clairop

Clairop vs Aidy: Which Crohn's and UC App?

Aidy is a free Crohn's and colitis companion with biologic reminders and AI chat. Clairop adds delayed-trigger statistics, FODMAP scanning and PRO-2.

Clairop TeamFacts checked

Photo: Jason Briscoe / Unsplash

The short answer

Aidy and Clairop are both iPhone trackers that calculate a Crohn's or colitis activity score and make a report for your GI. Aidy is free, built around biologic schedules and an AI chat, and works by text message in the US. Clairop needs a subscription, and in return documents its trigger method: three delay windows, effect sizes and false-discovery correction, plus FODMAP scanning.

Choose Clairop if

  • You want to know which foods line up with your symptoms, with a published method, delay windows up to three days and protection against false triggers.
  • You also have IBS-type symptoms or follow low FODMAP and want barcode scans broken down by FODMAP subgroup.
  • You have ulcerative colitis and want the PRO-2 score, which is the patient-reported measure used in many recent UC trials.

Choose Aidy if

  • You want a free app with no subscription.
  • You are on a biologic and want dose schedules, reminders and injection-site rotation.
  • You use Android in the US and are happy to log by text message, or you want an AI chat that answers questions from your logs.

Clairop vs Aidy at a glance

Clairop compared with Aidy, feature by feature
FeatureClairopAidy
PlatformsiPhone (iOS) onlyiPhone; also usable by text message on any US phone
PriceFree to download and set up; a Clairop Pro subscription is needed to use it. Price shown on the App Store.Free, with no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by health plans, employers and researchers
Logging mealsTap, voice, typed sentence or meal photoDescribe a meal or snap a photo (AI-assisted)
Barcode scanningYes, with FODMAP load by all six subgroupsNot documented
FODMAP dataValues from published food-composition papers, each cited; unknown ingredients shown as no data, never as lowEducational articles only; no FODMAP data feature documented
Stool log (Bristol scale)Yes, one tap, plus blood, mucus, urgency and night-timeYes, Bristol scale
Delayed trigger analysisThree windows: under 6 hours, 6 to 24 hours, 1 to 3 daysFood and symptom correlations over time; delay window not documented
Guards against false triggersYes: false discovery correction, effect sizes, and nothing shown before 5 meals with and 5 without a foodNot described publicly
Crohn's and colitis activity scoresHarvey-Bradshaw Index (Crohn's) and PRO-2 (ulcerative colitis)Modified Harvey-Bradshaw Index (Crohn's) and SCCAI (ulcerative colitis)
Doctor reportOne-page GI visit reportDoctor-ready report to send to your GI
Export your dataYes, and export or delete works without a subscriptionExport or delete; privacy policy says by email request
Published trial of the appNone. Methods and sources are published on the method pageNo trial of the app found; listed in the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation app directory

Aidy details come from its own website and store listings, checked on October 30, 2026; see the sources below. Apps change, so check the listing before you pay. Clairop is not affiliated with Aidy.

Two IBD trackers with different priorities

Aidy and Clairop are closer than most pairs in this category. Both are iPhone apps, both log stools on the Bristol scale, both calculate a disease activity score from what you record, and both produce a report for your gastroenterologist. The difference is what each one is built around. Aidy is built around treatment: biologic schedules, reminders and an AI chat, offered free. Clairop is built around triggers: a published method for working out which foods line up with your symptoms, including reactions days later.

Where Aidy is the better choice

It is free. Aidy has no subscription, in-app purchases or ads; it is funded by health plans, employers and researchers. Clairop is free to download but needs a subscription to use.

Biologic support. Aidy covers the common biologics and biosimilars with dose schedules, reminders, injection-site rotation and post-dose check-ins. If keeping track of infusions and injections is your main headache, that is a real advantage.

Text-message logging. Anyone with a US phone number can log by text, which makes Aidy usable on Android. Clairop is iPhone only.

An AI chat on your logs. Aidy's chat answers questions using your history. Clairop also has an assistant, which logs from a plain sentence and explains symptoms in general terms.

Clairop logs meals, symptoms and stool in seconds, then looks for the foods your gut reacts to, including reactions that land days later.

Download on the App Store

Where Clairop goes further

A documented trigger method. Aidy offers food and symptom correlations but does not publish how they are calculated. Clairop tests each food in three windows (under six hours, six to twenty-four hours, one to three days), compares symptom severity after meals with and without the food, reports the effect size, applies false discovery correction, and shows nothing until it has five meals of each. The full method is on the method page.

FODMAP scanning. Many people with IBD in remission still have IBS-type symptoms, and some use a low FODMAP approach with a dietitian. Clairop's barcode scan breaks a product's FODMAP load into all six subgroups, citing a published source for each value. Aidy documents no FODMAP data feature. See is low FODMAP good for Crohn's.

PRO-2 for colitis. Aidy uses the SCCAI (Walmsley 1998) for ulcerative colitis; Clairop uses PRO-2, the two-item stool frequency and rectal bleeding measure used in many recent UC trials. For Crohn's, Aidy uses a modified Harvey-Bradshaw Index and Clairop the Harvey-Bradshaw Index (Harvey 1980) with exam items left out and labelled.

Export in the app. Clairop lets you export or delete everything from inside the app, with or without a subscription. Aidy's privacy policy describes export by email request.

