Weight Watchers vs Noom: Which One Is Right For You In 2024?

It’s finally 2024, and with the new year comes New Year’s Resolutions. Diets are a popular option for resolutions because a new year is a fantastic time for a full body reset. When it comes to picking a diet, you want to choose the one that will bring you the most success without having to make drastic changes. Noom and Weight Watchers in 2024 are two very popular, if not the most popular, weight loss programs. While they have a lot of similarities within the programs themselves, they do have some key differences. In this article, we’re going to take a deep dive into the differences, pros, and cons of each so you can have all the information you need before deciding which will be best for you in 2024. Get it right, and you can have the best year of health yet! 

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: Comparison at a Glance

Noom creates long-term results through habit and behavior change, not restrictive dieting. Their focus is to work on daily habits rather than an actual diet plan. Noom’s main goal is to get you to stop dieting and start living a healthy lifestyle. You do get a diet plan with them, but their main focus is to educate you on why you make the food choices that you do and how to change behaviors for the better. So if you’re looking to improve your daily habits in 2024, Noom is one to consider. 

Weight Watchers does focus more on the food aspect, but there aren’t any foods that are off-limits. Weight Watchers has a team of doctors and dieticians that have put together a points system to track the foods. This system encourages the Weight Watchers members to choose healthier foods over calorie-dense foods, without actually counting calories. Calories do make up the points, but you don’t see a daily calorie total. By using the points system in 2024 to help change food choices, members are able to lose weight and keep it off long-term. 

The Deliverables: What You Get

With either program in 2024, you’ll be working through an app in similar ways. Noom’s app is where you complete all tasks. You will track your food there, track activity, blood pressure, weight, and daily habits. You can access a personal coach via the app as well as complete the “lessons” Noom has laid out for you. Your coach will check in with you twice a week, which is very beneficial if you’re looking for something that is proactive in 2024. You’ll be added to a group of members you can chat with. This group chat is monitored by a group coach who can help answer questions. This group chat is the only community aspect of the program. Your Noom profile, lessons, and diet plans are all private and specified to you. 

Noom offers add-ons for an additional cost. These add-ons include customized meal plans, customized workout plans, a metabolism test kit, a mental wellness course, and a behavior change coach. You do get a coach via the app, but this behavior change coach add-on offers additional support via phone calls, email, and in-app messaging. These add-ons range from $50-$150 in addition to your monthly cost of the program. 

Weight Watcher’s app is similar in that you will be tracking food within its app as well. The Weight Watchers app makes it very easy to create recipes on your own or scan a barcode to track a food item. One feature that makes dieting much easier is the WW meal planning feature. You can plan out your meals for the week so you know exactly how to stay on track the entire time. The app offers 24/7 live coaching – real people respond to you, not bots. They have also uploaded audio coaching files, so you can have access to quick tips. You can join a group within the app, just like Noom, but these groups can be very specific. There are group types like “working moms”, or “people that travel for work” so you can all share tips based on similar situations. 

Weight Watchers differs from Noom by offering workshops. These workshops can be attended in person or online depending on your location. They are not required- you can choose to just use the app- but the workshops are highly encouraged so that they create community. You will find coaches and members who understand the struggle of weight loss and who will be there to support you through it. Weight Watchers states that members of the workshops lose twice the amount of weight than people who do it on their own. Face to Face accountability matters! 

Both apps are extensive in their functions. Each offers the following:

• food tracker
• barcode scanner
• recipes – already made and the ability to create your own
• activity tracker
• can sync with fitness wearable
• sleep tracker
• live coaching support
• access to an exclusive community
• weight tracker

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Price 

Weight Watchers and Noom in 2024 are very different when it comes to price. They each offer a discount if you sign up for a longer period of time. You would think Weight Watchers would be more expensive due to the workshops, but Noom ends up being the more expensive choice. Both encourage you to commit long-term by offering cheaper prices for a yearly subscription. 

Current 2024 Noom prices are: 

• Monthly auto-renewing plan for $70 
• 2-month auto-renewing plan for $129 
• 3-month auto-renewing plan for $159 
• 4-month auto-renewing plan for $169 
• 5-month auto-renewing plan for $174 
• 6-month auto-renewing plan for $179 
• 7-month auto-renewing plan for $184 
• 8-month auto-renewing plan for $189 
• 9-month auto-renewing plan for $195 
• 10-month auto-renewing plan for $199 
• 11-month auto-renewing plan for $205 
• Annual auto-renewing plan for $209 USD

By committing to a yearly subscription, you will only pay about $17.50 a month for Noom. For the personal coaching offered, that is a great deal. Weight Watchers can be as low as $10-12/month depending on the deal that they are running at the time. If you want the workshops included, the cheapest you can go with WW is $24/month for a yearly subscription. Without the workshops included, it’s $12/month for a yearly commitment and up to $23/month with just a month-to-month commitment. 

