5Strands vs AlterMe
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
5Strands
Track your food intake, environmental exposures, and symptoms to identify patterns and make informed lifestyle changes. Features include food scanning, easy calendar logging, access to test results, and curated recipes. Gain insights into your body's unique needs and connect with a supportive community.
- Food ingredient scanning
- Daily meal and symptom logging
- Access to test results
- Intolerance-friendly recipes
- Personal wellness scoring
- Community insights and sharing
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The 5Strands app helps you track the foods you eat, the environmental factors you're exposed to, and your symptoms so you can identify patterns and make the lifestyle changes needed to feel more at home in your body. Stop second-guessing and give yourself the tools to make more confident choices every day. --APP FEATURES-- Scan Your Food: Use the built-in scanner to instantly check ingredients at home or on-the-go. Easy Calendar Tracking: Log your daily meals, surroundings, and symptoms so you can recognize patterns over time. Access Your Test Results Anytime: Filter your results by severity level to make smarter food and environmental choices anywhere. Find New Recipes: Browse curated recipes that help you avoid your food intolerances. Upgrade Your Test Results: Purchase digital upgrades to expand your results beyond food intolerances and environmental sensitivities without sending a new hair sample. Personal Wellness Score: Scoring is based on your results, so you can track your progress over time. Access New At-Home Tests: Explore more tests to further refine your daily diet and lifestyle choices. Gain Community Insights: Connect with others, ask questions, and share your own experiences. You're not just tracking. You're actively learning what works for your unique body. Download the 5Strands app and make meaningful lifestyle changes today!
AlterMe
This app creates personalized fitness and nutrition plans based on your DNA, biometric data, and health goals. It offers tailored workouts, recovery content, and actionable insights to help you understand and work with your body.
- Personalized fitness program
- Evolving workout library
- Recovery content (breathwork, meditation)
- DNA-based nutrition plan
- Actionable health insights
- Integration with AlterMe Ring
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Your body is always talking. AlterMe helps you listen and take action. The AlterMe app brings together your DNA results, real-time biometric data from the AlterMe Ring, and your health goals to create a personalized plan that adapts to your body each day. It helps you work with your body, not against it. Whether your goal is fat loss, better sleep, more energy, or lasting consistency, AlterMe gives you one simple place to stay on track and keep moving forward. Inside the app, you’ll get: Personalized fitness program This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Your program is built using your DNA, goals, and real-time progress, so every workout is tailored to your body. As you improve, your plan adjusts to keep you challenged, motivated, and progressing. An evolving library of workouts built for your body Get new workouts that align with your readiness and recovery — including strength, cardio, mobility, and combat-style training. Every session is paired with curated music to keep you focused and moving. Recovery content that supports body and mind Access guided breathwork, stretching, meditation, and yoga sessions. The recovery library is refreshed regularly, so there's always something to help you reset and recharge. Seamless integration with the AlterMe Ring Track your heart rate, HRV, sleep, activity, recovery, and more — all in one place, all day and night. DNA-based nutrition plan Learn exactly how much protein, fat, and carbs your body needs based on your DNA and goals. Get a clear calorie target and science-backed recommendations to fuel real results. Actionable insights that help you understand your body See how your sleep, stress, movement, and recovery shift over time. Track daily, weekly, and monthly trends to spot patterns, make informed choices, and stay aligned with your body's needs. ABOUT HEALTH DATA: Alter accesses the Health app to write workout data and read bodyweight data with your permission. All data is accessed in full accordance with the iOS app review rules set by Apple. Please read our privacy policy at https://www.alterme.com/legal/privacy-policy for more information.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: AlterMe at none against 5Strands's 1. AlterMe also leads on ratings volume (1.6K vs 252). 5Strands's advantage is review sentiment (82% vs 64%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. 5Strands sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. AlterMe asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for 5Strands against 4.7 for AlterMe. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AlterMe has 1.6K ratings behind it against 252, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of 5Strands's written reviews are positive against 64% of AlterMe's.
5Strands ships an update weekly, AlterMe every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | 5Strands | AlterMe |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (252 ratings) | 4.7 (1.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.5% of reviews — better | 64.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 252 | 1.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 175 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Affordable Allergy Test, LLC | Fit Wind |
Customer experience
5Strands
AlterMe
User reviews
5Strands
From 252 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 👍 Easy navigation
- 👍 Convenient for grocery shopping
- 👍 Helpful for understanding results
- 👍 Great customer service (Destiny mentioned frequently)
Room to improve
- 😞 Test results accuracy questioned
- 😞 Additional costs for more info
- 😞 App crashes during journal entry
- 😞 App not working after update
- 😞 Cannot sign in after update
AlterMe
From 1.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Specialized and tailored program
- 👍 Helpful and communicative staff
- 🚀 Quick and effective workouts
- 👍 Comprehensive system with exercise, nutrition, and sleep tracking
- 👍 Mentally helpful with visuals and meditation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inaccurate sleep and step tracking
- 🔧 Lacking community and competitive features
- 🔧 Difficult to customize workouts and food logging
- 🔧 Inconsistent data across app and wearable
- 🔧 Expensive for some features
Bugs and requests
5Strands
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when making journal entry
- App not working after update
- Cannot sign in after update
- Login screen issue (not going past email screen)
Requested features
2 requests- Ability to scan barcodes of foods
- More detailed view of all tested items, not just categories
AlterMe
Reported bugs
4 issues- Wearable disconnecting from app
- Mirror showing as disconnected
- Inconsistent data between app and wearable
- Workouts and demos disappearing from app
Requested features
7 requests- Ability to cast workouts to TV
- More detailed health and sleep tracking
- Customizable calorie and macro goals
- Integration with popular fitness apps
- More flexibility in food logging
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- Improved wearable design and comfort
- Better explanation of workout zones and progression
In-app purchases
5Strands
- 5Strands VIP$4.991 Month
AlterMe
No in-app purchases








