The best food and symptom tracker apps for Crohn's and colitis, compared
There's no single best IBD app: the apps do different jobs. Some are food and symptom diaries, some coach a diet, one is a care team, one is a community. We make one of them, Crohn's Food & Symptom Tracker, so this comparison sticks to what each app's own store page or website says, checked November 5, 2026, and says plainly where another app is the better choice.
· 7 min read · Educational, not medical advice
Pick by the job you need done
- Pick ours if you have Crohn's or UC and want a two-tap food and symptom diary that ranks likely triggers, by food and ingredient, from your own logs, and makes a PDF for your GI visit.
- Pick Aidy if you're on a biologic and want injection-site rotation, dosing reminders and auto-calculated mHBI and SCCAI scores at no cost. A better choice than ours for medication-heavy tracking.
- Pick mySymptoms if you have several conditions (IBS plus migraines or eczema, say) or want a food database of over a million items with CSV export. A better choice for multi-condition symptom hunting.
- Pick Cara Care if your issue is mainly IBS and you want a guided 12-week low FODMAP programme with dietitian chat. A better choice for a structured IBS diet programme.
- Pick Monash FODMAP if you're doing a low FODMAP elimination and need the reference food ratings. Use it alongside any tracker, ours included.
- Pick Bezzy IBD if what you want most is other people: forums, live chats and 1:1 messages. A better choice for community; ours is smaller and posting needs Premium.
- Pick My IBD Care if you're in the UK and your hospital's IBD team uses it, so they can see your data.
- Pick Oshi Health if you're a US adult with in-network insurance and want a GI care team (providers and dietitians) rather than a self-tracking app.
- Pick LivingWith Ulcerative Colitis if you have UC and want a free, simple journal plus a restroom access card.
- Pick Bowelle if you have IBS and want a light mood, food and gut diary with low-priced premium tiers.
- Pick a general food diary such as MyFitnessPal only if calorie or macro goals are the point. It won't connect food to gut symptoms.
The apps at a glance
| App | Main job | Price or free tier | Stool / Bristol | Doctor report or export |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crohn's Food & Symptom Tracker (Elco Dev, ours) | Food and symptom diary; ranks likely triggers from your logs | Free tier; Premium subscription or one-off purchases (see the store for current prices) | Bristol 1-7 | PDF: one free week, unlimited on Premium |
| mySymptoms Food Diary (SkyGazer Labs) | Food and symptom diary with a large food database | Premium $9.99/mo, $39.99/6 mo, $59.99/yr (US App Store) | Bristol | PDF and CSV |
| Aidy: Manage Crohn's & Colitis (Aidy, Inc.) | IBD tracking with medication schedules and disease scores | Free; its listing says no subscriptions or in-app purchases | Bristol | "Doctor-ready reports" (its words) |
| Cara Care (HiDoc Technologies) | IBS low FODMAP programme with dietitian chat | Premium $89.99, 2-week trial (US App Store) | "Poop tracker" (Bristol not named) | "Share with your doctor" |
| Monash FODMAP Diet (Monash University) | Reference low FODMAP food guide | $7.99 one-time (US App Store) | Bowel habits | Not listed |
| Bezzy IBD (Healthline Media) | Community: forums, live chats, 1:1 messages | Free | No | No |
| My IBD Care (Ampersand Health, with Crohn's & Colitis UK) | Symptom tracking linked to participating UK clinics | Free; ElenaAI add-on $1.99 or $9.99 | Bowel movements | Appointment prep; clinic messaging where your hospital takes part |
| LivingWith Ulcerative Colitis (Pfizer) | Free UC journal | Free | Stool coloration | PDF export |
| Bowelle (Bowelle AB) | Simple IBS mood, food and gut diary | Premium tiers $2.49 to $17.99 | Bowel movements (Bristol not named) | PDF and CSV, email to your doctor |
| Oshi Health | Virtual GI clinic with a care team | Insurance-billed; "many patients pay little to nothing" (Oshi's words) | n/a | n/a |
| MyFitnessPal | Calorie and macro diary | Free; premium tiers | No | Not listed |
Prices checked November 5, 2026 on the US App Store or the provider's site. Fathom: Crohn's & Colitis Log isn't included because its App Store page says it is shutting down.
Our app, in plain terms
Crohn's Food & Symptom Tracker is a food and symptom diary for Crohn's, ulcerative colitis and IBS, on iPhone and Android. Free: a meal log with a two-tap fine, meh or nope rating; symptoms; stool form on the Bristol scale; hydration, weight, labs, medications and infusion schedules; pattern matching between foods, ingredients and symptoms, with your top likely trigger shown; one free week-1 PDF report; three barcode scans; and reading the community. Premium adds guided trigger tests (cut a food out, reintroduce it, get a verdict), the full list of likely triggers, unlimited PDF reports, unlimited barcode scanning, caregiver read-only access, health-data sync, alerts when a food you logged has come before symptoms in the past, and community posting. Prices: see the App Store or Google Play.
What to look for in any tracker
- Fast logging. If a meal takes a minute to log, you will stop. Try the app for a few days before paying.
- Stool form. The Bristol scale gives you and your GI a shared language. See Bristol stool types explained.
- Counts behind every claim. Look for how many meals and how many symptoms a "likely trigger" is based on, not just a label.
- A report your doctor can read. A one-page summary beats a raw export. See a food and symptom journal for your GI.
- Privacy. Read each app's App Store privacy label and policy.
No app diagnoses IBD or replaces your care team. Use any tracker to bring a clearer record to your appointments, and talk to your IBD team before changing your diet or medication.
Quick answers
- What is the best app for Crohn's disease?
- It depends on the job. For finding likely food triggers from your own logs, a food and symptom diary such as ours or mySymptoms. For medication-heavy tracking and disease scores, Aidy. For a guided low FODMAP programme, Cara Care. For community, Bezzy IBD. For an actual care team in the US, Oshi Health.
- Is there a free Crohn's tracking app?
- Aidy's listing says it has no subscriptions or in-app purchases, and LivingWith Ulcerative Colitis and Bezzy IBD are free. Ours, mySymptoms, Cara Care and Bowelle have free tiers or trials with paid premium features.
- Which app makes a report for my gastroenterologist?
- Several do. Ours makes a PDF (one free week, unlimited on Premium), mySymptoms and Bowelle export PDF and CSV, Aidy offers what it calls doctor-ready reports, and LivingWith UC exports a PDF.
- Should I use a calorie app like MyFitnessPal for Crohn's?
- Only if calorie or macro goals are the point. General food diaries don't connect what you eat to gut symptoms.
Crohn's Food Tracker is educational support and a self-tracking tool. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always talk to your gastroenterologist or care team before changing your diet, medication or treatment. If you have severe pain, persistent bleeding, a high fever or signs of obstruction, seek urgent care.