Have trouble remembering to take your birth control? We feel you. Life can get so busy sometimes that it’s difficult to remember what you had for breakfast, let alone remember whether you missed a pill or two.

To help you stay on track, we tapped some experts for their favorite birth control reminder apps.

Before you start downloading, you’ll want to read the fine print as far as pricing goes. Most period tracking and birth control reminder apps are free to download but charge for access to extra features.

Speaking of extra features, consider other reproductive-related things you might want to track, like period symptoms or birth control side effects, so you can choose the app that’s most useful.

To parse out the good birth reminder control apps from the not-so-good ones, we evaluated user feedback, cost, ease of use, purpose, and more.

Then, we broke them down into categories so you can download the best option for your life. Heads-up: Pricing is accurate at the time of publication but may fluctuate over time.

Best overall

Spot On Period, Birth Control, & Cycle Tracker

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: none needed
  • Premium features: none
  • Data collection: You can choose to create an account or remain anonymous. Data collected is only used to improve user experience and is not sold to outside parties.

Not surprisingly, the best overall birth control reminder app is free, super easy to use, oh-so helpful, and designed by a trusted source for all things reproductive health.

Spot On is brought to you by Planned Parenthood, so not surprisingly this free app covers all the bases and then some when it comes to your birth control. The app provides a gender neutral option, so no assumptions or judgments, or force-fed frills. Birth control reminders are discreet.

You can use Spot On to track all types of hormonal birth control (hello, patch, ring, shot, IUD, implant, and 160+ types of pills!). You also get expert advice for things like a late or missed pill, forgetting to put your ring back in, or a late period.

Best of all, there are no ads, and you get all the features for free — no upgrade needed.

Get started with Spot On

Best for most hormonal methods

Flo Ovulation & Period Tracker

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: monthly, quarterly, 6 months, or yearly
  • Premium features: daily well-being plan, video courses and expert content, unlimited access to Flo Health Assistant for $0.99–$49.99
  • Data collection: Personal data collected is used by contract or consent to improve user experience. You can control or restrict your personal data within the app.

Flo may be marketed primarily as an ovulation and period tracker, but experts, including Dr. Tara Scott, an integrative gynecologist who’s also known as the “Hormone Guru,” recommends it for birth control users, too.

Unlike some reminder apps that are strictly for pill users, Flo supports other contraception methods, too, including the patch, ring, shot, implant, and IUD. And it’s not just about reminders, either — you can also track your birth control side effects and symptoms.

Get started with Flo

Best for birth control pills

Lady Pill Reminder

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: one-time
  • Premium features: icon pack and widgets available for $4.09–$6.49
  • Data collection: Personal data collected, including cookies and usage data, is used for advertising and analytics.

While Lady Pill Reminder gets a thumbs-down for the name — it’s not just “ladies” taking the pill! — this popular app gets two thumbs up for being super simple to use.

The app shows you a virtual pill pack so you can see where you are in your cycle with a quick look. A notification reminds you to take your pill and stops on your “off” days.

You also get a reminder when it’s time to get another pack.

The free version also lets you customize your reminder repeat interval, sound, text, etc. In-app purchases include extra customization features like widgets.

Get started with Lady Pill

Best for hormone-free contraception

Natural Cycles Birth Control & Ovulation Tracker

  • Price: $9.99–$89.99
  • Renewal: monthly or yearly
  • Premium features: none
  • Data collection: Data collected is only used to provide services and is not sold to outside parties.

If you prefer hormone-free birth control, rejoice, because Natural Cycles is the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared hormone-free birth control method. Yep, we said method.

Use the app and included thermometer to know when you’re likely fertile and when you’re likely not. As birth control, a clinical study involving 15,000 women (and 600,000 menstrual cycles) found the app to be 93 percent effective with typical use and 98 percent effective with perfect use. That’s comparable to the efficacy of hormonal methods.

Goody Howard, resident sexologist for sexual hygiene and body care company Royal, says she loves the app because it gives folks more innate ways to avoid pregnancy — among other things.

“There’s also no weight limit and as a fat woman I LOVE that,” says Howard. “The app tells you when your most fertile days are so you can have condom sex or avoid insertive sex altogether. Natural Cycles is definitely my favorite.”

The only downside here is the cost, which is considerably higher than other apps.

Get started with Natural Cycles

Best for added period tracking

Clue Period & Cycle Tracker

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: 1 month or 1 year (premium only)
  • Premium features: cycle predictions, in-depth cycle pattern analysis and stats, pregnancy tracking from $4.99–$39.99
  • Data collection: Personal and technical data is collected but never sold.

Clue ranks up there as one of the top period and cycle trackers for a few reasons. It’s gender inclusive and geared to all menstruating folks, gives you access to health information, and, yes, it can be used for birth control reminders, too.

