Comparison

CFS Tracker vs PEM Diary

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

Head to head
About

CFS Tracker

This app helps individuals manage energy-limiting chronic illnesses by tracking symptoms, pacing, medications, and daily activities. It provides insights into patterns and trends to better understand health and communicate with healthcare providers.

Highlights
  • Log diverse symptoms including fatigue and brain fog
  • Track medications, supplements, and treatments
  • Record activity, rest, sleep, and nutrition
  • Customize tracking for personal health patterns
  • Set reminders for health routines
  • Monitor post-exertional malaise (PEM) and crashes
  • Review symptom trends with charts and summaries
Features
Read full description

Feeling overwhelmed by chronic fatigue, brain fog, low energy, and unpredictable symptoms? Cifora is a dedicated CFS/ME tracker and chronic fatigue journal built for energy-limiting conditions. Track symptoms, pacing, PEM patterns, medications, supplements, sleep, mood, pain, activity, and rest, alongside Apple Health data, in one simple place. Living with an invisible illness often means balancing activity, rest, routines, treatments, appointments, and daily responsibilities. Cifora helps you organize your health notes and review your own patterns over time, so you can keep clearer records of difficult days, flares, PEM, and crashes. Built for people tracking ME/CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis, long COVID, post-viral fatigue, fibromyalgia, POTS, dysautonomia, migraines, MCAS, IBD, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and other complex multisystem, energy-limiting conditions. Key features: 1. Log symptoms including fatigue, brain fog, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, dizziness, nausea, palpitations, insomnia, sleep issues, post-activity symptoms, and other invisible symptoms 2. Track medications, supplements, treatments, care routines, appointments, and personal health notes 3. Record activity, rest breaks, sleep quality, hydration, nutrition, mood, pain, social activity, and daily energy levels 4. Customize your symptom tracker around your own health, pacing, fatigue, and energy patterns 5. Set reminders for medications, supplements, symptom check-ins, hydration, sleep, rest, and routine tracking 6. Keep a record of post-exertional malaise (PEM) patterns, energy dips, symptom flares, and energy crashes over time 7. Review charts and summaries of symptom trends across mild, moderate, severe, crash, and recovery days 8. Keep a connected health record Everything is designed for low cognitive load. Quick entries, customizable fields, reminders, charts, summaries, and reports help you stay consistent without feeling overwhelmed, even during high fatigue or brain fog. Use Cifora to keep clearer records, prepare for appointments, organize invisible symptoms, understand your own history, and communicate more clearly with your healthcare providers. Whether you are tracking mild, moderate, or severe days, Cifora gives you a flexible structure for daily chronic fatigue and ME/CFS tracking across energy, symptoms, sleep, pain, activity, rest, medications, supplements, nutrition, hydration, mood, and appointments. Your data stays private, encrypted, and under your control. You can export your records or delete your account at any time. We do not sell your health information to third parties. Disclaimer: Cifora is for tracking, journaling, educational, and informational purposes only. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, prevent, or monitor any disease or medical condition. Always seek a doctor's advice in addition to using this app and before making any medical decisions, including before changing medications, supplements, treatments, activity levels, or care routines. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

PEM Diary

This app helps individuals manage post-exertional malaise (PEM) by logging crashes, tracking severity, symptoms, and duration. It provides insights into patterns and creates a shareable record for personal reference or healthcare discussions.

Highlights
  • Log PEM crashes with dates
  • Track severity and symptoms
  • Add contextual notes
  • View trends on timeline/dashboard
  • 100% private local storage
  • Export data as CSV
Features
Read full description

Do you experience episodes of extreme fatigue? PEM Diary helps you log and track post-exertional malaise (PEM) with personal records, including severity, symptoms, and duration. Whether you’re managing ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) or dealing with unexplained fatigue, this app helps you identify patterns and keep a record for personal reference or discussions with your healthcare provider. FEATURES: - Log PEM crashes with start & end dates - Track severity (1–5 scale) & symptoms - Add notes for additional context - View trends with a timeline & dashboard - 100% private – all data is stored locally on your device and never leaves it unless you export it - Data export - export your collected data as a CSV which is easily shareable with health care professionals or studies Use PEM Diary to track PEM for personal insights or to support medical discussions and diagnosis efforts. Start managing your health more effectively today! PRIVACY & SECURITY Your health data never leaves your device unless you choose to export it. No cloud storage, no data sharing – complete privacy guaranteed. MADE FOR YOU Perfect for: • Tracking PEM patterns • Supporting healthcare discussions • Understanding your energy limits • Building a detailed health record MEDICAL NOTICE PEM Diary is a personal tracking tool. Always consult healthcare professionals for medical advice and treatment decisions. Download now to take control of your energy management journey! Start tracking your PEM episodes!

Screenshots

CFS Tracker4 screens
PEM Diary4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PEM Diary at none against CFS Tracker's 16. PEM Diary also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 8 months). CFS Tracker's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. CFS Tracker sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $4.95 per month. PEM Diary asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CFS Tracker ships an update every 8 months, PEM Diary every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 9, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
CFS Tracker versus PEM Diary: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCFS TrackerPEM Diary
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.515.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size219 MB92 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperClarity Digital Therapeutics IncAdd Jam

Customer experience

CFS Tracker

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

PEM Diary

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

16 purchases

CFS Tracker

Subscriptions13
  • flex pass$4.951 Month
  • easy pass$5.997 Days
  • flex pass$8.991 Month
Show 10 more
  • carey ai max$19.991 Month
  • yearly access$19.991 Year
  • smart pass$24.991 Year
  • carey ai ultra$29.991 Month
  • plus$29.991 Year
  • limited discount$29.991 Year
  • Premium Yearly$34.991 Year
  • yearly access3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Extended Trial3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • 7-Day Trial7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time3
  • store credit$1.99
  • carey ai credits$8.99
  • lifetime upgrade$99.99
None

PEM Diary

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CFS Tracker free?
CFS Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PEM Diary free?
PEM Diary is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CFS Tracker or PEM Diary have ads?
Neither CFS Tracker nor PEM Diary shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CFS Tracker or PEM Diary?
CFS Tracker ships an update every 8 months, and PEM Diary every 3 months. Most recently, CFS Tracker was updated on September 9, 2026 and PEM Diary on September 10, 2026.

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