Honest comparison
Kounts Dose vs subscription trackers
Most medication apps now charge by the month. Here is what each one asks for, dated, and where paying monthly genuinely buys you something.
Free with one medicine · $9.99 one-time unlock · No account
A medication tracker used to be a one-off download. In 2026 most of the category charges monthly or yearly, or funds itself with ads, and people who take four or five medicines every day feel it most. This page puts the pricing models side by side as they stood on 19 September 2026, taken from each App Store listing and the vendors' own terms rather than from other comparison sites. It names what the paid tiers include, not what's wrong with anyone. Kounts Dose is our app. It costs $9.99 once, has no account, keeps your data on your iPhone, and never charges for the alarm that rings through Silent. Some of the apps below do things Dose doesn't, and the table says so.
The short answer
If what you need is reminders, one-tap logging and a warning before you run out, you don't need a subscription: Kounts Dose does that for one $9.99 purchase. If you need drug-interaction checks, caregivers logging for each other across phones, or a full health journal, a subscription app is buying you real infrastructure, and one of the others will suit you better.
The alternatives at a glance
Competitor details checked 19 September 2026. Pricing and features change — please confirm on the App Store before deciding.
| Option | What it's good at | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|
| Kounts Dose | Everything for $9.99 once: unlimited medicines and people, the full scheduler, logging from widgets, iCloud sync, a printable medication list and appointment pack, export. Free with one medicine. No account. Critical alarms free for everyone. | An optional $1.99/month plan exists for people who prefer it; nothing requires it. No interaction checks, and no sharing between phones. |
| Medisafe | The biggest app in the category. Drug-interaction warnings and Health Records import in the US, and family sharing through Medfriends. | Premium is listed at $4.99/month or $39.99/year. Its terms say that from 1 January 2026, continued access in certain countries outside the US requires a paid subscription. US users have reported a two-medicine free limit since late 2024. |
| EveryDose | Free core app, with time-sensitive notifications that come through Focus, a PDF medication list and a spreadsheet history export. | EveryDose Plus is $9.99/month or $59.99/year in the listing's in-app purchases. Extra profiles, the health journal, refill reminders and themes are Plus features. |
| MyTherapy | Free, with a symptom diary, health measurements and reports for your doctor. | Contains advertising. Ad-free is a subscription, or a $49.99 lifetime upgrade. iPhone and iPad only, with no Apple Watch app. |
| CareClinic | A broad health journal with an Apple Watch app and widgets. | Sold as a range of in-app passes, from $1.99 up to a $139.99 lifetime upgrade. |
| Apple Health Medications | Free and built in. Log from Apple Watch. Critical Alerts on follow-up reminders. | No supply tracking. Exports a PDF of your current list, not your history. |
Where each app is stronger
Where Kounts Dose is stronger
Pay once, and that's the whole transaction
$9.99 unlocks Dose Plus permanently. A year of Medisafe Premium at $39.99 costs four times as much, and a year of EveryDose Plus at $59.99 six times as much, and both renew. There's a $1.99 monthly option for people who'd rather pay that way, but none of your medicines, schedules or history depends on it.
Critical alarms are free, always
The alarm that rings through Silent mode and Focus is part of the free tier, because it's a safety feature. Whatever you pay or don't pay, a dose you mustn't miss can still wake you.
No account, so no data behind a paywall
Dose has no sign-up and no server. Your medicines and history stay on your own devices, and optional sync uses only your private iCloud. When a paid tier lapses, nothing is deleted: medicines past the free limit keep their schedules and history and simply stop taking new logs until you unlock them again.
Where Subscription trackers is the better choice
Clinical features cost real money to run
Interaction databases, US Health Records import and caregivers watching each other's doses across accounts all need servers and ongoing licensing. A subscription pays for that honestly. Dose has none of it and doesn't pretend otherwise.
Free with ads is still free
If you track several medicines and can't spend $9.99, MyTherapy's free tier covers far more than Dose's one-medicine free tier, as long as you're fine with ads. Apple Health costs nothing and is already on your phone.
A journal, not just a tracker
MyTherapy and CareClinic track symptoms, measurements and moods alongside medicines. Dose tracks medicines only, on purpose. If one app for everything is what you're after, one of them is the better pick.
What Kounts Dose looks like
Questions people actually ask
Is there a good medication reminder app without a subscription?
Yes. Kounts Dose is a one-time $9.99 purchase for the full app, and free with one medicine. Apple Health's Medications feature is free and built in. MyTherapy is free with ads. Every price on this page was checked on the App Store on 19 September 2026.
Did Medisafe become subscription-only in 2026?
Partly. Medisafe's terms, last updated on 1 December 2025, say that from 1 January 2026, continued access in certain countries outside the United States requires an active paid subscription. The terms don't list the countries. In the US a free tier remains, and US users have reported a two-medicine limit on it since late 2024. Premium is listed at $4.99/month or $39.99/year.
Why does Kounts Dose also have a monthly plan?
Some people prefer a small recurring payment to a single one. The $1.99/month plan unlocks exactly what the $9.99 one-time purchase does, and nothing is only available monthly. Most people should just buy it once.
What happens to my data if I stop paying?
Nothing is deleted. Your first medicine keeps working on the free tier. Any others keep their schedules and history but won't accept new logs until you unlock Dose Plus again. There's no account to close and no server copy to lose.
Is Kounts Dose medical advice?
No. It's a personal organiser. It never recommends doses or checks interactions. Always follow your doctor or pharmacist.
Try the calm one.
Free with one medicine, no account, and nothing leaves your own devices. If it isn't for you, you've lost nothing.
See also: Switching from another app · What $9.99 once gets you · Dose vs Medisafe in detail