigh-ins, food tracking, and a paramount focus on weight loss. While Noom does use healthy, evidence-based approaches to losing weight, it can easily trigger someone who has been impacted by a toxic diet culture or who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder. If you feel you may fall into either of these categories, using a service that treats eating disorders, like Equip Health, is highly recommended.
To learn more about this online program, check out our comprehensive review of Equip Health.
Focus on Health & Wellness
If you’re hoping to reduce stress, sleep better, or learn a few new workout routines, Noom may not be the best choice. As emphasized above, Noom is a weight loss program. You might find that a yoga, meditation, or mindfulness app could be a better option for overall health and wellness goals.
Check out our lists of the best yoga apps, meditation apps, and mindfulness apps to find one that works for you.
What Users Are Saying About Noom
Noom has 4.7 stars from over 801K reviews in the Apple App Store and 4.1 stars from 308K reviews in the Google Play Store. Noom also has 4 stars and over 6K reviews on Trustpilot. Many reviewers mentioned that they learned to make smarter, healthier choices and set achievable goals. Unfortunately, there were several complaints about glitches in the app and the food logging system being too time-consuming.
Making Healthier Choices
Multiple reviewers stated that they’ve started to make better choices, including choosing healthier foods, recognizing when they are satisfied versus being full, and understanding how even small amounts of exercise can impact weight loss. The color-coded food system also helped me choose healthier options.
Achievable Goals
Users love that Noom’s customized plan is broken down into small but significant steps that make reaching personal goals more achievable. This encourages members to stick to the program without feeling overwhelmed. I can also add that the daily lessons are between 1-10 minutes, making it easy to complete for anyone with a demanding schedule.
Lots of Glitches
I read many complaints about the app crashing, freezing, and not saving data. Some reviewers stated that the barcode feature for tracking food wasn’t functioning correctly. Thankfully, the Noom developers responded to many of these issues with ways to troubleshoot the problem. I personally didn’t experience any glitches while using the app.
Food Logging Is Time-Consuming
A common issue with Noom users is frustration with logging food. I can attest that this is one of the worst parts of any weight loss program that requires food tracking. With Noom, you have to log the type of food and the weight, volume, or calories of each meal, and it’s not always easy, especially if you tend to eat foods not listed in their meal library.
Noom Vs. Competitors
Noom is just one of the many weight-loss apps available. Checking out the services of their top competitors is always a good idea to ensure you’ve chosen the right program. Below you’ll find a brief comparative summary of Noom and similar weight-loss apps.
Noom Vs. My Fitness Pal
Noom and My Fitness Pal have a lot of similar features. They both have food logging and progress tracking tools, and you can customize plans to meet personal goals. In addition, they both use a combination of food science and psychology to help users learn more about their eating habits.
If you’re looking for simple calorie-counting apps, Noom and My Fitness Pal offer the basics for free. One key difference is the subscription costs and trials for their premium versions. My Fitness Pal subscriptions cost $19.99 monthly, including a one-month free trial, which is extensive for this service. Noom’s costs depend on individual weight-loss plans, offering only a seven-day free trial.
Noom Vs. Weight Watchers
Noom and Weight Watchers offer almost identical weight-loss support. They both emphasize the effectiveness of meal-tracking and daily weigh-ins. Both apps also provide educational tools and the option of working one-on-one with coaches. In addition, Weight Watchers and Noom design unique nutrition plans that meet personal goals.
One key difference is that Weight Watchers conducts virtual workshops and live workshops with Weight Watcher’s coaches in cities all over the U.S. Weight Watchers also offers budget-friendly subscription options, currently costing $12.00 monthly for their basic digital features, like meal planning and progress tracking. If you’re interested in more intensive support, you can choose a private coaching plan that costs $59.99 monthly with WW. Since both companies offer a seven-day free trial, it may be worth trying each to see which service suits you best.
History of Noom
Co-founders Artem Petakov and Saeju Jeong created Noom in 2008 and launched the app in 2016. Petakov, a former Google engineer, and Jeong wanted to create an easier way to help people live healthier lives and become more educated on food science. Noom is now one of the most popular health and wellness apps and has been downloaded over a million times.5
Noom in the News
With the rise of the body positivity movement, Noom has been considered somewhat controversial. Some users have publicly stated that the consistent weigh-ins and calorie counting triggered disordered eating for them. A few former Noom coaches also weighed in to say that their assistance is limited, and they didn’t feel equipped to help specific users, especially those who may be suffering from trauma or mental illnesses.6
In other news, Noom now offers weight loss drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy. By joining Noom Med for an additional cost, you’ll be matched with a healthcare team that will provide a screening and lab analysis to see if a drug is right for you. Weight Watchers will also be offering the option of weight-loss medication with its program.7
Final Verdict
Frequently Asked Questions About Noom
Is Noom Legit?
