Comparison

Migraine Diary vs Throb

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

Head to head
About

Migraine Diary

Features
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Stop guessing what triggers your migraines. Migraine Diary tracks your headaches, identifies triggers, and even monitors barometric pressure changes — a known migraine trigger that other apps ignore. Log pain levels, medications, aura symptoms, and duration in seconds, even during a migraine with Headache Mode. BAROMETRIC PRESSURE TRACKING • Automatically records pressure at the time of each entry • Alerts you when significant pressure changes are detected • Shows correlation between pressure drops and your migraines • Uses your phone's sensor, or local weather data when sensor isn't available FIND YOUR TRIGGERS • 25 predefined triggers across 6 categories • Trigger analysis shows which factors correlate with severe migraines • "Stress caused 73% of your severe headaches" — data, not guesswork • Add your own custom triggers — free, no Pro needed HEADACHE MODE • Pain level 7+? UI goes dark and minimal automatically • Log in 3 taps: pain level, quick trigger, medication • No interstitial ads during a migraine — because we get it • Add details later when you feel better TRACK EVERYTHING • Pain level (0-10) with severity labels • Head location (left, right, front, back, all over) • Aura symptoms (visual, sensory, speech, motor) • Duration (under 1 hour to 12+ hours) • Multiple medications per entry — accurate for combo therapy MEDICATION EFFECTIVENESS • Log each medication separately — triptans, NSAIDs, adjuncts • See which ones actually work for you • "Ibuprofen: average pain drops from 7 to 4 in 2 hours" • Compare treatments with real data from your own history CALENDAR & PATTERNS • Color-coded calendar shows migraine days at a glance • Spot patterns: "Migraines cluster on Mondays and mornings" • 30/90-day trend charts track your progress over time DOCTOR REPORT (PDF) • Generate a professional summary for your doctor • Includes triggers, medication response, patterns & trends • Share via email or print before your appointment PRO — $14.99 ONCE (NO SUBSCRIPTION) Other migraine apps charge $50+/year. Migraine Diary Pro is $14.99 — once, forever. Includes: Trigger Analysis, Barometric Correlation, Medication Effectiveness, Trend Charts, Day & Time Patterns, Doctor Report (PDF), Pressure Alerts & ad-free experience. PRIVACY FIRST All data stays on your device. No accounts, no cloud uploads. Your health data belongs to you. Weather data provided by OpenWeather (openweathermap.org). Made by MyQuietSpot Inc.

About

Throb

Features
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Log a migraine in one tap, even mid-attack, on a dark screen that won't hurt your eyes. Throb is a private migraine and headache diary you pay for once: no subscription, no account, no ads. ABOUT THROB Throb is a migraine and headache tracker for iPhone (iOS 18 or later) with an Apple Watch app. It is made for people with frequent or chronic migraine who need a reliable headache diary for themselves and for their doctor or neurologist. Everything is stored on the device; nothing is sent to the developer. LOGGING • Start an attack with one tap from the app, the Lock Screen widget, Control Center, the Action Button, Siri ("Log a migraine in Throb") or Apple Watch. • Attack mode is a dark, low-light screen. Tap the pain level as it changes to draw a pain-over-time curve, and log every dose. • Record where it hurts on a head map, plus symptoms, triggers, aura and prodrome, relief methods and notes. • Whole-day entries for daily or continuous headache, with no start or end time. • "Feeling one coming" notes early warning signs before the pain starts. • Log medication doses taken outside an attack, including preventives. FOR YOUR DOCTOR • Doctor report PDF: headache days, attacks, duration, peak pain, acute-medication days, how often each medication helped and its median time to relief, MIDAS disability score and the HIT-6 questionnaire. • A monthly count of acute-medication days, shown as information, never as an alarm. INSIGHTS • Calendar heat map, trends and a searchable list of every attack. • Co-occurrence: which triggers and symptoms show up with your attacks. Patterns only, never claimed causes. • Preventive treatment check: headache days per 30 days before versus since you started a preventive, with optional reminders from daily tablets to injections every few weeks. • Barometric pressure trend from the iPhone's own barometer, optional alerts on sharp drops, and an optional pressure forecast from Apple Weather. DATA AND PRIVACY • Works fully offline. No account, no analytics, no third-party SDKs, no ads. • Optional iCloud sync through your own private iCloud database. • Optional Apple Health: reads sleep and menstrual cycle, writes headache events. • Automatic local backups with restore, plus CSV and JSON export. • Import from a Migraine Buddy CSV export or a headache spreadsheet. • Face ID lock. PRICE Free: logging, attack mode, full history, calendar, search, backups, iCloud sync, export, Face ID lock and a doctor report for the last 30 days. One-time purchase, no subscription: doctor reports for any date range and all insights. LANGUAGES 20 languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Arabic, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Swedish, Hindi, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese. WHAT THROB IS NOT Throb does not diagnose, predict or treat migraine and is not a medical device. It records what you log so that you and your clinician can see the pattern. No streaks, no gamification, no community feed, no notification spam.

Screenshots

Migraine Diary4 screens
Throb4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Throb at none against Migraine Diary's shown. Migraine Diary's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Migraine Diary sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Throb sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Migraine Diary versus Throb: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMigraine DiaryThrob
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB6 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMyQuietSpot Inc.Evatech Innovations,TOO

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Migraine Diary

One-time3
  • Unlock Custom Triggers$1.99
  • Remove Ads$3.99
  • Migraine Diary Pro$14.99
1 purchases

Throb

One-time1
  • Throb Lifetime Unlock$12.99

Questions

Is Migraine Diary free?
Migraine Diary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Throb free?
Throb is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Migraine Diary or Throb have ads?
Migraine Diary shows ads; Throb does not.
Which is updated more often, Migraine Diary or Throb?
Migraine Diary ships an update every 2 months, and Throb every 2 months. Most recently, Migraine Diary was updated on October 25, 2026 and Throb on October 31, 2026.

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