Comparison

5Strands vs AlterMe

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Food ingredient scanning
  • Daily meal and symptom logging
  • Access to test results
  • Intolerance-friendly recipes
  • Personal wellness scoring
  • Community insights and sharing
Features
Read full description

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!

About

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.

Highlights
  • Personalized fitness program
  • Evolving workout library
  • Recovery content (breathwork, meditation)
  • DNA-based nutrition plan
  • Actionable health insights
  • Integration with AlterMe Ring
Read full description

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

5Strands4 screens
AlterMe4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. 5Strands sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. AlterMe asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

5Strands ships an update weekly, AlterMe every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
5Strands versus AlterMe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter5StrandsAlterMe
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (252 ratings)4.7 (1.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews — better64.3% of reviews
Number of ratings2521.6K — better
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB175 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperAffordable Allergy Test, LLCFit Wind

Customer experience

5Strands

All ratings233 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral0.4%
Negative10.3%
Written reviews65 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral1.5%
Negative16.9%

AlterMe

All ratings1,552 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral9.2%
Negative26.5%

User reviews

5Strands

From 252 App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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
Show 2 more
  • Improved wearable design and comfort
  • Better explanation of workout zones and progression

In-app purchases

1 purchases

5Strands

Subscriptions1
  • 5Strands VIP$4.991 Month
None

AlterMe

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 5Strands free?
5Strands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is AlterMe free?
AlterMe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, 5Strands or AlterMe?
AlterMe is rated higher. 5Strands averages 4.6 out of 5 from 252 ratings, while AlterMe averages 4.7 from 1.6K ratings.
Do 5Strands or AlterMe have ads?
Neither 5Strands nor AlterMe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 5Strands or AlterMe?
5Strands ships an update weekly, and AlterMe every 4 days. Most recently, 5Strands was updated on November 13, 2026 and AlterMe on November 14, 2026.

Other comparisons