My Favorite Cycle Charting Apps
Most of my patients opt to chart their cycle with cycle charting apps, whether they are just keeping track of when their period starts and ends, or they’re going all out and charting basal body temperature and taking ovulation tests.
Apps can be a simple way to keep track of cycle data, carry it with you wherever you go, and in some cases these apps can even play a crucial role in helping to determine when ovulation happens, when the fertile window starts and ends, and other common patterns that may be effecting your period or fertility. I’m going to walk you through some of my favorite cycle charting apps and why each may be a good fit for you.
Basic Features
So I don’t have to repeat myself as I go over each of these apps, I’ll start by saying that they all have a few basic features:
Track your period - if you want a really hands off way of charting your cycle then you can just input the dates that your period starts and ends, the apps will keep track of how long your cycles are, predict how you’ll feel throughout your cycle, and even tell you when you’re likely to be most and least fertile. It can take a few cycles before the app gets to know what your cycles are like, and if you have irregular cycle lengths then it may not be very accurate. If you’re keeping it simple and you aren’t trying to conceive, then I recommend the Eve app, because it doesn’t have all of the more detailed capabilities listed below.
Chart Basal Body Temperature (BBT) - if you take your BBT each day you can track it by hand, but why not plug it into an app? Usually these apps can help you predict when ovulation actually happens, and they may even reveal information about hormonal levels or different patterns you may have.
Input test results - if you use ovulation tests or if you take a pregnancy test, you can record those results in the app.
Record attempts, ovulation symptoms, and other cycle-related changes - when you have sex, inseminate, or undergo IVF procedures, the different stages of cervical fluid you notice, PMS signs, digestive upset, and many more events/symptoms can be tracked in these apps if like to see it all mapped out.
Glow & Eve
These two apps are very similar because they are created by the same developers. The big difference is that Glow is for those who are trying to conceive and Eve is designed for those are aren’t. Eve is also a bit more simplified because it doesn’t have BBT charting or ovulation test tracking capabilities.
The standout feature is that both apps are really great for tracking secondary symptoms and helping you to analyze when in your cycle they usually happen. You can actually map them out to see if any patterns pop up.
Glow also has a really unique feature I haven’t seen anywhere else, which is an ovulation test analyzer that tells you if your ovulation test is positive or not based on a picture you take with your phone. It also stores the tests so you can see how they develop through the course of your fertile window (everyone has different patterns, some have several days of a faint line before they get a dark positive, others don’t see anything until they finally get a positive on the day of ovulation.)
Kindara
Kindara is one of my favorite apps for charting basal body temperature (BBT) as well as cervical fluid. The way it maps the cycle out makes it very intuitive to understand when ovulation happens and when your fertile window starts and ends.
While it’s a bit pricey, Kindara also offers a thermometer (called Wink) which automatically syncs with the app and inputs your temperatures for you. There are a few other companies that offer these too, but I don’t see very many of my patients opt for using them since regular BBT thermometers are fairly inexpensive and inputting the temperatures doesn’t take much time.
Depending on what you want from the app, one of the downsides of Kindara is it doesn’t automatically have many secondary symptoms programed in for tracking, but it is super customizable so you can program in whatever you’d like to track.
Fertility Friend
This is one of the old school charting apps, and they haven’t had many updates so their graphics aren’t great. But I still like this app because the algorithm that helps determine ovulation on BBT charts works well and it allows for tracking a bunch of secondary symptoms. Plus I learned BBT charting with Fertility Friend so it has a special place in my heart.
The other thing that makes Fertility Friend somewhat unique is its chart gallery, where you can see lots of different charts and learn what different patterns look like.
Other Apps
I wanted to share which cycle charting apps are my favorite because that’s a common question I get. This is not a sponsored post and I don’t get anything from these developers for recommending their apps, I just love to share when there’s something that works well for my patients.
That being said, there are a ton of other apps that can help you to track your cycle. If you’re using one you love then feel free to keep using it, or try a few different ones to see what works for you. I have a lot of patients who use Clue, Premom, Ovia, and many more apps that they love.