Betes Buddy vs Beta Cell Lab Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Betes Buddy
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Simple tracking. Real insight. Better control. Betes Buddy started as a diabetes tracker I built for myself โ now it's for anyone who wants their glucose, insulin, meals, and workouts logged fast, with real patterns behind the numbers. FREE, NO CATCH โข Log glucose, insulin, meals, exercise, weight, and blood pressure in seconds โข Scan a barcode, or snap a photo of your food โ carbs, protein, and fat fill in automatically โข CGM syncs straight from Apple Health (Dexcom, Libre, and others) or connect Dexcom Share directly โข Set goals and track streaks for steps, Time in Range, or daily macros like protein and calories โข Meals organized by day and mealtime, with a running macro total for each โข Customize your stats โ pick exactly what shows on your dashboard โข Share a clean stats card โ daily, 3-day, or weekly โ to show off your wins BETES BUDDY PRO โข Voice logging โ say "5 units insulin" or "40 carbs at noon" and it's done โข AI pattern analysis that connects your glucose to meals, insulin, and exercise โข Ask Claude anything about your data โ "why was I high after Sunday's workout?" โข An AI goal coach that actually knows your A1C, Time in Range, and progress โข Deep analysis over 7, 30, and 90 days, not just today โข One-tap PDF reports your endocrinologist can actually use โข Custom app themes, including Night Mode Doesn't matter if you're on a CGM or still doing fingersticks, Type 1 or Type 2, pump or MDI โ Betes Buddy works for you either way. Betes Buddy Pro is $5.99/month or $49.99/year, with a 7-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Betes Buddy is a personal tracking tool, not medical advice. Talk to your healthcare provider before making treatment decisions.
Beta Cell Lab Notes
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Ever finish a run wondering why your blood sugar dropped like a stone one day and climbed the next โ same route, same breakfast, same dose? Beta Cell Lab Notes is the organized home where you log, chart, reflect, and finally understand what exercise does to your glucose. It doesn't guess for you. It shows what happened, so you can work it out yourself. EVERY VARIABLE, ONE TIMELINE Your workout already lives in Apple Health. Your glucose and heart rate are in there too. What's missing is everything you did around it. Log your food, insulin boluses, and basal changes, and the app lays them over your glucose trace and heart rate on one synchronized timeline. The pre-run snack, the dose two hours earlier, the temp basal at the trailhead, the moment your heart rate climbed โ all beside what your blood sugar was doing right then. Now you can see the effect your food, insulin, and workout intensity actually had on you. SEE THE INPUTS, NOT JUST THE OUTPUT Each factor draws as its own curve, so you can tell them apart at a glance: โข Insulin โ dips as the dose takes hold, tapers as it wears off. Inhaled gets its own faster shape. โข Carbs โ a bell that rises and falls with digestion, running longer for higher-fat meals. โข Basal โ eases into its new level, because a temp basal doesn't arrive all at once. โข Heart rate โ with your training zones, since intensity is a variable too. โข Insulin on board โ how much is still working at any moment. Scrub for exact values, pinch to zoom into the interesting few minutes, and switch between a combined view and one chart per factor. Every workout gets time in range, average and range, and an intensity read from your heart-rate zones. REFLECT WHILE IT'S FRESH The chart tells you what happened. Only you know how it felt. Tag each workout with a quick emoji โ good, fine, rough, or a low โ and note what you'd change while it's still fresh. Search your reflections later to find every session you described the same way, and they travel with the workout into anything you export. Patterns show up in your own words long before they show up in a number. LOG FROM YOUR WRIST The Apple Watch companion logs glucose, insulin, and food in a couple of taps, so you never miss a factor mid-run or at post-workout brunch. WORKS WITH YOUR SETUP โข No CGM? Enter readings by hand and they anchor your chart just the same. โข No sports watch? Add a workout manually with the details you know, and leave the rest blank. โข Pump doesn't share carbs or boluses? Enter them here and they're written to Apple Health for everything else to use. Supports MDI, inhaled insulin, and both manual and automated (AID) pumps โ including exercise-mode markers, so a shifted target shows up on the chart. SHARE IT WITH YOUR CARE TEAM Export any workout, or a batch of them, as a PDF or image โ built for a printed page and a real conversation: charts, your stats, and your reflection, with editable note fields to fill in together. Blank printable templates are included too if you want to log by hand. BUILT AROUND YOUR JUDGMENT This app tracks and shows you patterns. It does not tell you what to do. No dosing suggestions, no predictions, no nudges. Every insight belongs to you, and every decision stays between you and your care team โ reflecting the Beta Cell Foundation's view that informed self-knowledge is the most powerful tool a person with type 1 diabetes has. Beta Cell Lab Notes is an educational and record-keeping tool. It is not a medical device and must not be used to make treatment decisions. PRIVACY FIRST BY DESIGN Your health data stays in Apple Health and on your devices. It's never sent to us โ no account to create, no server holding your glucose history. Your logbook syncs across your own devices through private iCloud, visible only to you. FREE FOREVER The app is free with no in-app purchases or ads. Because your health should never be paywalled. From the Beta Cell Foundation.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Beta Cell Lab Notes at every 2 days against Betes Buddy's every 8 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Betes Buddy ships an update every 8 days, Beta Cell Lab Notes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Betes Buddy | Beta Cell Lab Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | Every 2 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.5 | 26.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cole Whitaker | Beta Cell Foundation |
In-app purchases
Betes Buddy
No in-app purchases
Beta Cell Lab Notes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Betes Buddy free?
Is Beta Cell Lab Notes free?
Do Betes Buddy or Beta Cell Lab Notes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Betes Buddy or Beta Cell Lab Notes?
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