The honest bottom line

If you want a free app, are on a biologic, or need text-message logging, Aidy is an excellent choice. If your question is which foods affect you, or you want a trigger analysis you can explain to your gastroenterologist, Clairop is built for that. Neither replaces your IBD team, and bleeding, fever, severe pain or unexplained weight loss always need a doctor promptly.

Clairop logs meals, symptoms and stool in seconds, then looks for the foods your gut reacts to, including reactions that land days later.

Download on the App Store

Frequently asked questions

What is the best app for Crohn's disease?
Clairop is the best fit if you want to find food triggers: it tests each food against three delay windows up to three days, corrects for false triggers and calculates the Harvey-Bradshaw Index. Aidy is the best free option, with a modified Harvey-Bradshaw Index and biologic reminders. Both run on iPhone.
What is the best app for ulcerative colitis?
Clairop, if you want the PRO-2 score plus delayed-trigger analysis and a one-page GI report, on iPhone with a subscription. Aidy is a strong free alternative that calculates the SCCAI instead and adds biologic schedules and reminders. Either way, blood in the stool or a sudden change needs a doctor promptly.
Is Aidy really free?
Yes. Aidy says it has no subscription, no in-app purchases and no ads, and earns its money from health plans, employers and researchers. Its privacy policy describes analytics vendors and research invitations, so read it if you want to know how your data is used. Clairop is free to download but needs a subscription to use.
What is the difference between Clairop and Aidy?
Both track IBD on iPhone and calculate an activity score. Aidy focuses on treatment: biologic schedules, reminders, an AI chat and text-message logging. Clairop focuses on triggers: a published method with three delay windows, effect sizes and false discovery correction, plus FODMAP subgroup scanning and the PRO-2 score for colitis.
Does Aidy calculate the Harvey-Bradshaw Index?
Aidy calculates a modified Harvey-Bradshaw Index for Crohn's disease and the SCCAI for ulcerative colitis from your logs. Clairop calculates the Harvey-Bradshaw Index for Crohn's and the PRO-2 for colitis, leaving out the items that need a physical examination and saying so on the score.
What is the difference between SCCAI and PRO-2?
Both are patient-reported ulcerative colitis activity scores. The SCCAI combines several symptoms, such as daytime and night-time frequency, urgency, blood and general wellbeing. The PRO-2 uses just two items, stool frequency and rectal bleeding, and is the patient-reported outcome used in many recent UC trials. Aidy uses the SCCAI; Clairop uses PRO-2.
Can Aidy find my food triggers?
Aidy offers food and symptom correlations over time, but does not publish its delay window or statistical method. Clairop documents both: it tests each food in three windows (under 6 hours, 6 to 24 hours, 1 to 3 days), reports the effect size and corrects for the false triggers that appear when many foods are tested.
Is Aidy available on Android?
Not as an Android app that we could find, but anyone with a US phone number can use Aidy by text message, which works on Android. Clairop is iPhone only, so for Android users outside the US, FlareCare, Bowelle or mySymptoms are the options to compare.
Which app is better if I'm on a biologic like Humira, Stelara or Entyvio?
Aidy is built around biologics, with dose schedules, reminders, injection-site rotation and post-dose check-ins for most current biologics and biosimilars. Clairop logs medication and shows adherence on its GI report, but has no biologic-specific scheduling. Neither app advises on dosing; that stays with your IBD team.
Can I use Aidy and Clairop together?
You can, though logging twice is tiring. A practical split is Aidy for biologic reminders and Clairop for meals, stools and trigger analysis. If you only want one app, choose by your main question: staying on top of treatment favours Aidy, finding what you react to favours Clairop.
Do Crohn's and colitis apps replace seeing my gastroenterologist?
No. An app's activity score is calculated from what you report, without an examination, blood tests or a scope, so it can only show trends. Its value is helping you describe those trends at appointments. Red flags such as heavy bleeding, fever, severe pain or unexplained weight loss need a doctor promptly.
Which app has the better doctor report?
Both make a report for your GI. Clairop's is a single page with your score trend, bowel movements against your own baseline, days with blood, night-time episodes, medication adherence, labs and confirmed triggers, labelled as patient-entered data. Aidy describes a doctor-ready report you can send to your GI.

Sources

  1. Aidy, Inc. Aidy: Manage Crohn's and Colitis. Apple App Store listing (US). Accessed 30 October 2026. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aidy-manage-crohns-colitis/id6747647744
  2. Apple. iTunes Search API lookup for Aidy (version 1.0.18, updated 16 September 2026). Accessed 30 October 2026. https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=6747647744&country=us
  3. Aidy. Website and FAQ. Accessed 30 October 2026. https://aidyhq.com/
  4. Aidy. About. Accessed 30 October 2026. https://aidyhq.com/about
  5. Aidy. Privacy policy. Accessed 30 October 2026. https://aidyhq.com/privacy-policy
  6. Harvey RF, Bradshaw JM. A simple index of Crohn's-disease activity. Lancet. 1980;1(8167):514. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(80)92767-1
  7. Walmsley RS, Ayres RC, Pounder RE, Allan RN. A simple clinical colitis activity index. Gut. 1998;43(1):29-32. doi:10.1136/gut.43.1.29

Clairop is a general wellness app for people living with a diagnosed digestive condition. It does not replace professional medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. Always follow your healthcare provider's advice.

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