Current 2024 WW Points Program (no workshops) prices are: 

• 12-month auto-renewing plan for $11/month
• 6- month auto-renewing plan for $15/month
• Monthly auto-renewing plan for $23/month 

Current 2024 WW Points Program + Workshops prices are: 

• 12-month auto-renewing plan for $22/month
• 6- month auto-renewing plan for $30/month
• Monthly auto-renewing plan for $45/month 

The Accountability 

As stated before, you get both group coaching and personal coaching in either app. However, accountability with Noom is more prevalent. Noom has a personal coach who reaches out to you at least twice a week. Weight Watchers allows you access to a coach, but it’s on you to reach out to them. If you are someone who would feel bad for asking questions, then being responsible for reaching out would be a problem. Noom also has “lessons” for you to complete the first 16 weeks in order to make sure you’re actively following the program. You can choose the amount of time you spend on these lessons- anywhere from 5-16 minutes. Weight Watchers workshops offer amazing accountability because you get to know real people, but due to the option of not having to do the workshops, you could end up missing out on that type of accountability. 

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Process

To begin either program, you have to fill out a detailed questionnaire via the website about your lifestyle, activity, diet history, age, weight, and goals. This allows the algorithm to give you a personalized diet plan. The plan will automatically be set to lose 1-2 pounds a week, but you can adjust that if you want it to be more aggressive or even a bit slower. 

With Weight Watchers, you can get started tracking your food and activity right away. Noom will have you complete 10 lessons within the first 16 weeks. These lessons focus on the psychology behind lifestyle behaviors and how to start changing them into healthy habits.

Weight Watchers has a points system for their food tracking, and Noom’s system is color-coded. Weight Watchers will give you a certain amount of points for the day. You can eat whatever you’d like as long as you stay within your allotted points for the day. WW offers a ZeroPoint food list (with over 200 foods!) that encourages you to choose healthy foods. These ZeroPoint foods – items like lean meat, non-fat dairy, and vegetables- don’t add any points to your day because they are hard to overeat. By focusing on these foods, your weight loss journey will be significantly easier. They reduce hunger and give you plenty of healthy nutrients. 

Noom’s system encourages you to eat healthy foods by having a list of green, yellow, and orange foods. You’re encouraged to eat as much of the green foods as you’d like and to limit the orange foods. Green foods are items such as veggies, fruits, egg whites, tofu, lean seafood, etc. They are low in calories and very nutrient-dense. Orange foods are very high in calories such as full-fat dairy and nut butter, but can be low in nutrients. 

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Success Rate 

Either will work in 2024 as long as you interact and follow it! Noom’s program is designed to last 16 weeks. Due to that, they often put a member’s calorie goal at a very low level. They have recently been criticized by dieticians for giving extremely low calorie targets like 1100-1200 calories no matter someone’s size or activity level. This is one con to Noom- there is a chance of regaining the weight. They can put you at such a low calorie level that it’s only sustainable for 2-3 months. Once you’ve lost the weight, you may find yourself off the app, and back to old habits. 

Weight Watchers offers a “maintenance” phase once you reach your goal weight so it’s smart to consider a full year of “dieting” in 2024, to include a maintenance phase. The app helps you slowly add calories back into your diet so that your metabolism adjusts well without gaining fat back. This extra effort helps people keep the weight off long term. A lot of WW members have been following the program for over 2 years without actually dieting the entire time. 

Both Noom and Weight Watchers set the diet to help someone lose 1-2 pounds a week- as long as that person is consistent and accurate. Only about 11% of people are successful with keeping weight off long-term on any diet, so Weight Watcher’s maintenance plan is a fantastic option for those looking for long-term success. 

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Time Frame

Noom offers monthly contracts, but they encourage you to sign up for at least 16 weeks. This will get you through all the habit changing lessons that are planned, and hopefully get you comfortably into your new lifestyle. 

Weight Watchers doesn’t put a time frame on your membership. They want you to stay as long as you need to, even if that means continuing after reaching your weight loss goal. They have maintenance phases planned for those that need continued accountability and support. 

