The best food diary app for IBS is the one you'll keep up that records what clinicians ask for: what you ate, when symptoms came and how strong they were, and your bowel movements. The apps below all do that, and they differ in how you log, what you can bring to your doctor, what they cost, and where your data lives.
We make Kasane, so weigh our take accordingly. Everything about the other apps comes from their own sites and US App Store listings, checked on October 23, 2026, and each fact links to where we found it. What follows describes the version on the App Store on October 28, 2026.
What a food diary for IBS should record
Clinicians ask for the same few things. NIDDK describes a diary of "the foods and drinks you consume and when your gas symptoms occur" (NIDDK), and the diary Monash University uses for its low-FODMAP program adds symptom type, severity, bowel habit, and stress (Monash). Times matter, because food intolerance symptoms usually come "a few hours after eating" (NHS), and the UK's NICE guideline suggests the Bristol Stool Form Scale for describing stool form (NICE).
Whatever you use, the diary becomes useful when you test one change at a time against it. The British Dietetic Association says to "make one change at a time so that you can see what has helped" (BDA). Our guide to keeping a food diary for IBS covers the method.
At a glance
| App | How you log | For your doctor | Your data | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasane | Type or say it like a text; filed at its time, in your words | Each care team member's "For the next visit" list | Your own iCloud; no Kasane server | Free for a week, then $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year |
| mySymptoms | Food database and barcode scanning, symptom intensity and duration, Bristol scale | PDF or CSV export, and a clinician web app | Anonymous username by default | $9.99 a month to $59.99 a year |
| Bowelle | One screen for food, water, stress, feelings, and bowel movements, with meal photos | PDF or CSV by email, print, or AirDrop | No account; kept on your device | "Bowelle Premium" in-app purchases |
| Tract | Meals by photo, voice, Siri, text, or barcode; Bristol scale and stool photos | Data export in reports | Account; stored in the US | Free tracking; Premium $14.99 a month or $49.99 a year |
| Bearable | A few taps: custom symptoms and factors with severity | Data export, or screenshots of reports | Account; encrypted | Free core; Premium $34.99 |
| Paper | One line per entry, by hand | Bring the pages | Yours | Free |
The apps
Kasane
A health journal for your family, on iPhone. You write the day the way you'd text it, "sushi at 12:30, bloated by 2:30", and Kasane files each part at its time, in your words, on a page for each day. Name a question, like "What's making me bloated after lunch?", and the coach reads your days back with counts and dates and suggests one change to test for one to four weeks, with a look-back at the end. A child or a parent you care for gets a journal of their own. Records sync through your own iCloud, with no Kasane server in the path. Kasane Family starts with a free week, then costs $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year and covers up to five more people in your Apple Family Sharing group: download Kasane. Here's what the pattern looks like for a fictional Priya:
Where it shines: writing it down in sentences, and getting from a question to one change you can test.
mySymptoms
Built for gut symptoms, with food database search and barcode scanning, symptom intensity and duration, the Bristol scale, and correlation analysis (App Store). It exports PDF or CSV, and clinicians can use a web app called mySymptoms Clinic (mySymptoms). Accounts start with an anonymous username, and name and email are needed only to share with a clinician (App Store). It costs $9.99 a month, $39.99 for 6 months or $59.99 a year, after a 7-day free trial, and runs on iPhone, iPad, and Android, with 4.6 stars from 4.1K ratings.
Where it shines: an IBS-first diary with a clinician-side web app.
Bowelle
Bowelle puts feelings, food, water, stress, bowel movements, and notes on a single screen, with custom fields and meal photos, and reads sleep, steps, water, and weight from Apple Health (Bowelle, App Store). It "does not require you to register", and entries are kept on your device and in your phone's own backup, "never on Bowelle's servers" (Bowelle). Reports go out as PDF or CSV. It runs on iPhone and Android (Bowelle), with 4.7 stars from 2.2K ratings.
Where it shines: a fast diary with no account and your data on your phone.
Tract
Tract logs meals by photo, voice, Siri, text, or barcode, with the Bristol scale and stool photos (App Store, Tract). Tracking is free; Premium is $14.99 a month or $49.99 a year and adds guided food tests, which test one food at a time across programs including low-FODMAP, an AI coach, and weekly reports (Tract, Tract). It needs an account, stores data in the US, and sends health logs to outside AI providers when you allow AI personalization (Tract). It runs on iPhone and iPad, with 4.6 stars from 52 ratings. Tract also offers a free printable 7-day diary with "No email or signup" (Tract).
Where it shines: structured food tests, one food at a time, with recipes reviewed by named dietitians.
Bearable
Bearable covers more than gut symptoms, which suits people tracking more than one condition. You log with "a few taps each day", with custom symptoms and factors (Bearable). The free version includes unlimited symptom tracking and CSV export; Premium, $34.99 with a 7-day free trial, adds correlation reports and unlimited experiments (Bearable). It runs on iPhone and Android, with 4.8 stars from 6.5K ratings (App Store).
Where it shines: gut, mood, pain, and sleep in one tracker, with the most ratings of the apps here. See Kasane vs Bearable.
Paper
A paper diary works anywhere and needs nothing installed. Ours is the printable food and symptom journal, one page a day with a two-week try sheet, and IFFGD publishes a free printable daily diary too (IFFGD).
Where it shines: you can start today, and hand the pages straight to your doctor.
Before you change what you eat
Low-FODMAP should be "supervised by a trained dietitian", according to the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG 2021). And if there's any chance of celiac disease, get tested before you cut gluten: NICE advises gluten in more than one meal every day for at least 6 weeks before testing (NICE NG20).
When to see a doctor
See a doctor before relying on any diary if gut symptoms come with blood in your stool or black, tarry stools, weight loss you can't explain, or anemia (NIDDK), new symptoms later in life (ACG), or diarrhea that wakes you at night (BSG 2021). For what to bring, see how to prepare for a gastroenterologist appointment.
Questions people ask
Is there a free food diary app for IBS?
Tract's tracking is free, with Premium for food tests (Tract), and Bearable's free version includes unlimited symptom tracking (Bearable). A printable diary is free too: ours or IFFGD's.
Which IBS app works without an account?
Bowelle "does not require you to register" and keeps entries on your device (Bowelle). Kasane keeps records in your own iCloud, with no Kasane server in the path.
Can a food diary app find my trigger foods?
A diary shows timing and patterns. The finding comes from testing one change at a time against it, ideally with a dietitian, and a pattern is something to discuss with your doctor. Here's how to tell if a change is working.
Sources and dates
Every detail about another app was checked on October 23, 2026, on its own site and its US App Store listing, linked next to each fact. Prices and features change, so check their pages for the latest. Kasane's details describe the version on the App Store on October 28, 2026.