A medium apple contains about 95 calories. That’s for a whole, raw apple with the skin on, roughly the size of a tennis ball. Smaller apples come in closer to 70–80 calories, while a large apple can reach 115–120. The exact number shifts depending on variety and size, but apples are consistently one of the lowest-calorie fruits you can grab.
Calories by Apple Size
Raw apple flesh and skin contain about 52 calories per 100 grams. Since apples vary quite a bit in size, here’s how that breaks down in practice:
- Small apple (about 150 g): roughly 77 calories
- Medium apple (about 182 g): roughly 95 calories
- Large apple (about 223 g): roughly 116 calories
Most of those calories come from natural sugars, primarily fructose. A medium apple has about 19 grams of sugar and 25 grams of total carbohydrates. It also packs around 4.4 grams of dietary fiber, which offsets the sugar impact in ways that matter for blood sugar and hunger.
Why Apples Don’t Spike Blood Sugar
Despite being a sweet fruit, apples have a glycemic index of about 39, which is considered low (anything under 55 qualifies). The glycemic load, which accounts for the actual amount of carbs in a serving, is just 6. For context, anything under 10 is low. This means eating an apple raises your blood sugar slowly and modestly compared to foods with the same number of carbs, like white bread or crackers.
The fiber in apples, particularly a soluble fiber called pectin, is a big reason for this. Soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance during digestion that slows the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream. That same pectin also triggers your gut to release hormones that signal fullness. Animal research has shown that pectin consumption proportionally decreases food intake and body fat, with higher fiber doses producing stronger effects on satiety hormones.
How the Skin Changes the Nutrition
Peeling an apple cuts its calorie count slightly, but the real loss is nutritional. Apple skin contains up to one-third of the fruit’s total fiber. It also holds dramatically more protective plant compounds than the flesh. Across seven apple varieties studied, the skin contained 1.5 to 9.2 times more antioxidant activity than the flesh, despite making up only 6 to 8 percent of the apple’s total weight.
If you eat your apples peeled, you’re still getting a decent fruit, but you’re leaving the most nutrient-dense part behind. For the fullest benefit from those 95 calories, keep the skin on.
Raw Apples vs. Juice and Applesauce
The calorie story changes once you process an apple. A cup of unsweetened apple juice contains about 114 calories and virtually no fiber, since juicing strips out the pulp and skin. You lose the slow-digestion advantage and end up with what is essentially sugar water with some vitamins.
Unsweetened applesauce is a middle ground. Gram for gram, it actually has fewer calories than a raw apple: 42 calories per 100 grams versus 52. The sugar content is slightly lower too, at 9.4 grams per 100 grams compared to 10.4 in raw apple. But most people eat applesauce in larger portions than they would a whole apple, and sweetened varieties can have significantly more sugar, calories, and sodium. If you’re buying applesauce, check the label for added sugar.
The biggest practical difference is satiety. Eating a whole apple takes longer, requires chewing, and delivers intact fiber that keeps you full. Drinking the same calories as juice does almost nothing for hunger.
How Apples Compare to Other Fruits
At 52 calories per 100 grams, apples sit in the lower range for common fruits. A banana runs about 89 calories per 100 grams, grapes about 67, and oranges about 47. Where apples stand out is their combination of portability, fiber content, and low glycemic impact. Few snacks at under 100 calories deliver 4 grams of fiber and keep you satisfied for an hour or more.
The variety of apple you choose makes only a small difference in calories. Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala, and Honeycrisp all fall within a few calories of each other per serving. Sweeter varieties like Fuji have marginally more sugar, but not enough to matter in any practical sense.