Yes. Noom is a trusted company with millions of users.
What Credentials Do Noom Coaches Have?
Noom seeks coaches with experience in the health and wellness industry and a passion for helping others. They have an extensive screening process for their coaches, but they don’t require any specific credentials, such as a Registered Dietician license.
Can You Actually Lose Weight with Noom?
Yes. It’s possible to lose weight with the Noom app. Results will vary, and the program is not suited for everyone, specifically those with eating disorders or a history of disordered eating.
Does Noom Prescribe Weight-Loss Medication?
No. Noom Weight does not connect you with a healthcare provider or prescribe medication. However, Noom Med, an extra service that costs an additional $49 monthly, includes a healthcare team to help you combat potential medical issues affecting weight loss. You’ll be given a health screening and asked to complete lab tests before receiving a prescription. The cost of medication and lab tests are not included in the subscription price.
Is Noom Safe?
Noom offers an evidence-based weight-loss program that can be effective for some, but it’s not necessarily a safe option for everyone. Noom is not recommended for anyone who has been diagnosed with an eating disorder or has a history of disordered eating.
How Do I Cancel My Noom Subscription?
To cancel your Noom subscription, select your device’s ‘Settings’ and choose ‘Subscriptions.’ Find the Noom membership and hit ‘Cancel Subscription.’
Does Noom Offer Refunds?
Noom may offer refunds in specific cases. To see if you’re eligible, fill out Noom’s Support Form. To learn more, visit their Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
For Further Reading
Choosing Therapy strives to provide our readers with mental health content that is accurate and actionable. We have high standards for what can be cited within our articles. Acceptable sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism. Learn more by reviewing our full editorial policy.
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Pacanowski, C. R., Linde, J. A., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2015). Self-Weighing: Helpful or Harmful for Psychological Well-Being? A Review of the Literature. Current obesity reports, 4(1), 65–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-015-0142-2
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Steinberg, D. M., Bennett, G. G., Askew, S., & Tate, D. F. (2015). Weighing every day matters: daily weighing improves weight loss and adoption of weight control behaviors. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 115(4), 511–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.12.011
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Jacob, A., Moullec, G., Lavoie, K. L., Laurin, C., Cowan, T., Tisshaw, C., Kazazian, C., Raddatz, C., & Bacon, S. L. (2018). Impact of cognitive-behavioral interventions on weight loss and psychological outcomes: A meta-analysis. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 37(5), 417–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000576
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Wang, M. L., Pbert, L., & Lemon, S. C. (2014). Influence of family, friend and coworker social support and social undermining on weight gain prevention among adults. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 22(9), 1973–1980. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20814
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Skidmore Sell, Sarah. (2021, June 14). Noom CEO talks life goals, weight loss and heavy metal. Associated Press. Retrieved from: https://apnews.com/article/health-lifestyle-business-6fe5f1ada56943febf0e0a02c829dd19
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Landsverk, Gabby. (2023, May 4). Some Noom users say the app’s daily weigh-ins and calorie-tracking system are ‘toxic’ and triggered disordered eating. Insider. Retrieved from: https://www.insider.com/noom-app-triggered-disordered-eating-2023-5
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Court, Emma. (2023, May 24). Health startup Noom is now adding Ozempic and other weight loss injectables to its offerings, says ‘outcomes are so much better.’ Fortune. Retrieved from: https://fortune.com/well/2023/05/24/noom-med-weight-loss-injectables-ozempic-wegovy-mounjaro/
We regularly update the articles on ChoosingTherapy.com to ensure we continue to reflect scientific consensus on the topics we cover, to incorporate new research into our articles, and to better answer our audience’s questions. When our content undergoes a significant revision, we summarize the changes that were made and the date on which they occurred. We also record the authors and medical reviewers who contributed to previous versions of the article. Read more about our editorial policies here.
Author: Randi Sprintis, MS (No change)
Medical Reviewer: Benjamin Troy, MD (No change)
Primary Changes: Added summary block and star rating breakdown
Author: Randi Sprintis, MS (No change)
Medical Reviewer: Benjamin Troy, MD (No change)
Primary Changes: Updated Noom’s pricing and content, and adjusted some of the content to make it easier to understand.
Author: Randi Sprintis, MS
Medical Reviewer: Benjamin Troy, MD
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