Comparison
Postdrome vs Migraine Buddy
Migraine Buddy is the most established migraine tracker there is, and for episodic migraine it earns that place. Postdrome is built for a different patient: the one whose migraine doesn't start and stop. This is an honest, structural comparison, not a teardown.
Choose Postdrome if
Your migraine is chronic or runs continuous, the postdrome phase is your real disability, or your attacks are vestibular with little or no headache. You want your health data in your own iCloud and a one-time price.
Choose Migraine Buddy if
Your migraine is episodic with clean start-and-stop attacks, you are on Android, or you want the largest community and the longest track record in the category. You are comfortable with a subscription and cloud storage.
| Postdrome | Migraine Buddy | |
|---|---|---|
| Data model | Continuous-symptom timeline | Discrete attack (start and end time) |
| Postdrome phase | First-class recovery tail, intensity over time | Selectable stage, logged as a discrete record |
| Vestibular / headache-free | Yes, an independent symptom dimension | No dedicated support found |
| Chronic fit | Built for it | Weak for prolonged or continuous symptoms |
| Platforms | iOS (Apple Watch with Pro) | iOS and Android |
| Doctor report | Free, tamper-evident, neurology-ready PDF | Yes, diary and impact reports |
| Pricing | $14.99 one-time, free core | Freemium, MBplus subscription, no lifetime |
| Where data lives | Your iCloud | Third-party cloud; research opt-in by default |
| Maturity | New, small community | Market leader, millions of users |
The real difference is the data model
Almost everything else follows from one decision each app made early. Migraine Buddy models a migraine as a discrete attack: you start a record, you stop it, you get a duration. That is a clean, well-understood model, and for episodic migraine it works. It is also why Migraine Buddy is the most popular tracker in the category, with solid doctor reports and a community in the millions.
Postdrome models a migraine as a continuous-symptom timeline: headache pain, vestibular symptoms, residual photophobia, brain fog, neck stiffness, and mood log as independent intensity dimensions across rolling time. There is no required end time. This sounds like a small schema choice. For the chronic and vestibular cohort it is the whole game, because their disease does not arrive as a series of tidy events.
A discrete-attack tool asks when your migraine ended. For a lot of people, that is the one question they cannot answer.
Postdrome handling, told straight
Here is a claim you will see elsewhere that is simply false: that Migraine Buddy ignores the postdrome phase. It does not. Migraine Buddy lets you select a Postdrome (migraine hangover) stage when you record. So if your only requirement is to flag that a postdrome happened, both apps can do it.
The difference is what the flag is. In Migraine Buddy the postdrome is a discrete record sitting next to the attack record. In Postdrome the postdrome is a recovery tail attached to the attack itself, with intensity that you watch change over the 24 to 72 hours that follow. If the after-phase is the part of your migraine that costs you the most, that is the difference between noting it happened and actually seeing its shape.
Vestibular and chronic patterns
Vestibular migraine often brings dizziness and vertigo with little or no headache. A tracker that organizes everything around a headache will quietly drop those attacks. We found no dedicated vestibular support in Migraine Buddy beyond logging dizziness as a generic symptom. Postdrome treats vestibular symptoms as a first-class dimension you can log with no headache present.
The chronic pattern is the same story from a different angle. When you have 15 or more headache days a month, or one attack that never fully resolves, Migraine Buddy's discrete model strains; reviewers note it is not well suited to prolonged attacks and offers no intensity-over-time view. Postdrome was built around that exact pattern.
Privacy, pricing, and what you own
Migraine Buddy stores your data on controlled cloud servers and some third-party servers such as AWS, and it enrolls users in research-data collection by default, with an opt-out. That research program is legitimate and has produced published work, but it is worth knowing it is on unless you turn it off. Postdrome keeps health data in your own iCloud and runs no research-data program.
On price, Migraine Buddy is freemium with the MBplus subscription gating forecasts, advanced reports, and predictions, and there is no lifetime option. Postdrome keeps pattern insights and the neurology-ready PDF export free, and charges a single $14.99 for the Pro features. Neither model is automatically better; a subscription funds continuous development, a one-time price respects people who are tired of recurring charges. Pick the one you would rather live with.
Where Migraine Buddy wins
- Most mature app in the category, with a long track record
- iOS and Android, so it works if you switch phones
- The largest community and forum
- Polished doctor reports and weather forecasting
- A fine fit for episodic, start-and-stop migraine
Where Postdrome wins
- Continuous-symptom model for migraine that does not stop
- The postdrome phase as a recovery tail, not a checkbox
- Headache-free vestibular attacks as first-class data
- Health data in your own iCloud, no research program
- Free insights and PDF, one-time price for the rest
If your migraine doesn't start and stop, try the tracker built for that.
Postdrome models the continuous pattern, the postdrome phase, and vestibular attacks as first-class data. Free pattern insights, a free neurology-ready PDF, one lifetime price, and your health data stays in your iCloud.
Get PostdromeCommon questions
Is Postdrome a Migraine Buddy alternative?
Does Migraine Buddy track postdrome?
Is Migraine Buddy free?
Which is better for chronic migraine?
Where does Migraine Buddy store my data?
Comparing other options? See the full best migraine trackers for chronic and vestibular migraine scorecard.