Best halal scanner app
There is no single best halal scanner app for every shopper. TagHalal and Scan Halal check halal status only; Tayib and Mustakshif add extras like offline mode or a halal places finder. PlatePal is the one here that stacks halal with kosher, vegetarian, vegan and free allergen alerts in one verdict. We looked up each app's own App Store or Google Play listing on 2026-09-28 and quote what it says there, PlatePal's small review count and its 5 scan a day free tier included, so you can compare what each app actually checks instead of guessing from a star rating.
What is a halal food app?
A halal food app is software built to tell a Muslim shopper whether a packaged product fits halal rules, typically by reading a barcode, a photo of the package, or the printed ingredient list and checking it against a rules database. Every app in the comparison below except Yuka, Fig and Halal Advisor calls itself a halal food app on its own store listing. What separates them is the size of the product database, whether a photo or manual search works when a barcode is not listed, and whether the app covers halal alone or stacks it with other dietary and allergen needs the way PlatePal does.
What is a halal barcode scanner app?
A halal barcode scanner app is the specific, most common form these apps take: point your phone's camera at the barcode printed on a package, and the app looks that code up to return a halal, haram or doubtful result in seconds. TagHalal, Scan Halal, Mustakshif and PlatePal all lead with barcode scanning, then fall back to a photo of the package or a manual product name search when the barcode is not in the database. This is different from a halal restaurant finder like Zabihah or The Halal Guys' own app, which locates places to eat rather than checking a product on a shelf.
The halal scanner apps compared
Where a listing does not state a fact, the cell says so rather than guessing. Ratings and review counts move daily; treat the numbers below as a snapshot of 2026-09-28, not a live figure.
| App | What it checks | Data source | Free tier | Platforms | Region focus | Last updated | Store rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlatePal | Halal, kosher, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian and Hindu vegetarian, stacked into one verdict, plus free allergen alerts | 3M+ products from Open Food Facts, USDA and PlatePal reviewed data | Free to start, no account needed. Its own listing states the free tier includes 5 scans a day, with allergen alerts always free. Premium adds unlimited scans, full history and alternative product search | iOS and Android | US focused | Aug 25, 2026 (v1.1) | 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, App Store US, too few ratings to be meaningful |
| Scan Halal | Halal only. Breaks an ingredient down by source: plant, animal or synthetic | Not stated as a product count. Built and audited by Scan Halal's own food technologists and auditors | Free, no premium tier mentioned on the listing | iOS (checked). Android not confirmed today | US and Canada products only; the listing says UK, France and Germany are "coming soon" | Apr 6, 2025 (v5.1.6), over a year before this check | 3.8 out of 5 from 2,347 ratings, App Store US |
| HalalCheck AI | Halal, Haram or Mushbooh only, from a barcode, a photo of the package, or an OCR read of the ingredient list | Not a fixed product count. AI analysis of the scanned barcode, package photo or ingredient text | Free to download. The listing does not disclose scan limits or a paywall | iOS (checked). Android not confirmed today | Describes itself as working worldwide, with named use in Singapore, the US, the UK, Malaysia and the UAE | Aug 30, 2026 (v1.4.21) | 4.7 out of 5 from 198 ratings, App Store US |
| TagHalal | Halal, Haram or Mushbooh only, plus an E-number encyclopedia, madhab customization, and Ramadan and prayer tracking | 1.5M+ products the listing calls verified. Products that are missing can be submitted from the app and are added within 48 hours | Free to download. The listing does not disclose a paywall or scan limit | iOS (checked). Available in 15+ languages. Android not confirmed today | Cites country specific rules for Europe, the US and Australia | Sep 26, 2026 (v7.3) | 4.7 out of 5 from 8,612 ratings, App Store US |
| Tayib | Halal, Mushbooh or Haram only, tuned for US grocery labels, plus foreign label translation and madhab customization | Not a fixed product count. Live OCR reading plus a database the listing says is tuned to specific US retailers | The listing advertises unlimited barcode scanning and also prints paid tiers (Monthly $3.99, Yearly $19.99, Lifetime $39.99), without saying which features the paid tiers gate | iOS (checked). Android not confirmed today | Built for US retailers by name: Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam's Club, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Kroger, Publix, HEB | Mar 27, 2026 (v1.6.0) | 3.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, App Store US, too few ratings to be meaningful |
| Mustakshif | Halal only, across food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, plus a halal restaurant and place finder | 2.5M+ products worldwide | Free, with an optional PRO subscription for an ad free experience | iOS (checked). Android not confirmed today | Global, described for travelers and expats | Jul 14, 2026 (v6.1.4) | 4.5 out of 5 from 45 ratings, App Store US |
