Aidy vs IBD Aide: Two Free Crohn's Trackers Compared

The IBD Aide listing presents a free Crohn's tracker, while Aidy provides broader treatment support. IBD Aide's listing claims private IBD app and HBI tracker app features, and this review identifies the strongest IBD Aide alternative.

Quick answer: Choose Aidy as the primary Crohn's tracker for its connected symptoms, stool, meals, adherence, guided biologic workflow, modified HBI trend, education, and clinician reports, all free. IBD Aide is the genuine exception for someone who prioritizes on-device storage, no account, and the broad local record its listing claims.

Decision factor	Aidy	IBD Aide (public claims)
Best for	Guided Crohn's management	Local private record
Daily IBD record	Symptoms, stool, meals, medicines	Broad on-device logging
Treatment tools	Adherence and biologic workflows	Treatment entries on device
Reports and insights	Modified HBI trends and reports	Activity scores and exports
Access and cost	Free; iPhone or text	Free iPhone app
Overall pick	Primary Crohn's tracker	Local-storage exception

Aidy is included in the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation's Helpful Apps and Digital Health Services directory. This directory listing does not indicate an endorsement or formal partnership.

IBD Aide launches with an ambitious free toolkit

This IBD Aide review starts with an important date: its US App Store history begins on August 13, 2026, and the listing currently shows version 1.0 with no ratings. That makes long-term reliability difficult to judge, although its claimed opening feature set is extensive. The developer says users can record Bristol stool type, pain, urgency, fatigue, weight, sleep, mood, food, medications, biologics, laboratory results, visits, infusions, colonoscopy preparation, quality of life, and questions for a clinician. It also claims modified Harvey-Bradshaw Index and Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index trends, PDF reports, restroom finding, flare mode, refill reminders, and recurring schedules.

The App Store labels IBD Aide free, and its description says there are no subscriptions, advertisements, or in-app purchases. The description also advertises barcode scanning and on-device photo analysis that estimates dish ingredients. The listing says its iOS 17 requirement narrows compatibility, however, and its zero-rating launch gives prospective users little independent evidence about stability, accessibility, or support over time.

Aidy has the stronger biologic and daily workflow

IBD Aide's listing describes HBI tracking, yet Aidy develops more of the treatment story around that score. Aidy supports biologic induction and maintenance schedules, route and interval changes, dose countdowns, injection-site rotation, adherence records, and check-ins after injections or infusions. Those events sit beside stool entries, meals, common and custom symptoms, and modified HBI trends. Aidy can then turn the connected record into reports intended for GI visits.

IBD Aide's listing says it records biologics, infusions, symptoms, laboratory results, and appointments, which is a meaningful strength. Its public materials do not describe induction-phase guidance, injection-site rotation, route-change workflows, or post-dose check-ins at the same level of detail. Aidy also has a longer public version history, more App Store feedback, compatibility back to iOS 15.1, and text-message access. For a person organizing a biologic cycle and watching what happens between doses, Aidy supplies the more developed sequence, while IBD Aide presents the components as adjacent logs.

Food patterns and HBI scores need clinical context

Food capture can make both apps useful, but a scanner result should be treated as a diary entry, never a treatment rule. NIDDK says researchers have not found that specific foods cause Crohn’s symptoms, while a food diary may help someone identify foods associated with their own symptoms (NIDDK). An American Gastroenterological Association update similarly concludes that no diet has consistently been shown to reduce adult IBD flares and recommends tailoring advice, ideally with access to a dietitian (PubMed). IBD Aide itself warns that photo-based ingredient estimates may be incomplete or incorrect.

HBI trends also require restraint. The score remains prominent in practice, though research describes limitations when it is estimated from patient-reported outcomes (PubMed). AGA guidance recommends combining symptoms with biomarkers in several Crohn’s monitoring situations (AGA). Diagnosis and assessment can involve blood tests, stool tests, endoscopy, and imaging (NIDDK). Either app can organize observations for care; neither can determine whether inflammation is controlled.

Privacy is IBD Aide’s clearest advantage

IBD Aide’s privacy policy says health records stay encrypted on the device, with no account, cloud database, analytics, advertising, sale, or developer access. The policy says optional encrypted exports can be backed up and biometric or passcode controls can protect access. It states that barcode searches use Open Food Facts, news retrieval makes standard internet requests, and restroom search uses Apple Maps and location.

Aidy encrypts data, does not sell it, and offers a free service with no paid patient subscriptions. IBD Aide’s storefront currently shows no purchases.

Remote tools can improve some IBD outcomes, but the evidence remains mixed and implementation varies (Cochrane). Treatment decisions still belong with a clinician and may involve medicines, nutrition support, or surgery (NIDDK). For strict local storage, IBD Aide has a legitimate edge. For most people seeking an IBD Aide alternative with a more mature, guided Crohn’s workflow, Aidy wins because biologic timing, post-dose experience, daily symptoms, food, stool, adherence, education, and GI reporting stay connected.