Want to Start Tracking Your Period? These are the Best Apps for That

There are apps for everything, but we all know that a period doesn’t always arrive when you expect it. More importantly, we’re all crazy busy, so it’s easy to forget the day Mother Nature is going to come knocking on your door with her special dose of monthly joy. So, there’s every reason to start tracking your period, now, what’s the best way to do that? A period tracker app of course! Our team is comprised largely of females, so we decided we are the perfect BETA testing group for period-tracking apps. We’ve tried and tested all kinds of apps for tracking your period—here are the results.

Why Start Tracking Your Period?

Why start tracking your period? Well, if you’re not tracking your period yet, you’re missing out on a lot of benefits. First, there’s the obvious advantage of being able to pinpoint the day Aunt Flo will come knocking on your door, so you can be prepared with an ample supply of all the tampons, pads, panty liners, period undies, or whatever else you typically use during your period. And if you’re trying to schedule vacations, dates, or other important events (or even just live your life), it can be very helpful to know when your period will be arriving. If you’re a mother of a tween just getting started on her period, technology can be particularly helpful—to both of you!

Then, for those of us who are older, there’s the fact that your period plays a big role in your reproductive cycle. The day of your period can give you some idea of when you’ll likely ovulate. And when you know when ovulation will occur, you’ll have some help either achieving or preventing pregnancy, assuming your cycles are regular. You’ll find out if this is the case once you start tracking your period. Here are the period tracking apps we tried and what we thought of them.

The Best Apps for Tracking Your Period

Clue: Clue is a great app for tracking your period. Even better, using Clue, you can track pretty much everything under the sun that has to do with your period. Seriously. You can make a note of the start and end dates of your period, how heavy your flow was, which period products you used, which PMS symptoms you had, and more. You can also log details related to your life in general, such as sleep, exercise, cervical fluid changes, the condition of your hair, how clear your skin has been, etc. If you’re a data geek (like me) or just enjoy tracking things, Clue is for you.

If you notice you’re frequently recording a lack of sleep as you use apps like Clue, you might benefit from reading this: Avoiding Insomnia: How To Fall Asleep—and Hopefully Stay Asleep

Glow: Another great app for tracking your period is Glow. This app focuses not just on your period, but also ovulation. When you start tracking your period, you’ll see a fertility calendar, health log, and health tips. Plus, Glow lets you invite your partner to join the app so you can both be more informed on male and female fertility alike, which is good if you’re trying to conceive anytime soon.

Eve: The same company that made Glow made Eve, but this period tracking app is geared more toward simply tracking your period and sex life in general than on monitoring fertility. So if your focus is less on conceiving and more on knowing when your period will arrive—and getting sex tips in the meantime—Eve may be the right way to track your period.

Flo: Want another easy period tracker? You can’t go wrong with Flo. This app will help predict when your next period will be and when you’ll probably ovulate. It’s especially helpful if your cycle is irregular, since you can add your symptoms to the app, and it will tell you if they’re signs that Aunt Flo is almost here. For example, if you’re crampy, irritable, have a slightly lower temperature, or aren’t sleeping well, Flo will tell you what that might mean. You’ll also get personalized health alerts based on the information you enter, so despite the name of the app, Flo is about more than just your flow!

If you’re tired of having to track your period, you can look forward to the day you won’t have to anymore, as you’ll read here: #Realtalk: Farewell, My Period

Dot: Dot is another good app to try if you want to get started tracking your period, but also are focused in either avoiding or achieving pregnancy. Once you record the dates when you start and end your period, Dot can calculate your chance of conceiving if you have intercourse on certain days. You’ll also get health alerts, as well as the benefit of having your period start date predicted for the next six months!

Period Tracker Period Calendar: Okay, so it doesn’t have a cute little name like the other trackers, but this period-tracking app is still really helpful for tracking your cycle. Period Tracker Period Calendar is pretty simple and streamlined, which means there’s not much of a learning curve to it. Like the other apps, it will figure out how long your cycle is, when your fertile window will probably be, and when your next period will start. It can even send you a reminder to take your birth control, which may be really useful depending on where you are in your cycle!

Period Tracker Lite: This app is one of our team’s favorites. It’s easy on the eyes and also pretty discreet once you download it, since the icon on your phone is just a flower that says “P Tracker Lite.” Once you open the app, you just note the date you start your period, and then record the day it ends, and it will create a calendar that predicts your next period. Period Tracker Lite will also tell you which days you’ll be fertile and how long your average cycle is. Plus, you can record which days you notice period symptoms, and which days you have intercourse, making it a little easier to plan to either avoid pregnancy or get pregnant.

Whether you have an Android or an iOS device, there is an app that will making tracking your period a breeze. These are the ones we tried and liked. What about you? Are you tracking your period? If so, do you have a favorite period tracking app you already use that we need to know about?? Tell us about it in the comments. Better yet, tag us on Instagram @fitformulawellness with the #periodtracker and let us know your favorite!

More sources on ways to track your period:
8 Period Tracking Apps That Will Never Make You Wonder If That’s Your Period Starting or Just Discharge
The Best Period Tracker Apps So You Can Better Know Your Own Cycle

The original version of this article was first published on FitFormula.