Comparison

Pillboxie vs Max

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

Head to head
About

Pillboxie

Easily manage your medications with visual reminders. Schedule doses by simply dropping pills into a virtual pillbox. Get timely alerts even when your device is asleep, with no network connection needed.

Highlights
  • Visual medication management
  • Simple pillbox scheduling
  • On-time reminders (device asleep)
  • Offline functionality
  • Customizable med types and colors
  • View and check off 'due today' meds
Features
Read full description

Pillboxie is the easy way to remember your meds. Other med reminder apps are either too complicated or just downright boring. Pillboxie is easy because it lets you *visually* manage your meds. Scheduling a reminder is as easy as dropping a pill into a pillbox. • Designed and developed by a registered nurse. • Schedule reminders just by dropping pills into a pillbox. • Reminds you on time, even if your device is asleep. • No network connection required! • Use Pillboxie on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. • Pleasant reminder sounds make Pillboxie a comfortable addition to your day. • Customize your meds with tons of combinations of med types and colors. • Pixel-perfect original graphics look great on Retina Displays. • See a list of what meds are "due today" and check them off as you go. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ Having trouble with Pillboxie? Please contact us, day or night: Email: pillboxie@gmail.com Twitter: @pillboxie ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ NOTE: Pillboxie will only run on devices running iOS 5.0 or later. ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ Thanks for considering Pillboxie! I hope it helps turn an otherwise tedious task into something pleasant. For the latest news, follow @pillboxie on Twitter. For support or feature requests, email me at pillboxie@gmail.com ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

About

Max

This app helps you build healthy habits with personalized medication reminders. It tracks when you take your pills and can alert you if you miss a dose. You can also share management of reminders with family or friends.

Highlights
  • Personalized medication schedules
  • Customizable alarm sounds
  • Automatic tracking of taken medications
  • Health journal creation
  • Missed dose alerts
  • Shareable medication management
Features
Read full description

Hey there, health champs! It's me, Max, your pill-popping pal. Let's grow those healthy habits together with my friendly reminders! [NEW] Share & Care Invite family or friends to manage medication reminders together! Now you can easily look after your parents' meds from afar. No more daily "Did you take your pills?" calls! [How to use Max] ▸ Fetch your reminders! You can set personalized schedules—daily, on specific days, or at intervals. ▸ When Max's "Woof Woof" alarm sounds, chow down on your meds and hit the "taken" button. Max automatically records the medicine name and time, crafting a pawsitively awesome health journal. ▸ If there's no response to the timely push notification, Max will bark up your phone again. *It's not a real call, so don't be startled! [Recommended for] ▸ From conception to 16 weeks of pregnancy: Folate plays a major role in cell creation. Don't gobble it all up at once—Max suggests a daily dose with his "Pill Paws" alert to keep things steady. ▸ Office pups glued to screens: If those peepers are feeling ruff, set Max's "3-Hour Howler" alarm to keep those eyes rested. Adding some lutein to the mix is a real tail-wagger, too! ▸ Diabetic dogs on meds: Those taking diabetes meds might run low on Vitamin B. It's like the secret sauce for energy production, so Max's reminder pack always includes this woof-tastic nutrient. ▸ Caring for parents from afar: Hard to keep track of your parents' meds? Use Share & Care to check their medication status in real-time! Stay barking healthy with Max's tail-wagging reminders!

Screenshots

Pillboxie4 screens
Max4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Max at Free against Pillboxie's $1.99. Max also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and ratings volume (9.9K vs 96). Pillboxie's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On review sentiment, in-app purchases and device support 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

Max is free to download; Pillboxie costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Max holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Max has 9.9K ratings behind it against 96, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of Pillboxie's written reviews are positive against 75% of Max's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pillboxie ships an update every 3 weeks, Max every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pillboxie versus Max: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPillboxieMax
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (96 ratings)4.8 (9.9K ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews — better75.1% of reviews
Number of ratings969.9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB127 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNice Boy LLCArtify Inc.

Customer experience

Pillboxie

All ratings96 ratings
Positive68.8%
Neutral12.5%
Negative18.8%
Written reviews779 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral7.8%
Negative15.5%

Max

All ratings9,508 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews570 reviews
Positive75.1%
Neutral7.9%
Negative17.0%

User reviews

Pillboxie

From 96 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 📆 Helpful reminders
  • 🎨 Visually appealing
  • 💊 Customizable pill details
  • 🗓️ Tracks medication history

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes
  • 🕰️ Inflexible reminder times
  • 📤 No backup/sync feature
  • 🔍 Limited medication types
  • 🔔 Nagging reminders can be annoying

Max

From 9.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Simple, intuitive design
  • 🐶 Cute animal reminders
  • 📞 Effective phone call reminders
  • 🆓 No paywalls or ads
  • 👍 Helps users remember to take medication

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs with time/timezone changes
  • 🔔 Redundant notifications even after marking medication as taken
  • 🔒 Potential privacy concerns with lack of developer information
  • 🔋 Requires app to be open in background for notifications

Bugs and requests

Pillboxie

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Reminders not working after iOS updates
  • Medication history and data loss after updates
  • Inconsistent behavior when marking medications as taken
  • Reminders not adjusting for time zone changes when traveling

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add 'as needed' medication option
  • Include prescription refill reminders
  • Ability to track medication supply levels
  • More customization for reminder times and snooze
  • Support for transdermal patches and creams

Max

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Reminders not working consistently
  • Issues with app freezing or not opening
  • Time changes causing incorrect reminder times

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to edit times/doses of past medication entries
  • Implement Apple Watch integration
  • Allow customization of reminder sounds/voices
  • Add medication quantity tracking for refill reminders

In-app purchases

None

Pillboxie

No in-app purchases

None

Max

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pillboxie free?
Pillboxie costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Max free?
Max is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pillboxie or Max?
Max is rated higher. Pillboxie averages 3.8 out of 5 from 96 ratings, while Max averages 4.8 from 9.9K ratings.
Do Pillboxie or Max have ads?
Max shows ads; Pillboxie does not.
Which is updated more often, Pillboxie or Max?
Pillboxie ships an update every 3 weeks, and Max every 6 days. Most recently, Pillboxie was updated on October 26, 2026 and Max on October 27, 2026.

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