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noom

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5.7

Overall Score

Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: April 12th, 2025

Noom started in 2008 by Artem Petavkov and Saeju Jeong. Their mission was to create a weight loss program that focuses on behavior instead of dieting. Noom offers personalized weight loss plans that target healthy eating and physical activity by developing habits that will bring long-term results.

Read on to learn more about the Noom app: how it works, the pros and cons, and past customer experience with Noom reviews. 

What is the Noom app? 

Noom breaks the norms of traditional weight loss programs by focusing on healthy habits rather than specific diet restrictions. Noom founders designed the Noom app to be a long-term solution for weight loss. By tracking your eating and exercise routines, Noom pinpoints unhealthy habits leading to weight gain or hindering weight loss. This approach combined with expert coaching helps individuals develop sustainable weight loss solutions. 

How does the Noom app work?

When you first begin using the app, you will need to answer a series of questions about your demographics, weight loss goal, and desired timeframe for losing the weight. The Noom algorithm will create a customized weight loss plan based on your information. 

The app will ask permission to access your health data measured on your phone. Once you grant the app permission, your phone will automatically calculate your physical activity through the health apps. If you have an external tracker such as a Fitbit, you can use this device to precisely calculate physical activity. 

During the day, input food you have eaten to see your remaining calorie allowance. Choose from a food database of over 150,000 items or input your food manually for home-cooked meals. Noom categorizes food groups three colors based on nutrient density: red, yellow, and green. 

  • Green food is low-calorie and nutrient-dense.
  • Yellow foods are somewhere between green and red. 
  • Red food is high-calorie and low-nutrient dense. 

Recognize and change your poor eating habits with the food tracking feature. The app doesn’t tell you to give up “red” food such as cake or ice cream, it warns to be aware of these food groups and eat them sparingly. The goal is to practice the principle of mindful eating — recognizing the difference between a craving and being hungry. With small steps, behavior can change to form lasting healthy habits.

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The Good

  • Personalized Weight Loss Plans
  • One-on-One Coaching
  • Diabetic Friendly
  • Diet and Nutrition Education 
  • Research-Based Program
  • Free 14-Day Trial Period 
  • Referral Program

Personalized Weight Loss Plans

At the core of Noom is the idea that one size does not fit all. Upon signing up you will be asked a series of questions that will determine the type of diet you need to lose weight. The overall focus is to change behavior for long-term results and cut down medical costs. Every subscriber is put into a virtual group with a designated coach who will help your group and provide one-on-one training. The underlying goal is to help consumers develop and maintain healthy eating and physical activity habits.

One-on-One Coaching

As mentioned above, Noom members receive a personal health coach to guide them through their weight loss journey. Your assigned Noom coach will be available to offer guidance and answer questions during regular business hours. This support system helps users stay motivated as they make lifestyle changes. If you need help outside of normal business hours, you can contact an on-call health coach available 24/7.

Diabetic Friendly

Noom has created a solution to help with the management and prevention of several chronic conditions. These include hypertension, diabetes, and comorbidity of hypertension and diabetes. Within the Noom app, there are features to log in blood glucose and blood pressure. The app is designed to gather data from hundreds of different medical devices. So if you use a One Drop Chrome to measure your blood sugar or an Omron BP786 to monitor blood pressure, Noom’s mobile app will connect and log that information to work with the meals you have tracked.

Diet and Nutrition Education 

The Noom app seeks to educate users on important health topics such as carb intake and calorie reduction. Other diet plans often outline a specific routine without much explanation of the why. Noom brings education and instruction all onto one platform. Read articles and take quizzes to increase your knowledge of healthier habits. This feature is helpful for individuals looking to lose weight sustainably and maintain a healthy lifestyle change. You can continue to apply what you learn even after the Noom program has ended.

Research-Based Program 

Noom is committed to creating a weight loss program based on research-backed results. The company has been recognized by the CDC for its diabetes prevention program (DPP). Noom has also published in peer reviewed journals such as Nature and British Medical Journal (BMJ). A research article featured in the BMJ states that “64% of Noom users lost 5% or more of body weight, greatly reducing their risk of diabetes and other conditions.” This is a significant statistic in the weight loss industry. Many companies have a difficult time measuring their results and outcomes. If you are looking for a weight loss program backed by research, Noom is a great choice. 

Free 14-Day Trial Period

If you aren't ready to fully commit, try the free 14-day trial period. Get all access to the premium features without the payment. This is a great opportunity to explore the app and see if the program is a good fit for your weight loss goal. Once the 14-day trial period is up, you will be charged the premium subscription price. Cancel at any time during the trial period to avoid the charge.

Referral Program

Noom offers its customers the perk of getting rewarded when a friend joins. Customers will send a personal link to friends that they will use to set up their own Noom subscription. The person you referred will receive a 20 percent discount on their subscription and you will get $20 Amazon credit. Unfortunately, this offer is only valid in the United States.

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The Bad

  • Lack of Information
  • Expensive Subscription
  • Requires Daily Commitment

Lack of Information

While the company says that its goal is to help people form healthy habits, information on how it is done or how long it will take is not provided on the website. There is a lot of data about why Noom is a good weight loss choice, but other than that it lacks details. In order to receive more information, interested customers are required to send in their personal information and wait for a company representative to contact them.

