Guides

What's the best period tracker for birth control?

By the Plum team · Updated October 17, 2026
This page is general information, not medical advice. For questions about your own cycle or health, talk to a doctor, nurse, or other clinician who knows you.

A period tracker for birth control has two jobs. It should remind you on your method’s schedule, and it should stop pretending to predict ovulation when you’re on hormones. On iPhone we’d pick Plum, which we make. It covers seven methods, reminds you on pill, patch, ring and shot schedules at no cost, and hides the fertile window on hormonal methods. On Android, Spot On from Planned Parenthood Direct does the reminders. If you only want an alarm that keeps going until you take the pill, a reminder app like myPill is better at that one thing.

How we chose

We make Plum, and it’s on this list. There are no affiliate links. We read each company’s own page or App Store listing on October 17, 2026, and every claim about another app links to its source. Where a page didn’t say something, we say “not stated”.

Reminders matter more than anything else here. Planned Parenthood says the pill is 99% effective when it’s taken perfectly and about 93% in real life, because people forget or miss pills. So we asked three things. Does the app remind you on your method’s actual schedule? Does it change what it predicts once it knows your method? And can the reminder be discreet?

Plum, for reminders on any method’s schedule

Plum is an iPhone app. It asks about birth control during setup, and you can change it later from the Me tab. It knows the combined pill and the mini pill, the patch, the ring, the shot, the implant, and the hormonal and copper coils.

The reminders follow how each method is used. For the pill you pick a 21/7, 24/4 or continuous pack, and it reminds you every day at your time. The patch gets a weekly reminder on your change day. The ring follows three weeks in and one week out, or continuous use. For the shot you enter your next dose date, and Plum reminds you one, three or seven days before it so you can book it. An IUD or implant gets no reminder, because there’s nothing to do day to day.

If you travel, Plum notices the time zone change and offers to keep your reminder on its original schedule, so a pill doesn’t drift by hours. You can write your own reminder text too. When you do, the notification body changes to “This is the reminder you set in Plum.”, so nothing on your lock screen says birth control.

On a hormonal method, Plum hides ovulation and the fertile window by default and tells you why on screen. On a copper coil it changes nothing, because your cycle hasn’t changed. Reminders, logging and predictions come at no cost, and Plum has no ads. It has no snooze and no refill alert, and it doesn’t run on Android.

Spot On, for Android and a health educator to ask

Spot On is a free app from Planned Parenthood Direct, on iPhone and Android. Its page says it tracks the pill, patch, ring, shot, IUD and implant, sends daily reminders for the pill, weekly alerts for the patch, and ring notifications every 3 to 5 weeks depending on the brand. It can remind you about doctor’s appointments too. Its App Store listing mentions discreet reminders and a chat or text line to a health educator. The page says your data is saved to your device and cloud backup. It doesn’t say whether Spot On hides the fertile window when you log a hormonal method.

Clue, for logging your method alongside everything else

Clue runs on iPhone and Android. Its listing says you can log your method, including the pill, IUDs, ring and patch, track symptoms without regular bleeding, and set custom reminders. It doesn’t describe method-specific reminder schedules such as pill packs or patch change days. Clue has a free version and Clue Plus for more.

myPill and Birth Control Pill Reminder, for alarms that won’t quit

These are reminder apps first and period trackers second. myPill says it knows when you’re on a break, keeps reminding until you’ve taken the pill, supports pills, rings and patches, and can remind you to buy new packs. Some features need an upgrade. Birth Control Pill Reminder supports pills, rings and patches, with packs like 21/7, 24/4 and 84/7. It has refill alerts and a custom reminder message, and its auto-snooze repeats up to five times. Snooze and pre-alarms are in the paid full version. Neither one covers the shot.

Apple Cycle Tracking, if you only want it logged

Cycle Tracking in the iPhone Health app lets you add contraceptive use as a factor, with a start date. Apple’s page doesn’t describe a birth control reminder in Cycle Tracking. It does say Cycle Tracking shouldn’t be used as birth control. It’s built in and costs nothing.

Side by side

RemindersShotFertile window on hormonesRuns onCost
PlumPill packs, patch day, ring weeks1, 3 or 7 days beforeHidden by defaultiPhoneReminders at no cost
Spot OnPill daily, patch weekly, ring by brandTracked, reminder not statedNot statediPhone, AndroidFree
ClueCustom remindersNot statedNot statediPhone, AndroidFree version, Clue Plus
myPillPill, ring, patch, keeps remindingNoNot statediPhoneFree, upgrade for more
Birth Control Pill ReminderPill, ring, patch, refill alertsNoNot statediPhone, iPadFree, snooze is paid
Apple Cycle TrackingNot statedNot statedContraceptive logged as a factoriPhone, Apple WatchBuilt in

What to log on birth control

Prediction stops being the point on a combined method, because the monthly bleed is a withdrawal bleed. Log spotting and breakthrough bleeding, missed pills, and anything new, such as bleeding after sex or pain you haven’t had before. On the shot or implant, a few months of bleeding days shows whether things are settling. Our guide to tracking periods on birth control goes method by method, and if you’re coming off it, periods after stopping birth control covers how long your cycle takes to settle.

Sources

Common questions

What's the best period tracker for birth control?

One that knows your method and reminds you on its schedule. On iPhone we’d pick Plum, which we make. It covers seven methods, reminds you on a pill, patch, ring or shot schedule at no cost, and hides the fertile window on hormonal methods. Spot On from Planned Parenthood Direct is the pick for Android and for a health educator to text. If all you need is a loud alarm that won’t stop until you take the pill, use a reminder app such as myPill.

Is there a period app with a birth control reminder?

Yes. Plum and Spot On both send reminders that follow your method. Daily for the pill, weekly for the patch, and on the ring’s in-and-out schedule. Plum also reminds you one, three or seven days before your next shot. Clue lets you log your method and set custom reminders.

Should I track my period on birth control?

Yes, but for different reasons. On the combined pill, patch or ring, the monthly bleed is a withdrawal bleed, so there’s nothing to predict. What’s worth logging is spotting, missed pills, and anything new, such as bleeding after sex. That record helps if you switch methods or see a doctor.

Why does my period app still show a fertile window on the pill?

Because it doesn’t know you’re on it, or it ignores it. On a combined method you don’t ovulate, so a fertile window means nothing. Plum hides ovulation and the fertile window by default when you choose a hormonal method. Apple’s Cycle Tracking lets you log contraceptive use as a factor. Tell your app which method you use.

Can a period tracker be used as birth control?

Not a regular one. Plum, Spot On, Clue and Apple’s Cycle Tracking all predict from the dates you log, and Apple says outright that Cycle Tracking shouldn’t be used as birth control. Natural Cycles is the app cleared by the FDA as contraception, and it needs daily temperature data.

Can my birth control reminder be discreet?

In Plum, yes. If you write your own reminder text, the notification body changes to a neutral line that doesn’t mention birth control. Spot On says it sends discreet reminders. Most pill reminder apps, including Birth Control Pill Reminder, let you change the message.

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