Frequently asked questions

Scans & accuracy

Do I need any special equipment?
No. A regular phone camera is all you need — no DEXA, calipers or smart scale. You take a full-body photo (and, optionally, a side and back photo) and BodyWHAT does the rest.
How should I take the photo?
Stand far enough back that your head and knees are both visible, use your phone's back-facing camera in good, even lighting, and prop the phone up so it's steady. The in-app self-capture mode helps you frame it automatically.
Why does it ask me to wear underwear?
Clothing hides your body shape, which is exactly what the estimate reads. Wearing underwear (or close-fitting clothing) makes the body-fat and measurement estimates far more accurate.
How accurate is BodyWHAT?
BodyWHAT blends a trained vision model with established body-composition formulas and your own measurements. Every body-fat result comes with a confidence range rather than a single number, and measured on ~800 people the model never saw in training, its standard error is ±1.7 body-fat percentage points. You can tighten it considerably by entering your actual measured waist size on the scan — a real tape measurement anchors the estimate. It's an estimate, not a clinical measurement: its real strength is tracking change over time under consistent conditions. For a single medical-grade number, a DEXA scan is still the gold standard.
Why is BodyWHAT more accurate than other body-fat apps?
  • 11 years of refinement. BodyWHAT pioneered photo-based body-fat estimation 11 years ago and has been improving its models ever since.
  • Our own vision transformer. Most body-fat apps send your photo to a general-purpose AI chatbot and repeat its guess. Ours is built and trained by us for body composition only, on a ~4,000-strong dataset.
  • Accuracy we publish. ±1.7 pts standard error for body-fat estimation, measured on a ~800-strong holdout test set. We publish our accuracy; you'll notice other apps do not.
I think my scan results are wrong. What can I do?
  • Retake the scan with better posture and lighting — stand naturally, fill the frame, and keep the camera level.
  • Enter your measured waist on the scan page — a tape-measured waist refines the body-fat estimate.
  • Enter your actual measured body fat (e.g. from a DEXA scan) via the settings / wrench menu on the scan page — it overrides the estimate everywhere.
What do I get from a scan?
Body-fat %, your Physique score, lean and fat mass, FFMI, body age, muscularity, key measurements (waist, hips, shoulders), body shape and posture indicators — each with a healthy reference range so you know where you stand. You can also see your Physique Transformation: your own body with less or more body fat, more muscular, more slender or bulkier, and how long it would take to get there.
What do the body shapes (Mango, Parsnip, Hourglass…) mean?

Each scan sorts your overall proportions — how wide your shoulders, waist and hips are relative to each other and to your height, together with your body-fat level — into a named archetype. It's a quick descriptive label, not a judgement, and the set differs by sex.

Men. Mango — the most common, with balanced proportions and shoulders a little wider than the waist. Parsnip — a clear V-taper, shoulders clearly wider than the waist. Chili — the most pronounced V-taper, with a lean waist. Banana — a slim, narrow frame. Beetroot — a broad, solid frame without much extra fat. Aubergine — a wide waist, with weight carried mainly around the belly.

Women. Mango — the most common: bust and hips of similar width with a slightly narrower waist. Hourglass — shoulders and hips about equal, with a well-defined waist. Pear — hips wider than the shoulders, with a defined waist. Apple — weight carried around the middle, with less waist definition. Parsnip — an inverted triangle, shoulders wider than the hips. Zucchini — a slim, straight, athletic build.

The shape is read from your measured proportions, so entering a tape-measured waist (or hips) sharpens it. Treat it as descriptive only — your body-fat %, measurements and how they trend over time are the numbers to actually train against.

Privacy

Who can see my photos?
Only you, by default. Scans are private to your account unless you explicitly choose to make one public, and your face is automatically blurred on every scan.
Do you keep my original photos?
No. As soon as a scan finishes, your original photo is deleted — only a version with your face automatically blurred is kept, and it stays private to your account.
Can I delete my scans or my account?
Yes. You can delete individual scans from your profile at any time, which removes them permanently. To close your account, go to Settings → Delete account: this signs you out, blocks any future login, and permanently erases all of your scans. Account deletion can't be undone. See our Privacy Policy for details.
Do you sell my data?
No. We don't sell your data and we don't run third-party advertising on it. Your photos and body data are used to provide the service to you — nothing else. See the Privacy Policy.

Premium & billing

What's free and what's paid?
The free plan includes frontal scans with your basic metrics, scan-to-scan comparisons, and your first two Physique Transformations. A paid membership unlocks full access: full-body scans (side and back), posture and the fat-distribution heatmap, Body Fat - +, AI coaching, training & nutrition plans, the progress timeline and the food scanner. Not ready to subscribe? A one-time 3-Day Pass gives you full access for three days.
How much does it cost?
You can pay monthly or yearly (the annual plan is cheaper per month), or buy a one-time 3-Day Pass for full access without a subscription. Current prices are shown on your Premium page, in your local currency, with tax handled at checkout.
I used BodyWHAT before — do I get a discount?
Yes. Returning members from the earlier version qualify for a legacy discount, applied automatically at checkout on your account.
How do I cancel?
If you subscribed on the website, open Premium → Manage billing and cancel there. If you subscribed in the app, cancel through your store: on iPhone, Settings → your name → Subscriptions; on Android, Google Play → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions. Either way, you keep full access until the end of the period you've already paid for; it simply won't renew.
What happens to my scans and access if my membership ends?
Your scans stay yours. Even after your membership ends you can still sign in and view all your past scans with their basic metrics, and any training plans you already generated remain available to view. What pauses are the premium features — the extended metrics and fat-distribution heatmap, the progress timeline, AI coaching and creating new training plans. Resubscribe any time and everything unlocks again, right where you left off.
How do I update my card or see my invoices?
For a website subscription: Premium → Manage billing opens a secure portal where you can update your payment method, view invoices, or cancel. For a subscription bought in the app, your payment method and receipts are managed by the App Store or Google Play.
What about refunds?
You can cancel any time to stop future charges. For refund questions, contact contact@bodywhat.com — see the Terms of Service for the full policy.
Is there a usage limit?
For everyday use, no — paid plans are effectively unlimited. To keep things fast and fair for everyone, very high daily volumes are subject to fair-use limits, and we may step in on abusive or automated use. If you ever reach a limit you'll see a clear message, and it resets the next day.

Coaching (Rob)

What can the AI coach do?
Rob reads your scans, goals and health profile, and answers anything from training to nutrition. Tell him your main goal — losing weight, building muscle, a V-taper… — and his notes and plans are built around it. He builds tailored training plans — sets, reps and a demo clip for every exercise — plus matching nutrition plans with daily meals, macro targets and recipes. For the best plans, fill in your health profile (including any home gym equipment in “Other notes”).
Is the coaching medical advice?
No. BodyWHAT's estimates and coaching are for general fitness and information only — they are not medical advice or a diagnosis. Talk to a qualified professional before making medical, dietary or training decisions, especially if you have a health condition.

Returning & legacy users

I had an account on the old version — what carried over?
Your account and your previous scans were migrated, so you can sign in and pick up where you left off. Some older scans are display-only — they can be viewed but don't support the newer morph/comparison features that native BodyWHAT scans do.
How do I sign in to my old account?
Use the same email as before. If you can't get in, use the forgot-password link on the sign-in page to set a new password.