Tempdrop vs. Natural Cycles: Which Is Best for You?
Published July 9, 2023.
There are many cycle tracking devices out there to choose from, making it challenging to know which one to invest in, and, more importantly, rely on to help you achieve your goals of trying to conceive and plan your pregnancy.
Practicing fertility awareness will help you know which days you're the most fertile. Your fertile window is usually a few days before or during ovulation and can be unpredictable. This study showed that 68.2% of women believed they had timed intercourse mainly within the fertile window of the menstrual cycle in their attempts at conception, but only 12.7% could accurately identify this window.
It's important you find the best fertility tracker to suit your needs to increase your chances of getting pregnant when you're ready. Take a look at these fertility trackers to decide which is best for you.
Tempdrop vs. Natural Cycles at a Glance
| Features | Tempdrop | Natural Cycles |
|---|---|---|
| FSA/HSA Eligible | Yes | Yes |
| User Experience | - Convenient - Easy-to-navigate app - BBT measured automatically | - Easy-to-navigate app - BBT measured orally |
| Main Features | - Tracks fertile and non-fertile days - Accurately measures BBT - Tracks sleep quality - Filters out daily temps - Learns unique cycle patterns for accurate results - Tracks PMS pain, sex drive, mood changes - Premium includes cervical mucus interpretation, temperature data interpretation, ovulation day indication, fertility window insights | - Tracks fertile and non-fertile days - Stores entered BBT data - Learns unique cycle patterns - Tracks PMS pain, sex drive, mood changes |
| Best for | Women who have irregular schedules and/or irregular sleep patterns; those who want to track their sleep quality | Women who prefer oral temperature tracking |
| Price | One-time purchase: $199* | Annual membership: $99.99* |
*Including Tempdrop's wearable sensor and two months free premium charting app. After that, the premium subscription is available at $4.49/mo or $35.99/year.
*Including NC BBT oral thermometer. The oral thermometer is $14.50 as a stand-alone product.
Tempdrop is an FDA-registered, wearable monitor and app that tracks your core body temperatures while you sleep via a comfortable and adjustable armband. Natural Cycles is an FDA-cleared app with an accompanying basal body oral thermometer that also uses your temperatures to help you track your cycles.
Temdrop and Natural Cycles are both FSA/HSA eligible. Tempdrop measures your basal body temperature while you sleep and tracks your sleep quality, while with the Natural Cycles app, you have to measure your BBT orally and enter data in the app.
» Here's how to have Tempdrop covered by HSA or FSA
Tempdrop Fertility Tracker
What is Tempdrop?
Tempdrop is a smart wearable thermometer and charting app combo that helps you easily and conveniently track and monitor your fertility window. The sensor is worn on the upper arm during sleep to accurately measure your basal body temperature (BBT). It also enables you to track additional fertility data to help you identify your fertile window, in real time.
The Tempdrop Fertility Tracker uses AI technology and a patented algorithm to learn your temperature patterns on a nightly and monthly basis by measuring your basal body temperature (BBT) while you sleep. It syncs this data to your phone to help you track your fertility each day and each cycle. You have the option to choose from three paths:
- Get Pregnant
- Practice Fertility Awareness
- Know My Body
In addition to these three paths, there's also the added feature of selecting Irregular Cycles or Pregnancy Mode.
Wearable fertility monitors help you confirm when ovulation has occurred by identifying the temperature spike that's a result of an egg being released and your body secreting the hormone progesterone.
Tempdrop makes ovulation tracking easy with digital cycle charting and is ideal for people who have an irregular schedule and/or irregular sleep patterns.
"As a mother of young children who often wake me up at night, I have found Tempdrop to be the perfect solution for tracking my cycles. The traditional BBT thermometers are just not feasible, and I rely heavily on Tempdrop's ease and convenience."
In terms of the added app features, it doesn't get better than the Tempdrop Academy and the built-in community feature.
Pros
- Ease of use and comfort
- Tracks irregular periods and sleep cycles
- Works while you sleep
- Sensor syncs with the app
- Accurately identifies the fertile window
- Filters out disturbances based on your unique nightly and monthly temperature patterns
Cons
- You have to remember to turn it on
Natural Cycles App
What is Natural Cycles?
