Yuka vs EWG: a score out of 100 against a 1–10 rating

Yuka and EWG’s Healthy Living app both scan a barcode and both rate food and cosmetics, but their scales run in opposite directions. Yuka scores out of 100, where higher is better; EWG rates from 1 to 10, where 1 is best. EWG’s app also covers household cleaners, which Yuka does not advertise.

This page compares the two as each describes itself. Yuka’s method comes from its help centre; EWG’s from its own App Store listing, because ewg.org would not serve our checker on 12 October 2026. Neither is treated as the default, and neither result is a regulatory rating.

Two scales that point opposite ways

The first thing to know before comparing a Yuka result with an EWG one is the direction of each scale. A product that scores 90 on Yuka is near the top; a product rated 9 by EWG is near the bottom. Placing the two numbers side by side without that check reverses the comparison.

A 90 from Yuka and a 1 from EWG are the same kind of answer. A 9 from EWG and a 9 out of 100 from Yuka are both near the bottom. Read the direction first, the number second.

Yuka publishes how it gets to its number. Food is 60% nutritional quality based on Nutri-Score, 30% additives and 10% an organic bonus, with a high-risk additive capping the product at 49/100; cosmetics are scored from the highest-risk ingredient present. EWG’s listing describes ratings built on its own independent research and its long-running databases.

Coverage, as each organisation counts it

Yuka says it has rated 6 million products; EWG’s listing says its app covers more than 200,000 rated products. The two counts come from the organisations themselves and may not count the same thing, so they show scale rather than settle which database has a given product.

The cleaners row is the real difference in scope. A household that wants one app for the bathroom, the kitchen cupboard and the cleaning shelf has that in EWG’s listing description, while Yuka’s covers food and personal care. On the web, EWG’s Skin Deep and Food Scores stay separate databases — the EWG Skin Deep alternatives page covers that side.

Price and account

Both apps are free to scan, with a paid tier on top. Yuka’s annual Premium starts at $10 in the US and adds search without scanning, offline use, preference alerts and unlimited history. EWG’s listing shows a Premium in-app purchase at $19.99, adding side-by-side comparison and ingredient preferences.

Prices are each vendor’s own, read on 12 October 2026, and tiers change without notice. Yuka’s listing in the US App Store shows several Premium price points, consistent with its help centre describing the annual price as starting at $10.

Which app fits which shopper

The choice follows from what you buy and how you like to read a result. Both cover food and cosmetics; EWG adds cleaners; Yuka’s help centre spells out its formula. Neither is right for everyone, and either can be wrong for a product its database does not hold.

Think Dirty against Yuka adds a third scale that tops out at 10 as the worst, and the ingredient checker apps compared set five tools side by side on what each one reads.

Where LabelPeek sits in this

LabelPeek is not a barcode app, so it is not a third entry in this comparison. It reads an ingredient list you paste and matches it against a published list printed on the same page, reporting what matched, what did not, and what it could not read at all.

For food, the ultra-processed food checker is the LabelPeek tool closest to what these apps do, with the reference it matches against printed under the tool and a regulatory note beside each restricted additive.