| Halal Advisor | Not a food scanner. Its listing describes Sharia compliance and financial growth analysis: it screens company stocks against AAOIFI standards | Real-time company stock data, per its listing. No food product database | Free, price listed as $0 | Android only (Google Play package com.ali.halaladvisor, developer Skanli LLC). No matching iOS listing in an App Store search | Not stated on the listing | Apr 23, 2026 | No rating shown. Google Play lists 10+ downloads and no star average |
| Yuka | A nutrition and additive health score, 0 to 100, not a halal check. See our full comparison below | 6M products: 4M food, 2M cosmetic | Free. Premium pricing is not shown on the App Store description; our earlier check of Yuka's own site put it at about $10 per year in the US (checked 2026-07-27) | iOS (checked). Also widely reported to run on Android, not independently confirmed today | Global, not halal specific | Sep 23, 2026 (v5.7) | 4.8 out of 5 from about 100,000 ratings, App Store US |
| Fig | General allergy and diet compatibility across "2,800+" restrictions. The listing does not confirm halal is one of them | Not a fixed product count in the description we read | Free to download. The listing names a Fig+ subscription that unlocks Restaurants, Multiple Figs and unlimited scans, without stating prices | iOS (checked). Android not confirmed today | Not stated | Sep 23, 2026 (v4.163.2) | 4.7 out of 5 from 16,389 ratings, App Store US |
Each app, one by one
PlatePal
PlatePal checks halal, kosher, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian and Hindu vegetarian requirements against one scan, and elevates allergen warnings separately, free for everyone. Its own App Store listing, checked 2026-09-28, states over 3 million products sourced from Open Food Facts, USDA and PlatePal reviewed data, a free tier of 5 scans a day, and a 5.0 rating from 3 ratings, too small a sample to draw conclusions from. Its own limits get their own section below. See the halal food scanner page for how the halal check works in more detail.
Scan Halal
Scan Halal checks halal status only, breaking ingredients down by source (plant, animal or synthetic) rather than giving a stacked verdict across diets. Its listing states US and Canada coverage today, with UK, France and Germany described as "coming soon." The App Store listing we read showed no update since April 2025, over a year before this check, which is worth knowing if formulation changes matter to you.
HalalCheck AI
Listed on the App Store as "HalalChecker AI: Food Scanner," this app checks halal, haram or mushbooh status from a barcode, a photo of the package, or an OCR read of an ingredient list, and says it works worldwide rather than one region. The listing we read does not state a fixed product database size or disclose scan limits before any paywall.
TagHalal
TagHalal checks halal, haram or mushbooh status and adds features beyond diet checking: an encyclopedia of over 500 additives and E-numbers, customization by school of thought (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali), and Ramadan and prayer tracking. Its listing states 1.5 million products and over 1 million users, and had the most recent update of any app in this table on the date we checked.
Tayib
Tayib checks halal, mushbooh or haram status and specifically names US retailers (Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe's, Sam's Club and others) as what its database is tuned for, plus live OCR and translation for imported snacks. Its listing advertises unlimited barcode scanning and also prints paid tiers starting at $3.99 a month, without saying which features the paid tiers gate. Its 3.0 rating comes from only 4 reviews, too few to be meaningful either way.
Mustakshif
Mustakshif checks halal status across food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and adds a halal restaurant and place finder alongside the scanner. Its listing states 2.5 million products worldwide and positions itself for travelers and expats. It offers an optional PRO subscription for an ad free experience.
Halal Advisor
Halal Advisor (developer Skanli LLC, Google Play package com.ali.halaladvisor) turns up in halal app searches but is not a food scanner. Google Play files it under Finance, and its own listing describes analysing company stocks for Sharia compliance and financial growth against AAOIFI standards, reporting a halal status, purity percentage and debt ratio for a share rather than for a grocery product. The listing showed 10+ downloads, no star rating and a last update of Apr 23, 2026 when we checked it on 2026-09-28. We found no matching iOS listing. It is in this table only so you do not install it expecting a barcode scanner.
Yuka
Yuka is not a halal app. It scores a product from 0 to 100 on nutritional quality, additives and organic status across 6 million food and cosmetic products, and its own help center describes no halal, kosher or religious diet setting. People search for it alongside halal scanner apps because it is one of the best known barcode scanners on the App Store; see our full PlatePal vs Yuka comparison for the health score versus eligibility distinction in full.
Fig
Fig checks general allergy and diet compatibility and advertises support for "2,800+" dietary restrictions and allergies, with strong reviews (4.7 from 16,389 ratings on the listing we read). Its App Store description does not name halal specifically among those restrictions, so we are not claiming it covers halal; if you need that confirmed, check inside the app before relying on it. See our PlatePal vs Fig comparison for how the two apps' approaches differ.
