SparkPeople
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersCincinnati, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
SparkPeople firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SparkPeople
- Legal name
- SparkPeople, Inc.
- Website
- https://sparkpeople.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Closed
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SparkPeople industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Health and Wellness Content
- NAICS
- Diet and Weight Reducing Centers (812191)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Weight Loss Coaching (Non-Clinical) (HSADAFAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- General Nutrition Coaching (HSADAFAA), Gut Health & Digestive Nutrition (IBS, GERD, Elimination Diets) (HSADAFAH), Diabetes & Blood Sugar Nutrition Coaching (HSADAFAF)
Keywords
Where SparkPeople is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cincinnati
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
SparkPeople business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Advertising Revenue: Primary revenue stream from display and remnant advertising. The site relied on advertiser support to maintain free access to all tools, meal and fitness plans, trackers, resources and community support features. Revenue was generated through page views and ad clicks with over 100 million page views per month.
- Fee-Based Products and Services: Optional paid products and services offered on the website including subscription-based offerings. All fees were in US dollars with recurring payment options available.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free Core Access |
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
SparkPeople product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SparkPeople operated a free, advertising-supported web platform that provided a calorie counter, comprehensive food database, fitness videos and exercise demonstrations, a healthy recipe database, and community features (SparkTeams, SparkPages, message boards) to adults seeking to improve their diet, get physically active, lose weight, and manage weight. Optional coaching (SparkCoach) and structured diet programs (SparkDiet) were offered, alongside an extensive expert-reviewed library of articles on nutrition, fitness, motivation, and chronic health conditions.
Product overview
SparkPeople operated as a single unified free health and wellness platform centered on SparkPeople.com, offering a comprehensive suite of tools including the core Calorie Counter, Food Database, Fitness Videos, and Exercise Demos. The ecosystem included complementary products: SparkRecipes.com for recipe browsing, SparkCoach for coaching services, and SparkDiet for structured diet programs. Community features encompassed SparkTeams, SparkPages, and SparkRallies for user connection and offline events. Additional modules included SparkPoints rewards system, SparkAmerica national initiative, and DailySpark daily newsletter. The platform closed on August 17, 2021, but some articles and content remain viewable.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SparkRecipes: Recipe platform featuring hundreds of thousands of healthy recipes with full nutrition information and tracking capabilities.
Products and services
- SparkPeople.com The main free health and wellness website providing tools, meal and fitness plans, trackers, resources, and community support for adults wanting to improve diet, establish a healthy lifestyle, get physically active, and manage weight.
- SparkRecipes.com Recipe database providing access to hundreds of thousands of healthy recipes with full nutrition information and one-click tracking integration with the SparkPeople calorie counter.
- Free Calorie Counter Food and calorie tracking tool allowing users to search a food database, log meals by category (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks), and track calories, carbs, fat, and protein.
- SparkCoach Diet, physical activity and behavior modification coaching program providing recommendations from SparkPeople Coaches.
- SparkDiet Four-stage diet program providing structured weight management guidance within the SparkPeople platform.
- Food Database Comprehensive nutrition database with information on thousands of foods including restaurant chains (Trader Joe's, Starbucks, KFC, Wendy's, Dunkin' Donuts, Panera Bread, Subway, Chipotle) and branded products, providing calories, carbs, fat, and protein data.
- Fitness Videos Workout video library featuring exercise demonstrations and workout ideas for various fitness levels.
- Exercise Demos Detailed exercise demonstration library with instructions for proper form, covering cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training.
- Healthy Lifestyle Resource Center Educational content library with thousands of practical articles covering nutrition, fitness, motivation, health conditions (Arthritis, Diabetes, Depression, GERD, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol), and lifestyle topics reviewed by an expert team.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 100 million page views per month
Companies that use SparkPeople
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
SparkPeople technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
SparkPeople partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
SparkPeople competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Lifesum: Subscription nutrition and meal-planning app with calorie tracking and recipe library; competes in the same freemium-to-paid wellness tracking category.
- MyFitnessPal: The leading consumer calorie counter and food-tracking platform with a large free community and similar freemium model; the most direct historical competitor to SparkPeople's core tools.
- Cronometer: Nutrition tracking platform with detailed food and micronutrient database; overlaps with SparkPeople's Food Database and tracking tools for the same health-conscious consumer.
- Lose It!: Consumer calorie-counting and weight-loss app with food database, barcode scanner and community features; nearly identical product scope to SparkPeople's Calorie Counter and Food Database.
- Noom: Subscription weight-loss app combining food tracking, coaching and behavior change; competes for the same SparkPeople user persona on mobile, where SparkPeople was weakest.
Emerging players
- Fitbit: Consumer fitness tracking platform (now part of Google) with food logging, exercise tracking and a community; overlaps with SparkPeople's exercise tracking and SparkPoints-style engagement loops.
- Eat This Much: Automated meal-planning and nutrition tracking platform that competes with SparkRecipes for users seeking structured, nutrition-tagged recipe and meal-plan experiences.
Broad incumbents
- Weight Watchers (WW): Established, paid-program weight management brand serving the same consumer use case (losing/managing weight via structured coaching and tracking) but operating a much larger subscription-driven business.
- Healthline: Large-scale consumer health content publisher that monetizes via advertising and SEO, similar to SparkPeople's content-driven model, and competes for the same wellness search and advertising budgets.
- WebMD: Major consumer health information site with expert-reviewed articles on nutrition, fitness and chronic conditions; comparable to SparkPeople's Healthy Lifestyle Resource Center both in editorial scope and ad-supported monetization.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SparkPeople social profiles
Digital presenceSparkPeople financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SparkPeople leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
SparkPeople funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SparkPeople M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SparkPeople
What does SparkPeople do?
SparkPeople operated a free, advertising-supported web platform that provided a calorie counter, comprehensive food database, fitness videos and exercise demonstrations, a healthy recipe database, and community features (SparkTeams, SparkPages, message boards) to adults seeking to improve their diet, get physically active, lose weight, and manage weight. Optional coaching (SparkCoach) and structured diet programs (SparkDiet) were offered, alongside an extensive expert-reviewed library of articles on nutrition, fitness, motivation, and chronic health conditions.
Is SparkPeople a public or private company?
SparkPeople is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently closed.
When was SparkPeople founded?
SparkPeople was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is SparkPeople based?
SparkPeople is headquartered in Cincinnati, United States, in the North America region.
How does SparkPeople make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Advertising Revenue is the primary driver. The others are fee-Based Products and Services.
Who are SparkPeople's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Lifesum, MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, Lose It! and Noom. Emerging players are Fitbit and Eat This Much. Broad incumbents are Weight Watchers (WW), Healthline and WebMD.
Does SparkPeople have an API?
No public API is recorded for SparkPeople.
What industry is SparkPeople in?
SparkPeople's product category is Consumer Health and Wellness Content. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSADAFAB, Weight Loss Coaching (Non-Clinical), with a secondary code of HSADAFAA, General Nutrition Coaching. Its NAICS code is 812191 and its SIC code is 7372.