Comparison

The Birth Deck vs 45 Hard

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

Head to head
About

The Birth Deck

This app offers expecting parents doula-inspired tools, illustrations, and 50 techniques for a more comfortable childbirth experience. Learn evidence-based pain management, relaxation, and support methods through video tutorials and practical guidance.

Highlights
  • 50 labor comfort techniques
  • Video tutorials for each technique
  • Evidence-based pain management
  • Natural solutions for labor hurdles
  • Categories: Move, Massage, Mind, Support
  • Doula-inspired guidance
Features
Read full description

• Prepare Confidently for Childbirth – The Birth Deck App provides expecting parents with powerful doula tools, illustrations, and empowering birth affirmation cards to help women and their partner feel more connected and supported for a more holistic childbirth experience. • 50 Techniques to Comfort Someone in Labor - A thorough guide to labor preparation that covers topics like packing for the hospital, massage techniques, positions for active labor, positive affirmations, and so much more. The app is easy to understand and provides evidence-based pain management techniques whether you’re having an epidural, water birth, home birth, natural birth or C-Section. • A Full Birth Preparation App - Don't have time for a birth education course? No problem! Learn fun, practical, hands-on techniques for a more comfortable pregnancy and labor experience. Expecting parents will discover 4 categories of cards: Move, Massage, Mind, and Support. Choose from relaxation massages to relieve pain and muscle tension to meditations to ease the mind and body and reduce stress levels. • Video Tutorials – Find a video tutorial for every technique in The Birth Deck App so you can easily learn how to comfort someone in pregnancy and childbirth. The author, Sara Lyon, personally guides you through the techniques so that you will be confident using them in the labor room. • Solutions to Common Hurdles – The Birth Deck app provides natural solutions to the most common problems in labor like stalled contractions, back pain, hip pain and slow labor. Use these techniques alone or alongside pain medication in the hospital. Feeling lost in the middle of labor? Just check out Common Hurdles in your app and apply the techniques you see there. • The Author - With more than 15 years as a doula and childbirth educator, Sara Lyon, author and creator of The Birth Deck App has distilled her wisdom into the 50 most effective techniques for comforting a woman in labor. The Birth Deck is used by nurses in hundreds of hospitals and birth centers around the world to help educate families and nurses about reducing pain in childbirth. The Birth Deck has sold more than 25,000 copies worldwide, and her book You've Got This: Your Guide to Getting Comfortable with Labor is used by midwives, and doulas internationally for birth education. Sara's prenatal massage company, Glow Birth & Body, has locations in Chicago, New York City and Oakland. Terms of Use https://thebirthdeck.com/pages/policies

About

45 Hard

Embark on a 45-day journey to build lasting habits. Set personal goals, track your progress daily, and maintain your streak. Compete with friends or go solo, with customizable goals and private sharing options.

Highlights
  • 45-day habit challenges
  • Customizable daily goals
  • Social challenges with friends
  • Progress tracking and history
  • Private sharing options
  • Completion card with progress photos
Features
Read full description

45 Hard is a 45-day habit challenge. Pick your goals, log every one of them every day, and keep the streak. Miss a goal on any day and the attempt ends; a new one starts the next day, unless the challenge allows missed days or turns resets off. Alone or with friends. Start a challenge for yourself, or share one with friends and run it together: everyone sees the same board, standings and feed, and can cheer each other on. Goals that fit your life. Water, workout minutes, reading, steps from Apple Health, vitamins, a daily progress photo, or a custom goal with your own name and target. Built to be honest. A day is your local date, and you can still log yesterday until 3 in the morning. Each day's result is decided once, on the server, so a shared board agrees on every phone. Private by default. Friends see what your sharing settings allow: challenges, calendar, today's goals, history, and progress photos only if you turn them on. Anyone else sees nothing unless you turn Public profile on. Block and report from any person's screen. Delete your account and everything in it from Settings. Finish 45 days and get a completion card with your totals and your first and last progress photos, ready to share. No ads, no analytics, no tracking.

Screenshots

The Birth Deck4 screens
45 Hard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: 45 Hard at none against The Birth Deck's 6. 45 Hard also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs every 12 months). The Birth Deck's advantage is ratings volume (6 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price and rating 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. The Birth Deck sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. 45 Hard asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for The Birth Deck against 5.0 for 45 Hard. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Birth Deck has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Birth Deck ships an update every 12 months, 45 Hard daily. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
The Birth Deck versus 45 Hard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Birth Deck45 Hard
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsDaily — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Birth Deck LLCHasp Labs LLC

Customer experience

The Birth Deck

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

45 Hard

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

The Birth Deck

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Full App Access$4.991 Month
One-time5
  • Card$0.99
  • Video$1.99
  • Birth Packing List$2.99
Show 2 more
  • All Videos & More$34.99
  • All Cards, Videos + More$49.99
None

45 Hard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Birth Deck free?
The Birth Deck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 45 Hard free?
45 Hard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Birth Deck or 45 Hard?
The Birth Deck and 45 Hard are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do The Birth Deck or 45 Hard have ads?
The Birth Deck shows ads; 45 Hard does not.
Which is updated more often, The Birth Deck or 45 Hard?
The Birth Deck ships an update every 12 months, and 45 Hard daily. Most recently, The Birth Deck was updated on October 12, 2026 and 45 Hard on October 15, 2026.

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