Free Calorie Calculator
Find out exactly how many calories you need each day — to lose weight, maintain, or build muscle — in seconds.
Your details
How your target is built
Your macros
BMR vs TDEE vs your target
Our free calorie calculator estimates how many calories you should eat each day based on your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. Enter your details above and you'll instantly see your daily calorie needs, along with your BMR (the calories your body burns at rest) and your TDEE (the total calories you burn in a day). Whether your goal is to lose weight, maintain your current weight, or gain muscle, this tool gives you a clear, science-based starting number — no sign-up, no subscription, and no guesswork.
How this calorie calculator works
Your daily calorie target is built in three steps. First, the calculator finds your BMR — the energy your body uses just to stay alive, using the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, the formula most trusted by dietitians for its accuracy. Next, it multiplies your BMR by an activity factor to estimate your TDEE, the total calories you burn including movement and exercise. Finally, it adjusts that number based on your goal: a calorie deficit for weight loss, your TDEE for maintenance, or a surplus for weight gain.
The diagram above shows this flow using your own numbers, so you can see exactly how your daily target is calculated rather than trusting a black box. Change any input and every number updates instantly.
How many calories should you eat a day?
There's no single number that fits everyone — your ideal calorie intake depends on your body, your activity, and your goal. As a rough guide, many adult women maintain their weight on around 1,800–2,200 calories a day and many adult men on around 2,200–2,800, but your personal number can sit well outside those ranges. That's exactly why a calculator based on your own stats is more useful than a generic figure.
To lose weight, eat fewer calories than your TDEE — a deficit of about 500 calories a day leads to roughly one pound (0.45 kg) of fat loss per week. To maintain, eat at your TDEE. To gain muscle, eat a modest surplus above your TDEE, typically 250–500 calories, paired with resistance training.
Whatever your goal, avoid extreme deficits. This calculator won't recommend eating below 1,200 calories a day for women or 1,500 for men, because very low intakes are hard to sustain and can cost you muscle and energy.
BMR vs TDEE: what's the difference?
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories your body would burn if you did nothing but rest all day — it powers your heart, lungs, brain, and other organs. It's the floor of your energy needs.
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the bigger, more useful number: your BMR plus everything else you do — walking, working, training, even fidgeting. Your TDEE is the calorie level that maintains your current weight, so it's the anchor point for every goal. Eat below it to lose, at it to maintain, above it to gain. The bar above compares your two numbers so you can see how much of your daily burn comes from activity.
Explore related tools
Dig deeper with our calorie deficit calculator, TDEE calculator, BMR calculator, macro calculator, or plan a date-based goal with the lose weight by date tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — completely free, with no account, no subscription, and no limits. Enter your details as many times as you like.
It uses the Mifflin–St Jeor equation, which research shows is one of the most accurate formulas for estimating calorie needs in the general population. That said, every calculator gives an estimate — your real needs can vary with genetics, muscle mass, and other factors. Use your result as a starting point, track your weight for two to three weeks, and adjust up or down based on what actually happens.
Eat about 500 calories below your TDEE for steady weight loss of roughly one pound (0.45 kg) per week. For a personalised deficit and a projection of your progress, try our calorie deficit calculator.
Your BMR is the calories you burn at complete rest. Your TDEE is your BMR plus all your daily activity — it's the number that maintains your weight and the basis for any goal.
This calculator already accounts for your typical activity through the activity-level setting, so you generally don't need to eat extra calories for exercise you've already factored in. If you use a "sedentary" setting and train hard, you may need a little more.
Your maintenance level equals your TDEE — the total calories you burn in a day. Eat at that number to stay the same weight.
For safety. Diets below about 1,200 calories a day for women or 1,500 for men are hard to sustain, can leave you short on nutrients, and often cost you muscle. If you think you need to eat less than this, speak to a doctor or registered dietitian first.
Yes. Set your goal to weight gain to see your calorie surplus, or use our muscle-gain calculator for a protein-forward macro breakdown designed for building lean mass.
The results from this calorie calculator are estimates for general educational purposes only and are not medical or nutritional advice. Individual needs vary. Consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a medical condition.