PlatePal's own limits, honestly
PlatePal is a screening tool, not a religious ruling and not a certifier, and every verdict page on this site repeats that. When a label does not resolve a question, PlatePal returns Insufficient Data instead of guessing, which means it will sometimes tell you less than you wanted rather than more than it knows. It covers packaged food only, not restaurants or loose deli counters, its free tier is capped at 5 scans a day, and it does not currently let you set a specific school of thought the way TagHalal and Tayib do. Its own App Store listing is new enough that the 5.0 rating rests on only 3 reviews, which is not yet a meaningful sample. Use the halal food checker or the E code checker to see the same screening approach before you install anything.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best halal scanner app?
There is no single best halal scanner app for every shopper, because the apps are not doing the same job. TagHalal, Scan Halal, Tayib, Mustakshif and HalalCheck AI check halal status only, and each adds a different extra, from madhab customization to a restaurant finder. PlatePal is the one on this page that stacks halal with kosher, vegetarian, vegan and free allergen alerts in a single verdict. Yuka and Fig are not halal apps at all; they answer a different question. Pick based on what you actually need checked, not a star rating alone.
Does Yuka or Fig check halal?
No. Yuka scores a product's nutrition, additives and organic status on a 0 to 100 scale and, per our separate PlatePal vs Yuka comparison, has no halal, kosher or religious diet setting. Fig's own App Store description advertises support for "2,800+" dietary restrictions and allergies, but the description we read on 2026-09-28 does not name halal as one of them, so we are not claiming it does. Both are strong apps for what they actually do; neither is built around halal rules the way the apps above are.
Do any of these apps check kosher or allergens as well as halal?
Of the apps we checked, only PlatePal stacks halal with kosher, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian and Hindu vegetarian profiles, plus free allergen alerts, in one scan. Scan Halal, HalalCheck AI, TagHalal, Tayib and Mustakshif are built around halal only; some add non-diet Islamic features like Qibla direction or Ramadan tracking, but not other dietary systems.
Which halal scanner apps let you pick your school of thought?
TagHalal and Tayib both advertise customization by madhab (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali) so a flagged ingredient can be judged by the rules you follow. PlatePal does not currently offer per-madhab customization; its verdicts reflect one screening standard rather than a school-by-school setting, which is a real limit worth knowing before you pick an app for that reason specifically.
What are PlatePal's own limits as a halal scanner app?
PlatePal is a screening tool, not a religious ruling, and it says so on every page. When the label does not resolve a question, PlatePal returns Insufficient Data rather than guessing, and it only covers packaged food, not restaurants or menus. Its own App Store listing, checked 2026-09-28, shows 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, which is too small a sample to mean much yet, and caps the free tier at 5 scans a day. Anyone strict about their own madhab should still confirm with a certifier or scholar they trust.
Can I trust the star ratings on these apps?
Treat them as one data point, not a verdict on accuracy. A rating reflects how reviewers felt about the app, not whether its halal calls were correct, and sample sizes vary wildly here, from 3 ratings up to over 100,000. Scan Halal's listing also had not been updated in over a year as of our 2026-09-28 check, which a star rating alone would not tell you. Read what each app actually checks before you pick one.
What this page is not
Allergens. PlatePal screens ingredient data, so this page is information and not medical advice. A recipe can change before the data does, and shared equipment never appears in an ingredient list. Always read the label on the package in your hand, and follow your allergist or doctor over any app.
Religious status. A screening result is not a religious ruling. Certifiers and schools of thought differ, and PlatePal does not rank them. For anything you hold yourself strictly to, ask a qualified authority or the certifier you already follow.
Data checked on 2026-09-28. Formulations change; verify your package.
Compare PlatePal directly against two of the apps above at PlatePal vs Yuka and PlatePal vs Fig, or read how PlatePal's own halal check works on the halal food scanner page. For an ingredient level lookup instead of an app comparison, try the E code checker.
Sources
- PlatePal: App Store listing (apps.apple.com) Checked 2026-09-28.
- Scan Halal: App Store listing, Ummah Labs & Co. Checked 2026-09-28.
- HalalChecker AI: Food Scanner, App Store listing, Durianator Studio Checked 2026-09-28.
- TagHalal: Halal Food Scanner, App Store listing, Mostafa Abasslama Checked 2026-09-28.
- Tayib: Halal Scanner & Checker, App Store listing, Pierre Andre Bossetti Gutierrez Checked 2026-09-28.
- Mustakshif: Halal Food Scanner, App Store listing, Mustakshif Pty Ltd Checked 2026-09-28.
- Halal Advisor, Google Play listing, Skanli LLC (Finance category, Sharia stock compliance screening, not a food scanner) Checked 2026-09-28.
- Yuka: Food & Cosmetic Scanner, App Store listing Checked 2026-09-28.
- Fig: Food Scanner & Recipes, App Store listing, Food is Good, Inc. Checked 2026-09-28.
- PlatePal vs Yuka: Yuka pricing and feature comparison, previously checked on this site Checked 2026-07-27.