Expensive Subscription

Price can be a big deciding factor when choosing between diet plans. You want to lose weight, but you don’t want to break the bank. The Noom weight loss app costs $59 per month or $99 every two months. The basic program lasts for four months for a total of $200. The total Noom program cost is quite high compared to similar competitors. 

Requires Daily Commitment

Healthy habits develop through daily devotion and restraint. If you want to see results, you need to commit to the Noom program. Noom members report using the app between 5–10 minutes per day which doesn't seem extensive. However, this daily requirement can easily be forgotten as unplanned life events happen. Any diet plan is going to require extra effort. For the best experience, make a game plan of how you will stay committed to the weight loss program throughout the set duration.

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The Bottom Line

Noom offers a hands-on diet program that helps individuals reset their thinking about dieting and improve on small goals to increase weight loss over a period of time rather than all at once. We have received many positive noom diet reviews highlighting the benefits of a behavior-based approach to losing weight. For those needing to be held accountable and a step-by-step plan, this is an excellent option. Individuals who are looking for more structure like specific meals and exercise routines may want to consider looking into some of the other diet plans we have reviewed.

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4.5

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18 Reviews

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5 grade

72%

4 grade

11%

3 grade

11%

2 grade

6%

1 grade

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Review Source

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Vicki H. Poolesville, MD

Noom is the best diet plan that I have ever used, including Weight Watchers, which I must have joined at least 20 times over the years, starting in the 80's! I like Noom because there are no classes to go to, you deal with regular calories and everything is online. You have a personal coach, as well as a group coach. You are provided with support and information in comfortable pieces. Logging meals is quick and simple -- Noom categories each food by density for you so you can see where you may need to change some of the types of food you are choosing.

4 years ago

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Korinne C Riverton, UT

I recently started using Noom and it's a great service. I used it in the past and this time around I love being able to listen to the lessons instead of reading them. Noom is a great program that is effective and life-changing. The lessons are relevant and helpful and are great at changing behaviors.

3 years ago

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Elisabeth Kinghorn Nakhon Sawan, 60

Noom was a very different diet experience. It focused a lot on changing your mindset and mental view about food rather than limiting your food intake. I found it to be very good for my mental health and did help me to lose a few pounds.

3 years ago

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Rhona Leffler Olney, MD

Noom provides all of the tools needed to diet effectively. It tracks your progress and the app simplifies the process of selecting the "right" foods to eat each meal/day so as to stay within your pre-determined goals. The support component allows you to chat with other dieters to share experiences, recipes, etc.

3 years ago

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peter harmatuk Poolesville, MD

Have been a "NOOMer" for over a year. They are a good "lifestyle" changer.....Their approach is to influence you to increase you servings of "calorie lite" foods and reduce you servings of calorie dense foods. The approach works, if you follow it....

4 years ago

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Myken Salt Lake City, UT

I tried Noom for the first time this year and LOVE that it takes a whole system approach including mental and physical. I believe so much of why and what we eat is related to our mood and behaviors and this was the first program I found that understood this and implemented it.

5 years ago

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Michelle W Coraopolis, PA

noom is an app that was advertised to me on instagram, and I actually was very intrigued with the diet planning. It's super easy to follow and it is laid out very well. It helps keep you motivated to reach your goals.

5 years ago

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Jade Knowles Tallahassee, FL

Noom didn’t work out for me as much as I wanted it to. I did the questionnaire and put in the information asked, but it personally did not help me. Noom is for individuals who want to track their weight, but aren’t making any huge changes.

3 years ago

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hminfo Olney, MD

I like the educational portion of Noom as well as the fact that it guides you into eating foods that are healthier, though no food is totally off limits.

3 years ago

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Heather Milke Olney, MD

Love the overall strategy, the healthy eating encouragement, and the mindfulness approach to healthy eating. Provides calorie suggestions and walking steps suggestions.

4 years ago

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Amy Gardiner Germantown, MD

I have used Noom several times but have never reached my goal weight. I think it does a great job of teaching skill that are life long and non scale. If you are looking to lose weight fast, not the right program for that.

4 years ago

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Nichole Hiatt Eagle Mountain, UT

I registered and did the entire survey for Noom, but didn't end up joining because the cost seemed super high to pay. If it had been a bit cheaper I would have joined, because I did like the concept of what they were offering.

5 years ago

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Megan Milke Laurel, MD

Noom has helped me loose 40 pounds in one year! I love to follow their meal plans and the way they track calories is so convenient!

3 years ago

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Lyssa Eagle Mountain, UT

Just in the middle of my Noom program and so far I am loving the daily food logs and all the information about eating habits.

5 years ago

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Mickey Mangum Long Beach, MS

I became a Noom subscriber without knowing I would. I had no idea (and they do not make it clear that this is a monthly subscription service. Be careful with them.

5 years ago

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Caroline Fowler Little Rock, AR

I loved the Noom lessons. I learned a lot and helped get to the psychology behind my food choices and habits.

3 years ago

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Kim Kunz Fallbrook, CA

Good in theory. I like how it works on the psychology of weight loss, but the coaches give generic answers and it gets kinda boring after a few weeks

5 years ago

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Mazi Marcel Womack Cedar City, UT

I have only tried noom a few times, but every time I had it gave me great results.

5 years ago