Natural Cycles is an app that uses an algorithm to track your fertility based on body temperature. You can track your fertility status by measuring your temperature, entering it into the app, and letting the algorithm handle the rest.
Natural Cycles is an FDA-approved app + oral BBT thermometer that analyses your basal temperature readings and your menstrual cycle information to let you know when you're fertile or less likely to be fertile. There are three plans to choose from:
- Birth Control
- Plan Pregnancy
- Follow Pregnancy
You need to download the app, select your plan, input your menstrual cycle information, and enter your temperature (measured orally after waking up). The app algorithm will learn the pattern of your cycle to work out your fertility status.
Pros
- Some users prefer oral temperature tracking
- Helps you identify fertile window
Cons
- You have to manually enter your temperatures
- Not reliable at tracking irregular cycles or sleep patterns
- Must be used at the same time every morning
- Does not filter out the outlier temperatures
Tempdrop vs. Natural Cycles: Efficacy
The efficacy of the symptothermal method is evidence-based and research shows it to be up to 99.6% effective with perfect use, and 98.2% effective with typical use. Tempdrop takes thousands of measurements during your sleep and analyses the data with its algorithm to get an accurate BBT reading.
The Natural Cycles app informs you whether and when you can become pregnant based on the information that you enter into the application. Efficacy is also informed by user consistency, which for most women comes down to how convenient the product is to use and how well it analyzes your data.
Products that are more manual and have stricter rules of use become less effective for the average user.
Winner: Tempdrop
Tempdrop vs. Natural Cycles: User Experience
From a user perspective, both apps are easy to navigate, but with Tempdrop, you just need to make sure the sensor is turned on and placed correctly on your arm before sleep.
How does Tempdrop work?
When it comes to how to wear Tempdrop—simply place the sensor over the axillary artery area below the armpit. To find the correct position, flex your arm and find the soft area between the bicep and triceps (curvier women may need to wear Tempdrop closer to their armpit over the thinnest skin). Take the Tempdrop off in the morning and place it near your smartphone to download the information you need.
With Natural Cycles you have to manually record your daily basal body temperature (BBT) and enter into the app in the .morning. Then, you need to wait for the algorithm to calculate your fertility. This can often lead to missed days and missed data.
Winner: Tempdrop
Tempdrop vs. Natural Cycles: Main Features
Thanks to Temprop's ease of use and AI technology, you can trust that it will analyze your data accurately. The app filters out the outlier temps that can happen from stress, disturbed sleep, or a glass of wine before bed, so you can avoid any confusion on whether or not you have ovulated. No matter what happens in your life, Temdrop's patented algorithm learns your unique temperature patterns.
Plus, Tempdrop's premium option includes cervical mucus interpretation, temperature data interpretation, ovulation day indication, and fertility window insights. You can also track PMS symptoms and add personalized notes.
Natural Cycles' main feature is storing your last temperature, so if you do forget to enter it in the app when you wake up, you can catch up later on. There is also space for you to add information about any PMS, pain, sex drive, or mood changes and a graph feature you can use to see patterns.
Winner: Tempdrop
Tempdrop vs. Natural Cycles: Price
The Tempdrop's full price is $199, but there can be promotions that bring it as low as $159. You can use the app for free or upgrade to the premium version for $4.49/mo or $35.99/year. Tempdrop also has a 12-month refund and extended warranty.
The Natural Cycles thermometer is $14.50 as a stand-alone product. To use their app and algorithm, however, you would need to invest in the Natural Cycles annual membership of $99.99, which includes the cost of the thermometer.
Both are FSA/HSA eligible.
Winner: Tempdrop
Final Thoughts
As you can see, Tempdrop is the hands down, clear winner for a multitude of reasons. If you are someone with irregular periods and/or sleep cycles, have struggled with temperature tracking in the past, want more bells and whistles with app features, and want to save money in the long run, Tempdrop is the way to go.