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Food

Weight Watcher’s ZeroPoint Foods and Noom’s Green food list are similar in that they focus on lean meat, non-fat dairy, vegetables, and fruits. They are foods such as: 

Protein– chicken, ground turkey, eggs/egg whites, tofu, white fish, shrimp

Carbs– oats, sweet potatoes, quinoa 

Fats– none

Vegetables– broccoli, spinach, brussels, green beans

Fruits– berries, apples, bananas, citrus 

Dairy– non-fat Greek yogurt, non-fat cottage cheese, fat-free cheese

Foods that are high in Weight Watcher points or on Noom’s Orange list are items such as: 

Protein-sausage, bacon, anything fried, hamburgers

Carbs– processed foods such as cookies, crackers, pastries, pizza, and cakes

Fats– butter, oil, nuts, seeds

Vegetables-anything fried

Fruits– fruit juice, dried fruit, jelly 

Dairy– full-fat yogurt, heavy whipping cream, ice cream

While neither program has an “off limits” list, they do highly encourage you to pick healthy foods with the way the points and color-coded systems are set up. You will be hungry and tired if you use too many high-calorie foods, and you will be satisfied and energized when you use healthier food options to fill your day. 

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Reviews

Overall, Weight Watchers has a higher rating than Noom. Most people seem to prefer the Weight Watchers program because it has helped them lose a good bit of weight and keep it off. The only negative reviews come from how difficult it is to cancel the subscription. However, Weight Watchers clearly states the cancellation policy at the very bottom of their pricing page for monthly, 6 month, and 12 month commitments. They also give a number to call for cancellation. 

Noom has a good reputation for slow and steady weight loss, helpful lessons, and an easy-to-use app. However, they also have negative reviews from people saying they haven’t lost any weight at all. Dietitians have negatively reviewed the nutrition aspect of the program. Noom has previously classified some very healthy, nutrient-dense foods as “Red” food just because it’s high in calories. Noom also has some people starting at extremely low calories, which dietitians claim is very unhealthy and not sustainable for long-term weight loss. The behavioral lessons get high praise from users and dietitians alike, as they do help create lifestyle changes. 

The Newest 2024 Updates

Noom has added “Noom for Work” which targets large corporations. Companies can offer Noom for Work to their employees. Noom states this will raise the company’s ROI (they even have an ROI toolkit on the website) and will lower healthcare costs. The website also teases that Noom Med is coming soon- a clinical solution to treat obesity. This is more than likely due to Weight Watchers announcing their new clinical obesity weight loss program. While Noom started as a weight management program, they are expanding in 2024 to a behavior change platform that helps people with chronic and non-chronic conditions, such as stress and anxiety, hypertension, and diabetes. Noom plans to tackle several aspects of health, not just weight.

Weight Watchers is taking advantage of the popular weight loss medications. Now, in 2024, you have the option to apply for the WW prescription medication program. The goal of this new program is to offer weight loss medications to their members who meet the criteria. Weight Watchers states that healthy habits and medications together can provide a powerful long-term solution for the obesity epidemic. You can take a quick quiz on the WW website to see if you qualify for their new GLP-1 program. 

Noom has recently jumped on board with the weight loss medications as well, by starting Noom Med. Noom Med clinicians can currently prescribe weight loss medications such as Wegovy, Zepbound, and Contrave. Again, you would have to meet the criteria, which are obesity (a BMI of 30 or more) or overweight (a BMI of 27 or more) along with at least one weight-related condition, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

Comparison	Noom	Weight Watchers
Price	$17.5-70/month	$12-65/month
Accountability	2x weekly check-ins with a personal coach and a group chat	Chat access to a coach and can pay for in-person support group
Education	Daily lessons in the app	Videos in the app or on the website
Success	No foods are off limits, but high-protein, low-calorie foods are encouraged via the ZeroPoint food list	Can see success long term with continued support
Food Tracking	Color Coded System	Points System
Off Limit Foods	Can have all foods in moderation	No foods are off limits, but high protein, low-calorie foods are encouraged via the ZeroPoint food list
Clinical Weight Loss Medications	Offered if you meet the criteria	Offered if you meet the criteria

Weight Watchers vs Noom 2024: The Conclusion 

Either program can be effective for weight loss in 2024. It’s going to depend on your biggest need. Are behavioral changes the issue you need to address? Noom’s daily lessons will help you work on those behaviors. Noom states that due to working on the psychology behind food habits, over 50% of its members have reduced their binge eating. However, if you have ever struggled with an eating disorder, Noom may not be the right program. Noom coaches do have experience as wellness coaches, but they are not dietitians and are not equipped to deal with diagnosed eating disorders. 

If you simply need a structured diet that can take you through a weight loss phase as well as a maintenance phase, Weight Watchers is the way to go.  You can have as little or as much support as you need through the app and the 24/7 coaching access. Their new clinical program is also a great way to go if you meet the criteria and you’ve tried all the other options. 

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