Waves vs LaborLove
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Waves
Easily time labor contractions with a single tap and share real-time updates with your birth team. Track duration, intervals, intensity, and log other labor events. Designed for parents, partners, and birth professionals.
- One-tap contraction timing
- Live sharing with birth team
- Location sharing
- Lock Screen and Dynamic Island support
- Apple Watch integration
- Charts, averages, and intensity tracking
- Log water breaking, nausea, and notes
- PDF and CSV exports
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Time contractions with one tap, and let your partner, midwife or doula follow along live. Waves is a contraction timer built for the whole birth team. Start and stop with a single tap, see how long and how far apart at a glance, and share your labor in real time with the people supporting you. No sign-up, and your name never leaves your device. FOR PARENTS AND PARTNERS • One-tap timing Start and stop each contraction with a single tap. Your timeline, averages and chart build themselves. • Share live with your birth team Invite your partner, doula or midwife by link or QR code. They see each contraction as it happens and get a notification when one starts. • Time together With a collaboration connection, either of you can start and stop contractions, so a partner can take over the phone. • Share where you are, when you choose Send your location to your birth team so they can get directions to you. Only the people you pick see it, and it turns itself off. • Lock Screen, Dynamic Island and widgets Keep the timer in view and start or stop without opening the app. • Apple Watch Time from your wrist. Your Watch stays in sync with your phone. • Charts and averages See labor progress on a clear chart, with averages for recent contractions. • Intensity Rate each contraction from mild to very strong. Intensity is color-coded on your chart. • More than contractions Log water breaking, nausea, shaking, notes and the birth itself. Everything is editable, because labor isn't always linear. • Sessions Keep separate sessions for different pregnancies or labor attempts, and hand a session's data to the person it belongs to. • Give Waves Pro as a gift Buy Waves Pro for someone else. They get a link to redeem it. • PDF and CSV exports Share a report with your chart, intensity and notes with your care team. FOR MIDWIVES, DOULAS AND NURSES • Client dashboard Follow every client in one place: who is in labor, who is contracting now, and your own notes on each. • Alerts when it matters Be notified when contractions are close together, when labor looks active, when waters break and when the baby is born. • Invite a client in one link Your client connects to you in a tap. • On my way Send your location to one client when you're heading to them, only when you choose. • Built for professional use Clinical Terms are in the app, and a Business Associate Agreement is available online for practices that need one. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No account needed. An optional recovery code restores your data on a new phone, without an email address. • Names and notes stay on your device. They are never stored on our servers in readable form. • Delete your account and all of your data at any time from Settings. DESIGNED FOR LABOR A calm, dark interface that's easy on the eyes at night, on iPhone and iPad. Available in English and Spanish. Waves is a timing and communication tool, not a medical device. Always follow your doctor's or midwife's guidance, and call them or emergency services when you need care. Questions or ideas? Use Settings → Help & feedback in the app, or email dev@theorian.com. Sharing with your birth team and some features require a Waves plan. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
LaborLove
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The calm, loving way to time contractions — made for both of you. One tap when a contraction starts, one tap when it ends. LaborLove tracks the length, spacing, and intensity of every contraction and draws your whole labor as one gentle pattern you can actually read. KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME No math mid-contraction. LaborLove reads your pattern against the classic 5-1-1 rule and tells you plainly: early labor — rest; active labor — get ready; time to call your care team. Red-flag symptoms that should always send you in are one tap away, free, forever. YOUR PARTNER WATCHES LIVE Send one private link. Your partner, doula, or mom sees every contraction update in real time from any browser — no app, no account, no names attached. They can even check items off the hospital bag while you rest. BREATHE THROUGH IT A live breathing pacer that swells when you inhale and softens when you exhale. Slow Lamaze, opening flower, box breathing, and blow-out-the-candle — each with step-by-step guidance for the moment you need it. THE HOSPITAL BAG, HANDLED 46 curated items in six categories — for you, the baby, your support crew, and the paperwork everyone forgets. Add your own, check things off together. BUILT FOR 3 AM A timer button you can't miss, a Live Activity on your lock screen and Dynamic Island, a restful midnight mode, and a one-tap PDF report your nurse will actually thank you for. NO ADS. EVER. Especially not during labor. Core timing, 5-1-1 guidance, and safety information are free. LaborLove Plus unlocks the full breathing and comfort libraries, unlimited live sharing, PDF reports, and the complete hospital bag checklist — as a single lifetime purchase or a flexible weekly plan. LaborLove is not a medical device. Its guidance is based on standard indicators like the 5-1-1 rule; always follow your care team's instructions, and go in right away if something feels wrong. Every contraction, together. SUBSCRIPTION & PURCHASE DETAILS LaborLove Plus is available as a one-time Lifetime purchase ($9.99) or as an auto-renewable Weekly subscription ($2.99 per week). Weekly subscriptions renew automatically for the same period unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your Apple Account is charged within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Prices may vary by region. Terms of Use (EULA): https://laborlove-app.netlify.app/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://laborlove-app.netlify.app/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: LaborLove at every 3 days against Waves's every 9 days. Waves's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Waves sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 6 months and LaborLove sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Waves ships an update every 9 days, LaborLove every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Waves | LaborLove |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (7 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Theorian | Angel Vazquez |
In-app purchases
Waves
- Waves Pro$1.996 Months
- Clinical Starter7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Clinical Professional$19.991 Month
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- Clinical Professional (Annual)$189.991 Year
- +1 Client Slot$1.99
- +1 Connection$1.99
- Waves Pro gift$4.99
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- Waves Pro Lifetime$4.99
- +5 Client Slots$7.99
- +10 Client Slots$14.99
LaborLove
- LaborLove Plus Weekly$2.997 Days
- LaborLove Plus$9.99







