Gutsy vs Bowelle: Simple IBS Diary or Trigger Finder?
Short answer: Bowelle is a fast, simple IBS diary: you log how you feel, food, water, stress and bowel movements, and charts help you spot patterns yourself. Gutsy does the pattern-finding for you, linking symptoms to earlier meals using your transit time and showing likely triggers with confidence levels. Choose Bowelle for simplicity, Gutsy for analysis.
| Feature | Gutsy | Bowelle |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI IBS trigger finder | Simple food and symptom diary with charts |
| Platforms | iPhone (iOS 18+) | iPhone and Android↗ |
| Price (US) | Free download. Premium: 7-day free trial, then $149.99/year or $19.99/month | Free download. Premium in-app purchases listed from $2.49 to $17.99 |
| Last app update | October 2026 | October 2026 |
| App Store rating | 5.0 (22 ratings) | 4.7 (2,248 ratings) |
| Food & symptom diary | Yes: meals, symptoms, stool, water, supplements, stress, mood | Yes: how you feel, food, water, stress, bowel movements, custom fields |
| Meal photo logging | Yes, with AI ingredient and FODMAP analysis | Not listed |
| Barcode scanning | Yes | Not listed |
| Stool / bowel tracking | Yes (Bristol types 1-7) | Yes (bowel movements) |
| Automatic trigger analysis | Yes: likely triggers with confidence levels | Charts and averages; you look for the patterns |
| Links symptoms to earlier meals using your transit time | Yes: learns your transit time, 48-hour symptom window | Not listed |
| FODMAP food guide | Yes: 100+ ingredients across all 5 FODMAP groups | Not listed |
| Guided FODMAP reintroduction | Yes: 3-day challenges with graduated portions | Not listed |
| Share or export for your doctor | Yes: doctor-ready PDF, plus CSV/JSON export | Yes: export by email |
| Apple Health | Yes | Yes: sleep, steps, water, weight |
| Human dietitian support | No (AI chat assistant) | Not listed |
| Gut-brain (hypnotherapy) program | No | Not listed |
From each app's own App Store or Google Play listing (column headers link to them), checked November 1, 2026. "Not listed" means the maker's listing doesn't mention it, not that the app can't do it. Prices are US prices and can change.
Gutsy is our app, so read this with that in mind. The facts in the table come from each app's own store listing, linked in the sources.
What is the difference between Gutsy and Bowelle?
Bowelle aims to be the quickest, easiest food and symptom diary. It records how you feel, what you eat, water, stress, bowel movements, notes and custom fields, then shows charts and daily averages over 7, 14 or 30 days. You can export your data by email for your doctor or dietitian, and it syncs sleep, steps, water and weight with Apple Health.
Gutsy adds automatic analysis on top of logging. Meals can be logged by photo or barcode with FODMAP classification, and Gutsy links each symptom back to the meal most likely behind it within a 48-hour window. It shows likely trigger foods with confidence levels, guides FODMAP reintroduction and creates doctor-ready PDF reports.
Do I need automatic analysis?
If you enjoy reviewing your own charts and your symptoms usually follow soon after eating, a simple diary like Bowelle may be all you need. If symptoms seem random or delayed, automatic analysis helps, because it is hard to match a flare to a meal eaten the day before by eye.
When is Bowelle the better choice?
- You want the simplest possible diary.
- You are on Android (Gutsy is iPhone only).
- You prefer to interpret your own data.
When is Gutsy the better choice?
- You want likely triggers identified for you.
- You want FODMAP guidance and reintroduction in the same app.
- You want a structured report for your doctor.
FAQ
Is Bowelle free?
Bowelle is free to download, and its App Store listing shows Premium in-app purchases from $2.49 to $17.99. Gutsy is also free to download, with a Premium subscription at $149.99 a year or $19.99 a month after a 7-day free trial.
Does Bowelle find my triggers?
Bowelle helps you discover patterns through charts and averages, and you interpret them. It does not list automatic trigger detection. Gutsy analyzes your logs and surfaces likely triggers with confidence levels.
Do both apps work with Apple Health?
Yes. Bowelle syncs sleep, steps, water and weight. Gutsy syncs heart rate, HRV, sleep, exercise and steps and correlates them with your gut symptoms.