Comparison

Dr. Soma vs PatternMD

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

Head to head
About

Dr. Soma

This program offers a 28-day mind-body approach to managing chronic pain. It combines education on pain science, emotional awareness exercises, meditation, and journaling to help users understand and regulate their symptoms.

Highlights
  • 28-day guided recovery program
  • Pain education and science
  • Emotional awareness and reflection
  • Somatic tracking and meditation
  • Pain, mood, and flare-up tracking
  • Daily coaching, journaling, and meditation
Read full description

SOMA is a 28-day mind-body program designed to support people living with chronic pain and related symptoms. If you’re dealing with persistent back pain, migraine, headaches, pelvic pain, jaw pain, fibromyalgia-like symptoms, or recurring stress-related physical symptoms, SOMA offers a structured daily practice built around pain education, emotional awareness, meditation, and reflection. SOMA is more than a symptom tracker. It is a guided recovery experience focused on the connection between the brain, nervous system, stress, emotions, and chronic pain. With SOMA, you can: - Learn the science of chronic pain and the nervous system - Practice somatic tracking and guided meditation - Reflect with structured journaling prompts - Track pain, mood, and flare-ups over time - Access support tools during difficult moments - Follow a step-by-step 28-day journey Each day includes three core practices: - Coaching to help you understand key mind-body concepts - Journaling to explore emotional patterns, stress, and symptom triggers - Meditation to support nervous system regulation and a greater sense of safety in the body SOMA is built around a biopsychosocial view of chronic pain. Research in pain neuroscience suggests that chronic pain is influenced not only by tissues and injury, but also by the brain, nervous system, learned pain pathways, stress, emotions, attention, and expectation. SOMA is designed to help users better understand these patterns and develop supportive daily practices. Whether you are new to mind-body approaches or have been searching for answers for years, SOMA provides a clear and supportive framework for learning, reflection, and recovery. Your pain is real. Recovery is possible. SOMA is intended for wellness, education, and self-guided support. It does not provide medical diagnosis or treatment and is not a substitute for professional medical care. Research and educational references: Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Lumbar Spine in People without Back Pain http://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJM199407143310201 Placebo-Induced Changes in fMRI in the Anticipation and Experience of Pain https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1093065 Surgical vs Nonoperative Treatment for Lumbar Disk Herniation https://jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.296.20.2441 Shape Shifting Pain: Chronification of Back Pain Shifts Brain Representation from Nociceptive to Emotional Circuits https://academic.oup.com/brain/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/brain/awt211 The Dominant Role of Psychosocial Risk Factors in the Development of Chronic Low Back Pain Disability https://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/abstract/1995/12150/the_dominant_role_of_psychosocial_risk_factors_in.11.aspx Free Resources & Paid Subscription Terms: The Soma app offers many resources free of charge. It also offers the option to access custom coaching with a paid subscription. Pricing may vary by country. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period from iTunes Account settings. Read our privacy policy at https://www.drsoma.app/privacy and our TOS at https://www.drsoma.app/terms.

About

PatternMD

Log symptoms, discover triggers, and connect anonymously with others experiencing similar health issues. This app uses AI to help you understand your patterns and offers private journaling and optional provider sharing.

Highlights
  • Anonymous symptom logging
  • AI-powered pattern discovery
  • Community support ('Say ME TOO')
  • Private health journal
  • Medication tracking
  • Optional doctor connection
  • Wellness mini-games
Features
Read full description

