# CDC's Milestone Tracker vs PatchPal

CDC's Milestone Tracker and PatchPal both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of PatchPal's written reviews are positive against 62% of CDC's Milestone Tracker's. PatchPal also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 months). CDC's Milestone Tracker's advantage is ratings volume (10K vs 4). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for CDC's Milestone Tracker against 5.0 for PatchPal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CDC's Milestone Tracker has 10K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of CDC's Milestone Tracker's written reviews are positive against 100% of PatchPal's.

CDC's Milestone Tracker ships an update every 6 months, PatchPal every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | CDC's Milestone Tracker | PatchPal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.9 (10K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cdcs-milestone-tracker/id1232718688/reviews) | **[5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patchpal/id6757255749/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **10K** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | 61.7% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 61 MB | 5 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Centers For Disease Control and Prevention](https://appshunter.io/developer/439259253) | [SUSHANT WASON](https://appshunter.io/developer/1865620014) |

## What reviewers say

### CDC's Milestone Tracker

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cdcs-milestone-tracker/id1232718688)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Comprehensive milestone tracking
- 💡 Helpful videos and activities
- 🔍 Useful for monitoring child development
- ⭐ Great resource for parents and caregivers

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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)

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### PatchPal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patchpal/id6757255749)

This app helps parents track and make eye patching for children with lazy eye more engaging. It features a timer, mini-games, rewards, and progress tracking to motivate kids. Data can be synced and exported for doctor visits.

**Highlights:** Eye patching timer with progress tracking, Engaging mini-games for kids, Achievement system and rewards, Detailed progress charts and statistics, Cloud sync across devices, Reminder notifications, Data export to CSV

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is CDC's Milestone Tracker free?

CDC's Milestone Tracker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is PatchPal free?

PatchPal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, CDC's Milestone Tracker or PatchPal?

PatchPal is rated higher. CDC's Milestone Tracker averages 4.9 out of 5 from 10K ratings, while PatchPal averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.

### Do CDC's Milestone Tracker or PatchPal have ads?

Neither CDC's Milestone Tracker nor PatchPal shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, CDC's Milestone Tracker or PatchPal?

CDC's Milestone Tracker ships an update every 6 months, and PatchPal every 3 days. Most recently, CDC's Milestone Tracker was updated on October 18, 2026 and PatchPal on October 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*