CDC's Milestone Tracker vs Aqua
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CDC's Milestone Tracker
Monitor your child's developmental progress from 2 months to 5 years with interactive checklists. Includes tips, videos, and guidance on when to seek professional advice. Easily share milestone summaries with healthcare providers.
- Add multiple children
- Interactive milestone checklists
- Milestone photos and videos
- Developmental tips and activities
- Guidance on early developmental concerns
- Track doctor's appointments
- Share milestone summaries
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Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use checklists; get tips from CDC to support your child’s development; and find out what to do if you ever have concerns about your child's development. From birth to age 5, your child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks, acts and moves. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy and fun! Spanish photos and videos are coming soon! Features: • Add a Child – enter personalized information about your child or multiple children • Milestone Tracker – track your child’s development by looking for important milestones using an interactive checklist • Milestone Photos and Videos – know what each milestone looks like so that you can better identify them in your own child. • Tips and Activities – support your child’s development at every age • When to Act Early – know when it’s time to “act early” and talk with your child’s doctor about developmental concerns • Appointments – keep track of your child’s doctors’ appointments and get reminders about recommended developmental screenings • Milestone Summary – get a summary of your child’s milestones to view, and share with or email to your child’s doctor and other important care providers For more information and free tools to help you track your child’s milestones, visit www.cdc.gov/ActEarly. *This milestone checklist is not a substitute for a standardized, validated developmental screening tool. These developmental milestones show what most children (75% or more) can do by each age. Subject matter experts selected these milestones based on available data and expert consensus. CDC does not collect or share any personal information that can be used to identify you or your child.
Aqua
Easily manage your child's swim lessons with this app. View schedules, cancel classes, book make-up lessons, and receive reminders. Track your child's progress and ensure they gain water safety skills.
- View class schedule
- Cancel upcoming classes
- Schedule make-up lessons
- Receive lesson reminders
- Track child's progression
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Life is busy, but swim lessons should be easy! Parents have trusted Aqua-Tots to teach their children how to swim since 1991 at more than 130 convenient locations across 25 states. Today, managing your swim schedule is simple with the Aqua-Tots app, where you can view your schedule, cancel an upcoming class, schedule a make-up lesson, receive reminders, and so much more! With year-round lessons for children four months to 12 years old, parents can now breathe easier knowing their children are safe and confident around the water. View Your Schedule With so many activities to juggle, your swim schedule is at your fingertips. View upcoming classes and see which friendly instructor will be welcoming your tot into the pool. Cancel an Upcoming Class Whether your little one gets sick or you plan a well-deserved family vacation, cancel an upcoming class quickly and conveniently. Schedule a Make-up Lesson Aqua-Tots' make-up policy means that your missed lessons will be waiting for you. Reserve the days and times that work for your schedule, so your little one can continue their Swim Journey. Receive Lesson Reminders Day-to-day schedules can spin on a dime with little ones. Get notifications to keep your upcoming classes top of mind. Track Progression Your child’s Swim Journey is in your hands. Literally! Follow along on their Aqua-Card to see what skills they’ve mastered and which ones they’re still working toward on their journey to safe and confident swimming. (Aqua-Card access varies by location.)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CDC's Milestone Tracker at 4.9 against Aqua's 2.9. CDC's Milestone Tracker also leads on review sentiment (62% vs 30%) and ratings volume (11K vs 64). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CDC's Milestone Tracker holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CDC's Milestone Tracker has 11K ratings behind it against 64, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of CDC's Milestone Tracker's written reviews are positive against 30% of Aqua's.
CDC's Milestone Tracker ships an update every 6 months, Aqua every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CDC's Milestone Tracker | Aqua |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (11K ratings) — better | 2.9 (64 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 61.7% of reviews — better | 29.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11K — better | 64 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Centers For Disease Control and Prevention | AQUA-TOTS SWIM SCHOOL HOLDING LLC |
Customer experience
CDC's Milestone Tracker
Aqua
User reviews
CDC's Milestone Tracker
From 11K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Comprehensive milestone tracking
- 💡 Helpful videos and activities
- 🔍 Useful for monitoring child development
- ⭐ Great resource for parents and caregivers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches (e.g., app crashes, incorrect age display)
- 🔍 Overly sensitive to missing milestones, causing unnecessary worry
- 🗣️ Needs more language options beyond English and Spanish
- 🔗 Broken or missing links to external resources
- 🔍 Lacks flexibility for customizing milestones (e.g., for children with special needs)
Aqua
From 64 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Functional for basic needs
- 👍 Good for tracking schedules
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Clean app layout
- 👍 User-friendly screens
Room to improve
- 🐛 Annoyingly buggy
- 🐛 Login issues
- 🐛 Scheduling difficult and confusing
- 🐛 Fails to update progress
- 🐛 App freezes frequently
Bugs and requests
CDC's Milestone Tracker
Reported bugs
4 issues- Incorrect age display for children
- Milestone checklist reset after app updates
- Reference videos not working as expected
- Inability to input child's exact age or prematurity details
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to sync data between multiple devices
- Option to track milestones beyond early childhood
- Integration with other child health and development apps
- More customization options for milestone tracking
- Improved data visualization and reporting
Aqua
Reported bugs
16 issues- Login buttons circling into nothingness
- Same notifications pop up 5 times in a row
- Latest app update broken Apple login
- App keeps failing to update child's progress
- App freezes and fails to load, requires reinstallation
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- App stuck on loading screen after login
- App asks to keep location on all the time
- Cannot log in to the app
- App won't update swimming progress via dials
- Progress gauges are stuck
- Unable to schedule makeup lessons properly
- Login with Google spins eternally
- Cannot view child's information, class schedule, journey history after login
- Progress tab only general information, no physical cards on app
- No enter or continue button after entering code
- Makeups still show for previous level after child changed levels
Requested features
9 requests- Push swim lesson times to Apple/Google calendar
- Export class schedule to calendar
- Digital report cards
- Preview makeup class availability before cancelling
- Schedule makeup classes further than 1 week out
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- See both older/younger group schedules for makeup classes
- Show aqua card progress instead of level information
- Instructor information and substitute notifications
- Preview total makeups available
In-app purchases
CDC's Milestone Tracker
No in-app purchases
Aqua
No in-app purchases