If you’re curious about how your cycle affects your mood, sex drive, and your body, Clue could be a good fit.

Upgrading to Clue Plus is only worth your while if you want cycle predictions and pregnancy tracking, which TBH, doesn’t really matter if you’re on hormonal birth control.

Get started with Clue

Best for multiple prescriptions

Medisafe Pill & Med Reminder

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: monthly or yearly (premium subscriptions)
  • Premium features: unlimited access to Medfriends, no banner ads, different theme colors for $4.99 per month or $39.99 yearly
  • Data collection: Personal and usage data is collected and may be shared with research partners, third-party health apps, and content providers.

While not specifically a birth control app, Medisafe Pill & Med Reminder is one of the highest-rated pill reminder apps you can download and will do the job just fine.

Users love how easy it is to use and that you get reminders when you’re running low on your prescription and need a refill. It may be a great option if you take multiple medications because it lets you track them all and provides drug interaction warnings, too.

Another cool feature is the ability to add a “Medfriend” — like a sexual partner or BFF — who will get a notification if you miss your pill.

Get started with Medisafe

Best for user customization

myPill Birth Control Reminder

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: 1 month, 6 months, lifetime
  • Premium features: secret reminder messages, pill pack customization, password protection, hydration reminders, pill intake logger for $1.99–$13.99
  • Data collection: They don’t sell, trade, or transfer your personally identifiable data to outside parties.

Don’t let the name or pill-pack design fool you — myPill tracks other methods, too, including the birth control ring and patch.

Dr. Daniel Boyer of the Farr Institute named myPill as his pick for its clever design and different contraception-related reminders.

The user interface is designed to look like a pill pack so you can easily identify which pill to take next and how many days are left with just a quick glance, even without internet access. It also tracks your period and lets you enter the days you have sex.

Speaking of sex, myPill also has a protection status feature that tracks your history of use to let you know if you’re likely to be protected or not.

Other features include:

  • snooze that will keep going off until you take your pill
  • period prediction so you can plan vacay and other events around your period
  • ability to take notes and log symptoms and side effects
  • a planner you can use to remember to see the doctor and purchase more pills
Get started with myPill

Best for frequent travelers

Emme App Pill & Health Tracker

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: none needed
  • Premium features: none, but you can buy the Emme Smart Case to use with the app for $99
  • Data collection: Personal data collected is used for the purpose of enhancing services and for marketing and advertising, and may be shared with third parties.

The Emme App Pill & Health Tracker is a free app brought to you by the birth control subscription service of the same name.

They also happen to make the Emme Smart Case — a case for your pill pack that works with the app. FYI, you can use the app on its own for free if you don’t want to spring for the case.

The app is easy to use and adjusts to your time zone when you travel. You get personalized reminders that you can customize. If you have a slipup (as we all do) and are worried you’re at risk of pregnancy, support in the way of info from the CDC on your next steps is available.

Get started with Emme

Best for text and email notifications

Bedsider Reminders Birth Control App

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: none needed
  • Premium features: none
  • Data collection: Personal information, automatic info like your IP address, and cookies are collected and may be shared with affiliates and authorized service providers.

Bedsider Reminders is a free birth control reminder app that comes to you courtesy of Bedsider.org, the sex-positive online birth control support network.

Kelly Ashlen, founder of Sexsi Toys, uses the app herself and recommends it to others because it’s easy and works with multiple birth control methods.

“One thing I love about it is that you can have your birth control reminders sent to you by text or email,” says Ashlen. “It also has encouraging messages, which will have you looking forward to the next day’s alert.”

Use it to remember to take your birth control, refill prescriptions, and schedule appointments with a healthcare professional. It also lets you search emergency contraception and family planning clinics in your area.

Get started with Bedsider

Most user-friendly

MyTherapy Pill Reminder

  • Price: free
  • Renewal: none needed
  • Premium features: none
  • Data collection: Data is used for research but not shared with third parties.

MyTherapy is another top-rated pill reminder app. It’s not contraception-specific but does have features that come in handy for folks using hormonal methods for birth control or to manage moods, heavy periods, or other conditions.

Along with pill reminders for all your meds, other noteworthy features include:

  • pill tracker to log taken and missed pills
  • refill reminders
  • tracker for mood, weight, and symptoms and side effects

Did we mention it’s free? Yep, totally free!

Get started with MyTherapy

A birth control app can help you be consistent with your birth control for maximum effectiveness. Another perk is that most allow you to track other cycle and sex-related symptoms that could come in handy should an issue ever arise.

Adrienne Santos-Longhurst is a Canada-based freelance writer and author who has written extensively on all things health and lifestyle for more than a decade. When she’s not holed-up in her writing shed researching an article or off interviewing health professionals, she can be found frolicking around her beach town with husband and dogs in tow or splashing about the lake trying to master the stand-up paddle board.