Ebb vs Balance — an honest comparison of perimenopause apps

By Necati Dogrul, developer of Ebb · 12 September 2026

Disclosure: written by the developer of one of the two apps. Sections where Balance is stronger are stated explicitly, and there are several.

Short answer: Balance is the safer pick if you want the most credentialed menopause app, a large library of evidence-based reading, and something your GP has probably heard of. Ebb is the better pick if you are on HRT and want to see whether a dose change actually changed your symptoms, or if you are tired of period apps printing a "next period" date that your body ignores.

At a glance

	Ebb	Balance
US App Store ratings (12 Sep 2026)	New (released 23 July 2026), no ratings yet	1,118 · 4.7★ (27,178 · 4.8★ in the UK)
Made by	Necati Dogrul, independent developer	Balance App Ltd, founded by Dr Louise Newson (Newson Health)
Credentials	None claimed	Apple Editors' Choice, ORCHA-certified, listed in NHS app libraries
Symptom tracking	Hot flashes, night sweats, mood, sleep, brain fog, joint pain, fatigue, anxiety and more	Symptoms and periods
Cycle prediction	Shows your real recent range; no single predicted date	Period tracking with prediction
HRT	Patches, gels, oral, cream, injection, hormonal coil; dose amounts, site rotation reminders, phased progesterone	Not the focus of the tracker
Correlation	Symptom trend against HRT dose changes and logged triggers (caffeine, alcohol, stress, sleep)	Health report summarising symptoms
Doctor report	One-tap PDF: symptoms, HRT history, notes	Health Report to take to appointments
Content library	None	Large evidence-based article library, podcasts and courses
Apple Watch / widgets	Watch complication for next HRT dose; Home and Lock Screen widgets	Not stated in the listing
Price	Free tier; Ebb Pro $6.99/week (3-day trial) or $39.99/year in the US	Free tier; balance+ subscription, price varies by offer
Minimum iOS	iOS 17	iOS 15.1

Where Balance is genuinely better

Trust. Editors' Choice, ORCHA certification, NHS app libraries and a founder who is one of the best-known menopause clinicians in the UK. Ebb has a developer and an email address.
Reading. Balance's article, podcast and course library is a product in itself. Ebb has no content; it assumes you already know what you want to track.
Scale. Over 27,000 ratings in the UK. Ebb was released in July 2026 and has none yet.

Where Ebb is better

HRT is the centre, not a checkbox. Ebb logs the form you actually use (patch, gel, oral, cream, injection, coil), the dose, the site rotation, and phased progesterone schedules, then reminds you accordingly.
Correlation, not a summary. Ebb lines your symptom trend up against dose changes and your own logged triggers, so "did the higher patch help?" has an answer in your data.
Honest cycles. Ebb shows your real recent range instead of a predicted date. In perimenopause, a range is the truthful number.
Wrist and Home Screen. Log a hot flash from Apple Watch in two taps; see the next HRT dose on a widget or complication.

Where they are the same

Both track symptoms and periods, both produce a report you can bring to an appointment, both have a free tier and a subscription, and neither is a medical device or a substitute for a clinician.

Who should pick which

Pick Balance if you are in the UK, want reading material alongside tracking, or want the app with institutional backing.

Pick Ebb if you are on HRT, in the US, Canada or Australia, and want a log built around dose, site and correlation rather than around articles.

Method

Rating counts from the US and GB App Store via Apple's public iTunes lookup API on 12 September 2026. Balance's features are taken from its own store listing; the subscription price is not quoted because it varies by offer. Corrections: necatidogrul7@gmail.com.

Download Ebb on the App StoreFree to download · iPhone + Apple Watch · iOS 17 or later