Poopaya vs Bowelle: which gut-tracking app should you get? (2026)
By Mike, Poopaya Founder · September 9, 2026
Short version: if constipation is the actual problem, get Poopaya. If you want a general IBS diary that logs food, stress, and water alongside your movements, get Bowelle. I built Poopaya, so you already know my priorities and where my incentives sit. The comparison below uses this same criteria and was checked against both App Store listings on September 9, 2026.
Written by Mike, Poopaya’s founder. I’ve lived with constipation for 13 years and built an app to finally get on top of it (here’s that story). This article is educational, not medical advice.
The core difference
Bowelle is a Swedish IBS diary: you log food, stress, water intake, and bowel movements together, then read your own patterns off overlap charts and daily averages. It’s diary-first: it hands you the data and leaves the interpretation to you. Poopaya is constipation-specific and does more of the interpreting itself: no-go-day logging, medication context, and personalized indicators once you’re on Gold.
Neither approach is wrong. It depends on whether you want a diary or a focused constipation log.
Choose Poopaya if…
You’re dealing with constipation specifically, possibly medication-caused (GLP-1 drugs are the case I hear about most right now, see GLP-1 constipation). You want to log the days nothing happens, not just the days something does. You want medications tracked next to movements, so a pattern between a new prescription and a bad week is visible instead of guessed at. And you want the free tier to actually be useful: full CSV export is free, no paywall.
Choose Bowelle if…
You want a general IBS diary that also logs food, stress, and water intake, not just bowel movements. You want your diary to pull in Apple Health data like weight, sleep, and steps automatically. You’d rather email a summary straight to your doctor than export a CSV yourself. And constipation isn’t necessarily your specific issue. You want a broader day-to-day gut diary.
The main cons of each
Poopaya is the newer app here: a 4.8 rating from a small handful of reviews, not the roughly 2,200 Bowelle has behind its 4.7. It doesn’t log food, stress, or water intake, and it has no Apple Health integration.
Bowelle isn’t built for constipation specifically, and we didn’t find any dedicated medication tracking in its feature set, which matters if a prescription is driving your symptoms. Its premium pricing is also the least transparent of any app in this comparison: the App Store lists purchase options anywhere from $2.49 to $17.99, so what you actually pay depends on the tier presented at signup. Check it before you subscribe.
Side-by-side
All data verified on the US App Store, September 9, 2026.
| Poopaya | Bowelle | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Constipation specifically | General IBS diary |
| Free tier | Full logging + CSV export | Basic diary logging |
| Paid tier | Gold: $3.99/mo, $29.99/yr, $59.99 lifetime | Premium, $2.49–$17.99 (tier varies) |
| Medication tracking | Yes, alongside movements | Not found |
| No-go day logging | Yes, built around it | Not the focus |
| Apple Health integration | No | Yes (weight, sleep, steps) |
| Rating | 4.8 (new, few ratings) | 4.7 (~2,200 ratings) |
| Last updated | Sep 2026 | Aug 2026 (v1.26.1) |
When to see a doctor
Neither app diagnoses or treats anything. They’re both logs. Talk to a healthcare professional if you notice blood in your stool or black, tarry stools; constipation that persists despite sensible changes; severe abdominal pain; or unexplained weight loss. Bring your log, whichever app it’s from. It makes that conversation more useful.
Frequently asked questions
Is Poopaya or Bowelle better for constipation? Poopaya. It’s built specifically around constipation: logging the days nothing happens, medication context, and a free tier that includes CSV export. Bowelle is a general IBS diary that logs food, stress, water, and movements together; it isn’t built around constipation specifically.
Which is cheaper, Poopaya or Bowelle? Hard to say precisely for Bowelle. Poopaya Gold is a flat $3.99/month or $29.99/year. Bowelle’s premium tier is listed anywhere from $2.49 to $17.99 depending on the option shown at checkout, so check the exact price on your device before subscribing.
Does Bowelle track medications? Not that we found. Bowelle’s diary centers on food, stress, water intake, and bowel movements, plus Apple Health data like weight, sleep, and steps. Poopaya tracks medications alongside movements, which matters if a prescription (GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic or Mounjaro are the common case right now) is the reason you started tracking.
Which app integrates with Apple Health? Bowelle does, pulling in weight, sleep, and step data alongside your diary. Poopaya doesn’t integrate with Apple Health. It stores everything locally on your device instead.
If constipation is what brought you here, that’s exactly what I built Poopaya for. Download Poopaya on the App Store — free to track, free to export, and built by someone who’s been there for 13 years.