PatternMD is a free, anonymous symptom tracker and chronic illness journal. Log migraines, flares, pain, fatigue, anxiety, long COVID, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, lupus, IBS, PTSD or any symptom in seconds, discover what triggers it, and connect with people who feel exactly what you feel — without ever revealing who you are. You are not alone in this. WHAT PATTERNMD DOES Log your symptoms. Track headaches, fatigue, anxiety, joint pain, brain fog, nausea, insomnia — anything. Add an optional trigger note like "ate dairy" or "barely slept." It takes 10 seconds. Say ME TOO. Tap ME TOO on any community post that matches your experience. The more people who say it, the clearer the pattern becomes — and you instantly see you are not the only one. Talk to Alyssa. Alyssa is our in-app AI companion. Type a message and she will help you put words to what you're feeling, reflect on a pattern in your logs, or route you to a crisis resource if you need one. Alyssa is a support tool, not a doctor — she does not diagnose, treat, or prescribe. Discover your patterns. The Pattern Engine analyzes your logs against the entire community to surface real insights: Top community-reported triggers Time-of-day and day-of-week patterns Environmental correlations — weather, air quality, and pollen Severity escalation alerts Personalized recommendations Automatic cross-language search across all four languages Public or private. Every symptom you log can be Public, so the community can say ME TOO, or Private, so it stays in your journal, your patterns, and your connected doctor's view only. Private journal. Keep a private health diary alongside your community posts. Your journal is yours alone and never visible to anyone else. Medication tracking. An optional private medication list with dosage, frequency, and notes. Only you — and your connected provider, if you choose — can see it. Connect to your doctor. Optionally share your tracked data with a verified healthcare provider through the secure Provider Portal. You stay in control and can connect or disconnect anytime. Pediatric posts. Parents and legal guardians can log symptoms on behalf of a child in their care. Posts are clearly marked, and the child never has an account. TAPMD wellness games. Two science-backed mini-games — MedMatch and BrainRx — help reduce stress and anxiety, with a bonus of medical-terminology learning. WHY PATTERNMD IS DIFFERENT 100 percent anonymous. You get a PMD-XXXXXXXX ID. No name, no photo, no real-world identity ever shown. Multilingual. Full support for English, Spanish, German, and Vietnamese, with automatic cross-language translation and search across all four. No targeted ads. Sponsored posts are clearly labeled and never use your personal data. HIPAA-aligned security. Encrypted storage, row-level access controls, and data minimization. Never sold. Your email and data are never sold to anyone, ever. WHO PATTERNMD IS FOR People living with chronic conditions. Migraine sufferers. People with fatigue, fibromyalgia, long COVID, anxiety, autoimmune conditions, or unexplained symptoms. Parents tracking pediatric symptoms. Service members and veterans. Anyone who has ever felt "I just want to know if anyone else feels this too." You are not crazy. You are not making it up. Your symptoms have patterns. Let us find them together. IMPORTANT PatternMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical decisions. If you are in crisis, call 988 (US, 24/7, free and confidential) or your local emergency services immediately. PatternMD is for adults 18 and older only. Questions? Email contact@patternmd.app

Screenshots

Dr. Soma4 screens
PatternMD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PatternMD at none against Dr. Soma's 3. PatternMD also leads on ratings volume (26 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). Dr. Soma's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, 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. Dr. Soma sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days. PatternMD 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 Dr. Soma against 5.0 for PatternMD. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PatternMD has 26 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dr. Soma ships an update weekly, PatternMD monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Dr. Soma versus PatternMD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDr. SomaPatternMD
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings126 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size153 MB7 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperTangoTree Labs LLPPatternMD LLC

Customer experience

Dr. Soma

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

PatternMD

All ratings25 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Dr. Soma

Subscriptions3
  • Soma Premium$9.997 Days
  • Soma Premium$24.991 Year
  • Soma Premium3 Days trial$49.991 Year
None

PatternMD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dr. Soma free?
Dr. Soma is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PatternMD free?
PatternMD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dr. Soma or PatternMD?
Dr. Soma and PatternMD are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 26 ratings respectively.
Do Dr. Soma or PatternMD have ads?
Neither Dr. Soma nor PatternMD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dr. Soma or PatternMD?
Dr. Soma ships an update weekly, and PatternMD monthly. Most recently, Dr. Soma was updated on October 26, 2026 and PatternMD on October 24, 2026.

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